Where a proper ground covering is in place and when venting is required by local building codes, the crawl space should have perimeter venting equal to a minimum of 1.5 square feet per 100 square feet of crawl space square footage, unless local building codes differ from this specification. Strand woven bamboo is an excellent floor choice because it lessens the probability of scratches. The flooring was sold between 2011 and 2015, and was purchased by 614,000 customers in the United States. Engineered bamboo flooring is beautiful and durable, but it has some downsides, too. What a bummer! I have engineered bamboo floors that were recently damaged by appliances being installed. Teepeeing can sometimes be caused by the floor swelling past the expansion gap around the perimeter. Any suggestions? This installer didn’t use 18 gauge cleats. Now I am finding a lot of grimy, dirt-like spots all over that I have unsuccessfully tried to clean (it looks like a layer of dirt but no amount of scrubbing seems to help). Bamboo is a grass – not a … The boards are starting to separate from each other. Bamboo planks that are made of solid bamboo are more likely to hold up in this environment. Even if there are no threats of splashed and puddled water, humidity can still cause problems for bamboo flooring. Always wipe up spills immediately. It's a myth that bamboo flooring excessively expands and contracts in dry or humid climates. Bamboo Flooring Acclimation. Hi Ava! High quality bamboo floor brands can be acclimated in as little as 72 hours; lower quality brands may require weeks. Introducing "One Thing": A New Video Series. Hope that helps! Long term seeping and nestling to the subfloor … They are buckling pretty badly in some spots. This can be the result of several things: defective finish, subfloor moisture, and others. It's harder than conventional bamboo, making it extra durable. The Internet is loaded with examples of hardwood floors installed over crawl spaces that are cupping, sometimes within just a few weeks of installation. The installer used some type of cleaner to clean the floor; however, none of the marks came off. Bamboo is denser and more resistant to water damage than most woods, and it does have some mild natural antimicrobial properties. Covered by the settlement is anyone in the United States and its territories who purchased Lumber Liquidators Morning Star strand bamboo flooring for personal, family or household use from January 1, 2012 to the present. Do hardwood and bamboo floors fade from sunlight exposure? Thanks! We can’t be sure, but it sounds like the floors have expanded beyond the expansion gap left by your installer, have hit a wall, and now have nowhere else to go but up! By … The failure to apply adhesive to concrete slabs at a uniform and consistent rate, at the wrong thickness, or with the wrong trowel is one of the leading causes of hardwood floor cupping. The harvesting process also allows the stalks to be cut without harming the root, so replanting is not necessary. Your email address will not be published. Cons of Engineered Bamboo Flooring. Author: Clayton, NC. Have technical questions about installing? We had bamboo flooring installed approximately a year ago in our condo in Southern Florida. Is the floor too tight against the walls and has no room to move. The carbonization process uses heat to darken the appearance of bamboo for aesthetic appeal. Good luck on your project! We recently got engineered bamboo floors installed and the person doing the job used a combination of glue and lacquer thinner. Lumber Liquidators has tested the air quality in only a fraction of those homes -- … Permanent cloudy spots on polyurethane finish that was cleaned with mineral spirits. Hi there, I have blonde (gold) bamboo flooring also in the house when I bought it. The bamboo flooring market has been flooded in recent years with poorly manufactured material. The floating bamboo flooring can be happened after installation, in such way it looks for … You might have already read this in the article, but any bit of the glue that cures on the surface of the flooring is extremely difficult to remove. Types of Vinyl Flooring Materials: Tile, Sheet Vinyl, and Luxury Vinyl, Understanding Solid and Engineered Bamboo Flooring. If the floor product is not dried properly, it will be prone to shrinking and warping. We had Cali Bamboo Hardwood floors glued down at the end of July. The Spruce uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. Many Bamboo flooring mills … You could also hire an NWFA certified inspector to come out and determine what is causing the issue. “The revised report concludes that irritation and breathing problems could occur in everyone exposed to formaldehyde in the tested laminate flooring, not just in sensitive groups. It is very important to acclimate all wood flooring prior to installation. It is lovely except it gouges and scratches with ease. It can seep into your floor cracks and crevices and cause long-term damage to the planks. Flooring adhesives are notoriously strong and can even hold a car to a wall, so don’t let the