Stuck between tack strip and glue for a concrete slab job

Had a 1,200 sqft basement in Denver last month. Concrete floor, no moisture issues. I picked glue because I hate hammering pins into hard concrete. Seemed faster but the glue smell hung around for 3 days. Client wasn't thrilled. What do you guys usually do on concrete?

2 comments

2 Comments

miam119d ago

Huh did you try using one of those hammer tackers with the actual concrete pins? My buddy had a similar basement job a few months back and he swore by the tack strip method after his glue job went sideways. He said the smell was awful but also the glue took forever to fully set and the floor had this weird tacky feel for like a week. He ended up having to put fans down there to air it out before the carpet could go in.

ericp679d ago

You're forgetting about the concrete itself. Denver concrete is usually a nightmare because of the aggregate they use out there. That Rocky Mountain gravel is sharp and dense, it eats up hammer tacker pins. I had a job in Colorado Springs last year and we ended up using a rotohammer with a pin driver attachment for the tack strip. Drilled pilot holes first. Took a bit longer but the strip stayed put solid. No glue smell at all. The glue curing time is a real problem in basements too because the concrete stays cold even when there's no moisture issues. The cold slows down the cure way more than people expect.