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Top 7 Best Glue For Hardwood Floors

When it comes to hardwood floors, may people decide to glue them down, and yes, many people decide to do this on their own. However, the most common issue that tends to arise here is choosing the right glue for the job. This is what we are here for today, to help you find the best glue for hardwood floors.

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Best Glue for Hardwood Floors

Image
Product
Best Overall
Bostik GreenForce 0 VOC Adhesive
  • Fairly quick drying
  • Flexible
  • VOC free
Titebond 2104 Tongue and Groove Glue
  • Very strong bond
  • Water resistant
  • Solvent resistant
ROBERTS 7350-1 Flooring Adhesive
  • Permanent tack
  • Extremely strong bond
  • Moisture control feature
DriTac Professtional Wood Floor Repair Adhesive
  • Great for general repairs
  • Ideal for filling gaps
  • Moisture resistant
Cal-Flor GL82114CF Eurobond
  • Great moisture barrier
  • Ideal for all sorts of wood flooring
  • Great bond strength
Titebond III Ultimate Wood Glue – Best all around hardwood floor glue
  • Indoor and outdoor use
  • Floating and glue down applications
  • Solid and floating applications
ROBERTS 1407-1 Flooring Adhesive
  • Easy to spread and not messy
  • Low odor and low VOC
  • Ideal for bonding wood to various materials

Our Overall #1 Rated Pick

Bostik GreenForce 0 VOC Adhesive

Bostik GreenForce 0 VOC Adhesive

Something you might be wondering is what the best type of glue for hardwood floors is. The answer is that urethane glue is best for hardwood floors.

Urethane adhesives are ideal for this task because they are great structural adhesives, ones that often remain very flexible, thus being suitable for applications that require the glue to move when pressure is applied, such as when one walks around on a floor.

Our overall pick for the best urethan glue for hardwood floors is Bostik GreenForce 0 VOC Adhesive, and there are many reasons for this.

Top Features

  • Moisture resistant
  • Very strong bond
  • Dries flexible
  • 0 VOC

When you purchase Bostik GreenForce 0 VOC Adhesive, you get a full 4 gallons of it, which should be enough for quite a large surface.

This particular urethane glue is ideal for bonding all sorts of wood, but is of course best used for hardwood flooring.

Many people like this glue because while it dries and cures at a decent rate, it does not dry so fast that it cannot be worked with easily. In other words, you can still move boards around for a few minutes after the glue has been applied.

Many people also appreciate how this glue contains no volatile organic compounds, it releases no nauseous fumes, and it has no smell either, making it great for indoor applications.

Bostik GreenForce 0 VOC Adhesive also dries quite flexible, which is necessary for flooring where people will be walking on it constantly.

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Glue for Hardwood Floors – Buying Guide

Glue For Hardwood Floors

Are you short on time or just want a quick answer?

Check out our list below for a summary of our results.

  1. Bostik GreenForce 0 VOC Adhesive
  2. Titebond 2104 Tongue and Groove Glue
  3. ROBERTS 7350-1 Flooring Adhesive
  4. DriTac Professtional Wood Floor Repair Adhesive
  5. Cal-Flor GL82114CF Eurobond
  6. Titebond III Ultimate Wood Glue – Best all around hardwood floor glue
  7. ROBERTS 1407-1 Flooring Adhesive

Here we want to take you on a quick guide on the main things to know and to look out for when buying hardwood floor adhesive.

What is Glue for Hardwood Floors

Glue to Hardwood Floors

Quite simply, this is a specially designed type of glue or adhesive that is used to glue hardwood floor boards down to the material underneath, with the aim of bonding the floor together.

On a side note, did you know that you can use wood glue to glue down hardwood floors as well as engineered floors? Yes, that is right, all sorts of wooden flooring can be glued down.

Types of Glue for Hardwood Floor

There are two main types of glue that can be used to bond hardwood floors to the materials underneath. Both can be used, but one might be better.

Urethane Adhesive

Urethan glue, also known are some of the most important and widely used structural adhesives out there.

The big difference between this type of glue and other adhesives is that urethane adhesive can be designed to dry with great flexibility, thus making them ideal for weight bearing applications where the finished product needs to be able to move to some degree, such as when a person walks over a floor.

Although urethane adhesives can be made in a “quick cure” variety, they do sometimes take up to 10 hours or more to cure, but they do also tend to form very strong bonds, more than strong enough to keep hardwood flooring in place for years to come. Moreover, this type of glue should also be waterproof, which is of course also important for flooring.

Water Based Adhesive

If you have a moisture barrier in place, a very good one, then you may also use a water based adhesive for flooring. However, remember that this is a type of adhesive made with water, and due to this, it is not very resistant to moisture, even when totally cured.

