Hot New Adhesive Hits Market

Flooring is a fashion statement, without doubt. As a result, folks often overlook what goes under the floor and what holds the top-of-floor product to the subfloor. Such oversights could prove costly if retailers or installers choose inferior materials, either out of ignorance or a desire to "save a buck." In many cases, such projected savings end up costing flooring retailers and flooring consumers more in terms of labor time, call backs, repairs, etc.

Accordingly, it is critical to use high quality products in all aspects of a flooring installation. When it comes to adhesives, quality is spelled S-i-k-a. Sika is a swiss firm that manufactures a variety of adhesives and related items for a host of applications. When it comes to flooring, Sika offers adhesive products that cover the gamut of potential applications, from its T-53/sausage + acubond system that offers sound control benefits and the ability to many 3/4" solid hardwood products in loft, high-rise, and condo (on or above grade applications) to its T-55 urethane adhesive that is tops-in-industry adhesive for applications requiring or permitting a full-spread
glue-down application. Sika also manufactures variants of these products that offer low VOC emissions.

In 2008, Sika is introducing its new T-35 adhesive system. T-35 offers perhaps the best of all worlds. The product is higher performing than most competitors, even competitors' flagship glues (check, for example, published data regarding elongation at break; this data shows how far the cured glue can stretch before the glue breaks. Most competitors do not even publish such data, ostensibly because they do not want people to know the results. Among those that do, compare T-35's 170% elongation at break ratio. You will find that it typically far exceeds the performance of competitors while being significantly lower priced). In addition, T-35 is much easier to trowel out than most competitive urethane adhesives. Relatedly, its greater elasticity means installers should get more utilization and thus more production out of every 5 gallon pail. Less glue going to waste means more glue-based efficiency for everyone. Finally, T-35 hits the market significantly lower in price than competitive adhesives, even the competitions' flagship glues.

About the only flooring adhesive superior in overall performance to T-35 is Sika's T-55. There are differences between the two, such as T-55's 400% elongation at break versus T-35's 170%. (Remember, thought the T-35 is still itself superior than competitive glues). This greater elongation at break allows Sika to recommend T-55 for the generally unheard of application of gluing down many 3/4" solid hardwood products on or above grade. Specifics are available from local Sika representatives, but this feature obviously offers tremendous versatility. T-35 is not suitable for gluing down 3/4" solid products. Otherwise, it offers an outstanding combination of value and performance and likely will be an adhesive of choice for retailers, installers, and consumers alike.