Oyster Shell Rigid Core Bamboo

We do not provide installation services but have no fear as there are many high-quality contractors in your state and the majority will be eager to provide a free estimate over the phone or in the comfort of your own home.  We recommend that you check out our helpful article titled 7 Tips For Choosing A Floor Installer.

Different flooring finishes require different cleaning solutions and methods, so we recommend you read our Bamboo Flooring Maintenance Guide carefully for your specific finish type. 

As for cleaning solutions, for regular maintenance and spot cleaning it is hard to beat the Bam-Brite hard surface floor cleaner.  Alternatively, you may use most standard floor cleaners approved for your specific flooring finish, such as Swiffer Wet Jet for Hardwood (if you have wood/bamboo), and Bona Hardwood Floor Care Kit.  For spot cleaning, you can also use one cup of white vinegar mixed in with a half bucket of warm water, with a lightly damp mop, but do not use vinegar for regular cleaning as it can affect the finish PH balance and dull the luster over time.

Never steam mop or wet mop bamboo/hardwood floors, and never use mineral spirits, turpentine, or paint thinner on our floors.  If you have a cleaning solution you are not sure about, make sure to test it on an out of the way area or sacrificial plank prior to using it on your floor, to ensure it does not damage the finish.

Q: Do you sell stain or touch-up products to repair floor scratches or gouges?

A: While we don't sell color stain for our floors, we do have some helpful suggestions for minimizing and repairing surface damage on bamboo and hardwood flooring.

Why We Don't Offer Color Stains

We don't offer color stains because they are unstable outside of a controlled factory environment and may change hue over time. Also, since bamboo and wood are natural products, shade variations between lots are common, making exact matches difficult.

Repairing Surface Scratches (White Scuff Marks)

Micro-scratches are common, especially on darker floors. These are usually just in the surface finish and can fade over time with normal foot traffic. You can use the products below to reduce their visibility:

• Tibet Almond Stick - for small surface blemishes
• WearMax Scratch Concealer - seals and blends light scratches
• Rejuvenate Wood Floor Repair Markers - color match pens for light marks

Some customers have also used the meat of a walnut to rub out micro-scratches with success.

Repairing Deeper Gouges and Penetrated Finish

If the damage has gone through the finish and stain layer, start by using a floor marker to reduce visible discoloration. Then, consider filling the gouge with one of the following products:

• Weiman Wood Floors Repair Kit
• Picobello Wood Floor Repair Kit
• Mohawk Fil-Stik or Hard Fill Kit
• Timbermate Wood Filler

Flexible fillers are best for high-traffic areas since they can expand and contract with the floor. Hard fillers may crack over time if exposed to foot traffic.

Touching Up Worn or Dull Finish

To restore worn areas or reduce sheen differences:

• Buff lightly using 80, 120, or 150 grit screens
• Apply a matte oil-based polyurethane finish
• Optional: Use Basic Coatings StreetShoe (popular with pro installers)

For best results, apply to a full room rather than spot-treating individual boards. Always test your method on a sacrificial plank or hidden area first.

Important Note: These are general suggestions. Since every floor and repair method is different, we strongly recommend testing your approach on a hidden area before making visible repairs.

No, you don't need underlayment for your BSPC flooring. It comes with a pre-attached acoustic pad that provides noise reduction, moisture protection and a comfortable feel underfoot. This integrated pad eliminates the need for additional underlayment, saving you time and money during installation.

Yes!

Our Rigid Core Bamboo Floors (SPC core) require 24 hours of acclimation; Our solid and engineered (non-SPC) bamboo and eucalyptus floors must be acclimated for at least 72 hours prior to installation, and we recommend an additional 7 days for geographic areas of high or low humidity.

Do not acclimate the floors on top of concrete, carpet with concrete under it, crawl spaces, or any other sub-floor that may contain moisture, without first laying a 8 mil polyethylene plastic barrier down, or the flooring will soak up the moisture from the concrete and shrink post-installation. Make sure to extend the apron/border of the plastic barrier at least 18 inches beyond the flooring boxes.

Ensure that the flooring is acclimated within the same room (or adjoining room with the same climate) where the floor will be installed in.  Remember that you must keep your interior humidity settings between 40%-60% (as for all wood floors) or you may experience increased expansion and contraction.

First, stack the boxes up to 5 high, with each stack located at least 2 feet away from the next. Cross-stacking is preferable if you have space.  

Once the boxes are stacked, use a box cutter or sharp knife to cut each box down one entire side lengthwise, and also the end flaps. Make sure to also cut open the interior plastic so that the floors really breathe.

