February 29/March 7, 2016; Volume 30, Number 18
By Ken Ryan
Adhesives manufacturers have made a considerable investment in recent years developing products designed to be more environmentally friendly than their predecessors while offering improved bonding properties that accelerate installation times. In particular, many of these new offerings for 2016 were developed to meet the installation demands required for today’s longer, wider planks.
Following is an overview:
Bostik
Ultra-Set SingleStep2 uses Bostik’s Axios Tri-Linking polymer, which combines high-strength adhesive, moisture barrier and sound abatement underlayment technologies in one formulation.
Ultra-Set SingleStep2, which was applied in actor Ed Begley Jr.’s LEED Platinum home, also contains Bostik’s patent-pending Thickness Control Spacer Technology, a proprietary feature ensuring that ideal membrane thickness between substrate and hardwood flooring is maintained.
“Ultra-Set SingleStep2 represents the highest feature set of any Bostik hardwood adhesive,” said Eric Kurtz, marketing manager. “Not only does it offer unlimited moisture vapor protection, but it also provides sound abatement properties equivalent to ¼-inch cork underlayment.”
Kurtz explained the Thickness Control Spacer Technology helps ensure the required membrane thickness for moisture control and sound abatement is maintained, even if installers walk on the flooring before the adhesive has cured.
DriTac
Supreme Green/DriTac 7800 is the company’s newest adhesive for the hardwood flooring industry. Supreme Green is a single-component, premium green sound and moisture control hybrid polymer adhesive that also acts as a crack suppressant. John Lio, marketing director, said Supreme Green is a next-generation adhesive solution that can also isolate old cutback adhesive residue.
Supreme Green offers five solutions in one 4-gallon pail—it’s a hybrid polymer wood flooring adhesive, a concrete moisture control system, a sound control system, and crack suppressant that can isolate problems.
DriTac is also introducing DriTac 7900 Super Grab and Eco-5900 MegaBond. DriTac 7900 Super Grab is a premium-grade urethane adhesive developed for long-length/wide-width plank wood flooring. Its advanced formula is said to provide installers with a permanent bond adhesive that Lio said can control high levels of concrete moisture vapor emissions.
Eco-5900 MegaBond is a premium-grade resilient flooring adhesive that has been specially formulated to help minimize vinyl plank shrinkage, a common problem in the field. This zero-VOC, zero-solvent flooring adhesive can be used for permanent (wet-set) or releasable (dry-set) installations with roll on or trowel application capabilities.
Karndean
Karndean Designflooring, which has been supplying adhesives to the U.S. market since the late 1990s, is unveiling two adhesives for 2016—Karndean DrySet and Karndean K-Spray. Both adhesives are for use in glue-down products.
Available now, Karndean DrySet is applied quickly and easily with a basic nap roller. It is sold in 1- and 4-gallon pails, providing 350 to 450 square feet of coverage per gallon. The typical drying time after application is 10 to 15 minutes, the company said.
Karndean K-Spray provides an alternative application format to traditional methods. Each 22-ounce spray can provides 150 to 185 square feet of coverage and the adhesive dries in 10 to 20 minutes. The company said its K-Spray uses 80% less adhesive when compared with traditional trowel-applied epoxy and bucket adhesives.
According to Karndean, the products offer increased coverage and bonding strength and are also designed to work with VersaShield moisture barriers. What’s more, Karndean’s DrySet pails are biodegradable and the K-Spray cans are recyclable. “These installation solutions equip retailers and installers with proven technology that provides reliability, quality and ease of use,” said Emil Mellow, vice president of marketing.
Stauf USA
Stauf USA recently introduced Stauf PUK-455, a new adhesive developed specifically for the installation of solid planks without limitations on width, length or thickness over any suitable subfloor.
While Stauf says many single-component urethane adhesives are formulated with great shear strengths for most typical installations, the company claims its PUK-455’s shear strength exceeds 680 psi. As a result, the adhesive can stabilize and help control common cupping problems associated with wide-width solid flooring.
W.F. Taylor
Taylor TruRenew Premium Bio-Renewable is a pressure-sensitive adhesive that the company says is solvent free, nonflammable and water based. This clear acrylic adhesive—which is specifically formulated for the permanent installation of modular carpet tiles, vinyl backed carpet and pad to substrate—can be used wet or dry on horizontal surfaces. In addition, TruRenew is qualified for environmental credit programs and has extremely low VOCs, according to W.F. Taylor.