Thanx a bunch!

The repair part was kinda hovering in the back of my mind, not quite
making it to actual thought and that's the key.

Since it's going over a standard subfloor, nailing it is.

Thanx for the responses.

Renata

On 1 Feb 2006 08:25:53 -0800, "Josh" wrote:

I glued down a bamboo floor on a concrete slab in my house in Florida.
The glue was about $1/sq ft, so it's not cheap. This particular glue
was especially expensive because it had to form the vapor barrier as
well as hold the floor down. It worked great and I loved the finished
result, but if I'd had the option of nailing, I would have done that.

Some reasons:

It's often much easier to cut oddly shaped pieces (i.e. around
doorways) when the adjacent pieces are already in place. Gluing makes
this difficult because you only have a short time to get the pieces in
place once the glue is applied. You pretty much have to have
everything cut just right before putting the glue down. Also, it's
much easier to cut the oddly shaped pieces using trial and error. Once
the glue is down, you don't have the option of putting the piece in
place, then removing and recutting it. It's all covered with glue and
you don't want it anywhere near your saw.

Also, the glue gets in your way. If you lay down the glue for four or
five courses, you have to reach over it and not put your hands or
elbows or knees or feet or forehead in it. It makes for a sore back
(not that nailing will improve that situation much). By the time I
finished I had glue all through my arm and leg hair. That was pleasant
to remove.

The glue smells terrible, and is harmful to breathe. Even with a
respirator, you have to have adequate ventilation. If you're in a cold
climate, you don't want to do this in the winter.

If you ever have to repair a piece of the floor, it's much easier to
take out a piece that was nailed than a piece which is glued. The glue
I used will pull up concrete with it if you try to take it off. I'm
sure it would do the same to a plywood subfloor.

If you're interested in seeing my results check out the pictures at
this link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcaron2...h/tags:bamboo/

Josh