# Removing Glued Down Bamboo.... From an existing hardwood floor!



## ShaneRC51 (Nov 23, 2015)

Hi guys,

I've been a longtime lurker on this site for years, but never registered until today. I install hardwood and laminate flooring, and am always the "go to" guy when someone else's problem has to be fixed. Well, I've got a good one. 

One of the other installers at my outfit botched a job pretty badly. I'll post some pics tomorrow after I visit this customer for an inspection. The installer "tried" putting down 3/4" bamboo...over an existing hardwood floor...that's installed over slats....!

The bamboo install is so jacked up that the whole thing is going to have to come out. Normally not a problem, as I'd just cut out the bamboo and top layer of subfloor in one pass, and pull it up in sections. I talked to the homeowner over the phone last Fri, and explained that's how it needs to be demoed. He isn't going for it. He doesn't want the existing hardwood flooring disturbed, but I honestly don't see any other way to remove the bamboo without damaging the underlaying hardwood. I don't particularly want to get down to the diagonal slat layer, but how else can I get this stuff up with minimal damage? The glue used is urethane. 

Do you guys have any suggestions?? Thanks...


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## Metro M & L (Jun 3, 2009)

Why are you taking up the bamboo? What are you putting back?


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## ShaneRC51 (Nov 23, 2015)

I'll post pics tomorrow, but suffice it to say, this floor needs to come out. End joints on top of each other... I think he cut the boards at the door casing with his teeth. Glue EVERYWHERE. It's bad.

I think the customer is going back with a nail down 3/4" product. I don't know if it will be bamboo or oak, etc...


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## PrecisionFloors (Jan 24, 2006)

If you didn't butch the job, it comes up the way you need to do it or they get somebody else - plain and simple. Customers, retailers, builders, etc., don't dictate how I do my job. Some people just need to learn the word no.


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## Morning Wood (Jan 12, 2008)

If its glued down over hardwood the hardwood is most likely screwed. I wouldn't guarantee any of my work without pulling the hardwood and inspecting the board sheathing.


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## WarnerConstInc. (Jan 30, 2008)

Tear house down and start over.


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## CarpenterSFO (Dec 12, 2012)

Does the owner have some special reason (promises made?) to think that the old floor would somehow be OK under the new floor?


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## Builderbob 72 (Dec 15, 2010)

Not a flooring installer, but as someone that has used urethane, the hardwood under the bamboo is toasted anyway, after any attempt at demo.

Rip it out, the same that you would with any other demo. No promises and no commitments under than "a fresh start"


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## ShaneRC51 (Nov 23, 2015)

WOW. Did the inspection today. It's both better, and worse, than I thought...

First, check out the pictures:


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## ShaneRC51 (Nov 23, 2015)




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## ShaneRC51 (Nov 23, 2015)

I don't even know what to say. This floor is jacked. There is urethane glue ALL OVER the floor. Even if the rest of the install was perfect, the glue residue is enough to warrant a complete replacement. There's glue all over the walls, the doors, the doorknobs, the baseboard, EVERYWHERE. There are many end joints between rows that are right on top of each other. The boards that were cut around the doorcasing is just...awful... They didn't cut the paint line when the pulled up the quarter round, so it just peeled the paint off of the baseboard. They also cut the bottoms of the door casing too high in places. He's gonna need a painter to go over most of the house. Look at the picture going down the hallway. The floor curves off to the right. It's not even straight. Jesus it's a mess. 

The only thing that I may get lucky with, is that the guy used the wrong sized trowel. It looks like he used a 1/16" v notch, so a lot of places have glue on the subfloor, but none transferred to the bamboo. It will literally just pop up with no glue on the back of the bamboo. I could only check the perimeter of the rooms, but I'm hoping that the center of the rooms come up the same way.

The crazy thing is the installer had the audacity to call up both the customer and the regional manager and cuss them both out. Apparently he told the customer that he busted his ass on this job, and the customer was complaining over nothing, without giving the guy a chance to come back and fix the "small issues" (the customer won't let the guy come back - I wouldn't either). He cussed out my office manager for "not having his back" when the customer complained about the terrible job.


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## slowsol (Aug 27, 2005)

So you're the homeowner? Where did you find the guy?


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## ShaneRC51 (Nov 23, 2015)

No, I'm not the home owner. Per my original post: "I install hardwood and laminate flooring, and am always the "go to" guy when someone else's problem has to be fixed."

This was a job I inspected today and will be tearing out next week.


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## 91782 (Sep 6, 2012)

Def "Wall of Shame" worthy, possibly WoS of the Year.


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## 66 Shelby (Jan 11, 2009)

Wow. That was installed by a 'professional'? :no:


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## CarpenterSFO (Dec 12, 2012)

I blame whoever dispatched him to do the job. Obviously no one had checked whether the guy was qualified to do the job.

Those hacked up jambs and casings are something else.

I think that's past the point of sending in the "go to guy". That's a situation for a manager or owner to negotiate a settlement with the homeowner, probably including some finish carpentry and painting in addition to the redo on the floor.


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## pinwheel (Dec 7, 2009)

Wow, what a cluster f#@k.


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## SamM (Dec 13, 2009)

pinwheel said:


> Wow, what a cluster f#@k.


I was thinking exactly that.


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## MIKE ANTONETTI (Jul 17, 2012)

I really don't care how botched the job is, I kinda am getting into demo/prep phase of flooring. Thing is how to isolate the two woods from an adhesive that's equally strong in the bamboo with the hardwood underneath,solid? That is extremely difficult, I can do it all day long over a slab. 

How many square ft?

I have found that a PCD blade attached to a worm drive works well. These blades are maybe 50$(7-1/4) I've ripped through a bunch of wood and laminate fast. Not sure about bamboo and its density/resins. Then separating, how long has it been down?

Another thing, how do you lurk without saying anything? I have something to say I need to post it. Everyone has something to offer, I like every perspective, I can grow from any input. 

This situation, very challenging, we/I learn instantly with feedback I'm getting from the situation, getting ideas, knowing tools available, constantly evaluating. My seven or eight log splitting wedges didn't work too well, they are not sharp, and grinding them is difficult to change pitch. Good luck!


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## dielectricunion (Feb 27, 2013)

I wish I could see the pics. They're not available for some reason


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