Hi:
New to this forum. I purchase (and installed 1/2 of the flooring) resin infused tongue and groove flooring its allot like stranded bamboo but made out of mulberry bush. Its installed in 1 room and I still need to do the other. Its been stalled for about 1 month and so far no problems and really like it.

The next room I plan to put it in is our family room, which is on a slab, other room was raised. We have a old dog who pees inside allot and mostly lives in this room.

We bought this flooring because it can stand up to moisture (and pee). I have soaked it in water, let water sit on the flooring, left boards outside overnight and no problems.
But I did an experiment, I put 2 boards together then poured water on the joint. The water goes right through the T&G and will soak the back of the floor. It does not damage the floor, but I can see how once installed (its floating, the floor is installed on a foam underlayment which has an adhesive that sticks to the planks, the foam is on top of a 6mil vapor barrier) it will take a while to dry and the pee will smell.

My question is there anyway (like put a silicon bead on the T&G prior to installation) that will make the plank joints more water tight?

Gave some thought to this and ran some experiments.
If I put acrylic caulk in the micro bevel between planks, it keeps water from going through the T&G.

Brown caulk blends with the floor colors perfectly.

Curious if anyone knows of any potential problems with this?

Hello .. thanks for the posts

I would guess you're going to have many problems with this. First, I can't imagine it looking good (esp when you factor in color variation). Second, you will probably end up with expansion/contraction issues and may get some buckling. third, over time, I wouldn't expect the caulk to hold up and it will chip away and look terrible.

I'm sorry about your dog, but I'm thinking maybe a simpler and better solution is to try wee wee pads or something to prevent this from getting on any of the wood (eventually, it will wear down the finish). Maybe "train" the dog to just pee in one area and then buy an extra box or two to replace later (and maybe extra underlayment). Or wait until later to install here.

Debbie, The Flooring Girl
http://TheFlooringGirl.com