3' Horizontal Natural

NAIL/STAPLE DOWN INSTALLATION GUIDE

Wood is hydroscopic. It will absorb and expel moisture based on its environment. With our construction, these changes are greatly reduced. However temperature and humidity must be brought to normal usage levels at least 96 hours before installation and maintained at those levels after installation.

PREPARATION
Remove paint, wax oil, plaster, sheetrock mud and other foreign materials, as well as surface irregularities. Heavy grit open coat paper may need to be used to grind a concrete floor. This will loosen any dirt, loose concrete or contaminates. Sweep or vacuum thoroughly. All previously or existing glue or adhesives must be removed before installing new hardwood flooring. All sub floors and sub floor systems must be structurally sound and must be installed following their manufacturer's recommendations. Our warranty does not cover any problems caused by inadequate substructures or improper installation of said substructures.

MAKE SURE ALL WORK AREAS ARE DRY
Interior walls should be dry enough to be painted and a normal room temperature should be attained with a relative humidity of 35-48%, should be provided before any installation is begun. If plywood is used as an overlay over an existing sub floor, the thickness of the overlay material must be such as to yield a total of 3/4" subfloor thickness. New wood type sub floors should also be checked for moisture using a moisture meter. In general, wood or plywood sub floors should not exceed 12% moisture content or 4% moisture content difference between wood flooring and sub floor.

SUB FLOOR PREPARATION
Evaluate the job site. Always check the job site for satisfactory conditions. The sub floor must be clean, dry, firm and flat. Sub floor irregularities and undulation may cause any wood flooring installation to develop hollow spots between the flooring and the sub floor. These hollow spots are not the result of any wood flooring manufacturing defect and are not covered by this warranty. As part of your sub floor preparation remove any existing base, shoe mold or doorway thresholds. These items can be replaced after installation, but should be replaced in such a way as to allow room for expansion around the perimeter of the room. All door casings should be notched out or undercut to allow for expansion and to avoid difficult scribe cuts. This is easily done by placing a piece of the bamboo product on the sub floor as a height guide for your handsaw of jamb saw. When you are ready to begin, open a few cartons and inspect each plank for quality.

PROCEDURES
Because the humidity of the room can vary, due to differences between the seasons for example, the floor must be able to expand in all directions. The floor must be able to expand or contract on ALL sides. To facilitate this, an expansion gap is provided at all walls of 1/2". A gap must also be provided around pipes or at thresholds. Take account of the fact that the floor may move in one direction. Where possible, provide expansion gaps, for example, under doors. The moldings are not fixed to the real wood floor but to the base floor or the wall covers these gaps. Choose a wall to start on. Place expansion shims against the entire perimeter of the room. Lay the first with the groove against wall. Nail or staple tongue in the nail pocket of the first row. Nailing pattern should be every 6 or closer. You may want to face nail the first row close to the wall so the base molding will cover when finished. After the first row is secure, engage the planks, one at a time to start the second row. Nail/staple each plank in the tongue nail pocket as you go to secure into position. Proceed by sliding each individual board into place making sure both the tongue and groove are tight, along with the butt joints. To ensure a random pattern, make sure butt joints are at least 6 from the butt joint of the prior row. Proceed with this procedure until you have come to the final row to complete the room. When you have reached the final row, you will need to measure the width of the final planks. You may need to rip the planks to match the width of the space remaining. Make sure the expansion shims are in place and take the shim width into consideration when ripping the final row. The tongue for the final row will need to be removed for a clean fit. Slide the planks groove into the tongue and use a pry bar to snug the last row of planks with the completed second to last row. You again will need to face nail close to the wall to secure. Make sure you nail close enough to the wall so that the base molding will cover nails.

FINAL INSPECTION
After the floor has been cleaned, inspect the floor for nicks, scratches, gaps, or planks that may have moved during installation, as well as any other imperfections that need attention. Touch up nicks and scratches with touch-up products.

FLOOR PROTECTION DURING CONSTRUCTION
Always protect the surface of the installed flooring during construction by laying a quality rosin paper, or other paper that will allow the floor to breathe, over the floor and taping it to the baseboards. Never use plastic or polyethylene sheeting to cover the floor since they will trap moisture that will damage the flooring.

GLUE DOWN INSTALLATION GUIDE

Inspect all materials carefully before installation. Warranties do not cover materials with visible defects once they are installed. It is the responsibility of the installer/owner to determine if the jobsite sub floor and jobsite conditions are environmentally and structurally acceptable for wood flooring installation. We will decline any responsibility for wood floor failure resulting from or connected with sub floor, subsurface, jobsite damage or deficiencies after hardwood flooring has been installed.

Wood is hydroscopic. It will absorb and expel moisture based on its environment. With our multi-ply construction, these changes are greatly reduced. However temperature and humidity must be brought to normal usage levels at least 96 hours before installation and maintained at those levels after installation.

INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

Time at which to install your hardwood flooring: Lay only after sheetrock and tile work are thoroughly dried and all but the final woodwork and trim have been completed. The building interior should have been dried and seasoned and a comfortable working temperature should exist prior, during and after the installation.

PREPARATION

Remove paint, wax oil, plaster," sheetrock mud" and other foreign materials, as well as surface irregularities. Heavy grit open coat paper may need to be used to grind a concrete floor. This will loosen any dirt, loose concrete or contaminates. Sweep or vacuum thoroughly. All previously or existing glue or adhesives must be removed before installing new hardwood flooring. All sub floors and sub floor systems must be structurally sound and must be installed following their manufacturer's recommendations. Our warranty does not cover any problems caused by inadequate substructures or improper installation of said substructures.

MAKE SURE ALL WORK AREA'S ARE DRY

Interior walls should be dry enough to be painted and a room temperature as required by adhesive manufacturer with a relative humidity of 35-48%, should be provided before any installation is begun. If sub floor is concrete, check for dryness; use the standard rubber mat or taped plastic test. Remove after 24 hours, then visually inspect for moisture. If moisture is present, do not lay flooring. All concrete sub floors, on or below grade can also be tested using an approved moisture detection procedure. Check floor in several locations. Also if the sub floor moisture content registered after a calcium chloride test should not be greater than 10% or 3 pounds per 1000 square feet of area. If it exceeds these limits, do not install the flooring.

Concrete sub floors must be clean, flat, sound and of sufficient compression strength (3000lbs PSI) being sure that the surface is not slick. Sections not flat such as waviness, trowel marks, etc. are to be eliminated by grinding or the use of a latex-leveling compound. Especially along the walls, the sub floor flatness must be checked and if necessary improved. Flat to 1/8" in 8' radius. In addition to concrete sub floors, these products can be installed over dry, flat wood sub floors, such as plywood. If plywood is used as an overlay over an existing sub floor, the thickness of the overlay material must be such as to yield a total 3/4" sub floor thickness.

New wood type sub floors should also be checked for moisture using a moisture meter. In general, wood or plywood sub floors should not exceed 12% moisture content or 4% moisture content difference between wood flooring and sub floor.

SUB FLOOR PREPARATION

Sub floor irregularities and undulation may cause any wood flooring installation to develop hollow spots between the flooring and the sub floor. These hollow spots are not the result of any wood flooring manufacturing defect and are not covered by this warranty. As part of your sub floor preparation remove any existing base, shoe mold or doorway thresholds. These items can be replaced after installation, but should be replaced in such a way as to allow room for expansion around the perimeter of the room. All door casings should be notched out or undercut to allow for expansion and to avoid difficult scribe cuts. This is easily done by placing a piece of the engineered product on the sub floor as a height guide for your handsaw of jamb saw.

WET LAY INSTALLATION

When using this method, flooring is placed into "wet" adhesive and workers do not walk on the bamboo. Do not walk on fresh laid flooring. Ensure starter rows are firmly in place by wedging or face nailing. Proper humidity must be controlled between 35-48% for successful performance during and after installation.We recommend Fortane LD Adhesive it is ideal for glue-down installation in all grades of all types of bamboo. Recommended trowel size is 3/16" by 5/32" V-Notch

INSTALLING THE FLOOR

The floor should be installed from several boxes at the same time to ensure a good mix of materials. End joints should never be closer than 6" from each other. Install tongue into groove. Lift a plank periodically to check for adhesive transfer (approx 80% glue to flooring).

Bamboo is the primary constituent of this flooring. Because the humidity of the room can vary, due to differences between the seasons for example, the floor must be able to expand in all directions. The floor must be able to expand or contract on ALL sides. To facilitate this, an expansion gap is provided at all walls of 1/2". A gap must also be provided around pipes or at thresholds.

Take account of the fact that the floor may move in one direction. Where possible, provide expansion gaps, for example, under doors. The moldings are not fixed to the real wood floor but to the base floor or the wall covers these gaps.

Due to the natural characteristics of bamboo, it is highly recommended when using the glue down method of installation that you protect your floor then roll or weight down the floor to help with adhesion. We recommend that after you have glued down a small area of bamboo that you place the open cardboard boxes which the bamboo came in over the area and then you place 4x8 sheets of plywood over the small section with weights on them.

FINAL INSPECTION

After the floor has been cleaned, inspect the floor for nicks, scratches, gaps, or planks that may have moved during installation, as well as any other imperfections that need attention. Touch up nicks and scratches with touch-up products.

FLOOR PROTECTION DURING CONSTRUCTION

Always protect the surface of the installed flooring during construction by laying a quality rosin paper, or other paper that will allow the floor to breathe, over the floor and taping it to the baseboards. Never use plastic or polyethylene sheeting to cover the floor since they will trap moisture that will damage the flooring.