Barry Minter, Senior Sales Executive - APAC

Hicksville, N.Y.—How important is using the best adhesives the industry has to offer during an installation job? What are some of the things mechanics should know when using today’s glues as opposed to those on the market just a few years ago? How much emphasis should be placed on training, or is that something that needs no improvement? These are just a few of the questions asked recently of several adhesive industry executives. The following are their suggestions and hopes for the industry, both present and future.

“Use the BEST!” said Robert McNamara, Bostik’s national sales & marketing manager, flooring group. “This question is asked a lot, and the answer is always the same...in fact, as the cost of floor covering increases, and consumers become more educated, the answer is more relevant today than in the past.

“One can simply start with what it costs to simply re-visit a job site complaint, whether there is a real issue or not,” he explained. “The cost of simply visiting a job site after the installation is complete probably costs more than the original cost savings. Once you add in any costs of repair or replacement, debating with an owner as to who’s responsible for causing or correcting an issue, or the time to research an issue, your profits go out the window sevenfold. ‘You get what you pay for’ is an old saying because it is true!”

“The most important thing is for today’s installer to use the right adhesive for the job,” said Steve Chase, director of sales & marketing for All Purpose Adhesive Co. ( APAC). “No doubt, it is also important to go with the best glue available and not to skimp; however, it is most important to know the intended use, substrate, job conditions, floor covering type/backing, etc., in order to select the right adhesive for a successful installation.

“Today’s consumer has more choice in floor covering selection than ever before,” he explained. “As choices grow, so do the need for more specialty adhesives, e.g. polyurethanes, acrylic emulsions, water based rubber latexes, etc., with differing characteristics. Today’s installer must be more knowledgeable and properly trained on all the specifics to stay claim free.”

“To oversimplify,” said McNamara, “adhesives of the past were dissolved in solvents (i.e.“solvent-based adhesives”); most of today’s adhesives are dissolved in water (i.e. “water-based adhesives”) which means they can be susceptible to moisture/water (from the substrates) once they are dry. New generation adhesives, like ‘moisture cure urethanes’ are liquids that, when exposed to moisture, react with moisture and actually become flexible solids, which means they do not reimulsify. There is a huge safety factor built in to these products, not to mention they do not add water to the job sites during installation.

“Training is always the key,” he added. “Our BEST customers (pun intended) are trained on the proper use of the product, trained to inspect the job site to prevent problems, and use the products appropriately. Bottom line, it is sort of like the old carpenter’s motto, ‘measure twice, cut once.’ If you take your time to do it right, it saves you time (and saves your profits) in the long run.”

Chase agreed, saying, “Training is our industry’s toughest challenge. We need more training. Training must be continuous and not a one-time offering.

(Editor’s note: Part two will cover more about the best glues to use.)
—Louis Iannaco

“We need our distributor customers to embrace the need for training,” he continued. “Our salespeople must be better trained; our customers need to embrace this training; our customers must pass on this information correctly and intelligently. Information is out there. We need to get this information in the hands of the most important ingredient to our industry’s success...the installer.”

“We are trying to give our customers an opportunity to make a profit,” said McNamara. “If they are making profits, they are growing and so are we. Doing more jobs, decreasing call backs, adding insurance to the products to overcompensate for unforeseen job site issues, making products easier to use, etc., all add to our customer’s opportunity to increase their profits and grow. Green is definitely a part of all our efforts; solvent based products, flammable products, low VOC’s, etc. are the wave of the future.”

Tom Guilfoyle, national accounts manager for Chicago Adhesive Co. ( CHAPCO), said, “this is one of the reasons why so many of the mills, with the private label adhesive, sell it under their own name are pushing that their glues be used. Because they only buy premium adhesive, that way they know the proper quality of glue is being used. If you are installing ActionBac carpet, for example, you really don’t need the most expensive adhesive out there.

“On the other hand,” he explained, “if you are installing wiltons or Axeminsters or woven back carpet, it doesn’t make sense to put it in with $12-a-pail glue. If you are spending premium money for the floor covering, you should be putting that it with a premium adhesive to make sure you don’t have a problem.

