I am trying to install Strand Woven Bamboo flooring that I purchased from Simple floors.
My pieces are a shy 1/2 thick, x 3 3/4 wide x 6' long. This stuff is very hard and dense.
I am trying to nail it down with a Stanley Bostich MIII floor stapler but am having trouble with the tounge cracking where the staple goes in. This stapler has mainly been used to nail down 3/4 hardwood floors. I made a shoe spacer to adjust it to fit the thinner board. I am using about 70 psi pressure (any lower and staple doesnt go in enough). I am using 1 1/2 long staples that have a 1/2 crown. The staple is hitting right at the inside corner at the top of the tongue.
So far I have about 25 square feet installed but concerned because of the damage to the tongue. The directions say to use a mechanical nailer adjusted for 5/8 thick flooring but dont get specific on a recommended nail gun.
Does anybody have any recommendations?
Thanks,
Bamboo 1st timer
I'm just deciding on colors for this type of flooring as well. I am waiting on samples from simplefloors as well. I'm interested in if you were able to resolve this or if you we just able to adjust your existing nailer. I have a cheaper brad finishing nailer and am wondering if i need to by a stapler.
Thanks,
Brian
Wifey and I just got done with 3 rooms of regular horizontal bamboo, and we had no issues whatsoever there.
Moving on to the next phase of our flooring adventure, we are installing Morningstar strand woven bamboo. 3 wide, 5/8 thick, carbonized color-- simply BEEE-U-Tifoool stuff! This is VERY heavy, VERY dense!!! I knew it would be different than the other bamboo floors, but I had no idea of the amount of time it would take to experiment and test everything out!!!
Started out with the same finish nailer-- Porter Cable 16g angle-- works great for surface nailing as well as angle nailing thru the tongue where the PowerNailer flooring nailer wont fit (like next to a wall).
I wont bore you with ALL of the details, but the regular finish nailers (straight or angle) didnt cut it-- the nails are too large of a gauge. Tried longer, shorter, higher PSI, lower PSI, nothing worked-- nails either didnt penetrate enough, or the flooring 'cratered', cracking and splintering around the nails.
Switched to a brad nailer-- cheapie Campbell Hausfield or whatever it was didnt work, so I tried a Porter Cable, 18g. Tried different lengths of brad nails, tried different PSIs, and ended up doing fairly well with 135-140psi on the compressor and fine tuning the depth on the nailer and using 1 1/4 nails.
On the tongue, we are using a PowerNailer, model 50p pneumatic-- long handle, short channel, if you are wondering. Works great on the flooring, once we got the PSI adjusted. We are seeing some cracking, but it runs along the grain, so to speak, and hasnt affected the fitment of the next pieces when tapped in place on the tongue, and it seems to hold securely-- I tried to tap a piece sideways a bit, that had been nailed down, and it didnt want to budge. Also tried pulling up a 'test' piece, and it was secure.
Also, just to note-- when playing around and testing with different nails and nailers, its not a good idea to wait until you have already put 60-70 nails into a sample piece, and then try to remove it from the subfloor-- its amazing how much holding power 70 nails have when working as a team!!!
Personally, I wouldnt think that a stapler would work well-- the strand woven stuff is just so dense, even some of the nails I tried on this stuff would come out at weird angles, having been bent or deflected within the flooring. Staples are an even smaller gauge than the nails I experimented with. You could try shimming the stapler just a bit more, to move the insertion point just a hair higher, above the tongue-- but not too high, or you can run the risk of getting too close to the surface. Might not show up immediately either, but after a few temp/humidity changes, and after some traffic, the staple placement might come into play.
Brian-- we are doing our whole house in bamboos, and I picked up a PowerNailer on Craigslist for cheeeep! I highly suggest that you use a specialized flooring nailer or stapler, since this strand woven flooring is so dense-- its very unforgiving. I did some freehand tongue-nailiing with my finish nailer, but I wouldnt even think about trying to do more than 1-2 rows like that.
Also, with the flooring from Simple Floors, its 6' long. Murphy's Law states that any and all very long flooring will be marred, marked, or otherwise damaged and need to be removed on the very last nail or staple installed.
On the plus side, when its all installed-- it looks GREAT!!!
Ive read these forums here for a bit, learned a few things along the way, and now I am giving advice-- strange how things change!!!
