One could say it also allows for squeaks. This kinda rhetoric from the manufacturers is mind numbing. First, they insist substrates need to be FLAT. Then they make the floors to accomodate substrates that are not flat I wish they would make up their minds. At any rate, I have not had loose fitting T&G's in plank floors here. If I did, I'd send it back.

You must live in the "ideal world" Gary, lol.
But I know what you mean about rhetoric from the manufacturers. And with so many conflicting recommendations, a responsible flooring contractor must decide what is best for any given install. And I have decided that for our purposes, using t&g glue in the end joints of wide plank floor is necessary.
If ever I encounter a floor with properly fitted end joints, I would send that back thinking something was wrong.
Tell me, I believe you use Mirage products, for example; go check their end joints, the tongue is only 1/8th inch thick and centred on the board. The corresponding groove is 1/4 inch and also centred. This leaves a 1/16th inch gap above and below the tongue.

I actually use very little Mirage. It is usually too expensive around here. There are some fine alternatives carried by my distributors. Here in CA, tastes run to lower cost American and some imports. Mirage is a super fine product. I just finished installing some. It went together easily. I guess due to those less then tight fitting T&G's and superior milling. Many of the floors we do require a little persuading with a soft headed mallet. It should be noted that the Canadian T&G profiles are NOT the same as NOFMA member mills. All NOFMA member mills use the same T&G profiles and are interchangeable, meaning one mill's flooring will fit another member's flooring. Not so with Canadian flooring fitting to NOFMA flooring. I've tried. Now when patching or weaving into an existing floor, I never use Canadian made flooring. Not that it doesn't look and fit great with itself, it just does not fit with NOFMA mills flooring. The NOFMA T&G profile are a snug fit, all the way around. There is no slop in the T&G.

This clears up where the glue goes. Dennis, do you fill the entire bottom of the groove or just a small dab in the middle? I'm guessing a small bit in the middle of the groove to avoid squeezing it out all over the place.

I will check closely the fit of the end joints and make a determination from there on whether or not to use the glue. The good news is that I'll be much slower than you guys anyway so if I do use the glue I probably won't notice being slow!

Thanks for the information guys. Very helpful.

Jeff

Have to agree....most I've dealt with have a tight side match, but loose t&g on the ends. If the nailing schedule is right, loose milling on the end joint shouldn't be a problem. No different than Carlisle and other manufacturers that don't mill the end at all. Why would having a loose end match on the t&g be any different than no t&g at all? Make sure your nails are within 2" of the end and there's no problem. Let's face it, most squeaking is due to skip-nailing, not loose milling.

Well BW, in my opinion there IS no difference between a loose fitting end joint and no end joint at all.
As discussed earlier, flooring with no end joints are mechanically fastened to the sub-floor with screws, nails or adhesive on the bottom of the boards, for exactly the reason I use t&g glue in sloppy end joints; ie to prevent movement of the boards and causing a squeak.

JP, I run a small bead of glue along the entire end groove. Putting it on the bottom of the groove, and using a small bead seems to prevent most if not all squeeze through, and a damp cloth on hand will clean up any that does manage to come up to the top.

Thanks again for the information everyone. I'll post pictures and results once I get the project done. Probably within the next 2 months or so.

Jeff