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At a Glance: Key Applications
Use Unobond for: High-end joinery and cabinet making, exterior woodwork, structural timber framing, fixing tongue & groove flooring, and waterproof bonding in marine fit-outs.
Unobond: A Technical Overview
Unobond is a single-component, structural-grade polyurethane construction adhesive engineered specifically for timber trade professionals. It utilises moisture from the substrate or atmosphere to trigger a curing reaction, forming a powerful, rigid, and highly water-resistant bond that qualifies for the stringent D4 classification. Engineered for performance, Unobond features a slight expansion during cure, which allows it to fill minor irregularities and gaps, ensuring a solid, void-free bond line. Its excellent adhesion to a vast range of common building materials makes it an indispensable tool for carpenters, joiners, builders, and marine fabricators who require a reliable, fast-setting, and waterproof structural adhesive.
Comparative Performance Overview
| Metric | Unobond | Standard D3 PVA Glue | Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water Resistance | D4 Classification | D3 Classification | Offers superior water resistance suitable for exterior use and frequent long-term exposure to running water, where D3 glues would fail. |
| Cure Speed | 30 Min Initial Set | 2-4 Hours | Dramatically reduces clamping time, allowing for faster assembly and project turnaround. Full strength is achieved in 24 hours. |
| Substrate Versatility | Bonds Wood, Metal, Plastic, Masonry | Primarily Wood | Provides a powerful bond across an extremely wide range of dissimilar materials, making it a highly versatile, single-product solution. |
| Gap Filling | Yes (Slight Expansion) | No | Expands slightly during cure to fill minor surface irregularities and gaps, ensuring a more complete and solid bond line. |
Using Unobond in a Complete System
Unobond's performance relies on correct system application. As a moisture-curing adhesive, it requires one of the two bonded surfaces to contain moisture (e.g., timber, concrete, plasterboard). When bonding two non-porous materials, a very light mist of water on one surface is necessary to initiate the cure. For maximum bond strength, consistent pressure must be applied via clamping, screwing, or nailing during the initial 30-minute set time. This ensures close contact and manages the slight expansion, resulting in a dense, powerful, and fully integrated bond line. Its cured state is compatible with most paints and coatings, though testing is always recommended.
Common failure prevention information
Prevents Moisture-Related Bond Failure
Achieving the EN 204 D4 classification for water resistance means Unobond creates bonds that withstand long-term exposure to moisture, humidity, and weathering. This prevents delamination in exterior woodwork, marine craft, and wet area fit-outs where lesser adhesives would fail.
Eliminates Floor Squeaks
When applied into the tongue and groove of flooring panels, the adhesive's slight expansion takes up any micro-voids within the joint. This creates a solid, unified structure that prevents the panel movement and friction that cause squeaking, resulting in a silent, stable floor.
Ensures Strong Bonds on Uneven Surfaces
The controlled expansion during the cure allows Unobond to fill minor gaps and irregularities between two substrates. This ensures a larger effective bonding area and a more solid connection, preventing weak spots that can occur with non-foaming adhesives on imperfectly matched surfaces.
Core Features & Specifications
- D4 Water Resistance: Achieves the highest water resistance rating (EN 204), making it ideal for exterior timber structures, marine applications, and wet area joinery.
- Superior Bond Strength: A structural-grade adhesive providing immense tear resistance up to 130kg/cm² for powerful, permanent bonds.
- Fast Setting: Reaches an initial set in 30 minutes with a skinning time of just 10 minutes, significantly reducing clamping time and speeding up assembly.
- Extremely Versatile Adhesion: Bonds an incredible range of materials including wood, metals, foams, concrete, masonry, and many plastics to themselves or each other.
- Slight Expansion: Foams slightly during cure to fill small gaps and surface imperfections, ensuring a solid, void-free bond line for maximum strength.
- Temperature Resistant: Performs reliably across a wide service temperature range of -30°C to 100°C, ensuring bond integrity in all Australian climates.
The Unobond Advantage
- Build Faster, Not Harder: Slash clamping and assembly times with a 30-minute initial set, allowing you to move onto the next stage of your project sooner.
- Use One Adhesive for Multiple Tasks: Replace multiple products in your toolkit with one extremely versatile adhesive that bonds nearly all common building materials.
- Guarantee Weatherproof Bonds: Use with confidence on exterior projects. The D4 waterproof rating ensures your work will withstand rain, humidity, and weathering without failing.
- Achieve a Rock-Solid Result: The combination of extreme strength and slight gap-filling expansion delivers a powerful, rigid, and reliable structural bond every time.
Applications in Practice: Trade Scenarios
For Joiners & Cabinet Makers: Assembling High-End Kitchen & Vanity Units
The Engineering Challenge: Creating imperceptible, structural, and completely waterproof joints in cabinetry destined for wet areas. The bond must not fail or swell from long-term exposure to moisture and humidity.
The System-Based Solution with Unobond: Unobond's D4 classification provides total peace of mind for wet area joinery. Its controlled, slight expansion ensures mitres and joints are filled completely for maximum rigidity, while its rapid 30-minute set time allows for faster workshop throughput. It provides a structural bond for timber, particleboard, and laminates, ensuring lasting quality.
