Hello,

I have a client that wants to install engineered hardwood bamboo flooring on his newly built Florida house. The house has a nice power trowel finished concrete slab and the bathroom have ceramic tile installed at 1 1/16" thick. The owner wants a level installation of the bamboo. I was thinking to install 3/8" plywoood underlayment below the 5/8" bamboo.

- Would this be the correct way to go?

- What kind of plywood?

- Gaps? Vapor Barrier? / Glued / Fastened?

Thanks much.

¾ inch CDX plywood kerfed with a skil saw every foot so it will set down into moisture cure poly-urethane glue would be a good base for stapling the bamboo with quarter inch wide staples an inch and a quarter or an inch and a half long.
After the plywood has been kerfed about 5/8ths inch deep and is put into the glue it can be flattened with a floor sander to take any high areas down and then build up low areas with thick tarpaper. Use a straight-edge to check the flatness of the plywood.

Hi.

3/4" would put my bamboo floor higher than the ceramic tile. What do you recommend in the 3/8 thickness range.

Thanks for your time,

You can just glue down the bamboo, although most all of it is 5/8".

Yes I could glue down the bamboo but the owner does not want the 3/8" level mismatch between the ceramic tile and the bamboo.