Is it possible to sand and refinish strand bamboo flooring?

11 years ago

We installed strand bamboo flooring over the last week and the glue got on so many of the boards. Nothing works to remove the glue residue without taking the finish with it. We used 5" planks of Morningstar brand from Lumber Liquidators.

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PRO

Cancork Floor Inc.

11 years ago

Morningstar brand is a made-up company name. Lumber Liquidators will have to put you in touch with the REAL manufacturer to ask what can be done. Knowing the low quality level of Morningstar as I do, (so low that there are class action lawsuites going on because of the bamboo has huge issues with formaldehyde) the chances of this floor being refinished for a price LESS than the cost of the floor are low.

The real issue is with the installer. If this was done professionally, then the installer owes you a replacement floor or a floor devoid of glue-damaged planks...however s/he deems it necessary to achieve that goal is up to them.

If you did this yourself (I can't imagine a DIY bamboo floor...but never mind) then I'm sorry to say but you no longer have a warranty and all you can do is try. If this is 3-5 planks you probably have to have the damaged planks pulled (professional floor installer comes over and cuts out the planks) and new planks dropped in. This can cost $70 - $100 per plank (depending on the installer).

If you have more than 10 planks with this problem, you can look at trying to sand/refinish this floor but beware: Morningstar is NOT a high-end product which means it will cost plenty to have this done...and it may not work! Yes. That means you could strip and apply new finish only to find out you've wasted your time/money. Removing the finish isn't an issue...as you've just discovered. Sanding a bamboo floor is the "technical" bit that is very difficult. Applying new finish to bamboo is a real BEAR. Bamboo is 30% glue!!! Getting polyurethane to stick to "glue" is very difficult. Getting it to stick to wood or grass is no problem...the glue that is in the bamboo makes it very difficult to achieve a good stick. It is possible but finding someone A) knows how to do this and B) who costs less than the original floor is going to be the tricky part.

The other option if you have more than 25% of the floor damaged = buy another floor and have it installed professionally with installation warranty.

I'm so sorry to see that LL has struck again with their bamboo. Perhaps you can join the lawsuites against them...there are 5 class actions against them right now...perhaps your issues is one of the one's that is already open!

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Comments (10)

User
11 years ago
Consult with Lumber Liquidators on this. Morningstar has a 7-layer coating and a 30-yr. warranty, but messing with the protective layers will void any guarantees you have. The directions state that any glue must be removed at once with mineral spirits. You could also contact Morningstar to see what they recommend.
flashqueen thanked User
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hayleydaniels
11 years ago
Ditto to every word Cancork said.

Take a few minutes and search Lumber Liquidators at pissedconsumer.com. There are over a hundred complaints. Read them to see others had the same problem as you did.

Their fabulous warranties are written to protect them, not you.
flashqueen
Original Author
11 years ago

Here's just one area of Roberts Adhesive that we got on our Morningstar Strand Bamboo. Neither acetone nor mineral spirits worked on the dry adhesive. Cleaned up the globs using a scraper with a light touch followed by lots of elbow grease with a Mr Clean Magic Eraser (dry) and after 40 minutes, it's mostly clean. I'll post that picture next.

400 sq ft yet to clean; should be finished by summer...
hayleydaniels
11 years ago
Glad to see you're getting some of the glue off. Have you thought of trying your blower dryer on it to see if it might soften it? I don't know if that's a viable solution, but heat does soften glue....

Keep in mind that the Magic Eraser is just a glorified sanding block so be very careful with it or you'll take the finish off.

You might be able to get one of those scratch repair pen to fill in the white spots.
PRO
ULTIMATE HARDWOOD LTD
11 years ago
If the installer used a decent glue - that glue manufacturer also sells a glue (after the fact) cleaner. Blow drying will not help. Once the glue sets that's it. It will never soften. I as a professional never deal with bamboo ever. I don't reccommended it. I don't install it. I will never refinish it. " bamboo" is a grass and the planks are pressed together with glue. Bamboo is not more sustainable or Eco or green.Lumber liquidators breaks every rule in this industry.My advice- rip it out and use real wood. Use an NWFA certified installer. Use a reccommended glue. Inspect the installation everyday. Do your homework. Vet your installer.
ncshiro1
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I have a similar problem with our bamboo flooring. We bought ours at Home Decor Flooring had oneof their contractors intalled it. The installers use mineral spirits as well to clean the flooring to remove the glue. We were told to only use Bona to clean the flooring. I had to really clean the area after it was intalled to try and get that oily film off where they used mineral spirits. So months go buy and I noticed the floor had a white sheen to it. I looked awful. We were told we could use mineral spirits over the entire floor to clean that off. Well, it took off the lacquer finish. Now I have no shine and you constaintly see foot prints. So my question is, can I have someone come in and re lacquer the bamboo flooring. Do they have to sand it down as well? Would it be expensive to have someone come out and spread a coat of clear polyurethane finish on the entire flooring?
Patty Foster
8 years ago
Wish I would have read all of this before we put our floor down ... out $900
wh0datsay
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Turpentine is meant for removing adhesive from upholstery, but could possibly work for other types of glues. Maybe.
rick wallace
2 years ago
bona floor cleaner is the cause of the foot prints and oily look, been there done that. I had to use a cleaner to take off all of the old bona product and start over. You just want to clean the floor, not leave any residue, that is whats causing the footprints. Can clean off bona with windex, or vinagar and water and then also use that to clean the floors after the bona is gone. Bruce cleaner does work pretty well, I use now, but best to not use it over and over, maybe a time or two, then clean again with the windex or vinagar and water, then Bruce again, you do not want any kind of build up on the wood floor, or any other floor in the house as you will just track it from room to room, been there and done that also.