The adhesives used to glue wood down to a subfloor make for an extremely strong bond. Newer adhesives are elastomeric. They allow the wood board to expand and contract but they do not grow or shrink nearly as much as they would with a floating.
Glued wood allows for the necessary expansion and contraction without the risk of overgrowth or shrinkage, which can lead to cracking and serious damage. Glued wood eliminates the occasional hollow sound of floating installations, making it higher quality and more durable.
One great benefits of gluing engineered wood flooring to the subfloor is that the end result is very stable. However if you're not a professional it can be a messy process and you must also plan your timing wisely, ensuring you have allowed enough time for the glue to dry before walking on the floor.
Luxury Vinyl Flooring
Luxury vinyl is excellent for cold areas because it does not expand or contract in extreme temperature changes.
For example, for red oak hardwood flooring, expect it to move 1/16” for every foot across the grain. That means, in a 16 ft wide by 20 ft long room, you'll need a 1-inch expansion gap, 1/2inch on each side. The recommended expansion gap for the engineered hardwood floor is 8mm (5/16 in).
Generally speaking, your flooring will expand with high humidity and contract with low humidity. This is a completely natural process and will not cause any damage to your flooring as long as you have prepared properly for it.
Shrinking and swelling occur as the wood changes moisture content in response to daily as well as seasonal changes in the relative humidity of the atmosphere, i.e., when the air is humid, wood adsorbs moisture and swells; when the air is dry, wood loses moisture and shrinks.
Because vinyl is susceptible to changing temperatures, the floor will slightly shrink or contract when temperatures drop, and then expand when temperatures rise. This is slightly less common in sheet vinyl that is glued down, but it can be a challenge for vinyl tiles with a floating installation.
You need to leave an expansion gap because wood flooring expands and contracts a little throughout the year. We call this seasonal movement and it is completely natural and will occur throughout the lifetime of your hardwood flooring.
Challenging installation
The biggest drawback to glue-down vinyl flooring is the complexity of the installation process. This method requires more skill, precision, and time compared to floating vinyl flooring. Most homeowners choose to hire a professional for glue-down installation, which increases labor costs.
The choice between glued down and floating wood floors ultimately depends on various factors such as installation ease, budget, maintenance preferences, and desired aesthetic. While glued down floors offer stability and a seamless look, floating floors provide versatility and easier replacement options.
When installing a wooden floor, do not place an underlay on the glue. The only element between the substrate and the floorboard is glue. Likewise, when installing using a floating floor system, it starts with the preparation of the substrate.
Choose Your Install Method
method you choose will depend on your subfloor, budget, lifestyle and the type of wood flooring you select. For example, solid hardwood flooring is typically nailed down during installation while tongue and groove engineered flooring is usually clicked together or completely glued down.
In most cases, wood glue will expand as it dries, though the amount it expands depends on the specific type of wood glue and the brand.
Expansion takes place, and the hardwood grows, for lack of a clearer term, across the grain or width of the plank (see below, not all will react this way).
Brecon is a very popular choice for bathroom and/or kitchen flooring as it usually needs no expansion gaps, is fully waterproof flooring, and comes with a built-in underlay, so installation can be quick and efficient.
Moisture damage is one of the primary causes of a floor bulging upwards, often resulting from high humidity levels, leaks, or inadequate moisture control. When moisture seeps into the wood, it can cause swelling, warping, or cupping, leading to an unattractive and potentially hazardous situation.
Typically, solid hardwood flooring is between 5/16 and ¾ inches thick. Those are pretty standard thicknesses that serve most needs. Engineered hardwood can come in different thicknesses but generally, it's about the same offerings as solid hardwood.
Remember to acclimatise your LVT to the room temperature for at least 24 hours before installation and leave a 6-8mm gap around the edge of the room to accommodate for expansion. Click LVT does exactly that, clicks together.
In most cases, LVP can be installed over existing floors such as hardwood or vinyl sheet flooring. If the existing floors are in good condition, they should provide a suitable base for laying down your new flooring.
Click flooring will be more comfortable, due to the extra thickness and underlay. However, gluedown is less likely to move and feel the effects of increased foot traffic if it's firmly attached to the subfloor. For this reason, we'd recommend using gluedown LVT in these areas that see heavy footfall.
Solids expand the least and gases expand the most when heated because the molecular attraction is greatest in solids and least in gases.
The tendency of wood to contract and expand, shrink and swell cannot be stopped. You must plan for it. Design and build with dimensional change in mind.
Wood moves as its moisture content changes. Wood doesn't move much lengthwise, so you don't have to worry a lot about boards getting shorter. But a board can move quite a bit across its width. A board that's 6 inches wide during a humid summer might shrink by 1/32 of an inch in winter.