The planning of installations is essential to cost control. Without it waste and delays creep into the work. In time this can cause failures as the installer speeds up his work to cut his losses. With adhesives, it is important to schedule the work so that the correct adhesive will be used properly and perform as expected.

In spite of its importance, careful planning is not nearly as common as it should be. Inferior and/or incorrect materials are often used on jobs and cause problems. There seems to be three main reasons why the wrong product is purchased:

Usually, the adhesive cost is a very small part of the total cost of the installation. Therefore, “cheap” adhesive doesn’t represent a large savings. My experience has been that below a certain cost level, it is not chemically possible to manufacture consistent, reliable, satisfactory adhesive. Concern about price is often self defeating, and can result in call-backs that are far more expensive. Cheaper adhesives usually have more filler in them, rather than more additives to assist with bonding. Higher filled adhesives also have lower moisture resistance because they have more filler in them than additives. Also, what is the spread rate of the cheap adhesive compared to a higher priced adhesive? Must I use twice the notching to achieve what I need to do? Is that cheaper adhesive really cheaper now? Cheaper adhesives generally have Does using someone else’s low end adhesive void the flooring manufacturers’ warranty? For example, I am installing Armstrong VCT and have chosen a lower cost adhesive, Chapco 775 rather than the recommended and warranted adhesive Armstrong S-515 or S-521 Adhesive. Let’s compare the working attributes of both adhesives;