Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 Feb 03, 2012 6:41 am Hi, we live in Ecuador and have a bamboo floor that was fitted 4-5 months ago in a new building, floor area about 80sqm The floor is probably of chinese origin but I don't know for sure. It is of the sort that clicks together. Each boards is 1.85 x 0.13m (72 and a bit by 5 and a bit inches), color natural. When we selected the floor we asked that it be fitted without gaps/junctions at entrance to each room. This was done. We now find that in the hallway that joins the living area to the two bedrooms and study, some of the boards are rising - when trodden on they flatten out but rise up again when the weight is removed (these boards always creaked a bit when we first moved in, but we thought nothing of it at the time). Is this our fault for asking not to have junctions? A few salient points, perhaps: There is one room into which the sun shines. This is often 3-5 degrees C warmer than the hallway, which is normally around 16/17C. My expectation is that any expansion in the floor in that room should be accommodated by gaps around the edge of the room and that it should not push out into the hall - is this correct? When the floor was initially fitted, we were surprised by the small gaps between boards. Having once fitted a floating floor, I expected the boards to be knocked together but the company said that this was not done and not allowed. Could this be so? We found it hard to believe, thinking that they just didn't bother (labour here is often unskilled and poorly paid.) My experience with a floating floor is that the boards don't lie quite flat and rise up quit easily if they are not knocked together. Is bamboo different? Thanks for answers and advice William Re: Rising boards, bamboo flooring 2Feb 03, 2012 8:45 am Not sure what you mean by 'junctions'? If you mean to say that there are no expansion gaps at the doorways, then this could indeed cause the problem. I would imagine the hydration levels (and hence, expansion) of the boards might be more variable and problematic in Ecuador given its humid climate. You could possibly try introducing expansion gaps at the doorways and see if this helps. However, the way you describe the installation does sound a bit odd - so perhaps it has more to do with that!! Can you post some pictures?? Are the boards strandwoven or horizontal/vertical? Strandwoven is more dense and probably a little less susceptible to variation in humidity levels. Re: Rising boards, bamboo flooring 3Feb 03, 2012 1:07 pm Thanks for the reply. By saying that there are no 'junctions' I meant that the floor continues through the doorways unbroken. I will take and post some photos, including one of a separate board, in the morning when the light is better. BTW, we are in Quito and 2800m, so it is on the cool side (15-25C - 59-77F). Re: Rising boards, bamboo flooring 4Feb 03, 2012 7:02 pm It sounds like the there may not have been enough room left for the boards to expand and contract when they were laid at the doorways. Therefore the boards will rise up when the rooms are hotter/warmer. There needs to be at least an 8mm gap around the room for expansion. Bamboo click system Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Flooring in doorway should be ok without a door trim Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Not sure if I’d be happy with that gap….. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ How to lay Bamboo http://www.constructiondeal.com/blog/20 ... oring.html Internal and External Building and Colour Consultant Online - Worldwide http://www.denovoconcepts.com Re: Rising boards, bamboo flooring 6Feb 04, 2012 8:03 pm The interlocking mechanism doesn't look like 'Uniclic', which under a variety of names is used in most quality flooring: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Are you sure yours didn't require gluing? If indeed you do have expansion spaces at all edges, it looks as if the floor is trying to expand but the force is being transferred up at a weak join, rather than transferring laterally through the entire floor. Re: Rising boards, bamboo flooring 7Feb 05, 2012 6:51 am The mechanism looks similar, but as you say, it is not the same. Another cheap chinese rip-off, I guess. There is no glue and the supplier said none was required or allowed. The supplier is going to send someone to remove the edging around the walls to see if there is an expansion gap; my guess is that there isn't. If it turns out that there is a gap, he wants to cut a gap across the doorway - I really don't want that and I am not convinced that it will cure the problem. Anyway, from what I have learnt so far, there seems to be nothing wrong, theoretically, with continuing the foor through doorways unbroken. That is useful for future discussions with the supplier. Re: Rising boards, bamboo flooring 8Feb 05, 2012 2:38 pm Yep, you should certainly be able to continue seamlessly through a door way. Usually the installers will undercut the door jamb so the boards can just slide in underneath, but also leaving a small expansion gap under the jamb (and hence invisible). I hope you have some joy with the supplier! Re: Rising boards, bamboo flooring 9Feb 08, 2012 9:24 pm That's news to me about not having an expansion joint in a doorway. Any floating type flooring installation training I have done has always recommended breaking each room into individual rooms by the use of the expansion type cover strip. Under cutting the doorjams is a means to make the installation visually better by not having to run scotia around the door jams. It use to be around 10-12mm around the perimeter & now everyone I talk to tells me 15mm expansion. There are ways to slightly get around expansion trims in doorways, but it generally means increasing the perimeter expansion gap everywhere else. Generally the way you are supposed to look at it is "Your expansion is only as big as the smallest gap" Re: Rising boards, bamboo flooring 12Feb 10, 2012 3:32 am Mmm, now I don't feel quite so confident that the lack of doorway expansion gaps is not the problem. However, to me it seems likely that a floor has no business expanding out into the hallway unless 'pushed'. In other words, if it has sufficient expansion gaps around the walls, it has no reason to expand out into the hallway, but once the gap is used up, the floor will be pushed by the wall (ie. it will push against the wall), potentially expanding out through the doorway. My original guess was that expansion was governed by changes in temperature but this link http://www.oriental-bamboo.co.za/faq/moisture-content-calculate-expansion-of-bamboo.html tells me that humidity is a more important factor, determining the "equilibrium moisture content" (EMC) and hence expansion. In the table at this page (and logically), the moisture content decreases with increasing temperature, implying shrinkage. But I presume that there is opposing thermal expansion. Which is more important? Re: Rising boards, bamboo flooring 13Feb 16, 2012 9:45 pm In a perfect world the new flooring is left onsite for a few days to allow it to increase or decrease in moisture content to your residences environment before the installation takes place. If your residences climate had the humidity increased alot then the flooring will expand & hopefully the 15mm or more of expansion allowed by your professional installers would tolerate this expansion without touching walls etc & buckling your new flooring. 4 4221 I'm about to put down some Merbau. Is it necessary to oil underneath the boards before laying? 0 760 1000000% definitely add insulation. I have in my home and it makes a big difference minimising sound transfer. Insulation is pretty cheap and definitely worth it 2 3662 |