In other words, if this adhesive gets wet, it can lose its strength and the bond may come undone. Yes, they are water resistant when bonded, somewhat, but they are not fully waterproof. Therefore, while water based adhesives can be used for gluing wood, they are definitely not the best choice for hardwood flooring, especially when compared to urethane glue.

How to Glue Hardwood Floors

Gluing For Hardwood Floors

What needs to be said here is that gluing down hardwood floors is quite the process, enough to write a book on, so it’s more than we could possibly explain here today. This involves preparing the sub-floor, preparing the hardwood, all of the surfaces, and more. However, what we can do is provide you with a video tutorial on gluing hardwood floors.

How Much Glue do I Need for Wood Floors?

Glue Hardwood Floors

How much glue you will need for hardwood floors will depend on one main factor, and this is how well the individual pieces of flooring fit together. In other words, it has to do with how thick the glue line needs to be.

If your sub-floor is very straight and level, and all of the wooden boards are cut to size well, the glue line may be as thin as 1/64th of an inch, or in other words, everything fits together well. If this is the case, a single gallon of wood glue may be enough to cover up to 100 square feet of surface area.

However, if the glue line needs to be thicker, as will be the case if the sub-floor is not perfectly done, or if the individual boards are a bit coarse and don’t fit together 100%, you may need more glue, as your glue line may be as thick as 1/32nd of an inch.
If this is the case, a single gallon of glue may cover as little as 50 square feet. In most cases, you can expect a gallon of wood glue to cover roughly 75 square feet.

Using Wooden Floor Adhesives – Safety Tips

Gluing Hardwood Floors

There are a few safety tips that you will definitely want to adhere to when gluing hardwood floors, whether with urethan glue or other types of glue. Let’s keep you safe!

  • Always perform this task in a well-ventilated area, which means opening windows and possibly turning on air fans for some airflow. Even if the glue in question is zero VOC, it may still cause headaches and other related symptoms if too many fumes are inhaled.
  • Always wear the proper protective gear when working with any such wood glue. Wearing long sleeves and pants to cover skin, gloves to cover your hands, and possibly eye protection to keep glue out of your eyes is recommended.
  • If you are working in a small area, one that is not well ventilated, you may need to wear a facial mask or a respirator to protect yourself.
  • It is always a good idea to choose wood glue that does not contain any volatile organic compounds. You do not want VOCs in your home.

The Best Glue for Hardwood Floors

Here we want to take a closer look at the 7 best glues for bonding those hardwood floors to the sub-floor underneath.

The top best product [hide]

Bostik GreenForce 0 VOC Adhesive


Bostik GreenForce 0 VOC Adhesive
This is of course our own number one top pick for the best glue for hardwood floors, and it’s for a few different reasons. Perhaps the best feature here is that Bostik GreenForce also contains moisture control. In other words, it helps to form a moisture barrier to keep moisture from coming through the sub-floor and up into the hardwood, thus protecting your floors. This glue is designed to dry relatively quickly, although it may take up to 10 hours. That said, once this glue is dry, it forms a very strong bond that virtually nothing can break. Moreover, it also dries flexible, thus ensuring that it does not sheer or crack due to weight being placed on it.

Another important factor here is that this glue does not smell, release nauseating fumes, and it does not contain any volatile organic compounds other. In other words, this glue is totally safe and can even be used in spaces that are not overly well ventilated.
Technical Specifications:
  • Complete with moisture control
  • Great for use on concrete
Pros
Fairly quick drying
Flexible
VOC free
Built in moisture control
Cons
Quite sticky and messy

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Titebond 2104 Tongue and Groove Glue


Titebond 2104 Tongue and Groove Glue
This glue is technically designed for use with floating and laminate floors, but it also works great with normal hardwood floors. As you might be able to tell by the name of it, it is made specifically for use with tongue and groove applications. One of the main selling points here is that this glue is very resistant to both moisture and solvents, plus it is also very resistant to heat. Therefore, it works well for use on both concrete and wooden sub-floors, as well as for use over heating units. Titebond 2104 Tongue and Groove Glue may not be the fastest drying option out there, but it does form a very strong bond once dry. Moreover, it does also dry flexible, which means that it can withstand being walked on repeatedly.
Technical Specifications:
  • Designed for use with tongue & groove
  • Ideal for use with floating floors & laminate
Pros
Very strong bond
Water resistant
Solvent resistant
Heat resistant
Non-toxic
Non-flammable
Cons
Long dry time
Not the most affordable

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ROBERTS 7350-1 Flooring Adhesive


