WE have some engineered we need to lay next week. on a 30 year old slab (living room). Was carpet before. So 6 mil visqueen, then 3/4 ply, then felt, then the installation.

Also, there is one stepdown. I plan on using 1/4 inch hickory ply for the riser..With no visqueen etc.,,, WE usually glue directly to the concrete with the riser.
This engineered is half inch (actually closer to 7/16 if you measure it). I am really NOT a big fan of staples.,,and also not a big fan of 18 guage.
I was planning on installing this using my 18 guage flooring nailer and cleats...and I was tooling around on the Fluent website,.. they list 18 guage staples, nothing else. I know that the staples will split tongues more often than cleats,...... They don't list a number to call on their website...(Which has me bugged enough to not necessarily recommend them in the future.)

Does anybody have a take on this??? This is only 15 x 15 feet, and in Utah,..which is very dry and doesn't fluctuate like it does in many parts of the country...So I do not anticipate problems with size fluctuations.

If someone could chime in I would appreciate it. Also, as far as acclimation goes,...with engineered...I don't believe most guys in utah worry about acclimation...up to now,..we've never worried about acclimating engineered for more than about a day..and I think that's mainly to let the temperature settle in.
ok
let me know your thoughts. I am so darn bugged they don't list their phone number. What kind of a company is that????????????

I have used quarter-inch crown staples for one half-inch oak flooring and never had a split tongue. The staples for the Bostitch Floor Runner hold really well. We had to take up some water damaged flooring and it was hard to pull up. 18 gauge holds much better than 20 gauge, which only come in one inch length.
If you already have a nailer for power-cleats, great. Cleats are the only fasteners that works for strand bamboo in my experience.
I glue the riser directly to cement, when it is flat, also. I like to use latex sub-floor adhesive so I can glue 90# roll roofing if I need to shim and it sticks to both the asphalt, the cement and to the plywood. Just hold the set-up in place until the glue dries. If the flooring runs toward the step then you will not need any expansion gap under the riser, just cut to fit.