• Nail-down:

  • Common installation method for solid hardwood and some engineered hardwoods.
  • Planks have a tongue and groove profile for secure attachment.
  • Individual planks are nailed to a plywood subfloor
  • Usually nailed with a pneumatic nailer and cleats but staples work on some less dense floors.
  • 15 lb asphalt saturated felt paper is often laid down first
  • Stable and long-lasting.

• Glue-down:

  • Works with engineered hardwood, luxury vinyl, and some solid hardwoods.
  • Planks are glued directly to the subfloor.
  • Glue is troweled out ahead in 2-3 row increments on the subfloor
  • When moisture is present in subfloor, special vapor barrier adhesives are used
  • Can be installed over various subfloors.

• Floating:

  • Planks click and lock together without attaching to the subfloor.
  • Common for engineered hardwood, laminate, and luxury vinyl.
  • Most floating floors have a click-lock profile for easy installation.
  • Can sometimes be glued down, but this isn't common.

This depends on several factors mostly related to the current condition of the sub-floor.  If the subfloor is observed to be sagging, it is recommended that you install the planks in a perpendicular direction compared to the joists.  This is a call you'll want your installer to make as he/she will need to inspect the sub-floor prior to installation. 

Q: I'm installing flooring over an unconditioned space like a crawl space or a garage. What precautions should I take?

A: Great question — moisture is the #1 enemy of wood flooring, especially over unconditioned spaces. If you're installing over a crawl space, basement, or garage, it's critical to block moisture from below to protect your new floors.

Installing Over a Crawl Space

Crawl spaces are one of the most common causes of moisture-related floor failure. Even if the space seems dry, vapor rising from the ground can warp and damage your floors over time unless properly sealed.

Here's what to do:

• Install a ground vapor barrier made of minimum 6 mil black polyethylene sheeting.
• Overlap seams by at least 6 inches and seal them with moisture-resistant tape.
• Extend the plastic at least 6 inches up foundation/block walls and seal it there as well.
• Ensure a minimum of 18 inches of clearance between the ground and the underside of floor joists.
• Provide perimeter ventilation equal to at least 1.5% of the crawl space's square footage, positioned for cross-ventilation.

Pro Tip: Consider upgrading to a sealed or conditioned crawl space if you're in a high-humidity region.

Installing Over an Unconditioned Space (e.g., Garage)

If you're installing above an unheated garage or similar space, subfloor insulation is essential. The method depends on how you're installing the flooring:

If you're gluing the floor down:

• Use a 100% urethane adhesive that includes a built-in moisture barrier.

If you're nailing the floor down:

• In an unfinished space: Affix 6 mil plastic sheeting to the underside of the subfloor (garage ceiling), overlapping joints by 6 inches and sealing them with moisture-resistant tape.
• In a finished space: Apply two coats of high-gloss paint to the ceiling to seal it.
• On top of the subfloor, lay two layers of 15 lb asphalt-saturated felt paper at 90-degree angles to each other. Do not overlap the rolls within each layer to avoid unevenness.

Final Tip: Always allow your flooring to properly acclimate in the installation space before installing, and test subfloor moisture levels to ensure they're within spec.

With bamboo flooring, you have 3 options over a concrete slab.  One is to glue down any of our tongue and groove flooring with an adhesive that contains a moisture barrier (such as our Ironwood All-In-One Adhesive with Vapor/Sound Barrier), and don't forget to use the correct V-Notch ¼ inch trowel.  Option two is to float any of our rigid core bamboo floors directly on it (again, extra care must be taken with excessively wet slabs as they may need to be sealed first), and option 3 is to float one of our click-lock engineered floors after first laying down a 3 in 1 underlayment (which contains a vapor barrier).

You can glue down or nail down our solid bamboo floors to a plywood subfloor. You can also float our engineered and rigid core floors (bamboo and LVP) over plywood. Our LVP floors come with pre-attached underlayment, so you don't need to add an extra sound barrier, but for our engineered bamboo floors we recommend either a) floating them over a 3 in 1 underlayment, or b) using the glue-down method with an adhesive with sound barrier for additional sound insulation.

To see if you can install our bamboo and eucalyptus floors over specific sub-floors, we recommend reading the Acceptable Subfloor Types section in the related installation guide.  Links to the product's installation guide can be found on each floor's product detail page.

Maximum load considerations related to your joists and building structure: We strongly suggest that you always consult a structural engineer before placing any single piece that exceeds 1,500 lbs or the maximum load your joists will hold.

Heavy objects on NAILED/GLUED-DOWN floors: There are no restrictions to placing heavy furniture floors that are nailed or glued down (aside from structural max weight restrictions) but we recommend placing sliders or rubber weight dispersion plates under the legs of excessively heavy objects to avoid permanent damage or dents.

