Hi All. Just about to get deep into a DIY project, using 1/2"x5" engineered maple planks on a concrete subfloor and hoping someone may have some wisdom.

I'm laying a total of ~800sf. 100sf of that is wood/tile mix for which I'm using Bostik's Best to secure the engineered planks to the concrete. Originally, I had planned on gluing the entire floor, since I knew the section mixed with tile would necessitate gluing. In addition, my wife and I don't care for the "bounce" in floated floors; makes the floor feel cheaper in my opinion. After pricing out Bostik's Best for 800sf, I started looking for a more affordable solution. Floating the other 700sf of my floor seems to be an option, but it's raised some questions:

- Any major issues with gluing one section of floor and floating another section of the same floor in the same room? The plan is to use a foam underlayment under the floated section that is approximately the same height of the glue under the glued section.

- How can I reduce the "bounce" in floated floors so the transition from glued flooring isn't painfully obvious?

- If this is all a bad idea and I should just glue the whole floor, is there another glue I can trust that is reasonably priced?

Thanks for any help.

-Greg

You can if you split the installation, with a T molding.

Have you looked at the cost of Taylor 2071 wood flooring adhesive.

It is around $15-$20 a gallon, depending where you buy it. It is great to work with and has higher moisture limits then Bostik's.

Thanks for the reply.



Is that because of the difficulty of getting the transition from glue to foam smooth? A T-molding down the middle of my space would be a deal-breaker.



No I haven't. I've limited my search to my floor manufacture's recommended glues that don't void the warranty which are:
Bostik: Bostik Best, BST or EFA,
Franklin: Franklin Advantage 811
Sika: Sika bound T-54 or T-55

Bostik BST was just a little more affordable. When I asked my local floor place here about Bostik EFA, the guy said, "No one uses that in northern California". Not sure why.

Taylor 2071 will not void any warranties, nor will any wood flooring adhesive.

It is because the floating floor needs to float. Locking it in on one side, is not how the floor was designed to function. In all likelyhood, it will split apart at the end of the glue.