3 years ago I swore by subfloor adhesive, now I skip it entirely

I used to glue every single sheet of plywood down on floor jobs here in Portland, thinking it was the only way to stop squeaks. Last week I watched a framer lay a whole 1500 sq ft floor with just ring shank nails and no glue at all, and it came out dead quiet. Anybody else ditch the glue or am I just getting lucky so far?

2 comments

2 Comments

noahward1mo ago

Actually the ring shank nails are doing most of the work there, not just luck. A 2 inch ring shank has way more holding power than most people give it credit for, especially in plywood. The real trick is making sure your joists are dry and flat before you lay anything down. I'd still use glue on a second layer like over old plank subfloors though, just to fill gaps.

sage_fox1mo ago

We glued everything back in the day too... until I watched a guy glue his hand to the subfloor.