Anybody have any tips on installing glue down bamboo flooring?
I have about 550 sq ft to install and im hoping to finish in one weekend. Two rooms and a hallway. I live in Phoenix so moisture shouldn't be a problem. But i could use some helpful tips.
I just glued down about 300 ft2 of Bamboo in my upstairs home office just last week. The timing of your question is pretty lucky.
My first tip is not to stop until you get to a clear stopping point such as a door treshold or transition. I had to stop twice when I layed the floor and the gaps between these pieces are noticably wider than those I installed continuously. When I stand on the floor I can't really tell but when I get on my hands and knees, I can see the difference.
Be sure to vary the lengths of the starter pieces. I used a 4-row pattern, beginning with a full piece, followed by a 1/3-piece, a full piece, a 2/3-piece, and then repeat. The partial pieces were not measured out so there was some irregularity but to my eye, there was still to much repetition. If I had to do it again, I'd try for more randomness. Just keep in mind that randomness means more scrap.
Most of my time was spend spreading out the glue, which is a real pain in the neck. It was the $90 tub of polyurethane glue from Homedepot. It worked well but is very messy and expensive. The last 25% of the job I used polyurethane construction adhesive instead of the tub. I bought several of the big tubes and put it into my cordless caulking gun. Although I used it very liberally, it still took only 1/10 the time to spread. If I had to do it again, I'd highly recommend using this from the beginning. If you have to used a manual caulking gun, you may want to stick with the tub.
Definitely clean up the glue when it's still wet with the Mineral Spirits, it just doesn't come out as clean if you have to scrape it after the fact.
I hope you can finish in one weekend. My bamboo office project took about 14 hours of actual work time.
I assume you are gluing down the floor because it is on concrete. If the concrete is prone to any moisture, be sure to seal it first. At a previous job I used Titebond 531. Smelly and just as messy as the glue but worth it for long term floor life.
If you're gluing down over wood, I'd reconsider using a pnuematic flooring nailer. It's much cleaner a job once you set it up properly.
Lastly, acclimation to humidity is important. I had the planks sitting in the room for a few weeks before hand. Little did I know that inside the pretty boxes that the planks were encased in plastic. Be sure to open it all up to the air. You may be in dry Phoenix but your bamboo may have come from somewhere much wetter. It needs to stabilize. I think mine came from China.
Use a lot of clamps to hold the planks together as you move along especially if it's a big room. The last thing you need is the glue to dry and there's a big gap somewhere. The easiest way I found is to screw a board into the sub-floor. Reverse the clamp to push off of the board and squeeze the planks together. The more clamps the better.
Good Luck
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December 28th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Actual bamboo, like real, is green side up. Just like sod.
References :
December 28th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
I just glued down about 300 ft2 of Bamboo in my upstairs home office just last week. The timing of your question is pretty lucky.
My first tip is not to stop until you get to a clear stopping point such as a door treshold or transition. I had to stop twice when I layed the floor and the gaps between these pieces are noticably wider than those I installed continuously. When I stand on the floor I can't really tell but when I get on my hands and knees, I can see the difference.
Be sure to vary the lengths of the starter pieces. I used a 4-row pattern, beginning with a full piece, followed by a 1/3-piece, a full piece, a 2/3-piece, and then repeat. The partial pieces were not measured out so there was some irregularity but to my eye, there was still to much repetition. If I had to do it again, I'd try for more randomness. Just keep in mind that randomness means more scrap.
Most of my time was spend spreading out the glue, which is a real pain in the neck. It was the $90 tub of polyurethane glue from Homedepot. It worked well but is very messy and expensive. The last 25% of the job I used polyurethane construction adhesive instead of the tub. I bought several of the big tubes and put it into my cordless caulking gun. Although I used it very liberally, it still took only 1/10 the time to spread. If I had to do it again, I'd highly recommend using this from the beginning. If you have to used a manual caulking gun, you may want to stick with the tub.
Definitely clean up the glue when it's still wet with the Mineral Spirits, it just doesn't come out as clean if you have to scrape it after the fact.
I hope you can finish in one weekend. My bamboo office project took about 14 hours of actual work time.
I assume you are gluing down the floor because it is on concrete. If the concrete is prone to any moisture, be sure to seal it first. At a previous job I used Titebond 531. Smelly and just as messy as the glue but worth it for long term floor life.
If you're gluing down over wood, I'd reconsider using a pnuematic flooring nailer. It's much cleaner a job once you set it up properly.
Lastly, acclimation to humidity is important. I had the planks sitting in the room for a few weeks before hand. Little did I know that inside the pretty boxes that the planks were encased in plastic. Be sure to open it all up to the air. You may be in dry Phoenix but your bamboo may have come from somewhere much wetter. It needs to stabilize. I think mine came from China.
Use a lot of clamps to hold the planks together as you move along especially if it's a big room. The last thing you need is the glue to dry and there's a big gap somewhere. The easiest way I found is to screw a board into the sub-floor. Reverse the clamp to push off of the board and squeeze the planks together. The more clamps the better.
Good Luck
References :