glueing floorboards

[unglued]

Hi all.

i would like to lay solid hardwood floorboards (22mm thick) in my house, and lay them on 15mm battons. what i would like to know is, can i glue the boards along the t&g only (no nails) and if so what glue should i use. i can not use thicker battons as there is a hight issue. i have layed flooring before on beams and used nails, so i can do the work, i just need to know about the glue. i also do not want to glue boards directly to screed.

thank you

[Larry McCully]

You can if you want to, But you will get gapping between each board . The glue will hold but will only be a temporary fix. The best glue is Bostik ultraset. We use that glue in flooring installations and in a process called direct stick. I would not recomend the glue only on battens, you really do need a primery fixing device, Glue only on battens may do the job at first but with seasonal movement and flex may cause a delamination and the boards will lift of their foundations.
Question: Why dont you want to use nails. Are you aware of the secret nail method ?
You need nails to tie your flooring to it base. But no nails are ok if you want, anything is possible, but you will be setting yourself up for a crash down the track.

[unglued]

I would not recomend the glue only on battens, you really do need a primery fixing device, Glue only on battens may do the job at first but with seasonal movement and flex may cause a delamination and the boards will lift of their foundations.
Question: Why dont you want to use nails. Are you aware of the secret nail method ?
You need nails to tie your flooring to it base. But no nails are ok if you want, anything is possible, but you will be setting yourself up for a crash down the track.

1st, yes I am aware of nailing in the groove of the t&g, that is how I did the floor on the beams, using a pin punch to bury the head of the nail so it would not stop the tongue sitting in the groove. Slow and primitive, but it works.

2nd, I have worked out that 15mm is the minimum, but its also my maximum thickness batten I can use, I just figured that nailing into 15mm battens would not hold the floor boards sufficiently.

And 3rd, I am not sure whether you understood, but I do not intend to glue the boards to the battens, I meant that I want to glue the boards together along the t&g as to have a floating floor? So they would be glued fully along the lengths of the floorboards, and ends (joins)<O</O

[glock40sw]

G'day. The machining tolerance for tongue and groove dimensions will not allow you to glue between the tongue and the groove. The glue will stop them seating correctly.

Why not glue with Ultraset (as suggested by Larry) the boards to the battens and secret nail to the battens as well? You would be better off laying 15mm ply sheets and fixing with Splitz anchours to the floor and then glueing and secret nailing to the ply. This is a fairly straight forward and commonly done practice.

Also, They now make a secret nail gun. You don't have to nail and hand punch them anymore.

Have a look at the flooring installation data sheets at www.timber.org.au