Best Practice Note: Apply a thin, consistent bead. When clamped, any excess squeeze-out will foam slightly. Allow it to cure fully before cleanly removing it with a sharp chisel for a perfect, invisible glue line.
For Carpenters & Builders: On-Site Structural Framing & Flooring
The Engineering Challenge: Achieving a structural bond on framing timbers and subfloors quickly and reliably on a busy building site, and eliminating the risk of costly call-backs for floor squeaks.
The System-Based Solution with Unobond: Unobond's extreme versatility allows it to bond timber joists to particleboard, concrete slabs, or steel bearers. Its fast set time means subfloors can be fixed and walked on sooner. When used on tongue & groove flooring, its expansion locks the joint solid, permanently preventing the movement that causes squeaks.
Best Practice Note: On-site, ensure surfaces are free from dust and debris for the best bond. A quick brush or wipe is sufficient. Ensure panels are fixed with nails or screws to apply consistent pressure as the adhesive cures.
For Marine Fabricators & Woodworkers: Crafting Exterior & Marine Projects
The Engineering Challenge: Constructing timber components for boats or outdoor furniture that can withstand constant exposure to water, UV, and salt spray without any joint failure or delamination.
The System-Based Solution with Unobond: The D4 waterproof rating is essential for marine environments. Unobond creates a bond that is stronger than the wood itself and is unaffected by temperature cycles or moisture, making it the ultimate choice for laminating, joinery, and structural assembly in boat building and high-quality exterior furniture.
Best Practice Note: For maximum water resistance in end-grain joints, ensure the adhesive is worked well into the timber. A firm clamping pressure for at least one hour is critical to ensure a dense, impermeable bond line capable of handling the rigours of a marine environment.
Certifications & Regulatory Compliance
Unobond is engineered to meet the highest standards for wood adhesives, providing verifiable performance for professional applications.
- EN 204 D4 Classification: This is the highest level of water resistance for non-structural wood adhesives under the European standard. A D4 rating certifies the bond for interior use with frequent long-term exposure to running or condensed water, and for exterior use exposed to weather, provided the bond is protected by a suitable surface coating.
Storage & Shelf Life Considerations
Unobond has a minimum shelf life of 12 months when stored in original, unopened containers. For maximum performance and shelf life, store cartridges in a cool, dry place between 15°C and 25°C, away from direct sunlight. As a moisture-curing product, ensure the cap is replaced tightly after use to prevent the adhesive inside the nozzle from curing.
Frequently Asked Questions About Unobond
Q: Why does Unobond foam or expand during cure? Is this normal?
A: Yes, this is a normal and beneficial feature. Unobond is a moisture-curing polyurethane, and the slight expansion is part of its curing reaction. This foaming action helps to fill small gaps and irregularities between the substrates you are bonding, ensuring a more complete, solid bond line with no voids.
Q: Can I use this to glue two non-porous materials, like two pieces of sheet metal, together?
A: Unobond needs moisture to cure properly. While it has excellent adhesion to metal, bonding two non-porous surfaces will be very slow as it can only draw moisture from the air. For a strong, fast cure in this scenario, you must apply a very fine mist of water to one of the surfaces before bringing them together.
Q: What does the D4 water resistance classification actually mean for my job?
A: D4 is the highest water resistance rating under the key European standard EN 204. It certifies that the bond can withstand frequent, long-term exposure to running water and weathering. This makes it the correct choice for jobs like exterior furniture, window frames, and marine applications where other glues like D3 PVA would eventually fail.
Q: How important is clamping? Can I just hold it in place?
A: Clamping is essential to achieve maximum bond strength. While the pressure doesn't need to be extreme, consistent pressure from clamps, screws, or nails for at least 30-60 minutes is required. This keeps the surfaces in intimate contact during the initial set and controls the slight expansion for the strongest possible bond.
Applications & Benefits
| Application / Use Case | Key Benefit | Primary Trades |
|---|---|---|
| Exterior woodwork (furniture, pergolas, frames) | D4 water resistance ensures the bond will not fail due to constant weather exposure. | Carpenters, Joiners, Woodworkers |
| Marine fit-outs and repairs (above waterline) | Creates a structural, highly water-resistant bond suitable for demanding marine environments. | Marine Fabricators, Boat Builders |
| Bonding tongue & groove flooring panels | Slight expansion fills all voids, creating a solid, locked-in floor system that eliminates squeaks. | Carpenters, Builders, Flooring Installers |
| Bonding dissimilar materials (e.g., metal to timber) | Extremely versatile adhesion profile allows for structural bonding without mechanical fasteners. | Builders, Carpenters, Fabricators |
| Structural assembly of cabinetry and frames | Fast 30-minute set time and high final strength speeds up production and assembly work. | Cabinet Makers, Joiners, Builders |
Applying Unobond: Protocols & Best Practices
General Application Steps:- Preparation: Ensure surfaces are prepared as per the Adhesion & Preparation Guide. Surfaces must be clean, even, and free from grease or loose particles. Remember one surface must contain moisture.