Heavy objects on FLOATING floors: If you have a floating floor you can usually sit heavy furniture on top, but there are a few exceptions.  For example, a piano is perfectly fine and so is a piece of furniture with legs (with just 3-4 contact points with the floor).  For pieces of furniture without legs (flat across the bottom), try to avoid "pinning" a long row of successive floating floor planks across the widths of the planks, and more so if that run of planks takes up a large section of the overall run.  This is more applicable across the widths of the planks (tangentially) than down the lengths of the planks (longitudinally).  The floor needs to be able to expand and contract during seasonal cycles, and pinning the planks down will inhibit this movement and may cause planks to separate from each other.  For this same reason, you shouldn't install floating floors under kitchen cabinets.  If the bottom of the heavy object is flat and it stretches across the widths of the planks for more than 50% of that given run, and it's over 200 lbs, we suggest gluing or nailing the floor down, or not placing the object on the floor. 

As a general rule of thumb, floors that are nailed down or glued down (our solid bamboo, solid eucalyptus, and non-SPC core engineered bamboo floors) can be installed under cabinets and islands, and floors that are floated (our rigid core LVP and click-lock bamboo floors) should not be installed under cabinets or islands. 

Note about floating bamboo floors: The primary reason these floors should not be installed under cabinets is because pinning down a long run of a floating floor made of natural materials/wood may inhibit its ability to expand and contract beneath the weight of the cabinets.

If your existing hardwood floor is clean and level, you can usually nail down to it if it is at least 5/8" thick. You can also glue down to an existing hardwood (in most cases) but you may need to perform a light sanding first depending on the finish type (your installer should be able to advise on the best course of action here). In case of either the glue down or the nail down option, we highly recommend that you seek the assistance of an experienced flooring professional.

Several options are available to protect bamboo floors during painting:

• Canvas drop cloths: These durable, reusable cloths offer excellent protection and don't trap moisture like plastic.
• Rosin paper: This breathable paper is designed for floor protection, allowing moisture to escape.
• Ram board: This heavy-duty cardboard is easy to install and remove, providing reliable protection.
• Floor protection paper: Similar to rosin paper, this thinner option is good for short-term protection.

Important Considerations:

• Tape securely: Use painter's tape to secure the edges of your chosen material, preventing paint from seeping underneath.
• Ventilation: Ensure good airflow in the room to help moisture evaporate quickly.
• Daily removal: Even with breathable materials, remove the floor covering at the end of each day to let the bamboo air out.

For a thorough section about Sub-floor Preparation, we strongly recommend reading the bamboo and eucalyptus flooring installation guide.

The general advice below is for informational purposes only, as you should always consult each floor's specific/official installation guide before making your determination.  Some general sub-floor requirements:

•     Must be structurally sound
•     Must be clean - thoroughly swept and free of all debris
•     Must be level - flat to 1/8" per 10-foot radius
•     Must remain dry year-round. The moisture content of a wood subfloor must not exceed 12%. Concrete subfloors, crawl spaces, and floors that emit more than 12% moisture will need to be addressed with a vapor barrier.

Important note about Gypcrete: Gypcrete will sometimes exhibit a layer of debris that floats to the surface while being poured. This is usually obvious and if it occurs will need to be removed with coarse open grit paper on a buffer until a solid surface is reached. You will then use a diluted coat of acrylic primer to seal the surface; however, it must soak in and not leave a film. Once the gypcrete is prepped and primed you can proceed with a normal installation.

A note about Lauan/Luan/Luaun: While most urethane adhesives bond to Luan and thus you could glue our floors down to it, Luan is generally considered an unstable substrate for tile or hardwood flooring. It doesn’t have much strength, so it may contribute to squeaking or bouncing. Our recommendation is always to remove it before installing a new floor.

Wood subfloors must be dry and well secured. For nail-down installations, nail or screw every 6" along joists to avoid squeaking. If the subfloor is not level, sand down high spots and fill low spots with an underlayment patch or self-leveler such as Bostik Duralevel 83P Self-Leveling Underlayment.

Concrete must be fully cured, at least for 60 days. If it is not level, grind down high spots and fill low spots with a leveling compound. The concrete must be flat to 3/16" per 10- foot radius. All concrete must be tested for moisture and the appropriate vapor barrier urethane adhesive must be used to account for the moisture emission level.  We recommend reading our full installation guide for details.

Bamboo flooring is similar to mid-range hardwoods when it comes to dimensional stability, so they can be installed in all climates whether very dry or very humid. Our floors have been installed around the world from the jungles of Kenya to the heights of the Rockies. 

