Bamboo wood flooring...

[glocknut]

I've seen advertisments for bamboo wood flooring. Its cheaper than most of the other wood laminates or whatever they call them....

Anyone ever tried it? Is it durable??

The last time i layed Linoleum it came to a square foot cost of over $3.50 a square foot....underlayment, patch, sealer, and finally the stickyback tiles... it all added up.
They have Bamboo at Lowes for $2.79 a sq ft and its the interlocking type so all i have to do is put down a kind of foam underlayment and the strips lock together to make a "freefloating" wood floor.

I'm tempted to try it?

Opinions everybody....?

mike
gn

[Marlin T]

I've only installed it, so I don't know.

Do you have a chopsaw?

[Pistolenschutze]

Well Mike, if it doesn't work out, you can always use the bamboo tiles as range targets. :D ;) :p

Seriously, I have no idea how well the stuff lasts, but I have seen floors made of it. They are quite beautiful in my opinion, kind of a rich, rather dark brown with nice graining in the version I saw. I understand that it comes in several colors depending on the bamboo used and the process it underwent in production. The below example is similar to what I saw.

http://ts.ifloor.com/ifloor/418898.200x200.jpeg

[Lead Lobber]

Bamboo is amazing. The best slide rule I had was purchased from a college book store circa 1965 - Post was the brand, made in Japan. Out of curiousity, I picked up a piece of bamboo flooring on display at Costco recently and was amazed at the mass/momentum (weight) resistance felt when lifting it for a sniff.

Bamboo is the fastest growing GRASS on earth. I saw a documentary recently showing a high rise building going up in China using BAMBOO for the scaffolding for outside work hundreds of feet up! Workmen tied bamboo shoots together with .... ? Going up and up, one wonders what would have happened if our distant cousins had never touched that monlith.

No bones spinning in the air, and no war now? Who knows?

I am still hoping to assemble lengths of bamboo for a pot hanger in my kitchen.

But what happens if one of those smoking, government drunks from alcohol, tobacco, and firearms comes busting into my/your house without notice?

That's up to you - but I would shoot first, and probably die for defending my home.

Yes, your government can do that. If killing you is not good enough, your government will steal your property first, then give it whomever they please, for profit.

Not fair? Then arm yourselfs (your right anyhow) and fight back, but make sure to kill anyone that says you don't have the right to prevent what is happening.

The Lead Lover

LL

[Lead Lobber]

Bamboo is amazing. The best slide rule I had was purchased from a college book store circa 1965 - Post was the brand, made in Japan. Out of curiousity, I picked up a piece of bamboo flooring on display at Costco recently and was amazed at the mass/momentum (weight) resistance felt when lifting for a sniff.

Bamboo is the fastest growing GRASS on earth. I saw a documentary recently showing a high rise building going up in China using BAMBOO for the scaffolding for outside work hundreds of feet up! Workmen tied bamboo shoots together with .... ? Going up and up, one wonders what would have happened if our distant cousins had never touched that monlith.

No bones spinning in the air, and no war now? Who knows?

I am still hoping to assemble lengths of bamboo for a pot hanger in my kitchen.

But what happens if one of those smoking drunks from acohol, tobacco, and booze comes busting into my/your house without notice?

That's up to you.

LL

[Lead Lobber]

Looks like I hit the button twice - sorry, but my feelings are strong with bamboo, grasshooper -:)

[Lead Lobber]

The force is Bamboo

[Lead Lobber]

Bamboo can duplicate posts, a most curious hybrid seed situation that makes green shoots appear in pairs. Do not beleive this misty woman,for nothing is true of her but two breasts, and wet fruit

[glocknut]

Bamboo can duplicate posts, a most curious hybrid seed situation that makes green shoots appear in pairs. Do not beleive this misty woman,for nothing is true of her but two breasts, and wet fruit

...and i thought "I" was the king of thread drift? :D

mike
gn

[gazpacho]

I installed bamboo flooring in both my office and my wife's (ifloor.com product). It is easy to install, and highly durable. It's surface will quickly take up tiny dents and creases, up to a point, then you don't notice them, and the floor looks properly worn in. My product was 5/8" engineered flooring and the same material through out, so there won't be any vineer peeling off.

