Not only will the flooring maintain its warranty, but you will also (usually) get a labor and install warranty from the contractor doing the installation. The best way to go about this is to do a search on Angie’s List, or similar sites. Live in San Antonio, Texas so we have heat and humidity. Using another moisture barrier other than these two will not void your warranty, but should a failure occur, you would need to provide documentation showing the moisture rating for whatever you do use. Walker. Not only are they one of the greenest companies in the country, they also have multiple floor types to choose from. Thanks for any advice you can think of. Silicone Vapor Shield (Think Ford Fiesta, the basics at an attractive price) Smaller, thinner boards are usually laid parallel with the long walls to give that more modern “bowling alley” look. It is … Unlike the bamboo options, both solid and engineered versions are easy enough to install on your own. I’m being told your math looks correct, and it’s enough to act as thermal break. Yes use silicone where the floor meets the tub. We offer cork and recycled felt as a more eco-friendly option to Cali Complete. Hi Steven, In other words, I don’t have to tape the seams for my over-plywood install? However, they aren’t quite the most expensive either. Hi Rock, Lay it in the direction that makes most sense, hopefully, it’s the same direction that’s also the easiest and produces less waste. I also hate any hollowness associated with hollow floors. Once we open the Pandora box with questions we can’t close it;-) Professional install is all but required for all flooring types except engineered woods and vinyl. If you want the best the brand has to offer, though, you are going to have to pay for it. Reducing the noise and impact factors are of great importance. ex cork, complet or felt. These are the best of the best: When you are looking for new flooring, you have a lot of choices. 4. Would it eliminate the cricking noise?? The Cali bamboo floor scores the highest ratings of all hard floor types with a rating over 5000. My question is, on top of the limestone backing is a cushion, rubber backing. Yep, it will give you thermal and sound insulation. If you don’t want bamboo on your floors, you also have the option of hardwood. Cali Bamboo isn’t the cheapest flooring on the market. We are on a slab, and underneath our rug we pulled up are 9×9 asbestos tiles that were intact. Hi Cynthia, We will be flooring a first floor concrete slab house in New Mexico’s Chihuahuan Desert where today the humidity is 7% . Hope this helps, or at least makes you LOL. for pricing and availability. Hi Dawn, 1. Hopefully we don’t have to undue all of the work. If you or your installer plans to nail-down or glue-down, underlayment is not an option. Bamboo does attract a lot of dust and dirt and can show it quite easily. However, Trinity is a reliable, durable and wear-resistant floor, which comes with a 25-year warranty to cover your purchases and investment. Cali Celebrates 12 Years on Inc. 5000 List, Cali Adds 4 Vinyl Colors to Mute Step Collection, California Transparency in Supply Chain Act. Should we purchase underlayment for insulation and noise barrier benefits? Hello, we just had plumbers fill a 20′ wide, 7 foot long, 12-20″ deep trench from a half bath through the entryway and are replacing the flooring there with Cali Bamboo Vinyl. Hi Kellie, Not totally sure what you are asking Rick. Read somewhere that sealing might trap the moisture under the underlayment and might build a mold and damage the underfloor. If you are talking about an outdoor deck, the Cali Complete wood not be applicable as it is made for indoor use only. Should I be concerned? Sounds like its going to crack, but I’m doubting this to happen. We are in St Augustine, FL (NorthEastern FL south of Jacksonville). Cali flooring is made from recycled content (up to 60%) the green company prides themselves in their environmental choices as well as construction quality. The less risky option would be Engineered Bamboo which tends to care less where it’s installed, and an even better option is GeoWood flooring, it’s amazingly stable. If you wanted to add additional insulation and comfort I would put down Cali Complete. Boy you just crashed my wife’s dreams She did some serious reading on the bamboo flooring…. Not sure which underlayment you purchased but the general idea for underlayment is to lay or roll it out onto the floor and connect the edges of the rows with tape. I had about 1/8″ gap around the base of the toilet and used white silicone to fill the gap. Hi Greg, What needs to go between between the planks and the kitchen cabinets? It is a new construction in FL and has a concrete slab. I just poured the leveling cement today, do I need to wait 60 days? No, you do not need a moisture barrier for wood subfloors. Walter, when did this product become available? Short answer is you do not need anything under the floor if your subfloor is wood. If your subfloor is concrete then you will want to tape the seams of the Cali Complete and along the walls to create an effective moisture barrier. If these are used together, do you recommend Nailing, glueing or Floating? Since Hawaii is a very humid environment, installing a solid wood product is going to require extreme adherence to our installation guidelines. While bamboo is beautiful, it does require some upkeep, climate control, and very specific cleaning. 1. Cali Complete thermal insulation makes floors warmer and more comfortable. 