All wood flooring expands and contracts with the seasons due to changes in humidity - there are no exceptions.   The key is to control your interior humidity as to avoid excessive swings in humidity throughout the year, as these will cause expansion and contraction in your wood/bamboo.  The recommended humidity setting for our floors is 40%-60% in humid climates and 35%-55% in dry climates but even dryer and more humid settings may suffice as long as your humidity is stable (within a 20% range) throughout the year.  We do recommend to try to keep the humidity above 25% in almost all cases.  In very humid or very dry climates, just follow these tips and you will be all set:

• Acclimate your flooring for at least 10-14 days prior to installation (instead of the normal 72 hours) in the environment in which they are going to be lived on.  Ensure all boxes are opened properly so that the planks can breathe.
• Glue the flooring down. The elasticity in the glue allows the floors to breathe easily through humidity changes.
• Make sure to leave ¼ - ½ inch of expansion gap around your flooring perimeter at the time of installation.
• Try to keep your interior humidity setting consistently in the same 20% range year-round (opening windows for a day won't hurt the floors), even via the use of humidifiers/dehumidifiers if necessary.  If you allow big humidity swings, larger gaps may develop between your planks during dry spells and they'll close during wet spells.

We highly recommend reading our post about installing bamboo flooring in humid and dry climates too.

And here's a good article about installation: glue down vs nail down vs floating.

The great thing about strand bamboo floors is that it is highly unlikely you will ever need to refinish them at all because the floor will not be dented up and the finish will not be peeling off after 10 years like many wood floors.  That being said, all of our strand woven solid bamboo floors can be refinished 2-4 times and all of our engineered floors can be refinished up to 2 times.  The wear layer on our engineered bamboo flooring is not a thin veneer like other brands – it’s a thick wear layer that can be refinished.  Please note that our rigid core bamboo flooring (with SPC core) cannot be refinished.

Refinishing bamboo flooring is a bit more time consuming than hardwood flooring, due to its density and the toughness of our finish, however, it can definitely be done.  The finish on our flooring can be sanded down/off, and then a clear coat (polyurethane) finish can be applied, on-site.  Please note that strand bamboo flooring cannot be stained before the clear coat is applied.  So our floors can be refinished with a clear coat, but they cannot be stained a different color. The density of the strand material prevents it from absorbing color stains that are applied onsite - the flooring will only absorb the stain in a controlled finish line environment.  Therefore yes, our floors can be refinished and a clear coat of polyurethane can be applied but the final color of the refinished floor will be the color of the base material (natural or carbonized).

Should you ever choose to refinish your bamboo flooring, no problem - we've got step by step instructions for you right on our How To Refinish Bamboo Flooring page.

Almost all of our floors can be installed over radiant heat, however, different floor types have different requirements so we recommend checking each floor's "Specifications" section on its product detail page on this website, find the row labeled "RADIANT HEAT SAFE" that will tell you if it can be installed over radiant heat or not. For more details we highly recommend checking out our bamboo flooring installation guide.

Additional important note: In the same Specifications section, you will see a link to the installation guide for that floor - please note there is a specific and detailed section in each floor's installation guide pertaining to installation over radiant heat, and maintenance of the floors over radiant heat, and we strongly suggest you read that section of the installation guide to avoid voiding your warranty!

Our bamboo floors are installed in restaurants, spas, and other high traffic and locations around the world since 2006.  Small water droplets that land on the floors will evaporate.

Our rigid core bamboo flooring is waterproof as long as you don't leave spills unattended for long periods of time, and is resistant to damage from typical damp mopping or normal household spills that are not left unattended. Our warranty does not cover flooding, leaking pipes, household mechanical failures, appliance leaks or pet urine.

Bamboo flooring is suitable for use in most rooms in your home such kitchens, dining rooms, living rooms, bedrooms and laundry rooms. For a more detailed writeup about our bamboo flooring and water, please check out our blog article on this topic.

Due to their hardness, bamboo floors are often used in kitchens and restaurants, as long as you avoid puddles and protect them with a normal level of care.  Just remember that non-SPC core hardwood and bamboo floors should never be wet-mopped or steam mopped, they just require a lightly damp mop and an effective hardwood floor cleaning solution to do the job.

When you acclimate the flooring, if you're doing so on carpet, just make sure you place an 8 mil plastic sheet or tarp underneath the flooring boxes. This keeps the moisture being emitted from the concrete (which is usually below the carpet) from seeping into the planks. If you have plywood under your carpet, then you don't need the plastic barrier. But if over concrete, the concrete moisture comes up through the carpet—that's why we don't recommend acclimating the flooring on top of carpet.

