Shoutout to the guy at the supply house who talked me into trying a 4 inch roller for glue down

I was picking up adhesive for a vinyl plank job in Springfield and overheard him telling another installer to skip the trowel and use a short nap roller instead. I tried it on a small bathroom floor last week and the bond was way more even with less squeeze out. Anyone else switch from a trowel to a roller for certain glue applications?

4 comments

4 Comments

knight.uma1mo ago

Yeah, the even bond thing is real. Switched to a roller for sheet vinyl last year and never looked back.

noahs371mo ago

Man, tell me about it. I fought that trowel for years, always getting those stupid ridges that wouldn't lay flat. What finally clicked for me was just using a thicker nap roller, like a half inch. It slaps down so much glue so fast and even, you just can't mess it up. The floor sticks everywhere at once, no bubbles, no dry spots. It feels like cheating after all that trowel struggle.

dylan4631mo ago

I've wasted so much good glue with a trowel, I could have opened my own supply house.

felixhenderson13d ago

Rollers are a game changer for cold weather installs too. That trowel glue gets thick and gummy below 60 degrees, you end up fighting it and leaving bare spots. A 3/8 nap roller pushes it down smooth no matter what. Saved my butt on a January basement job where the heat wasn't on yet.