Bamboo Flooring Installation -- Your Questions, Our Answers
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Here are some of the most common questions that people ask about the installation of bamboo flooring products -- and our response. We hope you find this webpage article instructive --
"It's been about two months since we had bamboo flooring installation done in our basement -- now the bamboo flooring panels seem to be popping up. What is going on? What did we do wrong?"</b>
It is very important when installing any type of wood flooring that you give your flooring materials time to adjust to the temperature and humidity conditions in the room. In other words, when doing a bamboo flooring installation, you must give the materials a chance to "acclimate" to the environment.
How is this accomplished? Well, the easiest way is to simply let your materials sit in the area, for a time, before actually beginning your bamboo flooring installation. I have known some to let their flooring materials acclimate for weeks and weeks before actually beginning work.
It sounds to me, from the information you've given, that work was started on your bamboo flooring installation immediately -- and how the bamboo has begun to swell and the planks are pushing up against each other, causing them to buckle.
"My neighbor had bamboo flooring installation done in their hallway -- but the floors squeak when you walk on them. How can we minimize the chance of that happening when our floors are installed?"</b>
One thing that comes to my mind is that when the bamboo flooring installation was done on your friends hallway, the installers may have used a flooring cleats. If that was the case, that may be the reason why their bamboo floor is so squeaky. You can instruct your floor installers that when they are doing YOUR bamboo flooring installation, to use staples instead of cleats.
"I've heard a lot about floating bamboo floors -- just what are those?"</b>
A "floating" floor is a hardwood floor that is installed on top of special materials that provides a very cushioned feel -- just like you are walking on air. This type of bamboo flooring installation is done by not using face-nailing or stapling, or attachment with adhesives. When doing your bamboo flooring installation, it is possible to install a floating floor -- as long as it is not solid bamboo. You must use some type of "engineered" material for your bamboo flooring installation if you want a floating type. An important consideration when doing your bamboo flooring installation, if you are trying for a floating floor, is to provide a good amount of space for the expansion of the wood -- a gap of 3/8", rather than the more typical 5/16" expansion space which is used with laminate flooring products.
"When my parents did their bamboo flooring installation, they ended up with a floor that had very dark areas (I guess due to the color variation in the planks) -- when we get our floor done, how can we keep that from happening?"</b>
You are absolutely right -- this problem occurs during bamboo flooring installation because of the natural variation in the colors of the wooden bamboo planks. The solution to this is actually very simple -- during the actual bamboo flooring installation, your floor installer should use three or four separate cartons of flooring material, and alternate back and forth between these cartons as they lay down the planks. This will help to ensure that the wooden planks are laid down with a variety of different color shades -- doing this will result in a floor that is much more pleasing to look at.
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