First, the strand woven bamboo is very hard and dense, you'll notice it's heavier than practically any other hardwood flooring, but it's also fragile. It's almost more like a ceramic than a wood in this way. You will need good quality and very sharp tools to effectively work with it, and you will probably need to replace or sharpen your saw blade if you're doing more than one room. If your tools are all ready you can move into the install phase.
Second, when tapping this product, always, always use some sort of tapping block
or rubber mallet
. I know I just got done saying how hard this product is, but if you hit it with a metal hammer on the end as you're tapping it into place lengthwise, you could very well fracture the finish. In the process of installing my first room with this flooring, I did this a few times, and the finish is not the standard clear coat like a regular hardwood, it's softer looking yet so hard its like trying to sand glass, you will end up cutting the fractured end off most often. It's almost like fiberglass if it breaks, it's prone to giving out very nasty slices and splinters.
or rubber mallet. I know I just got done saying how hard this product is, but if you hit it with a metal hammer on the end as you're tapping it into place lengthwise, you could very well fracture the finish. In the process of installing my first room with this flooring, I did this a few times, and the finish is not the standard clear coat like a regular hardwood, it's softer looking yet so hard its like trying to sand glass, you will end up cutting the fractured end off most often. It's almost like fiberglass if it breaks, it's prone to giving out very nasty slices and splinters.
Third, back to the sharp tool comment, if you wait until your blade gets too dull to change it out, you may get a very sloppy cut edge and have to re-do a cut, When the saw stars tearing out even a little, and you run a board with the finish side up through the table saw or chop saw, you will get a sloppy edge that does not mate up with the nice factory edge.
Fourth, the floor nailer (link to what I'm using)
. Be prepared to run your floor nailer on its highest input PSI, and give it a good whack. Due to the density and hardness of this product, you will need to really drive the cleats in. If you get one that is only in half way (you will) I have found that the only choice is to cut them off, flooring cleats are too soft to hammer into anything but maybe...butter? and the wood being so hard also makes it impossible to pull them out. If you have to do this, having an oscillating tool like a Dremel Multi Max will be a god send. Get a carbide blade, or two.
. Be prepared to run your floor nailer on its highest input PSI, and give it a good whack. Due to the density and hardness of this product, you will need to really drive the cleats in. If you get one that is only in half way (you will) I have found that the only choice is to cut them off, flooring cleats are too soft to hammer into anything but maybe...butter? and the wood being so hard also makes it impossible to pull them out. If you have to do this, having an oscillating tool like a Dremel Multi Max will be a god send. Get a carbide blade, or two.
If you're careful about cutting and tapping, the strand woven carbonized bamboo flooring can look great and last a long time. I used Morning Star Strand woven carbonized 3 3/4 x 5/8 in this photo (the baseboard is not done yet )
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| Strand woven carbonized bamboo flooring |
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