Our floors are warranted in half bathrooms/powder rooms, but we don’t warrant our floors for use in full bathrooms because water may spill outside of a bathtub and flow underneath the planks, which could result in a mold issue.  That being said, many of our clients that don't use bathtubs for bathing (or are judicious in drying up water spills afterward) use them in full bathrooms anyways, they just ensure to use rugs at the entrance to showers and make sure not to leave puddles. 

The waiting time depends on your flooring installation method:

• Nail-down and Floating Installations: No waiting period is necessary for these methods. You can place furniture and resume normal foot traffic immediately.
• Glue-down Installations: Adhere to the adhesive manufacturer's recommended drying time. This is typically around 12-24 hours for most adhesives. Avoid heavy furniture and foot traffic until the adhesive has fully cured.

Tips:

• Use Furniture Pads: Protect your new floor by placing felt pads under the feet of furniture, especially heavy pieces, to prevent scratching.
• Careful with Large Furniture: When moving large furniture across your new floor, use furniture sliders or lift the pieces instead of dragging them to avoid damage.

Only our rigid core (SPC core) bamboo flooring is warranted for use in hot yoga studios, and here are some important considerations:

Moisture resistance: Hot yoga studios have high humidity levels. While our floors are generally more moisture-resistant than traditional hardwoods, they are not completely immune to moisture damage if exposed for long periods of time (more than a few hours at a time).

Temperature fluctuations: The constant heating and cooling cycles in a hot yoga studio can cause expansion and contraction, so be sure to build in proper expansion gaps for your floor. If you have radiant/sub-floor heating, you must follow the NWFA guidelines for maintaing wood flooring over radiant heat systems, for example, do not allow the radiant heat subfloor to exceed 85 degrees or it may irreparably damage the floor.

Installation method: If used in a hot yoga studio, it's crucial to choose a floating installation method rather than glue-down to allow for expansion and contraction.

Maintenance: Regular cleaning and maintenance will be necessary to prevent moisture buildup and preserve the floor's integrity.

Most squeaky floors are the result of the house settling and the lumber drying out and shrinking, or the sub-floor nails having come loose from the joists over years of seasonal expansion and contraction cycles, resulting in the structural wood parts rubbing up against each other and/or the nails. Loose sub-flooring will emit high frequency chirping noises.  

There are several ways to remedy this issue, including drilling screws up under the sub-floor to tighten the lumber up against each other. We suggest that you consult with a local flooring installer to review all options, as some are dependent on how your flooring is installed.

We may have moldings, stair parts, and trim available for your floor. We recommend checking out our moldings and trim page and using the color filter to see our full selection.

We don’t carry pre-made stains specifically for matching our strand woven bamboo flooring, but we recommend purchasing a high-quality stain kit that includes a variety of colors for creating a custom blend. Since unfinished strand bamboo floors and moldings can’t be stained on-site due to their density, we suggest using unfinished low-grain woods like oak or maple to create your moldings and stair treads.

For custom staining, we recommend these stain kits:

• Minwax Wood Finish Stain Marker Kit: Great for small projects and easy to blend colors.
• Varathane Premium Stain and Polyurethane Kit: Offers a range of colors and a combined stain-and-seal application.
• General Finishes Water-Based Wood Stain Kit: Ideal for mixing to match your flooring color, with quick-drying results.
• Rubio Monocoat Color Pack: Provides a high-end, customizable stain with great durability.
• Osmo Polyx-Oil Tints Kit: Combines stain and finish, with a variety of tints.

Bamboo flooring is installed in the same manner as hardwood flooring and installation costs in the US can range anywhere from $2-$6 per square foot depending on the installation requirements.  Small square footage amounts will result in a higher per-square-foot installation cost.  

Installers will modify their pricing based on a variety of factors such as: moving of furniture, removal of existing flooring, leveling of the subfloor, installation moldings required, inside delivery charges, to name a few.  Some installers (mainly from flooring stores) will try to convince you to buy their floor brands so that they can make money off the products as well as the installation.  Any carpenter, handyman, or homeowner can install our floors, we just recommend they follow our handy bamboo flooring installation guide.

Yes! Rolling office chairs tend to collect grime, dirt, and small rocks under the wheels, which eventually damage the finish of every floor including ours.  Always use a chair mat under rolling office chairs.  It is also advised that you use felt pads under furniture and chairs to avoid damaging the finish.

When nailing or gluing down floors: No run limits or restrictions on consecutive distances.

When floating your floors: If you constantly keep your indoor humidity at a level of 40%-60%, you do not have any run limits on your floating floor. This humidity level can be maintained via a humidity modulator (typically as a part of an HVAC system), standalone humidifiers/dehumidifiers, or naturally. The latter is considering that some geographic areas have relatively stable humidity year around (like Southern California or Florida), so run limits usually aren't an issue in those areas. 

