I want to put down t&g bamboo flooring (the carbonized stuff that’s bullet-proof) over hopeless termite-riddled oak, and do it in such a way that I can remove and re-use the bamboo in a year or two, in a new house. The bamboo is not made with a snap-lock type of joint, just a traditional t&g. So I’m thinking of brad-nailing the first edge, and hiding that nail line beneath new base molding. Beneath all successive courses, I would run scant beads of hot-melt glue, this to keep the joints from shifting, and as a bonus, to avoid that disturbing “loose-floating-floor feeling” that every laminate floor I’ve walked on gives. My thinking is that hot-melt glue is a crappy adhesive, but that this is good for my needs here: I hope it will couple the bamboo to the subfloor for a year or three, but not give me a lot of trouble in peeling up later, probably releasing with ease from the bamboo. Silicone sealant might also do the trick–but it also might surprise me with how well it would stick.

I’m in Honolulu, where humidity is generally high but fairly constant, as is the temperature. I’m not sure how much bamboo floor expansion/contraction I need to accomodate, nor if the hot-glue would fill that requirement, but I don’t think nailing more than one edge would be wise. One flooring sales guy here suggested double-stick carpet tape, but that stuff ends up all over the place so I’d rather not use it.

Has anyone been through something like this or have better suggestions?

Mahalo,

Dave