Back in the day, flooring adhesives were, well, were adhesives for flooring. The offerings in this segment were just as broad as the floorings available; basically, glue for carpet and the rest, with not much emphasis on the rest.
Nowadays, in the modern age of specialization—not unlike how in baseball relief pitchers have evolved into closers, seventh- and eighth-inning men, left-handed relief specialists (who usually face only one batter), and middle relief/spot starters—adhesives are produced specifically for each flooring segment on the market.
In resilient, for example, companies are making the most environmentally friendly, high performance products ever.
The following is a look at the latest and greatest products a few of the industry’s major players in resilient adhesives have to offer.
Mapei
According to Jeff Johnson, the company’s business manager for floor covering installation systems, Mapei’s Ultrabond ECO 360 is a premium, vinyl flooring adhesive for sheet, tile and plank. It has a number of solid benefits for the installer and his customers:
- Hard-setting for the best in indentation and shrinkage resistance
- Plasticizer migration resistant for use with all solid vinyl flooring
- Easy trowelability for quick installation
- New lower-odor formula for use in occupied buildings
- CRI Green Label Plus certified.
“ECO 360 has been designed to provide all the benefits of a traditional transitional PSA type vinyl flooring adhesive with the added advantage of high rolling load resistance,” he explained. “It is perfect for use in high traffic areas such as hospitals and other institutional environments.
“ECO 360 also works extremely well for vinyl plank flooring, which has a tendency to shrink causing seams to open at the short ends. Because of its high shear resistance, ECO 360 solves this problem.”
Ultrabond ECO 360 is also excellent for the environment and for the construction industry, he noted. “Mapei leads the flooring installation industry with the largest selection of ecologically friendly products avail- able. The Ultrabond ECO brand identifies Mapei products that are solvent-free, nonflammable, low-odor and extremely low in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and signifies the company’s environmental commitment.
“Ultrabond ECO 360,” he concluded, “produced with Mapei’s Green Innovation technology, contributes toward valuable LEED points in the area of Internal Air Quality.”
W.F. Taylor
As Jack Raidy, president and CEO noted, the company offers the resilient flooring market the most advanced performance and environmentally safe flooring installation adhesives available. “Regardless of the challenges of high subfloor moisture, alkalinity and strength demands, Taylor’s patented Meta-Tec adhesives exceed the standards and provide superior performance and feature excellent resistance to moisture, plasticizer migration and alkali.”
These adhesives also contain Meta-Sept Anti-Microbial to protect against the growth of bacteria, mold and fungi, thus contributing to a healthy flooring installation and site environment, he noted. “All Meta-Tec adhesives are 3rd party certified by the GreenGuard Environmental Institute and under the Carpet & Rug Institute (CRI) Green Label Plus program for low VOC content, thus ensuring excellent indoor air quality, and helping to qualify for LEED credits under the USGBC rating system.”
Always striving to stay abreast of new and advanced resilient backings, said Raidy, Taylor recently introduced MS Resilient Flooring Adhesive, incorporating Meta-Tec technology with advanced silane polymers. MS Plus Resilient (New) is a one component, 100% solids, modified silane polymer-based adhesive formulated for the installation of many types of resilient flooring.
“This solvent free, water free, and isocyanate free high strength product is an excellent replacement for two component epoxy and urethane adhesives, and provides installations for vinyl, rubber, fiberglass and polyolefin backed flooring, as well as approved recycled resilient flooring, over both porous and non-porous surfaces.”
Taylor 2083 is an advanced cross-linking resin blend, pressure sensitive, waterproof adhesive that is recommended for the installation of vinyl composition tile (VCT) and closed-cell, foam-back, hardwood parquet over approved substrates.
Taylor 2091 Tuff Grip TPS transitional pressure sensitive adhesive is the most versatile high performance vinyl and rubber-flooring adhesive available in the flooring industry today, he said. “2091 initially dries to a very aggressive pressure sensitive state to allow for installation of non-porous resilient flooring over non- porous subfloors.
“As 2091 cures,” concluded Raidy, “the high strength peel bond ‘transitions’ to a high shear strength waterproof bond. This unique transitional property offers excellent holding power against lateral flooring movement. Taylor 2091 may be used to install a broad variety of vinyl and rubber flooring products including tile, plank and sheet goods, and may also be used in a wet or semi-wet state.”
XL Brands
The company’s Quantum Essential spray adhesive offers high moisture resistance, good plasticizer resistance, extremely fast drying and will bond to a very wide range of materials including vinyl sheet flooring, vinyl composition tile (VCT), luxury vinyl tile (LVT), vinyl plank, rubber flooring and conventional cove base, noted Joe Tuttolomondo, vice president and general manager. “Encore 8900 was developed for resilient applications where very high shear is required, as well as extended working time.”
The wide range of materials to which QE will bond successfully, ease of use and exceptional moisture and alkalinity resistance are what differentiates it from XL’s competitors, he added. “QE enables an installer to perform small installations or make repairs with only one adhesive instead of having to carry several pails of adhesives, and open a large container for a small amount of adhesive. We refer to it as a ‘toolbox’ in a can. Encore 8900 is a pressure sensitive adhesive that again offers extended working time as well as high sheer as is often required under rolling loads like hospital beds.”
Speaking of the changing times and advent of technology, Tuttolomondo said, “We’ve had to develop new adhesives to provide bond to newer backings. Some of them have been very challenging, and commonly available adhesives that have been successful for years were not adequate for the new backings. We now have adhesives that will bond to the newer backings, and some that will even bond under extreme conditions.
Regarding the company’s green story, he noted, “We have adhesives that contain up to 20% post consumer material. They are formulated for many different applications, including PVC and non-PVC flooring and cove base. We also stopped using any solvents, alcohols, ethylene glycol or other known hazardous materials over 15 years ago.
“All of our adhesives are tested for conformance to our low VOC policy,” he concluded. “XL Brands also introduced environmentally friendly packaging that is available to compliment our customers’ needs. These products include the eco box recyclable package as well as a biodegradable bucket.”
-Louis Iannaco