ROBERTS 7350-1 Flooring Adhesive
Just like with our top pick, one of the best features of this glue is that it comes with included moisture control. This helps to prevent moisture from seeping through from the bottom, thus keeping the glue intact and protecting your floors at the same time. What is nice about this glue is that it can be used for a wide variety of flooring including luxury vinyl tile, luxury vinyl plank, composite flooring, hardwood flooring, and more, plus it also works really well for bonding various materials to both concrete and plywood subflooring. You may also like how ROBERTS 7350-1 Flooring Adhesive is re-bondable pressure sensitive, so it is quite easy to work with, plus it also features a permanent tack with a very aggressive bond. So, while it is easy to work with, once it dries and cures, it forms an incredibly strong bond.
Technical Specifications:
  • Ideal for many floor types
  • Very aggressive bond
  • Moisture Control
Pros
Permanent tack
Extremely strong bond
Moisture control feature
Works for many different types of floors and subfloors
Cons
Fairly long dry time
Its tack makes it a bit messy

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DriTac Professtional Wood Floor Repair Adhesive


DriTac Professtional Wood Floor Repair Adhesive
This particular glue works very well for filling voids and gaps in between wooden floors and the subfloor. A main cause of degradation in wood floors is if there are gaps in between them and the subfloor. This product can be used to fill those gaps. Now, one thing to keep in mind is that this product absolutely cannot be used to fill gaps or to attach wooden floors if there is sealed concrete underneath. It will not work. However, it works fine for general wood floor repairs, particularly with plywood subfloors. Do keep in mind that this product is not designed to fully glue down wooden floors, only for small repairs and to fill small gaps, but that said, it does have a strong bond strength, and it is moisture resistant, so once dry, it should do the trick.
Technical Specifications:
  • Ideal for filling voids and gaps
Pros
Great for general repairs
Ideal for filling gaps
Moisture resistant
Easy to apply
Strong bond strength
Cons
Cannot be used over sealed concrete
For general repairs and gap filling only

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Cal-Flor GL82114CF Eurobond


Cal-Flor GL82114CF Eurobond
This particular glue can be used for both real hardwood flooring and for engineered wood flooring too. It is technically designed as floating glue, although it can also work for full glue down flooring as well. Moreover, it is specifically designed for both click flooring and groove and tongue flooring, although it may also be used for other types. One of the biggest benefits you get with Cal-Flor GL82114CF Eurobond is that it provides a strong moisture barrier to prevent moisture from seeping through from the bottom, thus making it ideal for high moisture areas such as the bathroom. This glue does form a very strong bond, and it’s actually quite resistant too. Moreover, it also dries flexible, making it very resistant to weight and pressure, which needs to be so for flooring.
Technical Specifications:
  • High moisture resistance
  • Best for floating floors
  • Meant for click or tongue & groove flooring
Pros
Great moisture barrier
Ideal for all sorts of wood flooring
Great bond strength
Temperature resistant
Very flexible
Cons
Only for use with wood
Has quite a strong odor

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Titebond III Ultimate Wood Glue – Best all around hardwood floor glue


Titebond III Ultimate Wood Glue – Best all around hardwood floor glue
This wood glue works for both solid hardwood and engineered hardwood wood floors. Its adhesive can be used for both indoor and outdoor applications. It is designed with a strong initial tack for superior strength, durability and longevity, yet it also sands down easily without softening. This wood glue is solvent-free and non-toxic. It is also very easy to clean with water. This epoxy is highly rated for being waterproof and resistant to moisture.
Pros
Indoor and outdoor use
Floating and glue down applications
Solid and floating applications
Highly moisture resistant
Very strong yet flexible bond
Cons
Somewhat difficult to spread

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ROBERTS 1407-1 Flooring Adhesive


ROBERTS 1407-1 Flooring Adhesive
While not designed for use with solid hardwood, this adhesive is designed for use with engineered hardwood floors, plain parquet and acrylic wood planks. It is designed to bond with concrete, plywood and cord, making it ideal for direct glue down applications. This adhesive is designed for indoor use but is also more than ideal for both wet and dry environments. It comes complete with GoldGuard, a protection system designed to prevent mold, mildew and bacteria. This is a low VOC adhesive with minimal odor and toxicity.
Pros
Easy to spread and not messy
Low odor and low VOC
Ideal for bonding wood to various materials
Ideal for engineered hardwood flooring
Great for moisture protection
Cons
Takes up to 2 days to dry and cure

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The Verdict

To repeat, the number one product we recommend here is Bostik GreenForce 0 VOC Adhesive. It dries strong and flexible, it produces a moisture barrier, it’s easy to work with, and it can bond many types of wooden flooring to various types of subfloors. Remember to read over our buyer’s guide in order to make the best possible choice.

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