How to Install Locking Bamboo Flooring

Locking bamboo flooring has quickly become one of the most popular types of flooring in the market today. It can provide you with a look unlike any other flooring surface and it is very easy to install. Here are the basics of how to install locking bamboo flooring.

Step 1--Measure the Space

Take your tape measure and get the dimensions of the room that you are going to install the bamboo in. Take your length and multiplied by the width. This will give you the exact square footage of the room. Take this number and add 10 percent to that figure. This will tell you how much bamboo flooring you are going to need for this project.

Step 2--Prepare the Room

Before you can lay any bamboo flooring, you are going to need to prepare the room properly. If you have baseboards or quarter round around the outside of the room, you will need to remove them from the wall. Use your hammer or a pry bar to remove them from the wall. You should consider numbering the baseboards so that you will know where to put them back on the wall when you are done. You will also need to remove the furniture and take up any existing flooring in the room.

Step 3--Lay the Moisture Barrier and Underlayment

Before you can actually lay the flooring, you will need to cover the floor with underlayment and possibly a motion a barrier. If you are on a concrete subfloor, you will need to first lay a visqueen moisture barrier out. Run the moisture barrier up the wall about 2 inches so that moisture will not be able to get around the edges of the floor. After you have laid the moisture barrier, roll out your underlayment on top of it. Cover the entire surface of the floor with the underlayment and make sure that you tape the joints of the underlayment together.

Step 4--Start Laying the Flooring

After the underlayment is in place, you can begin laying the floor. Start in one corner of the room and lay a board down on the ground. You should place a wedge in between the wall and the board. You need to leave an expansion gap so that the flooring can have room to expand and contract. Connect another board to the narrow joint and start to create a vertical row on the floor.

Step 5--Finishing a Row

When you get to the end of a row, you will need to make a cut so that the board will fit. Measure the dimension and then make the appropriate cut on one of the boards. Fit it into place and make sure to leave enough room for expansion on the end.

Step 6--Continuing

Take the small piece that you cut and use it to start the next row. Use your rubber mallet and tapping block to tap the board into the previous row. It should lock into place. Continue laying vertical rows until you have cover the floor.

Step 7--Finishing Up

After you have covered the floor, you can put the baseboards or quarter round back on the wall. Move your furniture back in and you are ready to enjoy your new floor.