Stranded Bamboo Baseboard

[Charles Kim]

I've installed a stranded bamboo floor and am very happy with it. I'm now preparing to install the baseboard over it but am encountering some difficulties. This stuff is hard!!! It's much harder than oak flooring I have installed previously elsewhere. I suppose that is good, but my problem is that I have a power nail gun I've always used for trim in the past that I am not able to use. The stranded bamboo is so strong that the nail gun barely dents it and will not go through the baseboard at all. Unfortunately, I think that means I need to hammer in finishing nails manually, but even that is going to be a trick with this stuff, given its density. The floor itself was a glue down, so I have not had to deal with nailing the bamboo yet. Does anyone have any advice on how to tackle this, what finishing nails to use, etc.? Also, is it a good idea to run a bead of titebond on the back side of the baseboards and/or quarter rounds before nailing them? Any thoughts from someone experienced with stranded bamboo would be appreciated.

[Mark Rios]

In the old days we would sometimes pre-drill a hole in the wood the same size as the nail or a hair smaller. Then nail and set by hand.


hth

[Ben Martin]

Which brand flooring are you installing? I just got done putting down 700 sf of Teragren Synergy, the stuff is amazing. But like you said it is very very hard and about 1 in every 5 nails and staples wouldn't penetrate the material. I can't help you with the baseboard questions, we didn't replace ours, but I used my Dewalt 18V nailer with 2" nails to face nail all of my board. I had decent luck with iit, but I had it at almost it strongest setting and some of the nails bounced out or jammed.