Talked to a 60-year old installer at a job in Dayton about glue down vs stretch in

He said he's ripped out more failed glue jobs than anything else in 40 years, and now I'm second guessing every commercial bid I've been taking. Has anyone else switched back to stretch in after doing glue for a while?

3 comments

3 Comments

claire_walker16d ago

Man if I had a nickel for every time I switched methods based on one old timer's horror stories, I'd have enough to pay for all those failed glue jobs I've done. Guess I'm buying a kicker tomorrow.

lindamartin10d ago

Wait, was your old timer the same guy who told me about a glue down job he did in the 90s that basically turned into a giant sticky mess after a couple of hot summers? Because I had a similar experience where I swore by glue down for years until I got called back to fix a job in a school hallway, and the glue had literally turned to dust and the whole floor was just peeling up like old wallpaper. The worst part is I used that fancy expensive glue too, the one the supplier swore was the best thing since sliced bread. I switched all my jobs back to stretch in after that and I haven't looked back once. It's just so much easier to fix a bad spot or a seam without having to scrape up half the floor and re-glue everything from scratch. So yeah, you are making the right call getting that kicker tomorrow.

william_carter16d ago

Bro that old timer is 100% right. I switched my whole crew back to stretch in about 2 years ago after pulling up a 5 year old glue job in a high traffic commercial hall where the corners were all curled and the seams were popping everywhere. We used to think glue down was the future but it just does not hold up long term in my experience, especially on concrete slabs. Stretch in is more forgiving and way easier to replace a section when it gets wrecked.