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Installation Approaches: Nail Down Installation: Use rosin paper or foam pad under the bamboo flooring with cleat nails to hold the planks. Rosin paper is for the situation of no considerable moisture migrating from the substrate. Foam pad will provide cushion effect and it will also be used in the situation of considering the possible moisture migration from the substrate. Use the right length of cleat nails for the thickness of the sub-floor. No guarantee is applied to bamboo flooring installed over or onto particleboard (OSB is the exception). See details below.
Glue Down Installation: Do not use a water-based adhesive, but urethane based, e.g. Bostik's Best or Franklin 's 811 Plus, which are
moisture-resistance wood flooring adhesives. Also, for faster drying time, use Sika Floor Adhesive. Following manufacturer's instructions, apply adhesive to substrate with suitable trowel. Immediately place plank onto "wet" adhesive. Roll finished installation immediately with 150-lb roller. Use a releasable tape or strap clamps to hold planks together from creeping apart from one another and keep the installed floor from traffic for at least 24 hours while the adhesive is setting up.
INSTALLING BAMBOO FLOORING
General Installation Tips
Be sure to mix boards from several different boxes at a time to compensate for natural color variation and avoid a clustered look.
Be attentive to stagger adjacent rows by a minimum of 6". Avoid staggering rows uniformly to avoid a stair step look.
Allow a minimum of 1/4" expansion gap around all vertical obstructions.
When face nailing a plank or accessories, always pre drill first.
Allow a maximum of 1/8" expansion between the bamboo flooring and any other flooring material or other exposed finished surface (i.e. tile, sliding door, etc.)
Step-by-Step Installation
Step 1: Door ways - Undercut door casing and jams to avoid difficult scribe cuts. Note: remember to include any moisture barrier in the trim-up height. This means that the bamboo flooring should be able to run under the door casing instead of cutting the flooring to go around it.
Step 2: Starter Row - Choose the longest most consistent possible wall that is perpendicular to the room to begin the first
row, ideally running the planks perpendicular to the floor joists. Before you install any planks, stop and look at the room. Walk through the installation in your head and make sure that you are starting from the most appropriate wall. Make sure that you are not going to have problems later on in the installation.
Nail Down Installation
Using a chalk line, establish a straight line the width of one board away from your starting wall. Don"t assume that the wall you are
starting on is straight or perpendicular to the room.
Begin from left to right gluing or face nailing the first row to the sub floor, tongue facing away from the wall. Use shims between
the wall and the plank to keep each plank straight with your chalk line.
After the first row is in place, straight and shimmed against the wall, blind nail through the top of the tongue at approximately a 45
degree angle using a 16 gauge finish nail gun, placing the nails 6" to 8" apart.
Step 3: Installing the floor
Nail Down Installation After the first row is in place, roll out the rosin paper underlayment or other moisture barrier as close
as possible to the first row. If you are using anything thicker than rosin paper you will need to start it in the middle to outside edge of the second row to avoid any height difference at the joint.
Use the finish nail gun to blind nail the second and third rows, ensuring that each new row is seated tightly against the previous row and that the ends of each board fit together tightly.
After you have installed the first three rows, continue as previously described using a Power Cleat fastener, spacing the fasteners 10" to 12" apart with a minimum of two fasteners per plank.
Step 4: Final Rows
Nail Down Installation As you finish a room and get close to the wall on the opposite side you will need to go back to blind nailing
with the finish nail gun. When you can no longer use the finish nail gun at a 45 degree angle, glue or face nail the final rows directly to the sub floor.
Other Bamboo Flooring Installation Tips
Use a fine file to take the sharp edge off of the cut end of a plank butting into a factory finish and on all exposed cut ends. Do
not file miter joints. Always glue any transition or free end that does not interlock with the tongue and groove to the sub floor to keep it from becoming dislodged later. When transitioning from bamboo to another flooring material, e.g. tile, keep height difference to a maximum of 1/8". Any transition over 1/8" should be beveled or filed down at a 45 degree angle.
Any thing over 1/4" will need some type of transition piece.
Normal Environmental Conditions - Normal environmental conditions are here defined as temperature between 55F and 85F and humidity levels between 35% and 55%. Humidifiers and fans should be run as necessary to maintain normal humidity.
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