A BASIC GUIDE TO THE INSTALLATION OF BAMBOO FLOORING

Pre-Installation of Solid Bamboo Flooring

Bamboo flooring is crafted of natural material, which is uniquely characterised by variations in grain and colour. These variations are not flaws, but parts of the beauty of real bamboo floors.

The following requirements should be performed by the installer:

If any of the requirements below are NOT met, you may be jeopardising the performance of your bamboo floor and/or warranties and guarantees.

All wet work must be complete and building must be fully enclosed.

Flooring needs to be acclimatised on site prior to installation.

Check moistures in the screeds

Wet screeds - Two reasons not to install:

A new slab/screed still drying.
An old screed with rising damp or moisture ingress from outside.

Check that screeds are level and/or flat to spec. The spec is not more than a 3mm over a 2-meter straight edge.

For glue down applications, ensure that the breaking strength of the screed is to spec according to the glue manufacturer’s requirements.

Even if screeds are tested dry, moisture barriers are still compulsory at all times with all methods of installation

Inspect the bamboo product to ensure (A)- Grade (B)- Quantity (C)- Size (D)- Machining (E)- Quality (F)- Colour as ordered

During normal living conditions, if there are large glass panes where the sun shines on the floor all day, huge unnatural shrinkage and fading of the floor will occur

After installation is completed, the area where the floor has been installed is not to be closed/unoccupied with no curtains, as this will create a sauna effect and can result in a floor failure

After completion of the installation, felt pads must be fitted to all the furniture legs to avoid scratching

Laying of bamboo flooring:

Planning and thought must go into each floor, from focal points to finishing strips and be discussed with the fitting team prior to starting the job.

Focal points are vital. It is recommended to start laying a bamboo floor at the focal point moving across to the far side of the room.

The direction of the floor is vital; it is always best to have the length of the floor running in the longest direction and the width of the floor running in the shortest direction.

Strip floors:

Bamboo floors are almost always Strip Floors.

One doesn’t want to create a pattern in a strip floor.

With Bamboo, the flooring is supplied in boxes of fixed length planks. It is therefore vital that the installer apply his mind to not creating a pattern in the floor

Expansion joints:

Expansion joints in the width must always be left. The spec is 3 - 5 mm per linear meter on each side.

Skirting and quadrant will conceal these.

There are four recognised methods of installing solid bamboo strip flooring. These are as follows:

Crawl space installations:
Glue Down Installations:
Elastic Mat System:
Patented ‘Click’ system

1. Crawl space installation on joists

As it is not possible to nail bamboo flooring directly to joists without pre-drilling.

There are two methods that may be followed here:

Plywood subfloor route:

Once the existing floor has been removed and the joists inspected, one can install a plywood subfloor to the joists and then lay the bamboo on the sub-floor.

1.2 Fill or Slab route

The crawl space would need to be filled and compacted. A slab can then be thrown and can be floated and screeded if necessary.

2. Glue down installations

Once tested dry, the specified number of coats of approved moisture barrier must be applied and the correct approved elasticised adhesives used to glue the floor directly to the screed.

(See suppliers spec for details)

It is vital that the adhesive is applied to the manufacturer’s specification.

3. Elastic mat system

This system is only 10 years old and is therefore relatively new technology; it is a suitable and guaranteed system for all solid and engineered T&G installations. The self-adhesive glue is re-enforced onto the mat with strands ensuring that the adhesive does not delaminate off the mat and the adhesive offers a permanent stick.

4. Patented Click system

Here the click system is the method of installation. The individual boards are held together by the click system and thereby form a floating floor. This system is only available on Strand Woven bamboo floors. The floor should be installed on a 3mm solid rubber or similar cushion system.

UNDER FLOOR HEATING AND BAMBOO FLOORS

Under floor heating can be used with all bamboo floors under all methods of installation. On some Glue down applications the manufacturers spec need to be strictly adhered to.

The heat specification is the same as with laminate flooring i.e. a soft heat to a maximum of 27 degrees by a probe/s installed below the floor, and uniformly distributed over the entire area of the floor.

Menu