Hi,
I bought Trillium 5/8" Bamboo flooring that I'm doing the whole house to be nailed/stapled down to the plywood subfloor. Upstairs, the wood will carry from the hallway to four bedroom, two at the ends of the hallway and two off the middle of the hallway. When I carry from the hall to rooms at the end, the first board will be floating in the middle of the room. Do I need to have that row nailed straight through and putty he holes? I can't see how to use the floor nailer when those boards aren't braced against anything. Am I supposed to nail a temporary board to the floor first to support that first row? If so, is there a trick to get that board in the proper position?

Also, I bought a Bostitch MIIIFS stapler. I'm going to exchange it for a MIIFN nailer as I haven't used it yet and was told for bamboo, staplers have a better chance of breaking the tongues. Is there a better nailer to use for this bamboo floor? The manufacturer just recommends a floor tool without being specific. Can you make a recommendation? Also, should I be using 1 1/2 " cleats? Thanks!

Howard

Yes, use a sacrificial row top nailed. Then get some spline or make some so you can go backwards.

I've seen different manufacturers say use cleats and some say use staples. Some installers prefer staples over cleats and vice versa. Alot of the splitting depnds on how much moisture content is in the wood and the hardness of the species of wood....or grass in this case.

You can buy a kit for the MIII so you can go from cleats to staples if you want to spend another hundred bucks. But if your going to buy just one tool I would go 18 ga cleat.

Thanks for the response. The advice is much appreciated and that's what I'll do. Any advise on the nails and pre-drill size I should use to top nail the sacraficial board? 5/8" Bamboo. Thanks!
Howard

You can use justa bout anything to nail down the sacrificial row long as the fastener does not allow movement. I use my 15 ga Hitachi just cus it's fast.

Oh BTW if you buy a Primatech I'll buy it from you when your finished. Course not for new cost

http://www.flooringinstaller.com/video/ ... d-flooring

Can you give me a model #. Is it better than the Bostitch MIIIFN?

I'd get the Q550. It's several steps above the MIIFS in my opinion. The cleat size; 18ga is designed for species more prone to splitting.

http://www.primatech.ca/Q550.htm