Picking up that trowel may be the worst idea you ever had on some jobs.  A government client had a rush requirement to furnish and install 1,400 yards of broadloom, action-back carpet in high security areas where there were large number of heavy file cabinets and safes.  At the site inspection, which was limited in scope due to security, it appeared that the direct glued broadloom would easily release from the tile-covered substrate.  Alas, when it came time to do the job, the carpet released just fine, taking most of the asbestos tile with it.  The job was immediately shut down by the government.  

The contractor was asked to take a fresh look at the problem:  How to quickly carpet the area without disturbing the old asbestos flooring or the old carpet. After inspecting all the areas, the senior project manager remembered a recent presentation by Tex Stil Concepts about a new imported product called Sigaway Original, a woven scrim with a dry adhesive (similar to double-faced tape) that could be used to bond carpet to carpet and other flooring materials to a variety of surfaces.  The distributor was contacted for samples and a bond test was done between the old carpet and the new.  By following specific directions for installation, complete lateral stability was achieved!  The government client was pleased because the project could resume, no asbestos abatement had to be done, and they could move heavy safes with no problem.  

A hospital had decided to install new stair treads in several stairwells but was quite concerned with the smell of contact adhesive that was to be used for treads and other transition strips for flooring.  The winning proposal came from a flooring contractor who had the perfect solution:  Install all treads with an odorless, dry adhesive film applied to the concrete steps and risers which allowed immediate traffic after the treads were installed.  The contractor also included a similar material to bond some 300 linear feet of transition strips.  No odor, no clean up, no down time waiting for adhesive set up.  

An electronics manufacturer wanted a quick way to install some ESD tile flooring in a new manufacturing area that had an epoxy floor.  Since they were leasing the building, they were concerned with “returning the building to pre-lease condition” upon lease expiration, so “shot-blasting” the epoxy was not an option.  The solution was a thorough cleaning of the epoxy floor, the application of a conductive woven dry adhesive scrim with grounding strips and the ESD tile installation.  

We’ve all heard of double-faced tape and used it with varying degrees of success.  The newer contact adhesive film products and woven dry adhesive scrims work extremely well and are designed to adhere carpet, carpet tile, vinyl tile, cove base, transition strips, and wide variety of other flooring and accessories to many different surfaces.  Yes, you have to look at the cost and balance the ease of use and speed of installation with liquid adhesive unit prices and their drying time.  No, it doesn’t make sense for some applications.  What does make sense is to add this type of product to your arsenal of products; who knows, you may just land your next installation job because you offered a non-wet adhesive to solve a problem.