I'll do it again, if I buy another home.

iFloor.com will send you a 3" square sample for a few bucks.

[glocknut]

I installed bamboo flooring in both my office and my wife's (ifloor.com product). It is easy to install, and highly durable. It's surface will quickly take up tiny dents and creases, up to a point, then you don't notice them, and the floor looks properly worn in. My product was 5/8" engineered flooring and the same material through out, so there won't be any vineer peeling off.

I'll do it again, if I buy another home.

iFloor.com will send you a 3" square sample for a few bucks.

Thanks gazpacho !!!! Thats the kind of review i was looking for..... :)

mike
gn

[Lead Lobber]

Thanks gazpacho !!!! Thats the kind of review i was looking for..... :)

mike
gn

Me too, actually, all silliness aside. I am going to replace my 21 year old living room carpet with bamboo flooring, probably sometime next year.

LL

[glocknut]

The only thing bad about it is that there is no showroom...
The higher end products were competitive, but the bamboo was not.
I found 3/4" bamboo locally for $3 sqft. But its the nail down type. Floating
type wood flooring i think might be better. No cracks showing up with the shrinking swelling process?

mike
gn

[southernshooter]

Mike, Just an idea but why not ceramic? We used to have carpet in our house till we flooded, We replaced everything with ceramic tile it's water proof and hard to break if layed right. I work construction and did it myself after I had bought the fancy tile, thin set and grout, it didn't cost us no more than about $2 per sqft. And for a saw you can rent one at a local rental store

[Lead Lobber]

The only thing bad about it is that there is no showroom...
The higher end products were competitive, but the bamboo was not.
I found 3/4" bamboo locally for $3 sqft. But its the nail down type. Floating
type wood flooring i think might be better. No cracks showing up with the shrinking swelling process?

mike
gn

3/4 inch? That would make a good sub-floor. Do you live on a flood plain, I mean, is the danger of flooding something to be concerned about every year?

If so, build a bamboo tree house, or move to higher ground. Flooring boards of burley oak, birdseye maple, Mexican ironwood, Panda bamboo, and the hard and knotty crotch from a really well aged forked virgin tree, et cetera .... well, 3/4 inch may be available, but is such thickness really necessary upon a solid foundation and subfloor, or just extravagent?

LL

[Marlin T]

No cracks showing up with the shrinking swelling process?


Nailed down if installed correctly will never crack.

[glocknut]

Mike, Just an idea but why not ceramic?

GOOD GOD MAN.... I WORK AT A STONE COMPANY!!!!! I DO NOT DO "FAKE".... :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Seriously, i don't do fake stuff. We have access to real granite and slate for the same price as that ceramic stuff.... being a manufacturer has its advantages.....
I know how both are installed and the wood is simpler in my opinion. The floor is that 21/32 Advantek Osb...so i would have to put down the proper underlayment for the tile and that increases the price...and time to the finish line. I like the idea of a free floating wood floor.

3/4 inch? That would make a good sub-floor. Do you live on a flood plain, I mean, is the danger of flooding something to be concerned about every year?

If so, build a bamboo tree house, or move to higher ground. Flooring boards of burley oak, birdseye maple, Mexican ironwood, Panda bamboo, and the hard and knotty crotch from a really well aged forked virgin tree, et cetera .... well, 3/4 inch may be available, but is such thickness really necessary upon a solid foundation and subfloor, or just extravagent?

LL

No flooding dangers here... The 3/8 stuff looks kinda thin to me....

Nailed down if installed correctly will never crack.

I am refering to the swell shrink cycle. Ifloors states that the nailed down stuff can shrink a little and cracks...or rather "gaps" can appear between the ends of the boards where they bunt up next to each other. Not the long side, but the ends. Ligher colors make this more obvious. That is what their website says....
Click together and glued freefloating wood floors expand and contract as one unit rather than individual pieces....
I like the idea of that better. Being a small building, humidity could be a problem unless a get a dehumidifier...which i should get one.

mike
gn