Hey all,
I've done lots of research online (perhaps that is my problem) - trying to figure out the best way to put bamboo down over our concrete floor.

Based on my skill level and our floors condition (not quite level), it sounds like floating (either clicked or glued) is my best (perhaps only) bet. I would prefer solid bamboo (over veneer on wood core) since the reason we want bamboo is to not use wood.

I have seen various floors advertised as 'floating' (non-clic)...Is it true that you can float any glue/nail/staple-down floor by glueing the tabs together over the underlayment?
Any suggestions as to where to look? minimum widths? lengths? etc.

All help is greatly appreciated!
Ben

 

Each manufacturer tends to have very specific installation instructions. If you are planning to install a floating floor, then you will have to purchase a product that was intended to be floated. Concrete should be flat for best performance of floating floor and its locking system. Low spots can be filled with self-leveling compound and high spots can be ground down. You will need to install the recommended vapor retarder and underlayment.

 

we currently have carpet in the rooms for bamboo, so i can only guess what the concrete is like. hopefully it is level, but i'm not holding my breath. i'll make sure to level-up if need be.

i should clarify my original question - do any of you know of floating bamboo floors that use solid bamboo (not bamboo veneer over wood core)?
we want to float, but we want solid bamboo...possible?

thanks
ben

 

There are 3 types of bamboo construction.

Vertical cut
Horizional cut
Engineered

Vert & Hori are "soild" compared to an engineered. Even though they are not one solid piece of bamboo, as boards.

 

right...i guess i do know about the horz/vert cut bamboo.

so to ask a better question....

is there a horizontal cut bamboo floor that i can float? (what i meant by solid bamboo was not having a wood core, not that it was all one piece of bamboo)

reason: we like the enviro-friendly nature of bamboo, but we want to float a floor, and the stuff we have seen so far is basically a wood floor with 3/8 or 5/8 veneer of bamboo over the wood....

thx

 

Solid bamboo flooring is usually nailed or glued down but not floated. Engineered or strandwoven bamboo can be floated.

 

The bamboo that is labels vertical and horizontal are considered to be a solid product. There are about three manufactures out of china that produce this product and it is all virtually identical. Most of the brand names are just retagging one of these three. It is 5/8 thick and standard installation procedures are usually recommended as either glue or staple down. Though it is technically engineered from multiple pieces of bamboo it is not constructed in the same fashion as a true plywood core engineered (cross-ply). It is more stable than most solid products but floating this product is asking for trouble due to the fact that all 3 layers are grain oriented in the same direction and may void its warrantee. If you are looking for flooring that can be floated I would suggest looking at a plywood core engineered. There is one manufacture that makes a horizontal cross-ply bamboo in the solid fashion that can be floated. It is marketed under the label Greenwood and is usually .50 to .60 cents more expensive than the traditional 3 ply. Having said that a 5 or 7 layer cross-ply engineered will still probably hold up better in a floating install.

 

thx for the info...

sounds like plywood core is the way to go (for me)...i really dont want to deal with a glue down app on our concrete floor

i have seen the greenwood stuff advertised somewhere around here...i'll look into it again.

any (brand) suggestions on the 5 or 7 ply versions...
i am wary of low quality product in the wake of bamboos popularity - i want this stuff to still look good if/when we sell the house in 5-6 years.

final ?: any thoughts on the click-lock floating floors? i am wary but the ease of install is tempting.

thanks
ben

 

Greenwood and WFI’s BAMTEX are good engineered products. As for the click and lock, the way I see it is it only a couple of bucks for floating wood floor glue even if I install a click and lock I still glue the ends together so long as it does not void the warrantee (most 7 plys are seam glue). It does not take that much time to pour some glue in the seam and wipe off the face. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The click and lock separate easier as evident with the laminate click and locks and they have a tendency to squeak if they are not milled well. A little glue will fix both issues. It’s better to do it right the first time around rather than have to pull it all back up and do it again. One thing to note though is that the click and locks can be taken back up and installed in another location; this is good for renters etc. If you glue it you will most likely destroy the wood trying to take it up if you ever chose to do so.

 

I looked at both Greenwood and Bamtex and they look pretty nice...I know there are a ton of new brands out there, but does anyone know anything about Springwood bamboo flooring.
I found some longstrip quick/click that has alum oxide coating (this is good, right?) - and its reasonably priced. (we're going to floor 500-600 sq feet, so a $1 difference in the perfoot price makes a sizable difference for our budget. On the other hand, we want it to last, we have dogs (w/ toenails) and i would rather pay for quality than be bummed in 4-5 years when we might go to sell.
thanks
ben

 

I've been running across more differences and don't believe that about the 3 manufacturers although I know that there is rebranding. I only work with the premium brands and have seen that there are minute differences in milling, such as slightly larger tongues for instance. Some are using different finish systems. I am sure that I have seen at least 4 different manufacturers just among the few premium brands I've worked with. I doubt those same manufacturers are also producing the myriad of garbage labels too.

 

I did not say that 3 was a definitive number it was an approximation hence me using the term about. There are three manufacturers who produce the lion’s share of bamboo available under different product names. That does not exclude the possibility of other manufacturers it merely makes the observation that there is overlap in the same product labeled under different brand names. Some of these manufacturers do produce products in several quality ranges as do many flooring manufactures of other species. This is evident in Greenwoods cross ply solid and their regular solid both are produced by the same manufacturer but one is clearly a superior product to the other.

I would liken it to saying that there are two semi-conductor manufacturers, Intel and AMD sure there are others such as IBM and Sun Microsystems but for all practical purposes there are two manufactures producing chips for the general market. Further both provide top end chips will also producing economic chips to cater to the bargain market.