I've got 750 sf of the carbonized strand woven from simple floors and start in on subfloor prep and layout this weekend. I'm a total novice and my preperations thus far have schooled me on how different this product will be to install than a 'typical' HW. I talked to enough people to realize that a standard flooring nailer available from HD or a local rental shop was not going to suffice for the density of this stuff. Unfortunately, the simple floors installation guide doesn't provide good specs on suggested equipment, but I found that Teragren.com makes a very similar product and actually has tested different nailers that they recommend. The Powernail 50p, Powernail 200, or Primatech Q550 are all nailers that I've heard will work well for this product. Since I haven't found anyplace that rents one of these, I am going to purchase one and then hope to sell it on ebay or craigslist when I'm done.
Good Luck!
I've got the same floor as well a year ago =) and i'm up for the second phase...might be considering the Handscraped one that simplefloors has...kind of unique and pretty.
Regarding installing Strandwoven with a nail down application...i was told that it was better to do a complete glue down application...so I did. Glue down was a bit more work but certainly not as frustrating as with the nail down.
Once that floor was in..it was all worth it!! Very hard floor!!
Good luck with your install...
Glue down installations are prone to alot more failures then nail down......
Originally Posted by HotinOKC
Glue down installations are prone to alot more failures then nail down......
Depends what the substrate is. Gluedown failures are related to the installer. Nail down failures are related to the installer. If either are just winging it, lord help them.
I too am about to undertake the installation of 700+ sq. feet of MorningStar, carbonized stranded bamboo. (3 3/4 by 5/8 thick, (19/64)) I have ordered the Powernailer model 50P. The flooring will be nailed to a 3/4 plywood sub floor over joists. What nail (it really is an L shaped cleat) lenght works best for this product using the Powernailer unit?
I intend to use a 3/4 quarter round molding around the baseboard. What is the best nailer for fastening down the edges around the perimeter? Considering the hardness of the stranded bamboo and the comments it seems doubtful my finish nailer (16 ga. Poter Cable angle) will do it.
What is the best filler for the surface nail holes that will not be covered by the quater round molding? Can I expect the surface nails to go in cleanly or will there be a difficult to hide gink in the finish?
Finally, I have some left over pad (the type of thin, rubbery green stuff) left over from a Pergo job and am contemplating using this between the sub floor and the bamboo. The reason is to provide an extra layer of moisture barrier. Our crawl space can be very damp in the winter. Any thoughts on this. I do value the hard resonant feel and sound when you walk on a real hardwood floor, but on the other hand the sound deadening of the mat may be a plus. Comments?
Getting ready get this done.
Looking for Feedback on Strand Bamboo by Morning Star.(hoping some of you with Strand Bamboo will get an email alert)...
I have about 900sqft that I plan to redo in November.
Currently Looking at getting the following flooring from Lumber Liquidators:
Qing Dragon Strand Bamboo Prefinished Natural
Morning Star Bamboo: 9/16 x 3-3/4 Qing Dragon Strand Bamboo
I have a sample of the exact product and it stands up WELL to my abuse.
I also have a sample of the light colored non-stranded bamboo and it is SOFT as anything and will dent....
Any and All Feedback Appreciated.
-Matti
Nailed down several woven bamboo planks today with absolutely no problem: no cracked tongues, no bent nails, and no problem with nails sinking to just the right depth.
The bamboo floors I'm installing are 9/16 inch solid Fossilized Strand Woven Bamboo from ****, advertised as quite simply the hardest wood floors in the world and has scored over 5000+ pounds on the Janka hardness test.
I'm using an 18 gage Powernail Flex with 1.5 inch nails at 105 psi pressure. Believe me, these floors are EASY to install with the right tools!
I called **** before starting my installation, and they advised me that nail down is by far the best method for these floors. I asked about floating and glue down installation and ***** assured me that nail down is far superior.
I am considering installing strand bamboo on my own and using what most have had good luck with (powernail 50P flex) talking to the flooring sales rep and others it seems that the 18ga. cleat is the way to go. I ran into a planning snag when calling around for pricing on the powernailer tool when I spoke to a wholesaler who only sells to contractors but was willing to lend some advice and when he asked what my sub-floor was and I told him it was OSB he said it wouldn't work.
Do I need to install a 3/8 sheet of plywood over the OSB or will the Cleat into the OSB be enough?
the sales powernail sales rep said he felt that the flooring cleats would eventually pull out of the OSB.
If that's the case I may end up gluing the floor instead.
Tags: trouble, installing, strand, woven, bamboo, nail down, flooring nailer, Glue down, Strand Bamboo, Strand Woven, this product, alot more, alot more failures, alot more failures then