glue dry on top of your flooring planks, or you’ll be left with cloudy spots where the topcoat of the finish used to be. Flooring: Cali Bamboo San Diego, California. Looking for Bamboo flooring? It’s very important that all wood and bamboo floors acclimate prior to installation. The drawback is that this method weakens the material, making it softer and more prone to damage from impact, abrasion, and liquid staining. When we went to clean them the day they were finished installing them, we noticed a lot of marks all over the place. Bamboo is a distinctive and beautiful natural flooring choice with numerous attractive qualities that it can lend to a variety of environments. Flooring is a big investment and can result in expensive repairs if not done properly, so set 30 minutes aside to ensure you and your installer read the complete installation guide from your manufacturer. Get daily tips and tricks for making your best home. They were acclimated for 72+ hours and are not butting up against baseboards. Once it has nowhere else to expand, it has no choice but to pop up. It has been glued down. Sweeping and vacuuming regularly will help to get rid of small dirt particles that can cause scratches. Please feel free to let us know in the comments section below! If you’re experiencing only surface scratches then you could try a product called WearMax Scratch Concealer, or the Zenith Tibet Almond Stick. Since you should never immerse a bamboo floor in water, a weekly wet mopping isn’t an option. But Cali Bamboo vinyl plank flooring has a name problem! The grass that bamboo flooring is manufactured from is all-natural, organic, and readily renewable, with a growth cycle that only takes three to five years to reach full maturity. The bamboo … Someone forgot to clean the glue up before it dried. According to the Wood Database, bamboo is a tall grass that … While bamboo is a relatively hard material, it can be subject to scratches, dents, and cracks under certain conditions. Home › Floor Protection › 8 Common Installation Errors With Hardwood & Bamboo Flooring. About Bamboo Flooring Expansion and Contraction. Inexpensive bamboo flooring is susceptible to scratches and dings. 3, Report #1456957 . Sorry to hear that! If installed in a wet environment where liquids are allowed to sit on the surface of the floor, the planks can be subject to warping, plumping, and staining. Atmospheric control is a must when dealing with causes of buckling as well as many other hardwood floor problems. When warm, humid weather rolls in, the problems are compounded. Bamboo flooring problems. The Origins of Bamboo Flooring. Recently in the center of the room it has started buckling – teepeeing!!! We recommend that you reach out to the manufacturer of your flooring or the company that installed it to see if they have any suggestions. In the great majority of cases, the cupping is a result of the moisture being emitted from the ground in the crawl space. This allows it to be offered in a variety of shades and hues, to match the specific look of the room where it is being used. Question, we had a bamboo floor installed over a year ago and we haven’t seen any problems until now. Cali Bamboo Lowes Hardware I have a problem with the bamboo flooring scratching very easily San Diego California . The contemporary … By using The Spruce, you accept our, The Best Residential Flooring Options for Aging Adults, Best Wood Flooring Options for Homes With Dogs. This problem needs to be addressed at the source – crawl spaces and unconditioned spaces need to be sealed to protect hardwood floors from moisture, before acclimation. Since everybody’s flooring is a little different and can have different types of finishes, we recommend you contact your flooring manufacturer and ask them what cleaners would be approved to try and remove that cured adhesive without harming your finish. bamboo is not green: an eco-friendly ‘problem.’ This is a misconception. If you have a hardwood floor that is glued or nailed down and has started to shrink or change shape within a few months after installation, improper acclimation is one possible culprit. This makes bamboo a very eco-friendly resource, at least at first look. We recommend reaching out to the manufacturer of your flooring to see if they have any advice to help close up those gaps. The young bamboo retains a lot of water. That’s a tough one and we’re unfortunately not able to give you customized advice for your specific project. In the center of the floor, where two boards lock into each other is pushing upwards where it is maybe an inch higher than the rest of the floor. The main con of Cali Bamboo, and all bamboo flooring for that matter is that this type of flooring is susceptible to water damage as well as humidity. It’s generally recommended that you allot for additional days when acclimating in a very high or low humidity geographical location. Regular maintenance will require a little bit more work. It doesn’t. Oh no! I thought it was possibly from the boots of the installers, so I had them come back out. 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