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Okay, so your floor prep has been done. Now you're ready to start installing the bamboo floors in your room.

I finished a 13 foot by 10 foot bedroom on Saturday. I did a little work on Friday evening to set everything up, but it's a job that can be completed in one whole day.

How to Install Bamboo Floors - Part Two
Here is a list of items you'll need to install your flooring:

• 15lb. Felt Paper Underlayment
• Bamboo Flooring (naturally...)
• A Floor Stapler
  
• An Air Compressor (to run your floor stapler)
• Flooring Staples (I used 2 inch crown staples for the 5/8" thick bamboo)
• A 10" or 12" mitre saw
• A Rubber Mallet (mine came with the Floor Stapler rental)
• Measuring Tape
• Hammer
• Finishing Nails
• Nail Set
• Chalk Line Set
• Matching Wood Filler

After the bamboo flooring has acclimated to your room for 3 to 7 days, and your subfloor is clean, you can begin installation.

Lay out the felt underlayment paper. Put it in the same direction your bamboo planks will go. Put down one row at a time to make sure you don't tear it up walking back and forth.

Start with the longest wall that is also an outside wall. Those tend to be the straightest walls. Use a chalk line to snap a straight-as-possible line along this wall. Place your first plank along that line, next to the wall. You'll have to nail it down with finishing nails. Try to nail the planks down to the floor joists underneath (you'll see a line of nails along in the subfloor where it was nailed to the joists.)

Note - Make sure you don't put the bamboo boards up tight against the walls. Give yourself a half inch or 5/8 inch gap between the wall and planks to allow for expansion and contraction of the bamboo. Your baseboards will cover the gaps (and if it's not enough, you can add an additional quarter-round to the baseboard.)

Fit your next plank in and nail it down. Continue along your wall until the row is completed. On your next row, stagger the lengths of your planks. You can either make it random or alternate lengths - you just don't want any of your seams to line up. You want the alternating look and you want the added strength.

Because your floor stapler won't fit, you'll have to nail down your first two or three rows. Use your nail set and hammer to hammer down the finish nails until they're below the surface of the bamboo.

Once you have room for the stapler, you can place your planks down and use the rubber mallet to pound the floor stapler to nail in the 2 inch staples. Put in a staple every 6 to 8 inches and not any closer than 2 inches to the edge of the plank. Tap your bamboo planks in with the mallet before a final staple to make sure you're eliminating gaps.

You may need to use a table saw to cut the planks length-wise once you get to the end of the room. It's rare that all the planks will fit in perfectly to every room. You may also need to remove the "tongue" on the planks to be able to drop those thinned boards in next to the wall.
One problem I had - when I first started, my air compressor was set to about 100 psi and it was causing the staples to go in very hard and crack the tongues on the bamboo boards (see pic below.) I backed the pressure down to below 95 psi and the splitting of the tongue stopped. Always test out a spare board before you begin to make sure you don't ruin too many planks.
I purchased matching bamboo T-moldings to transition from the bamboo to the carpet in the hallway. If you're going from bamboo to tile or laminate, you may need a bamboo "reducer" for your transitions. Nail those down with finishing nails and use the nail set to drop them out of sight.

The only thing left is to clean up and install your baseboards. You should prime and paint the baseboards before you nail them to your wall to make it easier (and avoid getting paint on your shiny new bamboo floor!)

RELATED POSTS:
Bamboo Flooring Preparation
Bamboo Countertops

Interested in putting bamboo in your home, but don't want to try it yourself?

You could hire a professional to do the work for you. Need to find a flooring installer? Submit your request for free to ConstructionDeal.com. It's a fast, easy way to find contractors.

Simply fill out a form and you'll get calls from a few local professionals. There is no cost or obligation. And it will save you time - you won't have to call a bunch of people at random from the phone book. They call you.

Labels: Bamboo, Flooring Options, How To Install

If you're ready for a new look in your home, or you want something a bit more... exotic, then you might consider bamboo flooring.

I'm remodeling my home to make it more eco-friendly and "green." Green means that I want to use Earth-friendly products, materials that are good for the environment, and things that are more sustainable or even recycled. I want to lower my impact on our natural resources.

Using bamboo flooring is a great way to be more sustainable. Since it's a grass and not a hard wood from a tree, it can be replaced in just 4 to 6 years. The same amount of wood from a tree could take 20 to 40 years to grow.

How To Install Bamboo Floors - Step One
If you like bamboo and you're ready to install it, you need to do a little bit of preparation first.

