Bonding Hardwood Floors And After Care
January 14th, 2011 | 
Author: When bonding a hardwood floor the first consideration must be the substrate floor and whether it is concrete, floorboards or ashphalt and the condition it is in. Once the substrate has been prepared carefully either of the following adhesive systems can be utilized.
Full Surface Bonding
This method requires adhesive to be spread across the entire substrate floor using a notched trowel, forming a grooved pattern in the bond (rather like tile adhesive methods). This technique is suitable for all types of wood flooring. Work in small sections, as the wood needs to be put into place immediately. Recommended bonds SikaBond® T54, SikaBond® AT-84.
Bead Application
This system of bonding reduces the amount of adhesive required but can only be used with solid wood and engineered wood boards (not a suitable method for parquet). The adhesive is applied from a tube system using a glue gun in straight lines so that the beads of glue run at right angles to the direction you are laying the boards. This is a fast and effective method but again work in small sections, as the boards need to be in place within half an hour.
Remember that most adhesives have a minimum drying time ranging from 12 - 36 hours for the boards to bond securely.
There are many products on the market to care for your wood flooring. Some care however must be taken to protect the wood, as some products are only suitable for pre-lacquered wood floors and will damage, dull and coat non-lacquered flooring. Some products can spoil the floor so a little research will help you to select the correct cleaning product to reduce dulling and coating that may occur.
Recommendation
Bona offer a wide range of products that will care for your hardwood floor without harming the finish. This will help to keep oak flooring in pristine condition for many years.
As a starting point the Bona® Care Kit gives you everything to clean and protect sealed floors. The kit includes a floor cleaning spray, mop and microfibre pad. The spray is also available as a refill and replacement mop pads can be purchased.
For use on all wooden floors including cork Bona® Freshen Up is a fast drying cleaner to add shine to dulling floors. It leaves no residue - a problem caused by a number of other cleaners and can be purchased with a Care Refresher that acts as a maintenance coat.
If you find that your floor has built up a coating of polish and you want to get back to the original finish Bona® manufacture a polish remover. The product is a handy addition to your cleaning cupboard, as it will also remove scuffs.
As with all cleaning products it is advisable to test on a small area of your floor to ensure you will achieve the desired result.
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