I have a beach front home underconstruction on Coastal NC. I'm putting Bamboo in common areas on both the first and second floor.

The sub-floor is 3/4" cdx plywood that has been screwed and glued to trusses that are 16" on center.

Because the house suffered a great deal of rain prior to be dried in, I have the expected dips and valleys (no more than 3/16") in the sub-floor. Not horrible, but enough to concern me that it will telegraph through the bamboo.

I've spoken to one installer that is recommending he GLUE the solid T&G bamboo down and in doing so, he'll be able to take most of the sub-floor dips "out". He also complained that the bamboo is so hard, that nailing it isn't as secure and will result in more movement and squeaks.

If it were your house, what would you do? What kind of installation method would you choose, and what ideas, if any, might you offer for helping to elimiinate the sub-floor issues?

Lastly, it occurs to me that if I ever need to replace/repair a section of this flooring that removing the glue-down will result in tearing up some of the wood sub-floor with it... this worries me a little.

THanks in advance for your advice!!!

bradesp

I hope and pray your installer has a moisture meter, and has the ability to know when plywood is delaminating.

Sand the highs and fill the lows, after you make sure the plywood is usable.

Make sure your Bamboo manufacturer recommends fastening. A lot I have seen say glue down only.

Subfloor moisture is going to be your worst enemy in this job.

Floorguy,

I've spoken to two installers, both mentioned using their moisture meters to insure the wood flooring and sub-floor are at proper moisture levels.

The sub-floor is very solid and not delaminating at all... it's also well dried out from the earlier rain that occurred when the house was under construction.

Now, as to the dips, what products do you recommend for filling / leveling a wood subfloor?

Thanks!