BDU Bamboo Flooring College™

Tropical Treatment: Bamboo Flooring in any Climate!

What you will learn: suggested locations for bamboo flooring; preparing for installation by allowing the bamboo to acclimate; what to consider when preparing the subfloor; installation basics.

Along with the durability of bamboo flooring, another feature of this versatile flooring is climatic suitability. For many home or commercial flooring projects, bamboo may be the best solution you’ll ever experience.

A big concern with all flooring options is the moisture level in the space where you want to lay your floor. To this, bamboo flooring has a significant advantage due to the regions where the bamboo plant thrives; namely, the tropics. Given this, the installation of a bamboo floor is entirely appropriate in kitchens and laundry rooms, areas where hardwood and laminate floor fear to tread! In this sense, bamboo is the most flexible material to consider for nearly every room in your home or office if you are looking for an all-around flooring surface.

One of the first things to do once you’ve chosen your bamboo flooring is to allow the product to acclimate in the space where you will eventually be installing your floor. This step in the process is simple enough:

Open the boxes of bamboo flooring and lay them flat
in the room where they are to be installed...
Adjust the thermostat to normal room temperature.
Let the bamboo flooring acclimate for 72 hours.

This process will allow the bamboo to adapt to any exposure to humidity that characterizes the space where you’ve decided to install it. Also, like any flooring installation, it is important that the subfloor be clean, level and dry. After preparation has been made, you will now be ready to either nail the bamboo flooring to a wooden subfloor, or glue the bamboo flooring directly to a concrete subfloor with a 100 per cent urethane-based adhesive layer between them. The urethane will act as a vapor barrier to protect the bamboo. Flooring of this kind is available in a tongue-and-groove design, allowing the do-it-yourselfer to take on the project with relative ease, depending on your skill level.

Once your bamboo flooring installation is complete, you will appreciate this sturdy, tropically derived flooring option – equal to many hardwoods – for both its natural beauty and practicality.

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