“The first thing we’d like the mechanics to know about our products is,” added Guilfoyle, “we are very actively involved with the Carpet & Rug Institute (CRI) in getting several of our adhesives certified for the Green Label Plus program. Our adhesives are as environmentally friendly as they can be and as environmentally friendly as you can buy. Number two, we have many different products with different working characteristics, so depending upon what the mechanic is lookng for, or what he is installing, we’ve got adhesives to fit his needs, to make his job easier and to yield a better end result.”

“There are two things [some] installers mess up on more than anything else,” said Benny Wood, president of Advanced Adhesive Technology ( AAT). “They try to go with a cheaper glue, and they try to skimp on the application. If they would go with the manufacturer’s recommendations, or the adhesive manufacturer’s recommendations, with the appropriate amount of glue per application, there would be virtually no problems out there in the field.

“Most every manufacturer of adhesive in the industry builds its product 25% to 30% better than it needs to be,” he explained. “We do that because we have to compensate for inadequacies in the subfloor, and in the trowel. Once you start troweling adhesive on the floor, you can have the best glue in the world, if the mechanic doesn’t renotch that trowel and keep the depth correct, you’re going to have a failure [coming soon].”

“With today’s environmental adhesives, they are better than they ever have been,” added Wood. “The old adage of, ‘The old glues with solvent-containing glues were better,’ is totally wrong. The glues today are 100% better than they were 12 to 15 years ago, and their green aspects have only made the industry better.”

Barry Minter, senior sales executive for APAC, agreed with Wood, saying, “I want to cover the subject, so I want to use the best product available. Not only that, but I want to use the proper amount. I find that if you are going to skimp on adhesive, you might get away with it if you use plenty of it, if you’re using an inferior product.

“The tendency for the guys trying to save money is they use an inferior, less expensive product, and a smaller trowel,” he explained, “and then they end up shooting themselves in the foot. So, if you are going to skimp on price point, than use plenty of it. If you are going to use a good product and plenty of it, you’ve got plenty of insurance, you’re not going to be going back.”

Michelle Swiniarski, floor covering installation system product manager for Mapei, noted, “As far as the product’s performance with a premium product, you are getting more performance characteristics and typically you’re working on a commercial-type job site. So you are wanting high performance that is going to be able to withstand a load with heavy traffic. So those types of charactertics and properties are built into the premium adhesive for long-term performance.

“When you are looking at the other side of it,” she explained, “you are looking for more short-term performance, less traffic loads, and you don’t have the same type of characteristics. Even though you may open a bucket of adhesive, and they look the same, what you don’t see is the long-tem performance and the abuse the adhesive can withstand.”

“I highly recommend using the best quality products no matter what adhesive is used,” said Seth Pevarnik, manager of tehnical service for Ardex/Henry. “You’ve got more and more owners who are looking for installations to be long-term, so it is important for the contractor to use the quality products that are going to be a permanent install for the floor coverings being used.”

Wally Giambastiani, marketing development manager for ParaChem, said, “it is always good to use premium products that are used for those types of floorings because they can do more if the installer does make cuts on the job. You don’t want him to do that, but with all these new products out there, and the new backings on carpets, they have to use specialized adhesives that will do those things. Premium products have richer chemicals in there that will get the installer out of trouble.”

“Training is an ongoing thing,” said Guilfoyle, “and it could always be better. I don’t mean this to sound like an advertisement but, the people who are doing the best job of training is the INSTALL program. They do a fabulous job. Some of the various mills do a good job, but what they teach is specific to the products they are trying to sell in the marketplace. The INSTALL program covers the whole spectrum of floor covering, and it takes four years to go through its program, and, at the end you are a very, very good mechanic.”

“The installer needs to understand that the glue companies today have a better rapport with the flooring mills,” said Wood, “and that we get advance notice of new products coming out from the mills so we have time to build or adjust an adhesive that will work with that product. If you put a 20-year wood floor down, you can rest assured knowing that adhesive is designed to work for 20-plus years, same with carpet, tile or anything else today.

“The training today needs to be improved by the mere fact that the installers need to understand that if they will listen to the manufacturers, whether it be an adhesive manufacturer or a tile producer or a carpet mill, that they are going to get the information as best as can be possibly determined that will give them the opportunity to put it down. When it comes to moisture or pH testing or trowel size or anything else, they are going to get a better, trouble-free installation, and that’s money to everybody.”
—Louis Iannaco