Bamboo Flooring

[Yeochief]

13 hours ago, stevewool said:

Is laying these floors a DIY job , plus if laying onto concrete flooring is there anything that you would put down first like a membrane.

It can be a DIY, have a small table saw if any cutting is required (most cases it is), a rubber mallet and there is a "S" shaped tool (one end small just enough to fit over the groove and one bigger that you hit with the mallet) this will lock the flooring into place.  Make sure all molding is taken up prior to, if no molding then you will want to put some down after you put the flooring down.  I would put down the membrane (foamy plastic on the concrete). 

[Mike J]

3 hours ago, Yeochief said:

Make sure all molding is taken up prior to, if no molding then you will want to put some down after you put the flooring down. 

And leave space between the wall and the outermost edge of the flooring.  This will allow room for the floor to expand a bit as it floats over the pad and not buckle up.

[Tommy T.]

13 hours ago, Mike J said:

I looked into bamboo several years ago when doing a major makeover of our house in the USA

Thanks for the input, Mike. After reading up on bamboo, the "engineered" version seems to be simply something like a particle board with the bamboo as just a veneer. I am thinking that, some day down the road, should I and the flooring last so long, that it may need to be refinished. A veneer likely would not stand up to that? I really like the stranded woven - both the appearance and strength appeal to me. The stranded woven is touted to be able to refinished so that's a plus. I also liked the appearance, but not so much the natural with the regular repetition of the knots... Both L and I liked the dyed version appearance a lot more.

Yesterday I returned to Wilcon and did the hk and your thumbnail test - those pieces of all types - solid, stranded woven and engineered did not dent at all - hurt my fingernail! There will only be bare feet in the house. If a dog (over my objections) is let into the house, he would only be permitted into the granite tiled areas. Only the bedrooms will have the wood flooring and those rooms will be dry. The entire house property grade will be raised about .3 meter and the house flooring will be another two steps above that and the area does not flood. Flooding was our biggest concern since that is common around here...

L and I inspected a home that is under construction by our contractors. It is a nice looking, higher end home - not large, but well constructed. Several floor areas are already covered with the floating bamboo flooring and it looks gorgeous and feels solid underfoot - we were impressed. Of course, when new, most things look great and impress, right? We are going to return to see this home just about when it is completed. It will be interesting to see the floors again because we went in wearing sandals and the contractor was wearing his running shoes. The place was still dirty and a construction zone. I think I would prefer to wait until the house is finished otherwise before having the floors installed.

[Tommy T.]

17 hours ago, stevewool said:

Is laying these floors a DIY job , plus if laying onto concrete flooring is there anything that you would put down first like a membrane.

I will not DIY this job because I don't want to deal with it, I am not an expert and also, the contractor warranties their work for  one year... I can't argue with that! For this floating installation, they put a thin layer of a plastic - not unlike what some shippers use to cushion objects in boxes - onto the floor before the wood strips.

[Tommy T.]

13 hours ago, hk blues said:

We used laminate - upstairs and down but the downstairs was a poorer quality as the developer was paying for it so we couldn't control. 

Thanks for the additional info. I am learning a lot about these floors now and they sound good if they are properly installed. That's good to hear!

[Tommy T.]

4 hours ago, Yeochief said:

It can be a DIY, have a small table saw if any cutting is required (most cases it is), a rubber mallet and there is a "S" shaped tool (one end small just enough to fit over the groove and one bigger that you hit with the mallet) this will lock the flooring into place.  Make sure all molding is taken up prior to, if no molding then you will want to put some down after you put the flooring down.  I would put down the membrane (foamy plastic on the concrete). 

More good advice Yeo... thanks! However I don't want this to be DIY as I explained above. If it were a remodel I might consider, but this is a totally new home so the contractor will do it all. They built the apartment where I live now and are very good about following up on things that were not right - such as some leaks - even three years after the building was completed.

1 hour ago, Mike J said:

And leave space between the wall and the outermost edge of the flooring.  This will allow room for the floor to expand a bit as it floats over the pad and not buckle up.

Thanks Mike! I will keep that in mind and make sure it happens.

[jimeve]

25 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

I will not DIY this job because I don't want to deal with it, I am not an expert and also, the contractor warranties their work for  one year... I can't argue with that! For this floating installation, they put a thin layer of a plastic - not unlike what some shippers use to cushion objects in boxes - onto the floor before the wood strips.

I was wondering if one could lay bamboo over tiles? . Maybe put a something down on the tiles like a membrane first on the tiles! 

[Tommy T.]

1 minute ago, jimeve said:

I was wondering if one could lay bamboo over tiles? . Maybe put a something down on the tiles like a membrane first on the tiles! 

My understanding is that the floor has to be just about perfectly smooth - presumably to prevent any movement? In that case, you would need to have some sort of veneer of grout or cement? I am sure someone else here will know.

[jimeve]

1 minute ago, Tommy T. said:

My understanding is that the floor has to be just about perfectly smooth - presumably to prevent any movement? In that case, you would need to have some sort of veneer of grout or cement? I am sure someone else here will know.

Tiles are perfectly smooth, I thought that it might make a good foundation for bamboo. Just a thought!

[Jack Peterson]

3 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

My understanding is that the floor has to be just about perfectly smooth - presumably to prevent any movement? In that case, you would need to have some sort of veneer of grout or cement? I am sure someone else here will know.

You would need to have the Floor Screeded like a proper Plastering on the Floor, you can get mixes that have sone damp proofing in certainly a latex mix to stop any rising damp from the porous Concrete