New kitchen floor

[Bob10]

I was away from it a month I came back to find the floor buckled I was more than a bit unhappy.  I spent a day pulling out baseboards and then fighting to get the flooring up without have to remove the entire room

[jteneyck]

The same thing happened to a floor a friend of mine installed.  He put the floor (some kind of laminate) down in May or June, then left town for the Summer - with the AC off.  When he got back the floor was buckled up at least a foot.  I asked him about what he had done to let the flooring acclimate prior to installation.  He said it had been in his garage for 2 years.  A little more probing and it turns out he had never opened the boxes.  I know that wasn't the case with your situation, but it sure proves that the flooring has to be at equilibrium with the room when you install it and you have to leave enough space for further expansion.  I don't think he did either.  I'm hoping to avoid both failure mechanisms. 

I just realized last night that I'm going to have to allow the flooring to float under a pedestal leg that holds up a granite peninsula.  I have a plan.  

John

[jteneyck]

I finished installing the floor yesterday evening.  It took me two half days to lay the 217 sq. ft.  It was a pretty easy process with the click lock system that Cali Bamboo uses on this style floor.  It was a huge benefit that the click lock works both ways, too, though it's certainly easier working on one side. 

After the old tile and underlayment were gone, I stapled down a new layer of 1/4" plywood underlayment, than layed down Cali's foam membrane and taped the seams.  I always have trouble deciding where best to start with the flooring.  In the end, I laid the first plank so it would end on the lip of my cellar stairway.  That gave me a full piece there and about half a piece on the opposite wall.  Fortunately, that stairway was as close to 90° to the sliding patio door across the room as possible, so no trimming was required for the first piece.  I worked from there towards the cabinets you see in the photo below, and then the other way towards the dining room.  Had the flooring not been able to interlock in both directions that would not have been possible and it would have been a more difficult process. 

Here's when it was about half done.  I left a 1/2" gap around all the walls and cabinets. 





I ran the flooring into the half bath you can just see in this photo, too.  The flooring ended up a millimeter or two higher than my old floor and the door to the garage at the top of the picture had to be cut off to clear it.  So that took a half hour; oh well.  Because of the increased height I also had to cut off all the door trim so the flooring could slide underneath.  I did that w/o trouble using a pull saw and a piece of scrap as a spacer.  




And from the dining room after it was all done.



I had to sort out at least 10% of the planks due to small defects on one end.  One had a damaged edge.  I was able to use all those pieces along the way by trimming off those ends where they best fit the layout and could end against a wall.  The visible joints you see interlock on the ends so you can't cut off a defective end and still be able to use it against a mating piece.  I ordered an extra box when I bought the flooring.  When I was done, I had 4 full length planks left over as well as 3 or 4 sizable partials. 

The Cali Bamboo floating flooring was pretty easy to install.  It looks good, though we're still getting used to gray after the much lighter tile we had before.  This is just step one of the kitchen upgrade.  Later this year I plan to replace all the cabinet doors and drawer fronts with new ones with a much different color scheme.  That will be the subject for another day. 

John

[Robert Adams]

Looks good. Seems i always do big projects in the summer when its too hot for man or beast here...   



     Loml has picked oit a grey but a grey tile to go with our cherry cabs(just a light blo and clearcoated). Im still not sure on the color but... 
 
    I have to figure out what i want to use as a transition from the higher tile to the lower laminate in the rest of the house... The laminate has no damage even though i walk in with dirty shoes allot and track in lots of sand. Te factory finishes now are amazingly durable. If we had regular old wood it would look awful by now.

[crokett™]

I'm impressed with your ingenuity to create the toe kick saw. I was reading that thinking about the HF toe kick saw. I bought one for a similar job, then sold it for nearly as much as I paid for it. Even bought new it was less than the price of a rental.

[jteneyck]

I forgot to talk about how the bamboo was to work with.  Honestly, no different than cutting normal wood, only harder and heavier.  The bamboo cut with hardly a splinter and no chipping on the show side, but I wouldn't be surprised if the nearly new blade on my miter saw needs to be sharpened as it seemed to cut more slowly by the end of the job.  Good thing there weren't many splinters, too, because they really hurt if you get one in your finger.  You definitely were right on that point, Bob10.  I ripped some planks with my bandsaw, cut some radii with it, too, as well as my jigsaw, and routed a hole through it to put a standoff in to support the pedestal independent of the flooring.  They all cut the bamboo fine. 

John

[Ken Vick]

Nice try square laying on your counter
.  Ken

[Phil Thien]

That looks terrific. 

What are you going to use for base?

[Bob10]

Really nice looking job glad you didn't have the problem with too much splintering

[jteneyck]

Nice try square laying on your counter
.  Ken

No, that's the lousy Craftsman that won't stay locked.  That nice Starrett is done in the shop where it belongs. 

JOhn