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What are Building Adhesives?
Building adhesives, also known as construction adhesives, are essentially strong, water-resistant glues used in various applications to bond common construction materials. Some types of building adhesives are explicitly designed for one purpose. In contrast, other generic adhesives can bond to multiple materials such as foam board, plywood, and fiberglass. Building adhesives can be used in projects such as laying carpet or ceramic tiles, countertop and drywall lamination, flooring underlay, connecting your heating, ventilation, air conditioning parts, prefab panels, wall coverings, timber jointing, roofing, etc.
The specific composition of each building adhesive will depend on its intended use. However, most building adhesives include various common ingredients such as clay, cement, acrylic resin, polyurethane monomers, styrene-butadiene rubber, hexane, and other nonpolar solvents and multiple initiators and functional additives. Though it is possible to find construction adhesives in tubs or jars, they are most often sold in tubes designed used in a caulking gun. The packaging for the building adhesive product you purchase will most likely explain the exact ingredients, the intended use of the product, and which construction materials it best adheres to.
What Types of Home Construction Adhesives Are Available?
Some of the different types of construction adhesives available include:
- Caulking
- Tile Adhesive
- Wood Adhesive
- Plumbing Adhesive
- Epoxies, and
- Contact Cement
What Is Caulking?
Caulking is made of either acrylic, latex, or silicone (or a combination of all three). These adhesives are used to seal joints or seams in various applications where two different building mediums or materials meet. Window and door caulk, for example, is designed for use around door and window frames. Similarly, tub and tile caulk is intended for use in bathrooms or kitchens where sinks, tubs, and showers meet the surrounding building materials. Caulking plays an essential role in sealing joints or seams against air and water leakage in various structures and piping.
What Is Tile Adhesive?
Tile adhesive is a specific type of construction adhesive is used solely to install tiles for either floors or walls. Tile adhesive comes as a ready-made mixture. The main ingredients are Portland cement and polymers such as epoxy.
What Is Wood Adhesive?
Wood adhesives, or wood glues, allow builders, carpenters, and homeowners to attach wood pieces while simultaneously restraining the expansion and contraction that comes with wood's inherent moisture retention. There are dozens of different wood adhesives, from industrial-strength products to household products like "Liquid Nail" that can be used for repairing a loose MDF cabinet panel. When choosing the best wood adhesive, you need to determine what you want to bond or adhere to. Traditional wood glues, known as PVAs, are great for wood-to-wood bonding but do not bond very well to other materials such as metal. On the other hand, polyurethane-based wood adhesives make it easy to adhere wood products to wood, stone, ceramic, plastic, and metal surfaces.
What Is Plumbing Adhesive?
Plumbing adhesive is specifically designed for sealing leaks, repairing tears, securing tiles, and other common repairs to our homes' plumbing fixtures and tubing. Plumbing adhesive is generally one of the more substantial types of construction adhesives. Not only is it obviously waterproof, but it can also be used to bond different materials commonly used in plumbing installations, such as aluminum, metal, copper, brass, ABS, PVC, fiberglass, and tile.
What Is Epoxy?
For smaller, all-purpose home renovation projects, epoxies are a helpful type of construction adhesive. It is made from a mixture of resin and a hardener and is exceptionally durable. It can bond different materials in extreme conditions. You can also use epoxy for filling gaps in wood.
What Is Contact Cement?
Most construction adhesives will take somewhere between 12 and 24 hours to completely dry. If you need a quick bond, contact cement is a unique building adhesive in that it will completely dry in as little as 15 to 20 minutes. Contact cement is best used on non-porous surfaces. It can resist heat, weather, grease, oil, and other household chemicals.
Are Building Adhesives Healthy?
Building adhesives are most likely involved in every part of your home construction. When used correctly, they act as the "glue" that attaches the different building materials into a structurally solid and airtight finished product. Unfortunately, many building adhesive products contain SVOCs (semi-volatile organic compounds), releasing harmful chemicals over an extended period into your home's indoor air. These compounds are often considered more dangerous than regular VOCs because they can seep into your home for many months or years.
Some of the stronger construction adhesives (like epoxy resin) might contain trace levels of bisphenol A (BPA). This chemical has been shown to cause serious health effects such as damage to the endocrine system.
Are Healthier Building Adhesives Available?
Fortunately, homeowners can find building adhesives that do not contain harmful VOCs or SVOCs. Make sure to look for adhesive products that are specifically labeled as no-VOC or low-VOC. Researchers are continually looking for ways to use natural resins as a healthier substitute for some commonly used building adhesives. For example, one group of scientists is experimenting with creating a strong epoxy resin made from syringaresinol, a naturally occurring and non-endocrine-disrupting bisphenol found in certain types of Magnolia trees. Soon, plant-based resins and adhesives might become increasingly available.
Tobias Roberts
Tobias runs an agroecology farm and a natural building collective in the mountains of El Salvador. He specializes in earthen construction methods and uses permaculture design methods to integrate structures into the sustainability of the landscape.