After you remove the linoleum, vinyl flooring, or carpeting that was there before... you'll want to remove the carpet tacks, staples, or any dried glue that is left over on our subfloors. You want to install the bamboo planks on a smooth, even surface.

Next, you need to inspect your subfloors. If you've got wood or plywood subflooring, or if you have a concrete slab, you need to make sure it is level. If there are peaks or dips in the subfloor, it can put stress on the bamboo (or any material you use) flooring that will rest on top of it. If any of the subfloor is warped, cracked, or rotten then you need to replace or repair it.

If the floor is made of plywood, like mine is, then it was probably nailed down to the floor joists below it. More than likely you've got a squeaky floor and some of the nails might even be popping up. Get yourself some wood screws and screw them into the plywood. This will hold the subfloor down and give you a tight, firm base to put your new bamboo flooring on.

And it should stop most of your floor squeaks.

Next, remove the baseboards around the entire room. Most baseboards were installed lower than the height of the bamboo planks, probably to accommodate the carpeting or tile flooring. This is a great chance for you to also install more interesting baseboards! And perhaps some crown molding down the road.

Vaccuum up all the dust and debris from all your work.

If you're going to install the bamboo floors or if someone else will, it's important to make sure you pick up (or have delivered) the boxes of bamboo several days before you plan to do your work. And leave it in the room where it will be put in.

Letting the bamboo acclimate to your room temperature, humidity, and other conditions will allow it to adjust. Wood (and grass) tends to expand and contract based on weather conditions. To make sure your flooring doesn't want to move too much, after you install it, let it sit for 3 to 7 days first.

Next, I'll be installing the underlayment and the bamboo flooring planks.

Related Posts:
How to Install Bamboo Flooring
How to Install Baseboards

If you're interested in putting bamboo in your home, but don't want to try it yourself, you can always hire a professional to do the work for you. If you need to find a flooring installer, you can submit your request for free on ConstructionDeal.com. It's a fast, easy way to find contractors.

Fill out a simply form and get calls from a few local flooring professionals. There is no cost or obligation. And it will save you time - you won't have to call a bunch of companies at random from the phone book.

They will call you.

Labels: Bamboo Flooring, Flooring Options, Floors

Labels: Carpeting, Flooring Options, Floors

Have you been considering travertine as a remodeling option?

If not, you might want to put it on your list for flooring, backsplash and wall needs. It's been used for thousands of years but not many people are as familiar with it as they should be.

Travertine is in the marble family and it's incredibly durable -- in fact, the Coliseum in Rome has travertine as part of its building materials.

Need to Find a Travertine Installer? We Can Help:


Uses for Travertine Tiles
It's great for use in flooring and as a wall tile. It has a hard, smooth finish with a porous surface. It's so durable it can be used not only in residential indoor settings but is perfect for commercial applications and even outdoor use. Travertine has an old world look caused by creamy color in all the pores on the surface. The pores are caused by gases escaping as the travertine is formed in underground springs and rivers (usually in and around Italy and Turkey.)

Many have been using travertine as a complete flooring system in living spaces, such as family rooms, kitchens, bathrooms, and even as outdoor patios. It's also being used as tiles for bathroom walls and showers. It can also be applied as a kitchen backsplash.

Keep in mind that, like most natural stones, it requires an aggregate sealer to protect against stains and spillage. Also, there can be big color variances for you batch because of the varying degree of mineral deposits in the stone material. And travertine is not inexpensive. Finally, travertine can scratch easily. Despite these disadvantages, it's a very rich and beautiful tile material that will last a very long time in your bathroom or kitchen... and it could even increase your homes value.

If you're going to go with travertine tiles in your home, do not use polished travertine on the floors. Using honed travertine is the best option to avoid scratches. And, the polished material would be too slippery for areas of heavy traffic.

To save time, post your travertine project with ConstructionDeal.com. You'll get calls directly from tile installers instead of calling someone at random from the yellow pages.

And, as always, it's free to find a local travertine tile company when you're ready to remodel your kitchen or bathroom.

Labels: Flooring Options, Tile Contractors, Travertine

It didn't used to be this way, but now, whenever anyone talks about hardwood floors, they always mention bamboo.

Which is sort of funny because bamboo isn't even a wood -- it's grass. But it has really been a big trend lately in replacement flooring. Why?

Well, it looks good, comes in a big variety of styles, and it's very durable. Another reason it's taking off could also be that it's a very sustainable, eco-friendly material. And these days... green is good.

