How to Install a Bamboo Floating Floor

Since it was first introduced to the North American market in the mid 1990s by Smith & Fong, bamboo flooring has enjoyed a steady rise in popularity, especially after the introduction of strand-woven bamboo in 2000. Although all types of bamboo flooring rival most domestic hardwoods for wearability, strand bamboo is in a class by itself in terms of hardness, and it's an attractive and eco-friendly product as well.

Today, homeowners have their choice of solid strand-woven bamboo flooring boards, engineered ones and, for the budget conscious, traditional solid horizontal and vertical bamboo boards manufactured by the process that predates strand weaving.

If you're considering a new bamboo floor, you may be leaning toward a floating floor for one of at least three reasons:

• You want to install it directly over existing flooring.
  
• The installation space is subject to humidity changes that would cause gaps in a nail-down floor.
  
• You like the idea of a DIY-friendly product that you can install yourself.

You'll be purchasing engineered planks for a floating floor installation because solid bamboo planks are designed only to be nailed or glued to the subfloor. The most common floating floor format is click-lock, but some manufacturers also provide engineered tongue-and-groove planks that you glue to each other but not to the subfloor. You can also nail or glue engineered tongue-and-groove planks to the subfloor.

The procedure for installing a click-lock bamboo floor isn't much different from that for installing any laminate floating floor, so if you've ever done that, you won't find much to mystify you. Although the procedure for installing glue-together planks is slightly different, you'll probably easily develop the knack for that as well. If you're new to flooring installation, relax because the procedure is easy to learn, especially if you read the installation instructions provided by the manufacturer of the product you purchase, which is recommended for all DIY installers.

Many people have the misconception that bamboo flooring is more fragile than hardwood flooring, but when it comes to strand-woven bamboo engineered flooring, the opposite is true. Strand bamboo has a Janka hardness that equals or exceeds the hardest exotic wood species, and it comes prefinished with as many as 10 coats of extremely durable finish. Once the floor is installed, it's practically indestructible, and it hardly ever needs sanding and refinishing.

Add to this the fact that bamboo is a fast-growing grass and a sustainable forest product. Engineered flooring isn't quite as green as solid bamboo flooring, but it's definitely greener than a comparable product made from lumber milled from rapidly disappearing tropical rain forests. Also, bamboo flooring looks great in almost any setting.

Once you've decided on the color and type of bamboo flooring you want, you need to measure the installation space, calculate the square footage and buy enough to cover it, allowing a 5 to 10 percent overage for inevitable cutting waste. Make sure you buy all you need because if you have to order more, it may come from a different batch and may not be a good match. When you unpack the flooring, mix planks from the different boxes to create a uniform color distribution.

Like wood flooring and perhaps even more so, bamboo flooring expands and contracts with changing humidity conditions and needs time to acclimate to the installation space. The minimum acclimation period is three days, but a longer period — up to seven days — is better.

Finally, clean the subfloor, sanding or grinding down high spots or using leveling compound to fill depressions if necessary and check the moisture content using a moisture meter. The Bamboo Flooring Company recommends a maximum moisture content of 16 percent for a wood subfloor and 6 percent for a concrete one.

Unless you're installing a glue-down floor, an underlayment is always a good idea, and it should have a moisture barrier in any of the following conditions:

• You're installing the floor over concrete.
• The plywood subfloor has a moisture content at the limit of what is acceptable.
• The subfloor is directly over a crawl space.
• You're installing the floor in a basement or somewhere else below grade.

Available underlayment materials include tar paper, sheet plastic, foam, felt and cork. Foam, cork and felt provide cushioning as well as varying degrees of sound and thermal insulation, but they don't provide a moisture barrier. If you use them in areas where moisture protection is required, spread a sheet of plastic on the subfloor before you lay the underlayment. It's a good idea to staple the underlayment to the subfloor, but if you're installing over concrete, it's fine to leave it unattached. Always check with the flooring manufacturer for installation recommendations when using a moisture barrier.

The procedure for installing glue-together boards is essentially the same as the one for installing click-lock planks. The only difference is that instead of snapping the planks together, you connect the planks by gluing them together.

To make gluing easier, a glue-together floor should be installed with the tongues facing out, which means you lay the first row with the groove side of the planks facing the wall. A professional installer may cut off the groove before installing the first row, but it probably doesn't matter because the baseboard usually covers the groove, and even if it doesn't, the groove is strong enough to support weight, especially if you're installing high-quality flooring.

Be sure to use waterproof urethane glue (per the flooring manufacturer's specifications) that comes in a container with a tapered tip that fits easily inside the groove. Keep a rag handy so you can wipe off any excess glue that oozes out when you tap the planks together before it dries.

Once the floor is in place, you must install baseboard. It isn't optional because it holds the floor down as well as hides the expansion gap. Baseboard that is 3/4-inch thick is enough to cover most gaps created by angled walls, but if not, you can always nail quarter-round or base shoe molding to the baseboard for extra coverage. Prime and paint (or stain and clearcoat) the baseboard before you install it so all you have to do afterward is touch up nail holes.

Engineered bamboo flooring comes prefinished, so no staining, sanding or finishing is required. In fact, the floor requires very little maintenance: periodic vacuuming and occasional mopping with a damp — not wet — mop or a dry microfiber mop and a commercial hardwood-floor cleaner.