However, if a) you live in an area with distinct seasons and a wide variance in humidity throughout the year, b) you don't have a way to control your humidity, and/or c) your interior humidity settings will fluctuate more than 20% in a given year, your successive runs of flooring should not exceed 25 ft across the widths of the planks and 45 ft down the lengths of the planks. For our rigid core bamboo floors (SPC core), runs should not 40 ft across the widths and 50 ft down the lengths.

We strongly recommend reading the specific installation guide for the floor you're considering installing before purchasing - a link to this guide can be found in the "Specifications" section of each floor's product detail page on our website.

We recommend that you always carefully measure your walls to determine how many moldings you'll need, however a quick ratio used by many installers is to order 30% of the total flooring square footage.  For example, if you’re installing 1,000 sq ft of flooring you'll need roughly 300 linear feet of perimeter trim moldings.  It also depends on how many cuts need to be made, but that rough estimate will get you started. For additional help with measurements for your project, check out our Square Footage Calculator (+ more)!

Our bamboo, eucalyptus, and LVP flooring has been installed around the world and in many different types of structures such as homes, restaurants, libraries, and more. However, it is only warranted for indoor use and when installed for its intended use (as flooring).  For our bamboo floors specifically, you can read all about the process in our official bamboo flooring installation guide.

If it is an enclosed, climate-controlled room and the sub-floor does not have a moisture concern, you can install bamboo flooring.  We do not recommend installing our bamboo or eucalyptus floors in a room that is not climate controlled, and you have to be careful with sub-floor moisture as well.  Otherwise, as long as the humidity inside that room is stable, and maintained between 40%-60%, and the sub-floor is dry year-round (emits less than 12% moisture), you can install the floors there. 

For hardwood and bamboo floors, you have to be careful when laying rugs or pads as they can damage the finish over time.  We recommend reading our complete write-up about acceptable rugs and pads, and below are some general instructions to follow.

It's recommended that you use natural rubber or felt rug pads under all rugs laid on hardwood floors.  If you’re looking for a simple, non-slip rug pad we recommend using a breathable, natural rubber-based pad. Natural rubber has excellent gripping power, is a renewable resource, and won't damage your floors over time like a more typical, less expensive PVC (polyvinyl chloride) pad. Natural rubber rug pads have been on the market for over 30+ years and have a proven track record for performance and floor safety.

If you need a larger area covered you can also use a 100% felt rug pad.  They offer excellent cushioning and support for larger areas and are less prone to slipping. A felt rug pad is thicker and denser than traditional non-slip rubber rug pads and offers a dense buffer.  Whichever rug pad you choose, make sure it's breathable (perforated).

Bamboo, hardwood, and vinyl floors should be kept at least 18-24 inches away from high-heat sources or the heat can dry them out and cause irreparable shrinkage.  Here are 2 rules of thumb to follow and you should be just fine:

1. Install the flooring at least 2 feet away from the stove by putting in an apron of brick/stone/similar around the stove.

2. Acclimate the flooring that will be installed near the stove in the same area where it will be installed, with the stove turned on (no closer and no farther than where it will be installed).

The standard requirement for all wood flooring (including bamboo) is that you maintain proper interior humidity levels between 40%-60%.  As long as your installer follows our installation instructions, and those interior humidity settings are maintained, you'll have a trouble-free and super durable floor for a long time. Meanwhile, vinyl flooring is generally stable outside of that range, but you still want to avoid extreme temperatures (outside of 35 degrees to 85 degrees) and humidity (outside of 10%-80%).

Most likely, but keep in mind that wood flooring is a natural product and so there may be differences in shade and color between different dye lots.  We recommend that you send us a small 6-inch sample of your current floor to the address on our contact us page – this way our warehouse manager can check our existing lots to ensure we have something that matches *before you place your order* so that you do not end up with a big shade patch in your floor.

Absolutely. If pet urine has damaged your previous floors enough to seep into your subfloor, that's something you'll certainly want to tend to before your new floors go in. Treat your subfloor with an enzymatic odor eliminator to ensure these unpleasant smells no longer escape your subfloor and negatively affect your indoor air quality. Our OdorGhost subfloor primer is a great product for accomplishing this - and it's warranted to work with our Ironwood vapor barrier flooring adhesive!

Yes, you can store flooring boxes in a covered building outside of the home under the following conditions:

• The boxes are protected from the elements (moisture, rain, snow, etc).
• The boxes are not open or cut.
• The temperature does not drop below freezing.
• The boxes are sitting on top of a pallet or other substrate that keeps them at least 5 inches off of the ground, and the ground is not wet.

