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Swingman Swingman is offline
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Default Best wood floors in dry climate?

On 2/16/2010 10:01 PM, ransley wrote:

If a wood floor is installed without opening up packages and allow to
aclimatize to the lower humidity of your home this can happen, its not
a bamboo problem its a installer problem, a real pro has a moisture
meter handy. For all you know the floor was stored in a very humid
place before you got it, it can take weeks to aclimatize wood to a
house before install. Did a store install it that sold it to you, then
there was a warranty, id call the manufacturer and ask.


Well, you start off on the wrong foot ... bamboo is NOT wood, it is a
_grass_.

And the OP's is most definitely a "bamboo problem" (related to
"climate"), and more than likely NOT an installation problem.

Bamboo is notorious for having wildly varying degrees of moisture
content, some of which has not been observed to change for months no
matter how long the acclimation period ... unless in an extremely dry
client, like where the OP indicates his is installed.

With regard to moisture meters ... once again, bamboo is not wood, and
moisture meters are calibrated to use on WOOD, and furthermore, specific
species of wood.

AAMOF, I can personally attest that as of the summer of 09 there were no
moisture meters currently on the retail market calibrated to accurately
and consistently determine the actual moisture content of bamboo
flooring .. which was the last time I was asked to have on installed.

Unless there have been very recent changes, the only way to approximate
a usable MC reading of bamboo is by _comparison_ with a known sample,
using the same meter, thus your "real pro" is basically at the same loss
to give an accurate MC for installation as any DIY'er without a moisture
meter would be.

Most important thing when contemplating using bamboo flooring is the
quality of the product. This is the single most important factor on
whether you will have a successful installation ...and, as with all the
Pacific Rim shoe merchants and ribbon clerks looking to make a buck
these days, that is a most difficult thing to do with this particular
_grass_ flooring product.

The second is the climate of the locale of the intended installation.

In short, bamboo flooring, despite what the retailers will try to tell
you, seems to be more suitable when building for what are classified in
the trade as "Hot, Humid, Climates", and can be problematic, as the OP
has discovered, when building in drier climates.

IOW, the single biggest factors in the success of the installation in
drier climates is the QUALITY of the product ... a hit and miss
proposition at best in this day and age, and one reason why, as a
builder, even then I generally discourage my clients from using the stuff.

IME, YMMV, FWIW, etc. ....

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