Tips To Follow When Installing Bamboo Flooring
Many people are looking for tips to follow when installing bamboo flooring. Some are even asking if they can do it themselves. With the popularity of bamboo flooring, there exists very little information about how to install these exotic hardwood floors. There are also very few instructions but one thing is for sure, installing bamboo flooring follows the same principle as those ordinary hardwood floors; however, there are some quirks that you may encounter along the way.
With the installation of any type of bamboo floorings, critical steps should be performed before actually installing them. These steps include acclimation, testing the moisture, and the proper preparation. The lack of preparation is generally one of the main reasons why some people fail in installing bamboo flooring properly, and if the installation fails, the beautiful hardwood floor finishes of bamboo flooring become useless. In a nutshell, all types of subfloors must be flat while still allowing a 3/16" tolerance over an 8-10 feet span.
For stapled or nailed bamboo floors, it's a good thing to use the direct fastening method as your preference. If you would search for a video about bamboo flooring installation, you will see that a lot of professional installers prefer using staples over common cleats. This is because they provide better capability of holding without any squeaks or sounds.
For floating bamboo floors, definitely, you have to use the floating floor method but not all bamboos can be installed with this method. Cross ply or wider engineered products should only be installed using the floating floor method.
To click or to glue – this is the usual question asked when bamboo flooring installation is being talked about. The advantage of bamboo floorings over tile and over concrete is that bamboo flooring are considered a snap or click lock floors, which means that lesser task is required. However, it must be remembered that click type of floorings should be avoided in areas with potential moisture or you will be looking at hardwood floor repair before you are done installing. There are also bamboo floaters that require the application of adhesive but this is only required in the boards groove.
Bamboo floors that use the floating method need an expansion area that is similar to other types of bamboo. However, salespeople often confuse hardwood or bamboo with laminate flooring expansion. Keep this in mind – laminate manufacturing companies use the 5/16" guide but with bamboos, you've got to allow as much expansion as possible because even though square rooms or small layouts need only 3/8" expansion, you may need more expansion area if the installation flows into other areas that exceed 40 feet or even more. You should also not install or butt any floating bamboo floors against any fixed object like columns, fireplace hearths, and the like, because if you do, your floors will more likely be tented or buckled.
Installing bamboo flooring is not really that hard. However, it requires you to follow the installation steps carefully as well as some suggestions and tips you may see to make sure that your bamboo flooring would look really good!
