TrafficMaster Flooring Is Not Sticking

Floor Prep

• One of the first steps to any flooring project is to ensure the subfloor is properly cleaned prior to installation. Any dirt or debris left behind impedes the adhesives for laminate material from bonding to the surface of the floor. This is one of the most common reasons why a glue-down product does not stick. Before you begin an installation, the floor should be completely scraped as well as swept and vacuumed. For best results, the floor also should be mopped and allowed to dry for 48 hours. To fix the issue in an existing installation, remove the loose tiles and clean the floor, then reinstall new tiles in their place.

Primer

• Although primer is not required of every single installation, it is a good idea to use it on all installations. It is similar to car insurance in the sense that you might not need it, but it helps if you have it just in case. In some cases, lack of a primer is what keeps the glue from adhering to the surface, especially in the case of self-adhesive tiles and laminates that are not installed in a bed of troweled-on glue, but instead rely on a thin layer of glue on the backs of the individual pieces. The primer acts as a bonding agent, attaching itself to the installation surface and providing an extra level of adhesion for the laminate.

Water Damage

• Another common reason for laminate materials to not stick to the installation surface is the presence of too much moisture or water. This happens in several situations. One case is of existing installations where water damage occurs as a result of a natural disaster such as a broken pipe, or a flood where water floods the installation and breaks the bond with the glue. The second situation is when you are installing on top of a concrete slab that contains too high of a moisture level, leading to glue that does not bond with the slab completely, resulting in material that pops up from the surface. Also, when a concrete slab is not allowed sufficient drying time after being poured -- a slab needs at least a month of curing before installing a surface material -- the moisture within the slab interacts with the glue. All surfaces must be allowed to dry before installation of a glue-down laminate material can be done.

Freezing

• One of the reasons temperature control is so important during installation of finished products is so the adhesives have time to properly dry and cure. If a laminate glue is allowed to freeze during the drying part of the installation, the results are individual pieces that pop up from the floor because they never had a chance to fully bond. This is why it is vital to maintain at least 50 degrees of internal temperature on all installations that require some form of an adhesive. Space heaters are the only solution in new home construction, while the HVAC system of an existing home suffices for temperature control.