Doug Mossbrook

Are you installing hardwood flooring with a radiant heating system?  Here is the advice of Doug Mossbrook, President/CEO of Eagle Mountain:

I recommend using a glue down. I would use an unfinished quarter sawn oak, and I would glue it down using Bostik glue and sand and finish it in place. Either Bostik’s Best or TKO if you want no VOC’s.

It’s what I used in my house and I was gluing Brazilian cherry which moves more than oak. You lay glue in the area that you can cover in about an hour. Tack the first boards in the 6″ space along the wall with nails but leave them exposed to pull out later.Use 1/2″ blocks along the wall to leave an expansion space that will be covered by your 3/4″ shoe molding, and to give you something to push against.

There isn’t any tubing in the 6″ space along the wall of a room so you don’t need to worry about hitting a nail. Then lay your boards and as you slide the T+G together, some of the glue gets in the joint and will bond the wood together. Use a scrap piece as a block and use a hammer to drive the warped ones tight.

Once you have laid the section, use blocking and shims against the opposite walls or flooring strap clamps that you can use to clamp the floor section together while it dries. Once the glue sets you can do the next section. The Bostik glue is elastomeric which makes it very flexible.

The floor can expand and contract as it needs to. You should let the wood acclimatize in the house for a couple weeks before you do the project. This lets the wood equalize it’s moisture content to the surrounding materials. That way it can expand at the same rate when the humidity and temperature changes.

As far as the finish – use only Street Shoe by Basic Coatings. You have to use a certified finisher. He comes and sands and finishes the floor and can fix your other floors at the same time.

If you have any additional questions, give us a call at 1-800-572-7831.

-Doug Mossbrook