[Closed] Bamboo Flooring - thoughts?

My experience with laminate flooring and its ease of damage would suggest I'd avoid anything that wasn't a) carpet and cleanable or b)granite and invincible. No idea what bamboo is like but I suspect it falls into "easily damaged"?

Won't somebody think of the pandas?

we've got it, in a dark (smoked) version, looks really good when laid, but had some issues with quality contol on the width of a couple of panels which were a mm or so narrower, it has been down for about 7 years and still looks good, some scratches and dents but less than an oak floor elsewhere. Very hard due to it being a silica rich plant

I've got it through the kitchen / living / diner.
Very pleased with it so far. Thermally stable and hard wearing, cheaper and more sustainable than hardwood.
Recommended.

I try never to think about bamboo flooring, with remarkable success, till now 🙁

I try never to think about bamboo flooring, with remarkable success, till now

Had bamboo flooring in bathrooms for 5 years - handles moisture really well but not as hardwearing as oak.

Don't think you can get laminate bamboo, I think it's all solid.

as above, fitted in living room-looks great, cheaper than other woods. Tried in bathroom though but leaky toilet kanckered it badly so went with travertine instead.

bamboo is lovely!

we have kitted out a luxuary boat with leather flooring!

My parents have some in their hallway, looks good. Managed to nick it with the studs on my race shoes tho.

We have the coffee colour strand woven in our lounge. Have you seen the strand woven.....gives it a grain effect in the carbonised colour. Can't see the effect in the coffee though.

The top coat is basically lacquer so it will scratch. Solid wood ie oak can be re-sanded if scratched, this can't.

It was going to be the "next big thing" in flooring a few years ago, but hasn't taken off as wood flooring prices came down (but have rocketed back up again). How will you be planning to lay it onto your concrete sub-floor? Just by floating?

Never heard of that before but just googled some suppliers and it looks great and starting at £16.95 m2 it looks like a very attractive option.

got the carbonised strand and it looks like oak/red wood, very deep rich glossy colour. the varnish top coat does scuff/scratch though but IIRC it can be lightly sanded upto 6 times? or has it got 6 layers of varnish? but i can be sanded back and re varnished okay.

Can we just get something clear here? It does not look like oak. It's a grass, it gets shredded up to fibers (think lots of Ray Mears types), is compressed together (presumably) using a resin in to planky shapes, then machined into t/g planks. Various "shades" can be produced, but it's not a timber floor in the sense that we think of timber floors.

The stuff my parents have is not broken into fibres. It's made from thin strips of actual bamboo timber bonded together.

it's not a timber floor in the sense that we think of timber floors

And?

Interesting and largely positive comments.

Resistance to scratching and damage sounds good, I'd like to think it had the potential to refinish but in reality I doubt I would ever do this so the former is probably more important.

It has been suggested that it would be best to fit by floating on the existing concrete floor (perhaps after levelling with screed as I don't want the floor rocking and flexing).

I have ordered some samples now, from internet pics I agree the 'carbonised' version looks good not that I understand what on earth carbonising is!

keppoch

Put it into our through lounge/dining room about 3 years ago, then in the conservatory 6 months later and recently in our ensuite.

I really like it, very cost effective for what is a very nice finish. I also fitted matching skirting boards and had a fried rip skirting down to use for architraves. The limitation of the skirting I found was a maximum length of 1.8m so there are more joints than I would like.

It's coped well with up to 3 years of daily use, there are some scuffs and scratches but nothing significant, ours is a lighter finish so the scratches don't show up too much at all.

I laid it floating on a fancy dense rubber underlay/dpm and have had no problems with movement at all. It takes a few planks to get into the rhythm of fitting what with gluing the tongue and groove joints and pulling the joints close together until it dries but that would apply to anything laid the same way. I found gaffer tape worked well as the planks are too small to use floor straps.

I used this stuff and while it's a few quid more a sq mtr it was worth it for the ease with which it went together, and has stayed together.

http://www.simplybamboo.co.uk/product_details.php?category_id=54&item_id=150

It's not a full wood floor, but a laminate on an engineered base. The immediate entrance hall is showing signs of wear (dullness more than anything) where kids are traipsing shoes in - take them off in the porch you f***ers! - but the rest of the hall / lounge is standing up brilliantly

Natural strand woven.
Anyone mention the enviromental advantages of bamboo - i wouldn't want to cut down trees for my floor - was one of the contributing factors that made us choose bamboo!
I put some down in our extended dining room.
Everyone who sees it thinks it looks fantastic - & yes it has to go under the skirting boards etc.
Mr darcy.... IMO it does resemble some "cuts" of oak & especially the colour is very similar to what i would expect european oak to look like. To qualify this i should mention that i was until a few years ago a furniture maker specialising in one-off contemporary freestanding furniture & used lots of natural oak - always european.
In fact the sw bamboo looked more like oak than the oak flooring did!!
I was told that the strand woven is more stable than strip - can't comment.

I suppose that's a fair comment molgrips...it's just not really my cup of tea. Anyway, back to the OP...

If you're floating the floor and doing it yourself, it might be worth trying something like [url= http://www.realoakfloors.co.uk/envoy_multi_-_adhesive_underlay.php ]this[/url]. It's a very sticky underlay to which the floor sticks under the bottom. I've never used it myself, but have heard good reports. I tend to go the extra mile and use a wood-flooring specific adhesive but they're not cheap, and with due respect, gluing a floor to a concrete floor is not [i]always[/i] a job for the amateur...it can get very messy, and as I assume the bamboo flooring is already finished with a lacquer, it's not like you've got a full sanding to remove the glue that will get everywhere (not like I'd ever be messy 😯 ).

Gluing on the tongue and grooves is also an option, but you get no adherence through the bottom of the boards (which is what you [i]should[/i] have) and the floor can end up feeling a little too springy. Also, instead of using a polythene layer for a DPM, consider buying a roller-on liquid DPM (two part, pricier but one coat only and quick cure time; one-part, cheaper, two coats at least and probably longer cure time) - easier to do and an all round better solution.

Feel free to e-mail me off forum if you have any further questions.

darcyciaran [at] mac [dot] com

dusty - I'd say there probably aren't any environmental advantages, despite what you may think. Like any other crop, it'll be grown at the expense of everything else, probably deforesting areas to plant it etc. Chemicals used in processing not too nice either.

Chemicals used in processing not too nice either.

Which would be one of the reasons I'm not pushed on it. Tend to prefer oak from sustainable European plantations myself. Keep the money closer to home. Amazing though, how much European oak, gets shipped to China for it then to be turned into various engineered grades and then is shipped back to Europe again.

Mr darcy.... IMO it does resemble some "cuts" of oak & especially the colour is very similar to what i would expect european oak to look like.

Ok, I take all points...it's just that this stuff is my living, that's all. But it's your house, your floor, so what does it matter what I think anyway.