Replies

1. 
   1muff2muff | Feb 27, 2007 06:59pm | #1

   I put bamboo in a coffee shop, glued to a slab, about 8 months ago. So far, it still

   looks great. I was concerned about gluing it, but the owner insisted, and is still

   happy with his decision.

2. 
   shywoodlandcreature | Feb 27, 2007 07:05pm | #2

   I can't speak for flooring, but we bought a bamboo chopping block, which delaminated very shortly after (and we are anal about how we treat our kitchen stuff, so, no, the block never was never washed in the dishwasher, or left damp, or cleaned with anything stronger than soap and water.) Having said that, I do hope our experience was the one-off, because I'd love to have bamboo floors in our next house.

   "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."

   George Orwell, 1984

3. 
   buildboy | Feb 28, 2007 12:04am | #3

   I'd be curious to hear what type you used. I put bamboo in our house based upon low cost and good looks (IMHO), AND about reports of it being harder than oak. Well that turned out to be total BS. We used the vertically (edge) laminated type by Smith and Fong and I can scratch it just by looking at it. Visually nice, very stable, but dents and scratches much more easily than oak or maple.

1. 
   Dirtpour2 | Feb 28, 2007 12:13am | #4

   Not sure of specific brand, but it was purchased thru Lumber Liquidators. As noted, its held up like steel compared to past experiences with oak and birch flooring. It is prefinished horizontal +/- 5/8" thick x 3 1/2" wide.

1. 
   BillBrennen | Feb 28, 2007 01:12am | #5

   Somebody in a recent thread mentioned that young bamboo (<3 years or so) is much softer than old bamboo (>5 years or so) and that the huge popularity of the flooring has led some to manufacture it from the softer young stuff. The problem is that the two types are not visually distinguishable from each other.I put in bamboo in our rental in 2003 and it is awesome, looks almost like new. I guess I was lucky.Bill

1. 
   CloudHidden | Feb 28, 2007 07:15pm | #8

   I mentioned that...information came from my supplier. I've never seen any delaminate and never seen any that scratches easily. I glued ours (4500 sf) and procrastinated before sanding and finishing. No scratches or wear and tear or stains.Don't know how this or anything else would stand up to dogs. But for normal residential wear and tear, it's done as well or better than anything else I've lived on. Use a reputable supplier. Like most other things, you get what you pay for.

1. 
   DesignBuild | Feb 28, 2007 10:41pm | #9

   I came across this article about bamboo that I felt was very enlightening, and it addresses the durability issue well.http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/09/bamboo_flooring.phphope you find it as helpful as I did

4. 
   Thaumaturge | Feb 28, 2007 07:03pm | #6

   Unlike other woods commonly used for floors, bamboo (actually a grass) is always a laminated (glued up) product.  Regardless of whether it's horizontally or vertically oriented, the product's quality will depend on the manufacturer due to the processing involved.  The raw material itself is fantastic for floors.

   There are a bunch of bamboo flooring sweat shops that supply to the no-name brands stocked by the big boxes and others like Lumber Liquidators.  I suspect that people having problems may have shopped for a low price and received the same in quality.

   IMHO, I would recommend people only source bamboo floors from vendors like Teragren that control more of the supply chain themselves and actually know where the material originated.

   http://www.teragren.com/why_teragren_flooring.aspx

5. 
   maverick | Feb 28, 2007 07:12pm | #7

   there was an article in JLC a couple of years ago about the wide disparity of hardness with bamboo. if you get get the harder stuff it performs like steel. if you get the softest version you're in for a nightmare