# Floating Bamboo floor installation in kitchen



## swindmill (Feb 16, 2016)

I'm in the middle of a kitchen renovation and should be installing a Click-Lock floating bamboo floor from Cali-Bamboo at the end of the week. My kitchen is completely empty, with a plywood subfloor. My preference is to lay the floor wall to wall and put cabinets on top. Cali-Bamboo says not to install the floating floor under fixed cabinetry. I am installing cabinets with adjustable feet, for what that's worth. I spoke to someone at Cali-Bamboo about this and he said if something heavy will be on the floor (such as a fridge, range, dishwasher), I should glue the joints in these places. I don't see any way around having flooring underneath appliances, at least I wouldn't lay a kitchen floor that way. So, my question is, can I go ahead and lay the floor wall to wall since cabinets are lighter than appliances? I understand the reasoning behind having no fixed weight on a floating floor, but in a kitchen there is no way around it. Is buckling inevitable in this scenario or just a slight possibility? My flooring will have acclimated for about 10 days prior to install.

My second question relates underlayment. I'd like to use a cork underlayment. I'm thinking of using plastic for a vapor barrier beneath that. The kitchen sits over a crawlspace that is lined with plastic and spray foamed around the perimeter. It is not completely dry by any means, but there is no obvious moisture down there.

EDIT: To comment on one of my own questions, I'm reading plenty of sources that say not to use a vapor barrier over plywood. At this point, I'm just leaning towards laying a cork underlayment on the subfloor, and the bamboo directly on top of that.


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## nealtw (Feb 16, 2016)

The usual thought is if you have a plywood sub floor , that is the vapor bearier put you have an insulated crawl space. I argue against that all the time, you should have that space condition as part of the house, if you have moisture down there you should have dehumidifier
I can't comment on the floor other than I would not put it under the cabinets.


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## swindmill (Feb 16, 2016)

I'm trying to figure out the difference between putting the flooring under the cabinets and putting it under appliances. Either way, there is significant weight on the floating floor. If the recommendation is to glue the joints under the appliances, it seems that I could use that same recommendation under the cabinets. It just seems odd for the manufacturer to say it can't be under one thing that weighs a lot, but it can be under other things that weigh a lot. I understand that flooring under appliances is unavoidable, but I don't see a practical difference. I guess I'm just playing devil's advocate so I'm comfortable that it will work out.


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## nealtw (Feb 16, 2016)

I don't know about your floor but I had laminate thru out my place for about 2 weeks before the flood. All the floor had to be removed as it will mold and there is no hope of drying it. I did not have to pull the cupboards.

I have a few friends with click together floor that expands and the contracts and the joints separate at the end joints, I would consider gluing the end joints. But I don't know the pros and cos of that.


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## swindmill (Feb 16, 2016)

That is a fair point about the possibility of needing to replace the floor and not remove the cabinets. I will glue all the joints under the appliances, and cabinets if I go that route. I still have a couple days of drywall work and then paint, so I plan to put the floor in Saturday. 

I've noticed that the manufacturer recommends asphalt saturated kraft paper as a moisture barrier on wood subfloors, so I'm looking into that.


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## bud16415 (Feb 16, 2016)

I didn&#8217;t do bamboo but put a floating floor in the kitchen. I broke every rule there is for floating floors I think. I laid mine over an old peel and stick floor the floor had a dip in it that is about an inch or more. I did the room and an entrance way wall to wall and then set the cabinets on top I then built a center island out of cabinets and screwed it thru the flooring all the way to the old flooring I drilled down thru the flooring and ran electrical to the island mini wine fridge. 

After a couple years I only had one minor separation and that is in the doorway to the entrance. That little room is over a cold crawlspace and the movement it saw was from the cold last winter moving that room up. 

If I have to remove it and replace it I would remove the island and most likely cut it under the rest. 

If I had the time when I was putting it down I would have glued it all the way floating flooring used to be done. Makes it very waterproof. The stuff I put down was used flooring and I just wanted to get it down quick.


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## swindmill (Feb 16, 2016)

That certainly makes me feel better about any minor discrepancies in my plan. There's really no reason I can't glue this down, it's just easier to put down and take up if it's floating. I really can't imagine having so much expansion that it will cause buckling, which is what the manufacturer is warning of. I'd imagine any expansion would be minimal, slow, and a maybe strong enough force to occur under cabinets, etc.


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## bud16415 (Feb 16, 2016)

Leave a quarter inch all the way around the room that will go under the baseboards. Only use glue in the grove and get a good yellow glue. After you do a couple you will catch on just how much it takes to get a tiny line of glue to come out the crack. Get that off right away with a wet paper towel. On laminate you get a slight swelling at the joint and it goes right away when the glue dries. I don&#8217;t know about bamboo, maybe test it first. In the old days it wasn&#8217;t snap lock and each joint had to be wedged in place to get perfect joints, this snap stuff is hard to make a mistake with. 

Again I only offered my experience and how it worked out for me and I know different products lock together different amounts etc.


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## swindmill (Feb 17, 2016)

I definitely understand you are offering your experience only. I think I am fairly comfortable going under the cabinets and gluing the joints in those spots. This kitchen is only about 110 square feet, so cost difference is not much of an issue and there aren't that many cabinets. It will be much easier overall to do the entire floor and then put everything in place. And, since I'm using Ikea carcasses for the base cabinets, it allows me (or anyone else) to change things up later. 

A couple more questions that I'll leave in this thread: 

I'll be using a 10" miter saw for end cuts and a 10" table saw for rips. Do I need a special blade for bamboo? Especially making 74" rips along the wall...I'm not sure if this will mess up the blade or the bamboo. Would it be best to use a jigsaw or table saw to notch around the HVAC vent and a couple outside corners I have?

