Talked to a commercial carpet guy and he flipped my whole take on glue downs

I've always been a stretch-in guy, thought glue downs were for cheap apartments and nothing else. But last week I was sharing a job site with a dude who does hotel installs, and he showed me how they prep with this specific moisture barrier and use a power stretcher on glue downs too. He said the key is not skimping on the adhesive spread, and now I'm wondering if I've been missing out on faster jobs. Has anyone else switched methods after talking to an old timer?

3 comments

3 Comments

reese_hayes711d ago

Yeah that part about not skimping on the adhesive spread is what got me too... I always thought more glue meant more mess but turns out I was just being cheap with it. Switched to troweling it on thicker and my jobs have been way more solid since.

smith.nancy1d agoTop Commenter

Man that's exactly what happened to me. Ran into an old school installer at a supply house years ago and he totally changed my mind about glue downs. Sometimes you just need someone who actually knows their stuff to show you the right way to do it.

diana_kim661d ago

I hear you on running into a guy who changes your mind, but I still don't buy it completely. Glue downs can be solid if everything is perfect, but most jobs have subfloors that shift or get moisture, and then you're stuck. I've seen too many glue jobs bubble up or fail in humid weather to trust them over a float.