1. Lastly, some radiant heat systems offer very little temperature control, we only warrant our floors for systems that can be kept under 85°. Since you floated the floor relatively recently, the flooring can be pulled up and re-laid without issue. Hi Blake, If you’re planning on anything but Cali Vinyl I would say it’s not up to par as Cali Complete has 0.00lbs of transmission. Please advise recommended method as our installer recommends against a Cali complete due to the absorbent backing. Hi Jim, Our product offerings include bamboo … Hi Joe, Sure, if you wanted added moisture protection with added thermal insulation, added comfort and noise reduction you can use both together. Comfort, insulation, noise… Can you use the cali complete system on top of titebone 531 as an additional moisture barrier, to help warm the flooring and dampen noise? Moisture barriers can be in the form of an underlayment (Cali Complete) or a roll-on product (Titebond 531+). I would like to replace the floor with Cali Vinyl Gray Ash Plank Flooring and have few questions. The floor dimensions are roughly 22x22x22x10. Will the purgo gold “void” out the low VOC benefit of your product, or does it matter less since it will be under the floor. No problem, we have color-matched repair kits for each floor that includes a putty stick for deep gouges and a scratch repair marker for quick fixes. Let’s take a closer look at what they bring to the table. Either way you go, you sould definately seal the slab with Titebond 531+ or if you float the floor, use Cali Complete underlayment with the metallic seal tape. Pair with Metallized Seaming Tape to ensure a full moisture barrier, even over concrete. The management company has approved it. If you can imagine the degree to which both 22′ side walls curve in toward the shortest 10′ wall you can see that also running the underlayment “parallel” with both side walls would waste a tremendous amount of underlayment. Cali Bamboo is known for a lot of features. Hi Jeff, Hi Mr. Hicks, It is a small 60″ x 54″ room. I understand that the safest thing to do is to remove the vinyl sheet and the attached underlayment but if your experience suggests that placing Gray Ash plank directly on the existing vinyl floor is perfectly acceptable and there are no warranty issues, please let me know. We recommend CALI Complete underlayment. Hi Paul, Their strand bamboo planks are the strongest, and come in many colors and styles. You don’t necessarily need an underlayment but you will need a moisture barrier, the padding built into the flooring is not a moisture barrier. The house currently has Saltillo tile and some porcelain tile in the bathrooms. When you shop Cali Bamboo, it truly is a one-stop shop for everything you need to finish your project. Would also laying down Cali Complete under the 1.5mm-2mm integrated underlay of the vinyl give me significant additional noise reduction? Walker. Without Underlayment: STC 61 & IIC 64, These are the test results for our standard vinyl flooring with Cali Complete including delta: Two questions – Do I really need 1/2″ gap at walls when nailing? Why not just square like any other underlayment which makes for easier installation. Item #841124. I have concrete floors and will need to use metalized seal tape to join the pieces . John. Hi Kelly, Offering you a 50-year warranty on your bamboo install, no other company even comes close. CALI BAMBOO Ripoff Reports, Complaints, Reviews, Scams, Lawsuits and Frauds Reported Your Search: Cali Bamboo. These use the newer, You can choose between Cali Vinyl Pro or Cali Vinyl Plus. Can I use a regular upright vacuum cleaner? Walker, thank you very much for your fast response! Also keep in mind that most quotes include the cost of the flooring. When choosing to do a DIY install, you should stick to engineered bamboo, or one of the hardwood planks. Hi Angela, This all-in-one underlayment is designed for moisture and vapor protection for all subfloors and floor types. Cali Bamboo is available in strand bamboo, engineered bamboo, textured, smooth, distressed and hand scraped. You can choose between Cali Vinyl Pro or Cali Vinyl Plus. I was just concerned that vapors from the asbestos tile can come through, or tile possibly crack since the floor is so strong. Our contractor is going to float T&G Antique Java instead of glue down which was originally planned. Love it! Hands down I’d go with Jasperwood from our GeoWood collection. Cali Complete can add comfort and can protect wood flooring from moisture. Adding CaliComplete to the mix will give you a bit more acoustic and thermal insulation while improving the comfort just a touch. The Cali bamboo floor scores the highest ratings of all hard floor types with a rating over 5000. Hi Peshko, Dry mops or damp mops only, as to not saturate the floor with water. Bamboo … And as an added plus for the planet, Cali Complete is 100% recyclable. They quoted the purgo gold underlayment since that is what they had in stock. Hope you are taking lots of pictures to share with us! However, they aren’t quite the most expensive either. So over plywood subfloors we don’t recommend taping the seams of the underlayment as it can trap moisture below. Bamboo Flooring Reviews: Best Types and Brands, How to Clean Bamboo Floors (Best Way to Keep it Shining), Best Pergo Flooring: Reviews and Round Up, SmartCore Flooring Reviews: Beauty Flooring on a Budget, Best Cork Flooring 2021: Reviews, Best Brands, Pros & Cons. Cali Complete (The Cadillac of underlayments, but not so eco-friendly, so I guess it’s the Hummer of underlayments) Humidity can be as high as 70% for a few weeks during monsoon season temperatures swing from 29 f to 110 f on both extremes with the hotter days being either dry or humid and cooler days being mostly dry. Call 1(888) 788-2254 or you can buy it online and use promocode FREESAMPLE at checkout. We had home built in 1999 and have never had any kind of issue or cracks in walls. Hi Peter, How long do you recommend waiting for the concrete to cure? It will be laid on wood subfloor. Multiple colors, styles and options available. Best, Howdy. [And does Cali Bamboo sell the Titebond 531+?] Your email address will not be published. 