Perhaps one of the most misunderstood concerns when it comes to both bamboo and wood flooring is gaps between boards. These gaps can be seasonal, site related, maintenance related, manufacturing related or installation related. The gaps can be normal or abnormal. An excellent paper on gaps was written by NOFMA an organization for wood flooring manufacturers. While bamboo is a grass and not wood the information in this article applies to bamboo just as it does to wood. Click Here and you will be taken to the full Technical Paper.
About Terry Weinheimer
7 months ago Bamboo was installed at my cabin. Now as the temperature is warmer several gaps in the between the strips have occurred. I have read the article you referred to from the NOFMA on gaps. This floor was installed over wood sub floor and then plastic was installed over the floor because of the crawl space below the sub floor. The bamboo was not nailed, just glued at the joints. Is this normal and should the gaps close in cooler months? There is no air conditioning, summer temps high 85, low 45. In the winter it is closed up and the temp inside the cabin is between 40 and 50. Thx.
John
Normal gaps are usually considered to be gaps that appear between individual boards that open and close with changes in humidity. These types of gaps appear as the floor contracts during periods of low humidity and close during periods of high humidity. In a narrow floor 2-1/4″ a normal gap is up to the thickness of a dime (1/32″) and on a wider floor as most bamboo floors are the gaps can be somewhat wider and still considered normal. If the gaps do not close during periods of high humidity they start to fall into the category of abnormal.
Unfortunately we are unable to go by the normal gap standards for your floor as what you have described is a floating floor with glued joints. On a floating floor with glued joints the expansion and contraction should be taking place across the width and length of the installation. Where some of the boards are developing gaps it sounds like a problems such as improper acclimation prior to installation, improper gluing or other problem may be the culprit. To determine what the problem is I would suggest that you contact the dealer or manufacturer of your bamboo flooring and request that an inspection be made. If they are unable or unwilling to assist you may wish to contact and NWFA Certified Flooring Inspector
Terry
Hi Terry, I expect your advice will be similar to what you told John, but thought I would ask… We purchased a house in January in Spokane, WA that had bamboo flooring installed in late November by the previous owners. On the final walk through we noticed a large gap in the hallway between 1/4in and 1/2 wide. The contractor who had done the remodel came and placed a strip to fill in the gap that looked decent and all seemed taken care of. 3 months later another gap about the same size popped up about 2 feet away from the original gap. The contractor, installer and a representative from the flooring company all came and decided a transition strip should stop the problem…placed in the middle of the hallway and doesn’t look great. I thought I could live with that, but since then 2 more 1/4inch gaps have popped up and the flooring in many spots is shrinking away from the walls so much that there is a 1/4 to 1/2 space between the edge of the flooring and the trim on the walls. The contractor says he believes the flooring is faulty and will keep failing and he feels the whole thing needs to be replaced. We’re trying to set up another meeting between all parties to come to some type of solution. Any advice?
Stacey
While there could be a manufacturing problem with the tongue and groove, this sounds like a floating floor that is locked in at a wall or other fixed object or there are other areas where a transition should have been placed. While removing the baseboards to check for lock in can damage both the baseboards and walls, this would be the best way to absolutely determine if the floor is locked in. Once the problem is located a correction can be made. Also the floor needs to be checked to make sure it is flat and level. If you have low or high areas this can result in movement and separation. If the tongue and groove is an improper fit which does sometimes occur during manufacturing you will have a continuing problem. If there is a moisture imbalance in part of the floor or the floor was not properly acclimated prior to installation this can result in separation. These are just a few of the more common problems you can look for.
Terry
Ed
I am fascinated with these commentaries regarding bamboo floor installation. In the past, my experience has been that bamboo goes on well with a sub-floor base nailed at the recommended intervals. In reference to the install under the edge of the baseboard,my opinion is to allow this to have movement. Moisture levels between sub-floor and actual flooring is crucial.
Last year, I had a floor to do on a newly constructed home. Bamboo over concrete, glued directly onto heated concrete with glycol lines. The floor was floated prior to install to within 1/18″, as to date, there has been no gaps showing. In reference to John’s floor, I believe also that there could be some manufacturing defects. Good luck with your floors.
Ed
Ed,
Thank you for sharing your experience as it will be very helpful to others.
Terry