Laying bamboo real wood flooring

[Hammerandchisel]

I am about to lay bamboo real wood plank flooring in a pantry which is very small, about 1000mm x 800mm.
Near the door frame leads onto a porcelain tiled kitchen floor and the bamboo brings the level up perfectly give or take a couple of mm.

There is also an underfloor access hatch in there, so the flooring has to be split into 3 sections:

1. A small area at the back about 150mm by 800mm
2. The hatch - about 600mm by 800mm
3. The remainder up to the door - 250mm by 800mm

Section 1 is old T & G floorboard, but the hatch and section 3 are 18mm flooring grade chipboard.
What is the best way to install this given it's such a small space? Should it be floating/blind nailed/stuck down?
I've never worked with real wood, only floating laminate floor so I just want to do it right once.

 

[AronSearle]

/pedantic - Bamboo is grass and not timber /



In such a small area, providing it is flat, I would say float or nail it (depends what you are nailing to?).

If it is not flat, then gluing wouldn't be advises without levelling the floor (then you may as well float or fix it again).

 

[Hammerandchisel]

Thanks for advice Aron.

I actually got some advice from a joiner last night who said given the very small size of the floor he would just use no nails to stick it down and white glue the joints.

 

[Floormaker]

I would highly recommend that you float it in such a small area and not use No Nail glue to stick it down.

If you were going to bond it to the sub-floor, I would also highly recommend that you use a glue made for that specific use.

Luke
-Floormaker.co.uk

 

[Hammerandchisel]

Luke

I would ideally like to float it but as per my original post the back section is only about 150mm long so it might be liable to movement.
That is why I am thinking that bonding to the sub floor would make for a
more permanent solution.
The back section is old T & G floorboard and the hatch and remainder is 18 mm chip.

 

[Floormaker]

Hammerandchisel,

I understand your concerns.
The main point of the post was to recommend using a solid wood adhesive specially made for wood floors. I've never trusted no nails with wood flooring personally.

 

[WoodYouLike]

Bamboo floors often come in too narrow strips to be safely installed using the floating method (the many joints will work as hinges, making the whole floor unstable).

Flexible adhesive would indeed be the best option (knowing how tiny the T&G on Bamboo flooring normally is, too tiny to use the nail method)

 

[Hammerandchisel]

Just to follow up and in case anybody needs the advice:

I have laid the floor now using Everbuild Lumberjack 550 permanently flexible adhesive and PVA glued the T & G.
All seems fine so far but time will tell. The adhesive was very easy to use
and I would recommend it.
Thanks for the help