Flooring Adhesives
SikaBond® elastic adhesives are exciting products for the installation of different types of solid, three or more layer engineered, or laminated wood floors.
For a number of years wood floors have been glued and floated as alternatives to nail down installation on all types of subfloors, including concrete and gypsum based. Glued and floated installations offer a timesaving method without need for sleepers or a plywood subfloor. But there is still potential for improving these installation methods. Ultimately all wood and laminate floors should permanently keep their appealing characteristics without damage or problems with the floor.
The solution is elastic adhesives for wood floors. The advantages of elastic adhesives:
Bonding with methods that are appropriate for the materials involved
Wood floors are subjected to dynamic and static loads that have to be absorbed by all construction materials involved. Dynamic loads result from walking on the floor or from sound-induced vibrations. Static stress is caused by increase or decrease of the moisture level of the wood due to climatic conditions. This is an inevitable phenomenon that in combination with hard adhesives is often the cause for damage to the floor. Equilibrium moisture content of the wood follows the variations of ambient air humidity and adapts to it. With changing moisture wood tends to change it dimensions. Restraining this change of volume causes considerable shear stress in the wood, in the adhesive layer, and in the substrate. This calls for an adhesive able to take such stress and to provide shear-resisting bond of the wood to the substrate without damaging it.
SikaBond® elastic polyurethane adhesives solve this problem by allowing the wood to move in a controlled manner during seasonal humidity changes. This elasticity reduces the stress placed on bonds, and because of its strength minimizes gaps between planks.
The Sika® AcouBond System Sound Ratings*
*Tests conducted at Riverbank Acoustic Laboratory
13/16" engineered wood flooring, over 6" concrete slab w/suspended ceiling.
The Sika® AcouBond System is ideally suited for installation of solid wood up to 3/4" thick and 8" wide, three layered or more engineered floors in residential and commercial buildings. Combining the advantages of full surface glue downs and floating floor installations, the system comprises a synthetic foam mat SikaLayer® Silent and the flexible adhesive, SikaBond® T53. SikaBond® T53 is applied as the bonding agent into the oblong slots provided in the mat. Sika® AcouBond System makes the wood particularly resilient, considerably improves its impact noise deadening and sound transmission capacity, and reduces noise caused by walking. In addition, the system permits easy and quick installation of wood flooring and assures a strong shear-resisting bond.
Inlaid wood and two layered engineered systems must be installed using a full spread adhesive, SikaBond® T55 and not the Sika® AcouBond System.
Installation of the Sika® AcouBond System is very quick and easy. The mat is rolled out, the adhesive is applied into the slots, and then the floor is laid. The adhesive may be applied by hand pumped guns or by guns powered by compressed air for larger areas. Floors may be laid in large or small areas with equal success. The acoustic benefits make it particularly appropriate for large multistory commercial and residential projects.
Please contact us for additional information about Sika® products.
