Flooring acclimation rules

[Bobby O'Neal]

I have some bamboo flooring that I do not intend to install for a couple weeks. As far as acclimation, what are the rules of thumb? Do I need to open the boxes or just have them in the house? Do I need to stack boxes in any particular way or lay them flat? Stand on end? Open them and sticker boards?

Thanks

[Jim Rimmer]

I don't know about the rules or what experts will tell you. I laid bamboo over concrete with glue about three years ago. I brought the wood in the house for a week and left it in the boxes. So far, no problems.

[Bob Lloyd]

Normally stacked in the boxes is fine.

[Bobby O'Neal]

It is the click lock, floating kind if that matters also.

[frank shic]

just lay them down and across each other. it sounds like you're using laminate and it really doesn't make that much of a difference as long as you give it a day or two to acclimate depending on your locale. a jig saw is a great way to make most of the short cuts and a table saw will get you through all the rips.

[Van Huskey]

The bamboo I got was actually sealed inside the boxes with plastic, I just opened the boxes and ripped off most of the plastic. This was solid bamboo which would seem to need more aclimation than engineered flooring.

[Bobby O'Neal]

The bamboo I got was actually sealed inside the boxes with plastic, I just opened the boxes and ripped off most of the plastic. This was solid bamboo which would seem to need more aclimation than engineered flooring.


Van, it sounds like we have the same thing. There were some thin foam sheets in between the boards. It is solid bamboo. I think a couple weeks should do it. just wasn't sure about stacking methods. Did you do any stairs?

[Van Huskey]

Van, it sounds like we have the same thing. There were some thin foam sheets in between the boards. It is solid bamboo. I think a couple weeks should do it. just wasn't sure about stacking methods. Did you do any stairs?

Exactly the same, foam and all. I just opened the boxes, ripped off the plastic and let them sit. I think it was about 10 days or so, I don't really remember. I did do stairs.

[frank shic]

make sure you get your bullnosed pieces early on if you are planning on doing stairs. you can also buy the treads from home depot if they match the color of your flooring. just make sure you level the steps unlike someone else i know who now has very loud creaky stairs... at least i'll always know when the kids are sneaking around the house!

[Bobby O'Neal]

Exactly the same, foam and all. I just opened the boxes, ripped off the plastic and let them sit. I think it was about 10 days or so, I don't really remember. I did do stairs.


Did you do bamboo up the stairs? From what I have seen, that looks pricey. I have a very generic looking mahogany color in the flooring that I think would be easy to match so that has me thinking about just making my own out of something with a friendly grain. The bamboo is almost grain free so it may not be too bad. I'd thought about alder, but its soft. Still thinking...

[Bobby O'Neal]

make sure you get your bullnosed pieces early on if you are planning on doing stairs. you can also buy the treads from home depot if they match the color of your flooring. just make sure you level the steps unlike someone else i know who now has very loud creaky stairs... at least i'll always know when the kids are sneaking around the house!

From what I have seen at my HD they aren't going to be alot of help. I may have to make my own.

[Craig McCormick]

I have laid thousands of feet of flooring over the past ten years. We leave the flooring in the home for a minimum of 48 hours. We never open the packages and don't worry about the way it is stacked.

[frank shic]

Love it when a pro responds!

[Van Huskey]

Did you do bamboo up the stairs? From what I have seen, that looks pricey. I have a very generic looking mahogany color in the flooring that I think would be easy to match so that has me thinking about just making my own out of something with a friendly grain. The bamboo is almost grain free so it may not be too bad. I'd thought about alder, but its soft. Still thinking...

We did bamboo through out except for the bathrooms. We bought the flooring from Builddirect.com and even shipped it was far cheaoer for the quality than the local places. We ended up over buying because the milling was perfect and I think we only had two pieces that we culled out out of the entire house, one was a milling issue and the other had some sort of defect. For treads, bullnose (for the landing and top) and transitions I bought those locally from Lumber Liquidators. They matched perfectly and have been in for 4 years and still look like they were from the same lot. The treads were around $35 each IIRC. So about $500 for the stairs, not cheap but we had to have bamboo due to the fact it was upstairs also. You could use bullnose but when I looked at that option the bullnose was about $4.50 a linear foot and came in 6' sticks, given our stairs were over 36" we would only have saved less than $100 for the stairs (given we had the extra flooring, if not the price would have actually been higher). YMMV I am very happy we used treads, stairs are a pain to clean to begin with, not having and bevels to deal with makes it a little easier and there is less to creak. Even though we had 1 1/8" ply to nail (cleat) to I took the conservative if not unusual approach recommended to me by a guy that laid a LOT of bamboo. We actually glued the floor with Bostich Best and put two cleats in each board, it is one seriously solid floor!


Craig mentions a much shorter period to acclimate the wood. My wifes uncle who helped with the install puts down 10k+ feet a year of flooring and agreed, he said a couple of days. I had the time so I used it, the plastic wrap was not something I have seen on other flooring (though I haven't seen a lot) my thought was it HAD to come off, otherwise it was sealed and temperature would be stable but moisture would do nothing. Since this house is in Louisiana right on the water I figured it couldn't hurt to give it extra time. We would have probably had fine luck doing it quicker and maybe not even opening the plastic, but there was no reason not to since I ordered it early and it was going to be sitting anyway.

[Bobby O'Neal]

We did bamboo through out except for the bathrooms. We bought the flooring from Builddirect.com and even shipped it was far cheaoer for the quality than the local places. We ended up over buying because the milling was perfect and I think we only had two pieces that we culled out out of the entire house, one was a milling issue and the other had some sort of defect. For treads, bullnose (for the landing and top) and transitions I bought those locally from Lumber Liquidators. They matched perfectly and have been in for 4 years and still look like they were from the same lot. The treads were around $35 each IIRC. So about $500 for the stairs, not cheap but we had to have bamboo due to the fact it was upstairs also. You could use bullnose but when I looked at that option the bullnose was about $4.50 a linear foot and came in 6' sticks, given our stairs were over 36" we would only have saved less than $100 for the stairs (given we had the extra flooring, if not the price would have actually been higher). YMMV I am very happy we used treads, stairs are a pain to clean to begin with, not having and bevels to deal with makes it a little easier and their is less to creak. Even though we had 1 1/8" ply to nail (cleat) to I took the conservative if not unusual approach recommended to me by a guy that laid a LOT of bamboo. We actually glued the floor with Bostich Best and put two cleats in each board, it is one seriously solid floor!


Craig mentions a much shorter period to acclimate the wood. My wifes uncle who helped with the install lay 10k+ feet a year of flooring and agreed, he said a couple of days. I had the time so I used it, the plastic wrap was not something I have seen on other flooring (though I haven't seen a lot) my thought was it HAD to come off, otherwise it was sealed and temperature would be stable but moisture would do nothing. Since this house is in Louisiana right on the water I figured it couldn't hurt to give it extra time. We would have probably had fine luck doing it quicker and maybe not even opening the plastic, but there was no reason not to since I oredered it early and it was going to be sitting anyway.

Thanks, Van. That helps. I'll look into some other options. My floors are from BuyFloorsDirect but I have a Lumber Liquidators close enough.

[frank shic]

don't forget to factor in some waste %, bobby but at the same time don't buy too much over because sometimes they won't take it back. good luck with your flooring project.