Bamboo Flooring

[Tommy T.]

13 hours ago, scott h said:

ill climb into the attic and take a look at the spare box.

Hi Scott and others.... I found these photos that I took when looking at flooring at Wilcon and Trust. Maybe some might refresh your memory?

The first four are at Wilcon. The last three are at Trust.

Edited July 31, 2019 by Tommy T.

[scott h]

1 hour ago, Tommy T. said:

Is that floated o

if memory serves glued on top of a vinal float, we had the builders of the house do it

[Old55]

I like the color's. Our floors are a deep cherry stain.

 

[hk blues]

Just for information Tommy, the prices you have shown seem comparable to what I paid for my laminate flooring.  That said, it's hard to be sure because the plank length is much longer but I'm not sure how many lengths are in a box

[Tommy T.]

18 minutes ago, hk blues said:

Just for information Tommy, the prices you have shown seem comparable to what I paid for my laminate flooring.  That said, it's hard to be sure because the plank length is much longer but I'm not sure how many lengths are in a box

Thanks for that, HK... I am not sure which ones you are referring to? The prices come out to being for about 1.4 sq m per box, regardless of the length of the individual pieces.

However, I think I decided against the long ones just because they are the cheapest I found and I am leery about buying the cheapest... The shorter ones from Wilcon for about 4,500/box seemed sort of middle of the road-ish price-wise so I think those may be the ones.

Interestingly, none that I have looked at have any internet presence (except the high end laminated or solid pieces) and they also do not say VOC or formaldehyde free. I am a bit concerned about those, but am ignorant about all this. I was impressed by the ones Scott said he has had for 7 years. How are yours holding up and do you remember where you bought them or brand name?

Edited July 31, 2019 by Tommy T.

[stevewool]

Is laying these floors a DIY job , plus if laying onto concrete flooring is there anything that you would put down first like a membrane.

[hk blues]

1 hour ago, Tommy T. said:

Thanks for that, HK... I am not sure which ones you are referring to? The prices come out to being for about 1.4 sq m per box, regardless of the length of the individual pieces.

However, I think I decided against the long ones just because they are the cheapest I found and I am leery about buying the cheapest... The shorter ones from Wilcon for about 4,500/box seemed sort of middle of the road-ish price-wise so I think those may be the ones.

Interestingly, none that I have looked at have any internet presence (except the high end laminated or solid pieces) and they also do not say VOC or formaldehyde free. I am a bit concerned about those, but am ignorant about all this. I was impressed by the ones Scott said he has had for 7 years. How are yours holding up and do you remember where you bought them or brand name?

I was meaning the ones in the lower picture rather than the upper picture.  Yes, the laminate planks I bought seem to be about the same box size.  I'd say the price of the ones you showed are a little more expensive than the ones I have downstairs - maybe 30% higher.  Mines were laid about 3 years ago and are holding up well - the only thing I'd say is make sure the installer gets the end joints tight otherwise it doesn't look great when finished.  Honestly speaking, we had two 2 different planks installed upstairs and downstairs - the upstairs were about the same price as the ones you showed and the installer was excellent, including cutting the door jambs to slip the planks under for a neat finish.  Downstairs not so great but acceptable.  

In other words, you get what you pay for, and no matter what you pay the installation quality makes all the difference. 

[Tommy T.]

18 minutes ago, hk blues said:

the only thing I'd say is make sure the installer gets the end joints tight otherwise it doesn't look great when finished. 

Okay... Thanks for the feedback! I think I am on the right track. And that is excellent advice regarding installation. I will be certain to explain to the contractor and also to be there the day(s) the wood is installed. Between you and Scott, it sounds like there can be some good quality wood flooring installed. My contractor said they would install using the float method so no hardware and no glues...

Did you use the woven strand bamboo? That's what my prices are for. Laminated (similar to plywood) or engineered (like pressboard with laminated surface) were both cheaper. Of course, solid wood was really expensive and, from what I have read so far, not what I want anyway - not as strong as the woven strand bamboo...

[Mike J]

I looked into bamboo several years ago when doing a major makeover of our house in the USA.  I loved the look of bamboo and did a lot of research and looking at different brands.  I decided not to go with bamboo because I could dent it with my thumbnail on EVERY brand of solid & engineered bamboo flooring I found.  In your original post you mentioned "stranded bamboo".  This is much different stuff than engineered bamboo flooring.  The bamboo is put thru a machine that breaks up the fibers into small pieces and splinters.  That is then mixed with a resin and cooked to make a very hard, very durable flooring.  Unfortunately, in my opinion, it loses the beauty of bamboo.  You also mentioned that dyed bamboo is weaker.  That is true because the dark color comes from heating the bamboo until some of the starch begins to turn the beautiful caramel color.  Nice color, but even weaker than the natural stuff.  If you do not have dogs and go always go bare foot in the house an engineered floor would probably work out OK for you.  To install you need to start with a VERY flat floor.  You then put down a think waterproof cushion.  The strips are then SNAPPED into position, the actually will lock to one another side by side and end to end.  You off set the joints of course.  You can also use just a little bit of glue when locking them down but it is normally not required.  I do not know the recommendation for stranded because I ruled it out at the start.

Almost forgot.  Engineered flooring is sold to used "above ground" or "below ground" (think basement).  The below ground is designed with glue and materials to withstand limited amounts of moisture (wet mopping) or even standing water (spills leaks etc) for a very short time.  I would recommend the below ground due to the high humidity here.  Stranded is completely waterproof.

Best of luck - bamboo does make a beautiful floor, it just wan't a good fit for our life style at the time.

[hk blues]

3 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

Okay... Thanks for the feedback! I think I am on the right track. And that is excellent advice regarding installation. I will be certain to explain to the contractor and also to be there the day(s) the wood is installed. Between you and Scott, it sounds like there can be some good quality wood flooring installed. My contractor said they would install using the float method so no hardware and no glues...

Did you use the woven strand bamboo? That's what my prices are for. Laminated (similar to plywood) or engineered (like pressboard with laminated surface) were both cheaper. Of course, solid wood was really expensive and, from what I have read so far, not what I want anyway - not as strong as the woven strand bamboo...

We used laminate - upstairs and down but the downstairs was a poorer quality as the developer was paying for it so we couldn't control.  That said, both are standing up fine but we're not a huge family (3 of us) so OK.  I'd be cautious about installing in certain areas where there is a lot of moisture.  Yes, it was the floating type installation, in fact with laminate this is essential as it has to breathe and move otherwise the clip joints will crack/break - make sure they lay down the thin foam underlay first. 

(As an aside, the contractor provided the downstairs flooring for free as the original ceramic tiles began to separate from the floor!  That was a fun time as all the downstairs had to have the tiles removed, the floor smoothed out with a thin coat and then the furniture moved around accordingly for the job and new flooring installed!)