Lastly, I bought a matching threshold piece that will transition into a living room (pine plank). It obviously doesn't click lock, so I'm guessing that I should glue and/or shoot finishing nails. The manufacturer doesn't specify how to install this as far as I can tell.


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## nealtw (Feb 17, 2016)

All the cut ends and sides will be against the wall with trim over them.


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## swindmill (Feb 17, 2016)

I wasn't sure if a different blade would be necessary due to the hardness of bamboo.


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## nealtw (Feb 17, 2016)

I have never cut it, all my blades have carbide teeth. Cutting from the back of the board will always give you a better cut.


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## bud16415 (Feb 17, 2016)

Bamboo vs Carbide 

Carbide wins.


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## nealtw (Feb 17, 2016)

bud16415 said:


> Bamboo vs Carbide
> 
> Carbide wins.



I am sure a jigsaw blade will cut it just fine.


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## swindmill (Feb 19, 2016)

I believe this is my last question... Since I need to leave 1/2" space off the wall, what should I do at the exterior door threshold to cover that 1/2" gap? It seems like flooring usually butts up to the threshold. All I can think is to make a low profile trim piece. 

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Repair1455894928.185776.jpg


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## bud16415 (Feb 19, 2016)

I have never left a half an inch, maybe bamboo takes more. How thick is the flooring and how high is the door adjuster plate? I would leave about one quarter or less and use a matching rubbery caulking.


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## nealtw (Feb 19, 2016)

If the piece of hardwood on the threshold can be changed for a wider one or just tack a cove to it.


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## havasu (Feb 19, 2016)

I'd unscrew the threshold, install the flooring under it, then reinstall the threshold.


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## slownsteady (Feb 19, 2016)

shoe moldings are a wonderful thing.


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## swindmill (Feb 19, 2016)

The 1/2" figure is manufacturer specification. It's solid bamboo. It'll be under baseboard and shoe molding everywhere else. The door threshold is part of the door assembly. My options seem to be rip a small amount off the planks along that wall, except where the door is, or use a small piece of molding to cover the gap. The molding can only be about about 1/4" tall before it gets in the way of the door.


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## nealtw (Feb 19, 2016)

Work in a transition


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## swindmill (Feb 19, 2016)

I'll give that a shot. I'll have plenty of leftover from the 72" transition piece I bought for another spot.


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## nealtw (Feb 19, 2016)

swindmill said:


> I'll give that a shot. I'll have plenty of leftover from the 72" transition piece I bought for another spot.



You will want to return it to the wall, I would cut those 45* first and just glue that together with tape, they you can install it as a unit.


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## CallMeVilla (Feb 21, 2016)

I will never use bamboo again, PARTICULARLY in a water environment.  It stains rapidly, curls, scratches and warps beyond belief.  Have worked on a restaurant where the entire dining area is destroyed in less than two years.

We just finished a flood repair where the old parquet had to be pulled out of a condo.  Replacement wood tiles are more expensive than new so the owner chose to re-do everything.  The choice was engineered T&G hardwood glue down.  I won't bore you with every picture of the demolition, leveling and installation.  However, the finished product was laid from one wall and baseboard and/or shoe base finished the edges.  With glue, the product movement is minimized.  Sound attenuation is excellent.

The product was on sale but they get you on the glue  ....  $270 a can for 4 gallons.  Took 2 1/2 cans so do the math.  The installation was complicated because the space was cut up with cabinets, a large central cabinet, a hallway and a laundry area.  Nevertheless, the appliances were removed then replaced after the flooring was done.  Obviously, the kitchen cabinets remained in place.


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## swindmill (Feb 25, 2016)

This is 1/2" thick solid bamboo, so it's about as dense and hard as hardwood gets. I'm not too concerned about durability, but I guess I'll see. This is not bamboo laminated to other material, which probably wouldn't be all that durable.

The install went quick and easy this past Saturday. I left a 1/2" gap on every wall, which will be covered by cabinets and baseboard/shoe. I did not glue the joints after discussing it more with a flooring installer I know. I used a 2mm foil faced foam underlayment. It looks and feels great. I immediately put the fridge and range back in place. So far everything seems great with the floor. The only issue I had was trying to put finishing nails in the transition piece. I glued it and tried to shoot brad nails in, but they curled up and shot across the room. The flooring really is that hard I suppose. There's a creaking noise if I step on that piece, but I'll figure something out.

The one problem I have is the height of the floor in relation to the exterior door. This floor replaced very thin vinyl tile. The plastic weather strip on the bottom of the fiberglass, pre-hung door catches on the floor, leaving no room for a rug at the entrance. The only solution I can think of is to remove the entire pre-hung unit and shim it up 1/4" or so. The exterior is vinyl, so I can easily trim that to move it up. It seems like a lot of work, but I can't think of any other solutions. I knew the height would create an issue, I just didn't know it would be this tight.


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## nealtw (Feb 25, 2016)

Check the lumber yard for a weather strip for the outside, aluminum with a rubber strip against the door. and take the sweep off the door.


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## swindmill (Feb 25, 2016)

Thanks for the suggestion. I think I know what you're talking about and I'll look into that.


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## AlexEverette (Apr 7, 2016)

I agree about the flooring/cabinetry replacement issue, I wouldn't want to have to rip apart my whole kitchen just to re-do the floors.

As far as the cork underlayment goes, you can place floating bamboo floors over almost any surface, so I wouldn't think about that aspect too much. If it were up to me, I'd go with whatever would make ripping it up and putting a new floor in easiest, but I plan to stay in my home until I'm in the ground, so that might only apply to me.

This article explains more in-depth: https://www.ambientbp.com/blog/the-pros-and-cons-of-bamboo-floating-flooring


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