3. Cork ICC = 58 I live outside of Atlanta, GA. Cali Bamboo is the strongest bamboo planks on the market. I think both of these factors are addressed by Cali Bamboo with their 100% recycled built-in cork backing and use of Cali Complete underlayement. Is in even advisable to use additional underlayment with panel’s built-in underlay? When installing over concrete, Cali Complete with the metallic seal tape on all edges and seams is what’s required. I saw your comment about not being able to use underlayment when nailing or gluing. I’m installing nail down t&g wide + engineered bamboo flooring on wood subfloor. True, it applies more to floated floors but a little expansion space never hurts. Is this also a concern for the underlayment? All other types require a lot of work and specialty tools that may not be available or easily used for a flooring installation. Most all Plyboo features except the flooring are chosen by decorators and interior designers. 3. Hi, I am looking at laying Cali LVT over my existing sheet vinyl flooring – do I need to put down a vapor barrier over the sheet vinyl? Hi John, That said, it should be just fine as long as it’s fairly protected from the elements. With these types of sites you can get your quotes and estimates from contractors that have already been vetted. Hi, I’m considering Vinyl panels with the attached cork underlay for a second floor kitchen with plywood subfloor. The guy at Lowes said that the only option over concrete and without glueing is Click Lock. Watch our Underlayment Installation video to see how. You can think of this as the standard SmartCore collection.It’s a type of rigid core flooring called WPC (wood plastic composite) with a middle layer that keeps it stable … The Janka hardness scale has recently added bamboo flooring to their rating system. Cali Complete 100-sq ft Premium 1.5 mm Flooring Underlayment. Finding the ideal fit will mean matching color, layer texture, installation method and hardness. Now I will answer some of the more common questions about Cali and bamboo flooring in general. The floor after a few months of use may settle into its new home and feel more solid. We do not have a basement. 6. I would use our Cali Complete underlayment, just make sure to use the seal tape over the concrete only, no tape needed over the plywood. Let’s take a look. 2. Metalized seal tape on 1st and 2nd? Yes, if you are floating T&G milled flooring, you’ll want to glue the planks using Tongue & Groove glue and give it a day to dry before walking on or moving furniture back on it. Sound Rating with Cali Complete: STC 61 & IIC 63 These use the newer GeoCore composite center and are water resistant to make them easier to clean and hold up to high traffic areas a bit better. 2. Is the metal looking tape on the video included with the Cali Complete? Or would it actually make it worse as the installer is suggesting due to the backing already existing. You typically use T-Moldings in interior doorways and thresholds for exterior doorways. I would float it like the other floors. Floor tape will work or a construction adhesive. Should I float or glue down the floor. Cali bamboo reviews do i need underlayment with this floor. Walker. I’d play it safe and tape all walls. Engineered flooring is a bit more forgiving with regard to expansion and contraction in extremely humid environments and doesn’t require the long acclimation period. Would we glue the floor to the underlayment or does gluing to concrete preclude the use of this product? I am putting the Cali longboard on a wood subfloor (new construction). Assuming you plan to float the flooring: Watch the Cali Complete installation video. • Levels minor subfloor imperfections I tried comparing them side by side but had trouble finding specs on Pergo Gold (PG). While you could put an underlayment under a nail-down you won’t get most of the benefits the underlayment provides other than added thermal and sound insulation. Do the joints have to be glued? We recommend waiting for 60 days for a slab to thoroughly dry before installing flooring over top. You can still glue down with click-lock, but it’s trickier. Why is underlayment not an option when nailing? I’m nervous the tile underneath will break due the heaviness of the bamboo flooring. As long as the existing flooring is level and extremely clean and dry, you can install right over it, no underlayment required. There would be benefit to having the two floors a little more even, so I was considering underlayment, and there is plenty of room for a thicker one. If you can find the STC/IIC rating for PG, it doesn’t state what floor type was used in the testing. Strand bamboo is the hardest flooring type with a Janka hardness rating of 4800. This company is all about excellence and worries less about prices. Oh, and if you do use Cali Complete, don’t tape the seams, the tape is only for concrete subfloors. Excellent product and it also makes my flooring alot quieter … [I’m up in the Oakland hills, so the temperature extremes aren’t huge, but the winters are pretty rainy.] Learn how to prepare plywood and concrete flooring installations with Cali Complete™ DIY Underlayment. 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