Bamboo Floors

dutchlegacy

Hey folks,

anybody worked with the stuff? I have a customer interested in having it put down in the mezzanine above his retail facility, and my wife and I are personally interested in using it in our house when we get around to building it.

any word on fading or durability?

MALCO.New.York

Bamboo is Historically one of the toughest and most durable woods available. If this is what they want, they are being "Green" trendy and deserve to PAY FOR IT! Without ever meeting them I know they can afford it !!!!
http://www.lumberliquidators.com/cat...22755cff2e898f

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dutchlegacy

you guessed it! I am surprised how cheap the stuff is, truly. Its beautiful! much cheaper than a high quality domestic species.

JumboJack

Bamboo is not wood,just so ya know..And it is far from durable..Compared to balsa wood maybe but thats about it.

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in texas with framing and cornish people will do it for 3.00 a foot. What do yall think about that? Just laber

MALCO.New.York

Let me rephrase.....Durable? I truly do not know. My mistake of wording. Bamboo is very strong. Can support huge loads. Very usable and adaptable.

__________________
Something to One may be Nothing to another!

Ultimate Wisdom---------
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JumboJack

I agree it is strong.But I have seen first hand high heels dinging the crap out of it.Soft and strong...just like me.

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in texas with framing and cornish people will do it for 3.00 a foot. What do yall think about that? Just laber

Floordude

There is a very big difference in old harvest bamboo(which you will not find these days) compared to the new growth harvested, we see used today.
It is twice as dimensionally unstable as red oak, and twice as soft.

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MALCO.New.York

Floor and Jumbo.....Thank you for the furtherance of my Education!

__________________
Something to One may be Nothing to another!

Ultimate Wisdom---------
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trav007

I did an install one year ago with Strand Woven Bamboo (carbonized finish) . Not a scratch on it, however, I did go through 3 carbide blades for 1200 square feet. I'm not sure if it was the density or the resin content that caused this. It can mill pretty good but take off small amounts and use sharp bits......uuuuuhhhhhh....what else.....Oh yah, this st is HEAVY so if you have to carry it far don't expect to be happy about it. And use cleats not staples, the severe density of the product will cause displacement of the area around the fastener and can show when light hits it.

Another thing....I have left apiece of this floor outside in my back yard for the whole year and it hasn't swollen, warped or faded and don't forget the difference in our seasons up here.

That's all I can think of right now,...... except that it looks AWESOME.

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www.customkreations.ca
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MALCO.New.York

Well there you go! Sell 'em and stick 'em. Get yer monies in a big way!

__________________
Something to One may be Nothing to another!

Ultimate Wisdom---------
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW-cnizLDEE

gideond

You have to have good solid bamboo if you want something worth installing. A lot of wood is like this now. They grow it as fast as they can and you end up with inferior products. If I were to put in bamboo I'd go with a strand variety as well. That way you get a product injected with resins and compressed under high temperatures so it's going to be a harder more durable product no matter what grade of bamboo originally goes into it.

Floordude

Strand Woven: Bamboo OSB, milled into flooring.

You should see that stuff blow up, just like OSB. The glues and resins are very toxic. I'm surprised they let it into the USA. According to the EPA, they would never be able to make it here, as it is constructed now.

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Chris G

I have seen cheap bamboo shrink all over the place. Gaps everywhere. It also appears to scratch easily. And don't even think about ever changing the arrangement of your furniture. I have seen ridiculous amounts of fading in a only a few months.

It may be different with expensive, quality bamboo.

lawndart

It's cheap stuff in most cases, and will easily scratch/dent over most other hardwoods. However it is one of the most stable. It is unique in that you can re-finish it like a typical hardwood floor, but it is actually an engineered product that can be nailed/glued and used on above or below grade.

That said, I wouldn't use it in my own house.

Mike Costello

I will be finishing up a 700 ft install of some chinese stuff called green bamboo on monday. Its carmelized so it has a little more character than the other stuff.
But I take super extra caution not to scratch it during install. A buddy of mine stopped by the job friday to see all my tools wrapped in rags and duct tape and now really thinks Im an anal dude

But one thing I noticed is the way it is packaged. Its stacked one layer one way- one another , with a piece of foam in between. Then shrunk wrapped then boxed then shrunk wrapped again. It takes five minutes to empty a damn box. Think they may be worried about scratching?

MALCO.New.York

Certainly sounds like it!!!!!

__________________
Something to One may be Nothing to another!

Ultimate Wisdom---------
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW-cnizLDEE

OneCall

Has anyone used UNFINISHED bamboo? We have installed several houses of bamboo, but it has always been prefinished easy to clean up glue after etc.

Any thoughts?

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One Call Property Services
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kellyfloors

Sounds like your learning alot Malco, Do you work for lumber Liquidators?

Milhaus

Anyone put any in a bathroom? I've got a customer asking for it?

mark

valianosfloorin

raw bamboo is fine ... but still be carefull on the install and do not use an agressive grit to sand it like 36. better to cut it with 60 an extra cut then dig the grain out. Take a few pieces and orbital sand them seperatley and test stain. screen well so your ends are even in color with your field. Good luck
A powder room is ok but not next to a shower...i dont care what anyone says....no customer will be careful enough. If its a big enough washrom ...maybe a stone or ceramic step out next to the shower and then the bamboo