Force-balance experiments in conjunction with the Johnson-Kendall-Roberts (JKR) theory have been used to determine the work of adhesion between solid systems. It has been shown that deficiencies in understanding the deformation behavior can lead to erroneous results. A modified procedure for determining the work of adhesion by force-balance experiments and JKR theory using normal displacement behavior has been introduced to address these deficiencies. This procedure involves improved experimental and data analysis protocols and has been applied to give more precise work of adhesion values for PDMS poly(dimethylsiloxane)-PDMS, PDMS-F(fluorinated silicon) and PDMS-SI (silicon) systems. The work of adhesion determinations are consistently less than those estimated by contact angle measurements.