BAMBOO/EUCALYPTUS FLOORS: Remember, storing boxes in a garage or non-climate controlled space is not considered acclimation.  In fact, for floors that are stored in a garage/shed first, we recommend acclimating them at least 2-3 extra days on top of the normal acclimation period.  The boxes will still need to be brought into the space in which they're going to be installed first (for acclimation) as per our installation instructions.

All types of rigid core (SPC) and engineered bamboo flooring can be installed below grade, but it is not recommended that solid hardwood or bamboo flooring be installed below grade.  When installed via the floating method, we recommend the use of a quality 3 in 1 underlayment to serve as a moisture barrier and for footfall noise reduction.  Engineered floors can be installed via the glue-down method on any level of the home, but if installing over concrete or crawl space you must use a urethane flooring adhesive that contains a vapor barrier (all-in-one glue).

Remember that you'll want to acclimate the floors in the same room in which they're going to be installed at least 72 hours prior to installation, and be careful not to acclimate them directly on concrete or over crawl spaces as they will absorb moisture, which will cause problems.  Instead, ensure to lay down an 8 mil thick plastic sheet or 3 in 1 underlayment for the boxes to sit on during acclimation, and you'll want the apron of the sheet to extend about 1 foot away from the boxes themselves for added protection. The interior humidity settings of the basement must be maintained between 40%-60% just like on any other level in the home.

Some of our floors and plywood contain the densest hardwood material in the world (strand woven bamboo) and will wear down standard saw blades pretty quickly.  For this reason, we recommend a minimum 80 tooth tungsten carbide saw blade.  Diablo is a brand that sells such a blade (check your local big box store or online).

Plywood Tip: if you get burn marks on some of your cuts you can sand them off saw using a few stages of different high grit sandpaper. 

We do not recommend installers. However, you have several options available to you to locate a good installer:

• Ask friends and family. Someone you know has had wood flooring installed within the last 5 years. Ask neighbors, friends, family and coworkers if they were happy with their wood floor installer and if so get their name. Contractors appreciate word-of-mouth referrals and some may even offer a "neighborhood" discount. Yelp is also a good way to find installers; look for those with a minimum of 3-5 reviews.
• Do your homework. If a contractor disparages a certain product and tries to convince you to buy one of their own floors, be wary. Sometimes this is done because of a bad experience with a low quality brand in the past, and other times they're trying to earn an extra commission from a product distributor.
• Get at least 3 estimates. Most installers will give you a free estimate over the phone or charge a small fee (from $20-$50) to do an in-home estimate. Try to cover all bases and ask as many questions as possible to get a good sense of their experience and knowledge.
• Pay a fair wage. Doing price comparisons is vital for you as a consumer. The vast majority of floor installers are honest, hard-working men and women that charge a fair wage and are working to support their families. If they go above and beyond it doesn't hurt to give them a tip at the end of the project.
• Request a warranty. The best installers are confident in their installation skills and will offer a warranty to back up their workmanship.
• Plan ahead. You'll want to assume that most installers are booked up with jobs for the ensuing 2-3 weeks, so the earlier you start getting estimates the better off you'll be. Also remember that most of our bamboo floors require at least a 3-day acclimation period, so you'll need to factor that into your plans as well.

Crowning - also referred to as cupping - is most commonly caused by moisture hitting the bottom of the wood floor from the sub-floor.  Read this document about cupping, crowning and buckling in wood floors. This almost always means there is a sub-floor moisture issue, and usually requires destructive floor replacement.

Shrinkage can be the result of several factors: 1) the humidity levels have dropped more than 20% (in which case most every wood substance on earth will shrink), 2) the brand of bamboo you have installed is of low quality and was not properly moisture-balanced during manufacturing, and 3) you installed a FLOATING SOLID (all-the-way-through) wood/bamboo floor and exceeded the recommended run limits.  This can sometimes be remediated by installing a humidifier; however, if the wood has become too dry there is sometimes a "point of no return."

Buckling is most commonly caused by the interior humidity increasing by 20% or more and is a result of the floor expanding and pushing against the exterior walls or interior structural elements.  This often results in two or more planks having a "teepee" effect as they push against each other and lift up.  This can be fixed by installing a dehumidifier for one week and then walking the planks to flatten them again.

No.  Our floors are already optimized for moisture content, and ready to be acclimated and installed almost anywhere in the world.  Also, please not that due to the structurally dense nature of strand woven bamboo and eucalyptus, it is practically impossible to achieve accurate and consistent moisture readings outside of a controlled moisture chamber, even with a wide variety of moisture meters that exist on the market today, so we don't recommend testing the floor moisture before installation. 

