Tired of Your Floors Gapping? Lock them into Place.
Shopping for wood flooring eventually leads everyone to the same fork in the road: do you go with a floor that’s glued or nailed down using tongue-and-groove (T&G), or one of the newer click-lock systems that snap together by hand? Two of the strongest examples of the click-lock approach on the market right now are NOVOLOC® 5G, used in Scheucher’s WOODflor NOVOLOC® 5G engineered parquet, and 5G Dry, the Välinge-developed locking system used by Bjelin’s Woodura wood flooring range.
They’re built by different companies with different priorities, but both share the same underlying philosophy — and both beat traditional T&G on nearly every practical measure that matters to homeowners and installers. Here’s why.
First, What Is “5G” in Flooring?
“5G” has nothing to do with wireless networks. In flooring, it refers to the fifth generation of glueless mechanical locking technology, a naming convention pioneered by the Swedish company Välinge Innovation, which has licensed its click systems across the flooring industry for decades. The numbers are a naming convention: 2G is the second-generation profile, and 5G is the fifth, and both are licensed across the industry, so the same plank brand may use one profile on the long edge and a different one on the short edge.
The core mechanic is simple: when a panel is folded down, a flexible 5G insert is pushed into an insert groove, and as the panel reaches its final position, the insert snaps out into a wedge groove, emits a “click” sound, and locks the product both vertically and horizontally. No glue, no nails, no tapping block — just an angle-in, fold-down motion.
NOVOLOC® 5G: Scheucher’s Engineered Parquet Click System
Scheucher applies this click-lock philosophy to genuine 3-layer engineered wood parquet, made entirely in Austria. What stands out:
- A real, solid-wood wear layer of approximately 3.6 mm, meaning the floor can be sanded and refinished multiple times over its life — something purely synthetic click floors can’t offer.
- Installation flexibility. NOVOLOC® 5G planks click together for a floating installation, or can be glued down using a classic tongue-and-groove profile with PVAc adhesive when a project calls for a fully bonded floor.
- Underfloor heating compatibility, with a thermal resistance rating of RT = 0.101 m²K/W.
- A 30-year residential warranty, reflecting real confidence in the joint’s long-term stability.
- The RELOC element, a proprietary transition piece that lets installers change plank direction between rooms without visible gaps — genuinely useful in open-plan homes.
5G Dry: Bjelin’s Watertight Take on the Same Idea
Bjelin, working with sister company Välinge, takes the same 5G fold-down mechanism and adds a specific upgrade: a leakproof joint. 5G Dry has the same fast, easy, and durable installation as the standard 5G Fold Down system, but with a watertight joint that pairs well with wood-based, laminate, and resilient flooring. The joint design prevents liquids from seeping through the seams and damaging the subfloor, resulting in zero leakage.
In Bjelin’s own wood flooring, that translates to some notable real-world numbers:
- Bjelin’s Woodura flooring is designed to handle spills and even standing water for up to 72 hours without liquid penetrating the joints or damaging the surface.
- The system is built to prevent water from leaking through seams for 48 hours under the NALFA testing standard.
- Installation supports either floating or glue-down applications, transition-free spans of up to 82 feet, and skips the acclimation period most solid and engineered wood floors require.
- Planks connect with an integrated water barrier along the seam that compresses as the boards lock, sealing the joint and keeping spills away from the core and subfloor. Additionally, boards can still be removed and replaced while maintaining a stable connection.
For rooms where moisture is a real concern — kitchens, entryways, mudrooms — that watertight joint is the difference between “click flooring that’s easy to install” and “click flooring you don’t have to worry about.”
Click-Lock vs. Tongue-and-Groove: The Head-to-Head
NOVOLOC® 5G / 5G Dry (Click-Lock) |
Traditional Tongue-and-Groove |
|
| Installation method | Angle the long edge in, fold down — short edge self-locks with an audible click | Requires PVAc glue and, in nailed applications, fasteners along the length of every board |
| Skill level required | Beginner-friendly, one person, one motion | Best left to experienced installers; glue application and board alignment are unforgiving |
| Drying/curing time | None — floor is walkable almost immediately | Traditional wood floors typically require an acclimation period before and an adhesive curing time after installation |
| Mess and cleanup | No adhesive spread, spills, or squeeze-out | Glue application means cleanup, odor, and disposal of excess adhesive |
| Water resistance at the seam | 5G Dry is specifically engineered to seal joints against spills and standing water | T&G glue joints are not designed to resist water intrusion; moisture at seams is a common failure point |
| Subfloor attachment | Floats as one connected unit, moving naturally with humidity and temperature | Fixed to the subfloor, with less tolerance for seasonal movement |
| Repair and reversibility | Boards can be removed and replaced while keeping the connection stable | Glued boards are far more difficult to remove without damage |
| Speed of installation | Click locking enables installation up to 2x faster than traditional methods | Glue application and drying time slow the overall project timeline |
Why Both Systems Beat T&G — Not Just One of Them
It’s worth being clear about something: NOVOLOC® 5G and 5G Dry are not competing claims about which brand is “better” in a marketing sense — they’re two independently engineered solutions to the same problem, built by different manufacturers, that both land on the same conclusion: a well-engineered click joint outperforms a glued tongue-and-groove joint for most modern flooring projects.
- Both eliminate the adhesive step for floating installations, removing drying time, VOC concerns, and the skill dependency that comes with getting a glue-down T&G floor right.
- Both are engineered for a tighter, more consistent joint than what’s achievable with hand-applied glue, because the locking geometry is milled into the plank itself rather than relying on installer technique.
- Both retain the option to glue down when a project genuinely calls for a fully bonded floor — so choosing a click system doesn’t mean giving up the traditional method entirely, it just means you’re not limited to it.
- Both hold up better over time in the joint, specifically, which is where floors most often fail. Whether that’s Scheucher’s decades-proven stability and 30-year warranty, or Bjelin’s specific engineering against water intrusion, the improvement is concentrated exactly where tongue-and-groove floors are weakest.
Is There Ever a Reason to Choose T&G Instead?
To be fair, glue-down tongue-and-groove installation isn’t obsolete. Some commercial applications and specific subfloor conditions still favor a fully bonded floor for maximum rigidity, and some installers simply prefer that permanence. That’s exactly why both NOVOLOC® 5G and Bjelin’s Woodura range keep the T&G glue-down option available alongside the click system — you’re not forced to choose once and for all. The click system just means you don’t have to default to the harder, messier, slower method anymore.
The Bottom Line
Two flooring companies, two engineering teams, one shared conclusion: mechanical click-lock joints — whether it’s Scheucher’s NOVOLOC® 5G or Bjelin’s watertight 5G Dry — install faster, seal tighter, and perform more predictably over time than traditional tongue-and-groove glue-down flooring. If you’re comparing options for your next floor, the real question isn’t whether to consider a click system — it’s which click system’s specific strengths (Scheucher’s renovation-friendly solid wear layer and RELOC transitions, or Bjelin’s leakproof joint and hardened Woodura surface) best match your room.
Both companies offer free samples, so the easiest way to settle the question is to click a joint together yourself.