Should I glue down engineered herringbone flooring or float it?
While floating is sometimes recommended by suppliers for ease, gluing down engineered herringbone offers superior durability, sound reduction, and long-term wear resistance. Choosing to glue ensures the floor feels solid underfoot and holds up better during future repairs or refinishing.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Floating the floor instead of gluing itDid this help you?
- 2removing carpet and foam adhesiveDid this help you?
- 3cleaning with Krud Kutter and non-scratch scour padsDid this help you?
- 4using Bona hardwood cleanerDid this help you?
- 5considering a test area in a closetDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“First-time home buyer here seeking advice. 60s ranch, ~950 square feet of HWF: 2br, living room + dining area. We spent last week removing carpet and foam/adhesive that had been there for decades. The flooring looks great and has been well preserved!”source ↗
“Considering a DIY water-based polyurethane finish with these goals: protect floors/maintain current condition + same look. Because of the condition, I don't feel sanding is necessary, and I could end up doing more harm than good renting a sander. Could the original finish still be serving its protective purpose?”source ↗
“Really, are we overthinking and could the original finish still be doing its job?”source ↗
“I’d be hard pressed NOT gluing a nice herring bone floor”source ↗
“Glue it. Better for wear, sound, repair, refinish, install”source ↗
“Ordered engineered herringbone to fit in bedroom (upstairs). Supplier says this particular board can be glued or floated fit but advised the latter. However reading a lot that glue down is way better - is that true?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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