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A couple of things. If it is solid bamboo, it will most likely be a glue down floor. More difficult and less stable in some climates. If it is an engineered, which is most likely from a big box store, then the nature of the engineered wood (or grass in this instance) is that the layers underneath are thin layers of wood and wood products that are criss crossed for stability. That way when it expands and contracts it remains more stable for the top layer of wood or bamboo. Solid wood expands and contracts more on the ends not the sides of the boards, although cupping boards are the result of taking on significant moisture, which happens most often with moisture wicking up from a solid slab.
Undercut the door jams, yes. I do not recommend undercutting the drywall because down the road you or the next owner may just want to remove this floating floor and you do not want undercut channels surrounding every room if you change to carpet or tile. Just use quarter round finish nails attached to the existing baseboard (not the floor).
a m here
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quote:
If it is solid bamboo, it will most likely be a glue down floor.
Not in my experience, the floating floors I've been involved with have been solid bamboo.
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Solid wood expands and contracts more on the ends not the sides of the boards
If you mean that boards expand less across the grain, I have to disagree! Cross-grain dimensional change due to humidity fluctuation is far greater than length-wise movement. Look at panelled doors which are deliberately constructed so that the rails and stiles forming the perimeter of the door are quite narrow with floating panels which can expand and shrink in the frame without excess movement and dimensional change in the door, which must fit inside the jamb structure without binding or excess gaps which would defeat the purpose of the door. The whole intent of paneled door construction where all perimeter boards are parallel to the jamb or carcase with minimal continuous cross-grain is to contain and control the cross-grain movement which is so problematic with doors built up with multiple boards joined edge-to-edge (as in a floor). A glance at paneled door joints in wet Hawaii usually reveals that the rails on the top and bottom perimeter have expanded proud of the stile end-grain. In fact, in Hawaii, raised panel doors imported from dryer areas to Hawaii routinely expand so much that even the loose raised panel widens so much across the grain that the frame joints are driven apart by the expanding center panel.
quote:
I do not recommend undercutting the drywall because down the road you or the next owner may just want to remove this floating floor and you do not want undercut channels surrounding every room if you change to carpet or tile. Just use quarter round finish nails attached to the existing baseboard (not the floor).
Undercut drywall is completely hidden by baseboards. Modern drywall installation is commonly done with the wall panels parallel to the floor, top panel after the ceiling panels, tight to the ceiling supporting the ceiling panels at the wall with the bottom panel following, clear of the subfloor. Quarter-round base shoe, by nature of its curved profile and position low to the floor, is difficult to nail directly to baseboard. It adds expense and difficulty to baseboard installation, and to me, is aesthetically clunky and busy. If you're using a natural finish base, you'll often need to mill your own quarter-round to match the wood and finish of the baseboard. Conventional baseboards without base-shoe work just fine with carpet and tile, and undercutting drywall does nothing to complicate their installation.
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Hey Seekir,
Didn't mean to upset you, just a different point of view. I'd say politely, back off a little on the attack mode. I only wanted to share some info as wood and bamboo floors have the potential for failure that can be very costly. Your information is solid and helpful. I am trying to offer more of the same.
Most, not all, floating floors are engineered, not solid. Bamboo, whether horizontal or vertical solids, are laminated strands. Their engineered floors are much more stable in humidity changes.
Not all "wood" floors require the same acclimation techniques. Some require that the cartons remain unopened, others require that they be opened.
Every manufacturer will recommend and provide installation guidelines for their product, and all will tell you their warranty is void unless their exact guidelines are followed. Doesn't mean they will necessarily fail, just that they have the power to blame you if they do.
You are right on the expansion, I believe, but I do tend to prefer and recommend quartersawn flooring as a much higher quality, and they do see gapping and expansion on the ends more than the sides. That said, in rereading my earlier post, it was a misleading statement and didn't apply to the bamboo anyway. The gap around the edges should be the same everywhere though.
