Sunday, February 04, 2007

The Flooring is finally done!

Bamboo planks for the bulk of the room. and Slate by the entrance We had originally been going to put cork flooring where the bamboo now is. My wife and I were in Home Depot and saw the bamboo, which was very attractive and quite inexpensive--about half the cost of cork. The instructions, which were with the display, pushed the use of polyurethane glue. The 60 lb buckets of glue were right there, so we picked one up along with the wood. Just to play it safe, we also got a box of 2" finishing nails. When I opened up the planks I saw that the instructions called for glue OR nails. Well, I had both, so I used both. The glue was very messy and is (barely) soluable in denatured alcohol, but does not dissolve in water, oil, paint thinner or acetone. The only solvent I have, but didn't try, is gasoline. I guess I will be wearing glue on my hands for a week or so. The bamboo is a very hard material and splits easily. I predrilled each of the nails that I put in. This floor is going nowhere. dbp