Prices vary from $2 a square foot to more than $8. Beware some of the cheaper bamboo (look for a brand with a Klump lacquer coating, which is supposed to be the best in the industry.) There are the standard installation options, similar to most hardwoods (they've got a snap & click variety for easy installation, plus the regular glue or nail versions.) It can come in natural (unfinished) or a stained and sealed style (finished.)

It could be a great new flooring option for you. You could save money and not leave as much of an environmental dent as you do with hardwoods. It can take many, many years (and decades) to re-grow a tree.

But bamboo flooring, as an actual grass, can be re-grown in just a few years.

Looking for a bamboo flooring installer? Submit a request to ConstructionDeal.com to find quality floor installers. There's no cost and no obligation to find bamboo floor pros.

(Thanks to Lindsay over at Home Improvement Ideas for the bamboo idea!)

RELATED POSTS:
How to Install Bamboo
Bamboo Countertops?

Labels: Bamboo Flooring, Flooring Contractors, Flooring Options

Acid stained concrete floors are growing in popularity. Many people are looking to stained floors as an alternative to carpet, tile and wood. In addition to the marbled beauty of the surface, acid stained floors are low maintenance and don't retain dust which may affect some peoples' allergies. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the first people to use acid stain on floors in the 1920's.

Acid Stains are not paints. They are a coloring process involving a chemical reaction on a cementitious material. Acid Stains are a mixture of hydrochloric acid, water, and inorganic salts. The acid is not the ingredient that creates the color. The acid opens the pores of the concrete (this is referred to as etch). Once the pores are open, the metallic salts in the mixture react with the hydrated lime (calcium hydroxide) in the hardened concrete. When this solution is placed on concrete it colors the concrete by chemically combining the metallic ions with the particles in the concrete to form oxides. It is this reaction - at the ion level - that creates color. The stain mixture needs to react with the concrete for 4 - 6 hours. Many stain artists leave the stain on the slab overnight.

There are many manufactures of Acid Stain and most produce stain in 8 colors that are variations of three basic color groups: black, brown, and blue-green. The basic 8 colors are: Black, Brown, Umber, Red, Tan, Gold, Green and Blue. Some stain manufactures may use adjectives such as Vintage or Antique to describe their color version.

Acid Stain gives concrete a mottled, variegated, marble-like look. An acid stained floor will not look like a paint swatch - it will look like multiple swatches in a basic color range. Never expect Acid Stain to be uniform or have an even tone, you will get different reactions from slab to slab, and even on the same job you may see different coloration patterns. Variations of colors and mottling are to be expected and enjoyed. It is the random mix of tones and shades that gives an acid stained floor its unique beauty.

Some factors that affect the outcome of the finished stain project include:

• Cement properties and mix design
• Admixtures
• Type of aggregate
• Concrete finishing methods
• Concrete age and moisture content when stain is applied
• Weather conditions when concrete is poured and stain is applied
• Efflorescence

In general, cements that produce larger amounts of calcium hydroxide during hydration will show more stain color, and higher cement contents produce more intense colors. A smooth surface may require a stronger stain mixture while a "garage floor" finish will stain at a weaker concentration. If they are near the surface, calcium-based aggregates, such as lime-stone, take stain readily and deepen the color of the concrete above them. Solid aggregates, such as gravel, don’t react with the stain.

Acid stains, unlike paints, are not opaque - they are translucent. Some areas will be darker than others, similar to marble, granite or other natural stone. Along with the naturally occurring variegation and marbling - any blemishes and imperfections in your concrete simply add character and charm. Even cracks can add to the look.

However, each slab is different and there may be problem areas that need to be Faux Finished. This is most often caused by things that may have already reacted with the concrete or things that were spilled/dropped on the concrete. These may include Plumber's Flux, Construction Adhesives, paints and other such items. When talking to your stain contractor, question them on what they do for these areas. If their response is "You can’t control the stain", "Acid does what it does" or "You get what you get"; get a second opinion. A reliable stain contractor will know how to treat these areas and should not charge extra to do so.

Good luck on your staining project!

Joe Welch
joe (at) stainedbydesign (dot) com


For additional information on how Concrete Acid Stains Works and more sample pictures, click the link above and it will take you to Joe's site "Stained By Design" - his decorative concrete overlay business in Louisiana!

If you'd like to find an acid-staining concrete installer in your neighborhood, submit your request today to ConstructionDeal.com! It's free to find local Decorative Concrete Pros in your area.

RELATED ARTICLES:
Decorative Concrete Overlays
Acid Stained Concrete Flooring 101
Acid Stained Concrete - Exterior Care

Labels: Acid Stained Concrete, Decorative Concrete, Flooring Options, Floors