Solely personal preference on undercutting the drywall. And, as I think about it, it is precisely because we tear out and replace flooring daily that we see the messy installs and complications that can occur with different scenarios. We always remove the old baseboard and replace it with new. The replacement options can include a thin low profile (basic) moulding with a shoe mold or quarter round to hide the expansion gap, or upgrade to a thicker higher profile molding, which looks great with wood/bamboo/cork floors. To your point, however, it is a viable option for folks. We have undercut drywall on two different occasions and installed a solid hardwood under the drywall with NO baseboards whatsoever. That, my friend, took time and professional perfection. [  ] That's me, beaming with pride!
Peace offering...I respect your posts and appreciate that you, like me, are just trying to help others succeed.
a m here
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quote:
Bamboo, whether horizontal or vertical solids, are laminated strands.
Yes. Using tubular bamboo stalks straight from the field as flooring might be a challenge. The strands are oriented with their grain following the length of the floorboards, and I think it's safe to assume the stranded bamboo floor boards react to moisture changes much like traditionally milled wood from a tree (greater movement across the grain).
Over-size base would need to be pretty darn thick to preclude any potential gaps or wall contact without base shoe. I haven't found such extra thick base at the usual local sources, or the accordingly thicker casings that would be needed to make oversize base work without being proud where it meets the casing (this is also a problem with base shoe, which can't easily be persuaded to gracefully join door casings). In a retrofit utilizing some source of extra thick base, unless the client was unusually easy to please, all existing casings would also need to be pulled and replaced with new, thicker casings. Yikes.
I've learned to be very deliberate when posting challenging or contrary opinions and ideas to forum threads since written language often lacks tonal cues which might soften the message, and misunderstandings are common, especially when participants are typing from the security of some remote place without direct contact. I appreciate and accept your Peace offering, but have to add that "respect" would have been more meaningful in your initial post (where, I'd politely argue, a thoughtful re-read of the thread will reveal, the "attack" actually occurs).
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Seekir - I humbly apologize. I see it, although it is not what I was feeling. Mahalo for pointing it out...something to work on for me. Now, lets all wait to see how that floor turned out.[:p]
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Originally posted by seekir
[quote]
I've learned to be very deliberate when posting challenging or contrary opinions and ideas to forum threads since written language often lacks tonal cues which might soften the message, and misunderstandings are common, especially when participants are typing from the security of some remote place without direct contact. I appreciate and accept your Peace offering, but have to add that "respect" would have been more meaningful in your initial post (where, I'd politely argue, a thoughtful re-read of the thread will reveal, the "attack" actually occurs).
a m here
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Yes, looks great. Ask again in a year or two, though. We had put bamboo down in a drier ( dry to bone dry) climate before, but the 3/4 in expansion gap the directions requested confused me. Once you nail it down, how will it expand? Back to the buckling issue....
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quote:
Once you nail it down, how will it expand?
Even nailed down floors will move when there are moisture changes. Ordinary nails don't have tremendous shear strength and will bend when subjected to the incredible force wood can exert. Floating floors presumably move more freely and that ought to be fine unless the perimeter gaps are too small and the floor boards contact the walls causing "tenting" (lifting off the subfloor) or the flooring actually shrinks sufficiently to open gaps at the perimeter. I would think the latter would be unusual in Hawaii, especially in windward areas.
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I have 1000 sq ft of Bellwood 3/8 Brazilian koa glued directly to my slab. I live in volcano, by far the most humid place to live on this island. No problems. Use bostik vapor lock 2 in 1 glue. I let my wood climatize for a few months.
Daniel R Diamond
Daniel R Diamond
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We had put bamboo down in a drier ( dry to bone dry) climate before, but the 3/4 in expansion gap the directions requested confused me. Once you nail it down, how will it expand? Back to the buckling issue...
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markjosol josol
markjosol josol
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Nailing will not resist the swelling caused by moisture
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