Aquaflex Adhesive

1. Certifications Not Required- Aquaflex Challenges Industry Norms

In the late 90’s, manufacturers of flooring in an effort to improve indoor air quality replaced solvent-born flooring adhesives with water-based formulations. A noble idea, but one that has ultimately resulted in millions of dollars in claims due to adhesive failure.

Q: How has the flooring industry responded?

A: Not by fixing moisture sensitive adhesive, but rather offering the industry another product to buy in the form of a 2-part epoxy concrete moisture barrier.

If the material used to adhere flooring is affected by excessive concrete moisture and pH; then why develop a costly protective barrier product that can add over $5.00/sf and delay projects for weeks? Instead, why not make the moisture sensitive adhesives simply WATERPROOF.  A waterproof adhesive doesn’t require moisture mitigation.  In fact, it doesn’t even require moisture testing.

Flooring adhesives weren’t always sensitive to moisture.  For 150 years, floors were installed with “Cut-Back” adhesive without moisture issues.  The reason “Cut-Back” worked so well was the fact it was inherently WATERPROOF.  Ever get the feeling that the flooring industry created the adhesive failure issue in the first place?  Moisture failures of flooring represents the literal definition of engineered obsolescence.  Additionally, moisture failures have given rise to an entire cottage industry of moisture consultants, with subsequent litigation, moisture meters, moisture testing, ASTM tests, project delays, change orders for mitigation, more failures, etc. The industry acts like concrete is some new discovery and we’re just now learning how to install over it.

At Aquaflex we believe the best, most direct way to avoid moisture related issues is to concentrate our efforts on fixing what’s broken.  Make the adhesive and concrete repair products waterproof like they should be… like they used to be. That’s all we did. That’s what our patent says. Our system is Aquaflex… it works great and we have millions of square feet installed to prove it.

2. Save Time, Save Money and Get Your Project Back On Schedule

If a standard installation requires: floor prep, adhesive application and setting of flooring materials; then any additional process or application will involve more time and money. Why put yourself through the agony when all you need is a waterproof glue?

Q: Do we certify installers?

A: Certification implies the process requires some extra measure of expertise or effort. Aquaflex doesn’t require the installer to do anything he didn’t do the week before; prep, spread, set and roll.

The installation of Aquaflex is nearly identical to standard adhesive. Simply trowel over SMOOTH, POROUS, CLEAN concrete, set the flooring wet. We’ve developed over the years a Modified Wet-Set Process that’s fast and perfectly suited for commercial installation. Ready for retail foot traffic and light rolling loads in less than 3hrs.

3. Aquaflex is an Acoustic Solution!

Delta IIC – Delta IIC tests the impact insulation difference between a bare concrete subfloor with no flooring materials and the same concrete subfloor with just flooring underlayment. The difference (Delta) between those two values is the Delta IIC. A Delta IIC test is the best way to compare the sound absorption of an acoustic system because the result is independent of construction.  You don’t have to worry about satisfying a certain slab thickness, ceiling height or application condition. The higher the number, the better the performance. Aquaflex not only eliminates failures due to concrete moisture, but also makes for a quieter occupied space.

Aquaflex scores a ΔIIC 14, using our patented CBD notch trowel (1/32″ x 1/16″ x 9/64″) applying half the adhesive of a standard VCT notch!

By comparison,

*Acoustic studies were conducted by Intertek-ATI in accordance with ASTM E90-09, ASTM E413-16, ASTM E492-09, ASTME989-06 and ASTM E2235-04 respectively. TAJ provided the Select Planks/Royal Maple 3mm, 6” x 36” plank for testing. The results, reported by Intertek, were surprising considering the application of the Aquaflex® adhesive utilized the Gundlach CBD trowel (also developed by Formulators) having a 9/64” notch spread compared to typical LVT adhesives using a 5/64” notch spread. The 9/64” notch uses about half the adhesive versus the 5/64” notch.

4. Aquaflex – the “All-In-One” Solution

Why question if one manufacturers concrete repair product is compatible with another manufacturers adhesive or a third manufacturers flooring. We’ve taken the time and effort to create the whole package. When you purchase Aquaflex you’ll receive the adhesive, concrete repair material, trowels, trowel handles, adhesive remover, a scratch-less abrasive sponge and all the free hand-holding from our technical staff that you’ll ever need.

Q: What demonstrates professional expertise better than a company who has patented and innovated industry leading chemistry in every facet of the flooring installation?

A: Aquaflex is the ONLY patented WATERPROOF flooring installation system in the world. We offer our products priced all-inclusive at a cost per square foot. We want to see your project succeed and we will work with you until completion. Our technical staff has combined over 100yrs of industry experience.

5. Be GREEN, Be Environmentally Safe, Be RED LIST Free

All that is required to formulate and produce environmentally sensitive installation materials is a few good ideas and time invested in the lab. Just as the iPhone has evolved over the years, so too has adhesive chemistry. Raw materials are available today that didn’t exist five years ago. At Aquaflkex, we’re never satisfied and continually evolving every aspect of our product line.

• EASY… No shot-blast, just make the slab SMOOTH, POROUS and CLEAN
• DEACTIVATED… our newest patent pending innovation, extending our shelf life beyond 12 months!
• FAST… activate and simply spread, set and roll
• TROWEL HAND… like spreading warm butter!
• GREEN… Aquaflex is GREEN, non-hazardous, having BIO-BASED and sustainable content
• LEED… Aquaflex will qualify, see our Resources page for more info
• SAFE… Aquaflex passes CHPS IAQ 01350 with flying colors
• RED LIST FREE… registered and certified by ILFI
• ZERO “0” VOC… Aquaflex is “0” zero VOC when measured by ASTM D6886
• EXTENDED WORKING TIME… up to 90mins of “working time” to set tile
• UNIVERSAL… works with any flooring tile material, rubber to VCT to LVT to carpet tile to vinyl sheet
• PERFORMANCE… warranted to an UNLIMITED moisture level, top to bottom
• WARRANTED… we offer the ONLY warranty in the industry with moisture testing NOT REQUIRED!

See Our Green Certification

6. The Only Top to Bottom, 100% Moisture Warranty in Flooring

Don’t settle for spending over of $5.00/sf and only receive a warranty from moisture failure in one direction. Moisture creates failures bi-directionally, from the top and bottom. Aquaflex is the only warranted, two-sided solution in the world. Yes, that’s right, even if the floor floods, your warranty is enforce. WATERPROOF means waterproof. As an extra measure of assurance, we’ve backed our warranty with a $4 million per incident liability policy against moisture failure. Ask our competitors if they will do the same and wait for the talking points to shift. We now have over a dozen domestic and international patents related to polymer design and formulation. We have a full in-house analytic lab  and can produce analysis to rival the biggest companies in the business.  This isn’t pie-in-the-sky or snake oil. Aquaflex is the real deal.

Know your rights…

We’ve all heard the claim that some flooring manufacturer, somewhere, will not honor their “advertised warranty” if an alternate adhesive is used. There is a problem with this practice, IT DOESN’T SQUARE WITH FEDERAL LAW. Flooring manufacturers DO NOT produce adhesive. Rather, they resell adhesive just like any distributor. Combining one manufacturer’s warranty for flooring with another manufacturers adhesive warranty is called a “Tie-In” warranty. It’s been against the law since 1975 with passage of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, (A Federal statute that was enacted by congress to protect consumer warranties provided by manufacturers).  Aquaflex supersedes ANY AND ALL manufacturer’s warranty for bond.