First look at bamboo flooring
2005
Friday, October 14
When I got to the house, after work, it was awesome to see the bamboo started. My Dad said that starting it, is always the hardest.... eps coming up with a plan of action for the baseline (line you want to keep parallel to) and board layout. After the baseline is established, a row of craft paper is laid out, prior to the boards. It acts as a vapor barrier as well as supposedly a squeak reducer.
Things were moving along nicely, until they hit the vent. Both my Dad and uncle Andrew have experience installing floors, but not with the matching bamboo flush-mount vent covers we chose. They were both use to working with the traditional metal drop in kind. The flush mount vents are basically planks themselves with tongue and grove edges, but since the vents are wider, the planks have to be cut around them. It's time consuming, but it does look awesome and gives a unified look to the floor. I mean really.... if there are choices, why settle for something that just plops in, like an after-thought, rather than something that becomes part of the design?
A while back, I had purchased a pneumatic flooring stapler, which is an interesting tool. It's a side stapler, which means that when the staples get hammered in, they go in a 45 degree angle on the side and are hidden from the top. The thing about the flooring stapler is that you have to line it up on the tongue, just so, and whack it with a rubber mallet. This not only shoots the staple in, but snugs the planks nicely close together. It's a great tool, but with the bamboo, the problem is that it tends to split it, if you're not careful. I got to understand that a lot better, after stapling in a couple of rows myself.
I love the look of the bamboo so far though. I can't wait to get more done. Tomorrow, we'll be starting around 9am or so and work toward finishing the master bedroom.
Friday, October 14
When I got to the house, after work, it was awesome to see the bamboo started. My Dad said that starting it, is always the hardest.... eps coming up with a plan of action for the baseline (line you want to keep parallel to) and board layout. After the baseline is established, a row of craft paper is laid out, prior to the boards. It acts as a vapor barrier as well as supposedly a squeak reducer.
Things were moving along nicely, until they hit the vent. Both my Dad and uncle Andrew have experience installing floors, but not with the matching bamboo flush-mount vent covers we chose. They were both use to working with the traditional metal drop in kind. The flush mount vents are basically planks themselves with tongue and grove edges, but since the vents are wider, the planks have to be cut around them. It's time consuming, but it does look awesome and gives a unified look to the floor. I mean really.... if there are choices, why settle for something that just plops in, like an after-thought, rather than something that becomes part of the design?
A while back, I had purchased a pneumatic flooring stapler, which is an interesting tool. It's a side stapler, which means that when the staples get hammered in, they go in a 45 degree angle on the side and are hidden from the top. The thing about the flooring stapler is that you have to line it up on the tongue, just so, and whack it with a rubber mallet. This not only shoots the staple in, but snugs the planks nicely close together. It's a great tool, but with the bamboo, the problem is that it tends to split it, if you're not careful. I got to understand that a lot better, after stapling in a couple of rows myself.
I love the look of the bamboo so far though. I can't wait to get more done. Tomorrow, we'll be starting around 9am or so and work toward finishing the master bedroom.
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