- Application: Cut the nozzle and apply a bead of Unobond to one of the surfaces using a standard cartridge gun. Apply enough adhesive to ensure coverage after clamping (120 to 250gm/m²).
- Assembly & Clamping: Immediately bring the two substrates together. Apply consistent pressure across the entire surface by clamping, screwing, or nailing. This is critical for achieving maximum bond strength.
- Curing: Maintain pressure for a minimum of 30-60 minutes while the adhesive completes its initial set. The adhesive will expand slightly to fill gaps. Full strength is achieved in 24 hours. Uncured excess can be cleaned with solvents; cured adhesive must be removed mechanically.
For Joiners & Cabinet Makers: Assembling High-End Kitchen & Vanity Units
The Engineering Challenge: Creating imperceptible, structural, and completely waterproof joints in cabinetry destined for wet areas. The bond must not fail or swell from long-term exposure to moisture and humidity.
The System-Based Solution with Unobond: Unobond's D4 classification provides total peace of mind for wet area joinery. Its controlled, slight expansion ensures mitres and joints are filled completely for maximum rigidity, while its rapid 30-minute set time allows for faster workshop throughput. It provides a structural bond for timber, particleboard, and laminates, ensuring lasting quality.
Best Practice Note: Apply a thin, consistent bead. When clamped, any excess squeeze-out will foam slightly. Allow it to cure fully before cleanly removing it with a sharp chisel for a perfect, invisible glue line.
For Carpenters & Builders: On-Site Structural Framing & Flooring
The Engineering Challenge: Achieving a structural bond on framing timbers and subfloors quickly and reliably on a busy building site, and eliminating the risk of costly call-backs for floor squeaks.
The System-Based Solution with Unobond: Unobond's extreme versatility allows it to bond timber joists to particleboard, concrete slabs, or steel bearers. Its fast set time means subfloors can be fixed and walked on sooner. When used on tongue & groove flooring, its expansion locks the joint solid, permanently preventing the movement that causes squeaks.
Best Practice Note: On-site, ensure surfaces are free from dust and debris for the best bond. A quick brush or wipe is sufficient. Ensure panels are fixed with nails or screws to apply consistent pressure as the adhesive cures.
For Marine Fabricators & Woodworkers: Crafting Exterior & Marine Projects
The Engineering Challenge: Constructing timber components for boats or outdoor furniture that can withstand constant exposure to water, UV, and salt spray without any joint failure or delamination.
The System-Based Solution with Unobond: The D4 waterproof rating is essential for marine environments. Unobond creates a bond that is stronger than the wood itself and is unaffected by temperature cycles or moisture, making it the ultimate choice for laminating, joinery, and structural assembly in boat building and high-quality exterior furniture.
Best Practice Note: For maximum water resistance in end-grain joints, ensure the adhesive is worked well into the timber. A firm clamping pressure for at least one hour is critical to ensure a dense, impermeable bond line capable of handling the rigours of a marine environment.
Limitations & Safety
Product limitations and safety information
Limitations:
- Pressure during curing is required to achieve maximum bond strength. This can be done by pressing, screwing, or nailing.
- When used purely as a gap filler without pressure, the final strength of the adhesive is reduced.
- Requires moisture to cure; at least one substrate must be porous or have moisture present.
- The cured colour is a creamy brown, which should be considered in applications with visible bond lines.
Safety & Handling:
- Hazard Profile: This material is hazardous. It can cause skin and respiratory irritation, and allergic reactions, and is a suspected carcinogen.
- PPE: Wear protective overalls, gloves, safety glasses, and a suitable organic vapour/particulate respirator (AS/NZS 1715 & 1716).
- Ventilation: Use only in well-ventilated areas. Local exhaust ventilation is recommended to keep air concentrations below exposure limits.
- First Aid: For inhalation, move to fresh air. For skin contact, wash immediately with soap and water. For eye contact, rinse for several minutes. Seek medical advice if exposed or concerned. Refer to the SDS for full details.
Unobond Adhesion & Preparation Guide
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Substrate preparation guidelines
- Wood, Particleboard, Timber: Ensure surfaces are clean, dry, and free from dust and oils. - Primer: No primer required.
- Metals (Aluminium, Iron, Steel): Degrease with a suitable solvent and ensure the surface is clean and dry. - Primer: No primer required, but abrading the surface can improve adhesion.
- Concrete, Masonry, FC Sheeting: Remove all dust, laitance, and loose particles. Surface must be dry. - Primer: No primer required.
- Foams (Polystyrene, Insulation): Ensure surface is clean and free of dust. - Primer: No primer required.
- Plastics & Melamine: Due to the wide variety of plastics, testing is always recommended to ensure adequate adhesion. Surface must be clean and dry.
- General Preparation: All surfaces must be clean, dry, even, and free from grease and loose particles. At least one substrate must contain moisture, or be lightly misted with water, to enable the cure.
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