Installation Procedure
Pre-install Advisement
Thank you for choosing Panda Lumber Bamboo Flooring. With proper care, our flooring will give you many years of satisfaction and enhance the beauty of your home. Certain care should be taken to prevent exposure to conditions of high moisture before, during, and after installation of your Panda Lumber Flooring. Our Bamboo flooring has been painstakingly manufactured with a moisture level tolerance of 6–11%; however there may be some areas in the U.S.A, which exceed our 11% moisture manufacturing level. It is for this reason that we suggest allowing your flooring to acclimate to the location that you have chosen for 48 hours before installation. Unpack the Bamboo flooring and distribute it into small stacks in the room that you have chosen for installation. During the acclimation period, we recommend that you keep the chosen rooms temperature adjusted, to your normal living comfort range, by the use of either an air conditioner or heater. By taking this important precaution, prior to installation, your Bamboo flooring will expand and contract during the acclimation period, which will minimize any possible gaps or swelling once the floor has been installed.
After the acclimation period, we recommend that you test the moisture level of the sub floor and your Panda Lumber Flooring with a moisture meter. Your meter should show no more than a 3% variance between the sub floor and the Bamboo flooring. Also, for proper fastening strength, your sub floor should not be less than 5/8" thick, structurally sound and constructed on or above grade. Bamboo flooring can be installed over the following surfaces: wood, sheathing grade, vinyl tile, ¾" plywood, and Oriented Strand Board (OSB–at least ¾" thick). If you believe that a high moisture crawl space is present, this may prevent you from achieving the desired variance of 3% between the 2 materials. If this condition is present, we recommend that a vapor barrier be applied over the soil to prevent vapor from seeping in. A 4 to 6 mil polyethylene sheet can be laid over the soil, (between the sub floor and the soil), to alleviate this occurrence. Crawl spaces should be ventilated year round and adequate air circulation is important to prevent moisture from accumulating. Be sure that there is no standing water or moisture at the soil moisture level.
Adhesive Installation
If installation is to take place over a concrete slab, as with a wood sub floor, care should be taken that the concrete is flat, clean, and dry. Be sure to test the moisture content of the concrete slab to stay within the 3% recommended moisture range between the flooring and slab. We recommend a high quality, urethane-based wood floor adhesive, such as manufactured by Bostik. Do not use water-based adhesives. For adhesive installations, we strongly suggest that you contact a professional.
Installation Procedure
Before Installation:
It is very important that the sub floor is solid, level, clean, and dry. We recommend that you use 15 Lb building paper and lay it directly onto the sub floor. This will act as a vapor barrier and will also serve to minimize squeaks caused by contractions and expansions of the flooring. To allow for expansion, leave a ¼" space between the flooring and the wall. 2" long flooring nails or 2"/15 gauge flooring staples with a ½" crown should be used with a pneumatic or mechanically operated floor nailer. These nailers are struck with a rubber-faced hammer to drive each board tightly up against its neighbor while simultaneously driving the fastener through the tongue of the flooring and into the sub floor. Care should be taken to properly space the nails 8 to 10 inches apart along each floorboard and at least 5 inches away from each end.
Finishing
Panda Lumber Bamboo Flooring is shipped in a pre-finished condition. Like any other hardwood floor, our Bamboo flooring can be re-finished which will require floor sanding using special equipment designed for wood flooring. Re-finishing techniques require the skills of a highly trained professional. If you should choose to re-finish your flooring, we strongly recommend that you employ the services of a professional flooring contractor. Please understand that by choosing this course of action, you will nullify your Panda Lumber Flooring Lifetime Finish Warranty. Your warranty for structural integrity will still be in effect. Commercial customers have a 7-year finish warranty.
After sanding, be sure to apply the first coat of the finish the same day that sanding was completed. This prevents moisture from being absorbed into the flooring and will prevent a rough, raised appearance of the grain. The floor can be finished with commonly used products available for wood flooring such as penetrating sealers, pigment-wiping stains, moisture cured urethanes, and polyurethane’s’. Be sure to test a sample piece before proceeding with the entire floor. Do not Wax.
