If your a DIY person and you want to install your own wood flooring, make sure you know when to use adhesive or if nails will work. It is easy to look up from other blogs or websites the general answer. When you are installing wood planks greater than 5" wide, you will need to use adhesive. On the other hand, you can also glue the smaller planks as well. It sometimes depends on your skill level and what the sub-floor is that you are installing over.
The basic rule of thumb is to use it on planks over 5" wide. You must also consider if you are installing it over a wood or concrete sub-floor. If you are installing any wood flooring over a concrete sub-floor, you will need to glue it either way. There isn't a real good way to nail into concrete and have a successful installation. You may want to consider using adhesive if you are trying to make the wood flooring quieter.
When you are putting in wood flooring and you have another level under you, there are ways to make the flooring quieter. If you use https://mpglobalproducts.com/underlayment/quietboard/ under a wood floor, it will reduce the sound transfer when you are walking on it and reduce sound transfer from other sources such as entertainment systems. It can work by applying pressure sensitive adhesive to the floor and then installing the Quiet Board over it. You can then use wood adhesive to glue your wood flooring to the Quiet Board. This will not only make the floor quieter under the wood flooring, but help with reducing it on the floor were the flooring was installed.
If you are installing over concrete, you will have to glue your wood flooring down. Before you do that though, you must seal the concrete with a moisture barrier so that you don't have water vapor coming through the concrete slab later and destroying your flooring. You can use a product like https://www.tayloradhesives.com/products/zephyr if you want to use there other wood flooring adhesives to glue down your wood flooring or another product could be https://www.wakol.com/us/PM/Products/Substrate-Preparation/WAKOL-PU-280 used with Wakol adhesives. Both products require you to apply 2 coats rolled onto the concrete to get full protection from moisture. I use the words "must seal" the concrete to make sure that you don't get the idea that it is an option. It is only an option if you use a concrete moisture tester over your whole basement in different areas and get documentation of all the readings. I have found few installers take the time or even have the testing kit. Your warranty will be void if you don't either test and document or seal the floor.
There are lots of adhesives with different properties. Take time to look at them and see if you really need them and talk with either a distributor or sales associate at your local flooring store about it. Some adhesives are easy to spread and smooth out better than others, making the installation go better. There are also some tools that you will need to help with your installation. Apart from the cutting tools for the planks, there are some tools that will help give you a professional finish. The first product to NOT get is blue painters tape. If you look inside the roll, it will say not to use on wood flooring. There is a purple colored tape that is recommended to use on wood flooring. It is a Delicate Surface Painter's Tape. Blue tape has had some issues on occasion to remove the clear finish off a pre finished wood floor or a newly sanded & finished wood floor.
One tool I would recommend would be a strap clamp. There are a lot of other tools that can be purchased to make the job go easier, but these one seems to be the one I see the least used. Many installers when putting the wood flooring in will use painter's tape to hold the boards together as they install the flooring. When the glue had set, they removed the tape and some of the finish off the brand new wood flooring. The strap clamp is used to pull the wood planks tight together as you install the flooring so you don't have to use tape. You will have to reset it as you go to keep it tight, but you won't be pulling finish off at the end of the day by accident. There are numerous companies that make this tool.
There are a number of reasons to use adhesive to put your wood flooring in compared to nailing it in. Most of the time, nailing will be for 5" width or less with a thickness of 3/4" to 5/8" thick board. If it is 1/2" or 3/8" thick, you will need a wood flooring staple gun. The nails will be too big for the groove on the side. It will also need to be installed on a wood sub floor. In the end though, you can glue any of the wood flooring products and get a great job. Many of the quality adhesives can be used in place of nails in solid wood flooring and still be able to sand & finish the wood flooring. Adhesives will provide a lot answers to flooring issues that nails will not. You will just need to know if you have any of those issues when you get ready to start your project.
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