We do however require that testing be performed on the subfloor to ensure it's not emitting more than 12% humidity/moisture before, during, and after installation.   Also, you will want to make sure the floors have been stored in a dry, covered area and have not been left out in freezing temperatures for more than 24 hours.

The installer/homeowner must also ensure to acclimate the floor** correctly prior to installation and maintain the humidity level between 35%-55% post-installation.  Remember - if acclimating on top of concrete, a crawl space, or other moisture emitting surface you must first lay down a (minimum) 8 mil thick polyethylene tarp or vapor barrier under the acclimating boxes, with the apron of the vapor barrier extending out at least 18 inches from the opened boxes. (This is to prevent the flooring from absorbing moisture while acclimating).

**Not all of our floors require acclimation - check each floor's product detail page "Specifications" section where you will see an "Acclimation Period" row with required acclimation data.

The fastest method to take up cured adhesive is to use grinding machines. A clean and less toxic one is a dustless diamond grinder. If you need to scrape glue out of a smaller space, Sentinel is a brand that makes some good non-toxic adhesive removers that will soften the adhesive to allow it to be scraped up easier.

Nailing and gluing a floor down won't cause damage or defects, but it's usually only recommended on extra-wide solid hardwoods (exceeding 6 inches in width). On planks that are less than 6 inches wide, doing both is superfluous - you only need to do one or the other. It's also important to never nail or staple through click-lock floors, as they are not intended to be nailed down.

Making cross-cuts and cuts down the length of floor planks can be tougher with traditional hardwoods, since the grain can prohibit a clean, even cut. However, you won't have this issue with strand woven bamboo floors and can easily cut the planks in any direction since the woven strips of bamboo that make up the floor planks are fused together during manufacture. Because of this, strand woven bamboo floors do not require a particular saw in order to be cut cleanly.

Cupping can happen for several reasons, but the #1 culprit is installer error or improper maintenance of environmental conditions onsite.  Cupping is usually caused by elevated moisture content rising from the sub-floor and hitting the bottom of the flooring planks.  Moisture affects the sides of the plank quicker than the center, causing them to swell and form the “cup” shape. There are many causes including improper flooring adhesive, incorrect trowel with the wrong spread rate, improper acclimation of the floor prior to installation, and many more.  If you follow our installation and maintenance guides, you should not experience any of these issues.

Some cupping can be considered normal on wide planks, but if it is significant, there is usually an underlying issue. Important things to look out for:

1) The flooring was installed over a crawl space that wasn't properly sealed and the humidity is coming up through the subfloor and hitting the wood/bamboo floor.

2) The bamboo flooring was glued down to a concrete slab but the glue wasn't troweled down properly (either wrong trowel was used or there isn't full coverage on the slab) and there are gaps in the glue, so the moisture being released by the slab is hitting the bottom of the wood/bamboo floor. Different glues have different moisture barriers (3 lbs, 5 lbs, and 12 lbs are common) and you will need to use one with a high enough barrier for your subfloor.

3) The flooring wasn't acclimated properly so now the wood has adjusted and it's now it's drying out and changing shape.

4) Dry cupping: when a homeowner leaves the home and turns off the hvac, it can result in what is called the "Green House Effect" in summer time. Excessive heat and humidity followed by air conditioning will cause cupping.

Below are a few good links for further reading:

• Wood Floor Cupping: Why Does it Happen & What Can You Do?
• Wood Floor Cupping Cause and Effect
• An Overview of Cupping & Crowning

Gapping in hardwood floors is normal wood behavior and dry, cold days can cause this; in summer when the humidity increases and the planks swell, the gaps may or may not close up. This is normal and to be expected as wood is a hygroscopic material that expands and contracts to balance itself out with the humidity in its environment.

Check your humidity levels using a hygrometer and if your humidity is at or below 35% we recommend turning on a humidifier to remedy the solution.  If gapping exists but humidity levels are between 40%-60% (recommended humidity range for hardwood and bamboo) it may be a result of improper acclimation or an uneven subfloor (where the planks are “sliding” down opposite sides of a mound due to repeated foot traffic), or the humidity was allowed to drop below 30% in which case the gaps may be permanent.

The National Wood Flooring Association recommends that you maintain a range of around 40%-60% humidity levels in your home if you have any wood floor installed. Want to know more?  Here's another great article on how moisture affects hardwood flooring.

No, you should never add any substance (glue, silicone, etc) in between the click-lock profile/mechanism.  In fact, you'll want to ensure that the click-lock profile/,mechanism is clear and free of all debris prior to clicking the planks together or else you could compromise the stability of the connection.

Most designers and installers will lay the flooring longitudinally so that it is parallel to the longest run or wall in the installation.  There are some exceptions, but this is a general rule of thumb.