Expert: Patrick Copell - 8/5/2004

Question
I purchased some 3-1/4" x 36" bamboo tongue and groove nail down flooring from an auction.  The room in the old house has half particle board subfloor, and half hardwood flooring from the 1950's which had dips as much as 1/2". I have used leveling compound and made it level.  I tried driving flooring staples through a test piece with level compound and I get cracking - I think this could cause problems, like
crackling when walking under that area.  Also have been told by flooring people that particle board is not a good subfloor to nail into, as over time, may likely loosen and produce gaps in the flooring.

So I thought of floating the floor and glueing the tongue and groove,with a 1/8" foam underlay.  I have talked to a few suppliers and some say this can be done using a resilient glue.  Others have said the bamboo slats are designed for nail down and if you glue them tongue and groove, they will eventually come apart - because the tongue and the groove are not designed tight enough, and there is no guarantee the glue will interface properly.  I find that hard to swallow, as the
tongue and groove have little room, and glue will surely spread well and cover the surfaces.  Info on the internet seems to say that you can float bamboo floors.  

What do you think of gluing the floor down using Bostik glue and troweling it on - very expensive glue, but if it is the best way, may be worth it.  Only question is that on the portion with floor patch leveler, the surface is not that flat and even - has some bumps and such - the glue may not bond as well maybe?  Is this method of floor fastening okay for a novice like myself (never done any troweling or tiling before).

Thanks very much, Henry

Answer
Henry,

good questions. Let me solidify some of the info you have heard.
Particle board is not an approved substrate for nailing solid woods into. Eventually it WILL fail, just a matter of time, and I am sure you do not want to waste it.
The reason you cannot float the floor is not really the tounge and groove mainly, it really has to do with stability of the wood itself. To be able to float a wood floor, it must be engineered. In other words, it must be a plywood wood. Top layer is Bamboo, the other layers are usually stems and such crushed to make a base. then another layer of wood at the bottom. A solid floor will move too much in too many ways to be floated, it will have major problems if the solid bamboo is not nailed down.

Same goes for glueing only, it's just not stable enough, it will have the same problems as floating.

If you want it done right, you will need to remove the existing wood, and the particle board, get down to the subfloor, which should be 3/4 plywood, then nail the bamboo to that after you level it out.

That's the only professional way to do it.

Please let me know if you have any more questions. I hope this helped.

Don't forget to vote for contractor of the month on this site!

thanx!