Bamboo Flooring

[Superman]

Thanks for the input, guys. Bite me, Tobra.

I'll look into cork. Good to know that Bamboo is a bit soft. The propaganda is all over the place on the hardness issue.

Yes, I know that whatever floor I install will be at risk. Aside from looking plastic, "laminate" floors are made from particle board. If moistened, this will turn to mush. I would like for this floor to have a fighting chance of surviving a limited water incident.

I'm getting the sense that the 'engineered' products would be the way to go and I'm leaning toward the snap-together install feature. I really don't want to glue it down for multiple reasons. Removing a floor, which will happen unless the house does not outlive the floor, will involve cursing if the installer used really good glue. And....it holds the flooring against the concrete. The moisture test patch idea is a good one. I'll do that. Then again, I will probably seal the poop out of the concrete before I start.

Jack, I'm going to send you a PM because I really want to hear more about your opinion that gluing tongue-and-groove together for a floating floor is easiest, and what procedure you would use for that. It might be helpful if your answer is posted here, for others to consider.

[Steve W]

The standard rule is engineered can be glued down to concrete slabs, but solid cannot. To install solid over concrete, plywood must be nailed down to the concrete first, with the wood nailed to the plywood. Although the hardness of bamboo flooring used to be rated on the Janka scale of somewhere around the equivalent of red oak, however in the past few years, due to the increase and production of bamboo products, more of the younger bamboo has been used for the manufacture of bamboo flooring, resulting in that much of flooring is much softer than it was originally rated and considered. Carbonizing bamboo (darkening its natural color) further softens the material. The installer, who installed Brazilian teak in my home, commented that he does not like bamboo because it is soft, and primarily because it easily absorbs water and distorts much more readily than other species.

[JavaBrewer]

Good to know Steve. I was leaning towards Bamboo in the kids rooms cause it's 1) hard material (now in question) and 2) inexpensive. I'm going to have to research a bit more.

I've done a bunch of engineered wood in our current and past homes. I really like the stuff and it's more common in Cali as we don't have basements so most of our living space is on concrete slab. Beware though that quality runs from piss poor to excellent and thus you get what you pay for. Funny I say that yet started this post looking for cheap...

[island911]

Originally Posted by Superman

I really don't care for the plastic laminate crap. And it sounds like bamboo has good moisture/humidity resistance compared to hardwoods...

IMO, bamboo is crap. (relatively speaking). It's too damn soft.

As to wanting a Natural Floor... Rip out the concrete, and leave the dirt. --looks natural, feels natural. Flooring really doesn't get much more natural than that. --you are welcome!

[dhoward]

Originally Posted by island911

IMO, bamboo is crap. (relatively speaking). It's too damn soft.

As to wanting a Natural Floor... Rip out the concrete, and leave the dirt. --looks natural, feels natural. Flooring really doesn't get much more natural than that. --you are welcome!

Yeah, but it's hell on vacuum cleaners...

[JeremyD]

dmoolenaar I have it in the girls rooms - and it's very nice. When we went through this process we learned that all bamboo is not created equal. Be careful on what you choose and you will be fine. Most of the bamboo hawked by the big blocks is crap -

[RickM]

I guess, like anything else, all bamboo flooring is not created equally. There are thousands of types of bamboo and I'm sure some are better suited than others.

Here's a link to one that claims to sell very hard flooring: http://www.bamboofloorings.com/bambooflooring/faq/index.htm



How hard is your bamboo flooring?
When tested according to the standards of the National Wood Flooring Association Test (Janka Ball Hardness Test), it shows an average hardness of 1320 PSI comparing with the northern red oak. The carbonization process reduces the result to 1010 PSI, the strength of walnut.

[74-911]

Originally Posted by Superman

Jack, I'm going to send you a PM because I really want to hear more about your opinion that gluing tongue-and-groove together for a floating floor is easiest, and what procedure you would use for that. It might be helpful if your answer is posted here, for others to consider.

Jim:

PM'd you per the above...

If you are laying just a rectangular type room there really isn't much difference between interlock and glued and I'm not really sure I can justify to anyone else why I like the glued tongue and groove better but here goes:

I have laid 4 rooms this year (all floating glued tongue and groove) and all had multiple doorways, closets, etc. To me it is much easier to make really nice transitions through doorways with the tongue and groove. With clicklock, you will have to cut out areas of the clicklock and glue it together anyway in doorways else you will have some noticeable gaps.

With clicklock (the kind I installed anyway), you snap it in on the long side then use a block to pound in the tongue/grove on the short side until the ends meet. Sometimes the clicklock side just will not slide (lots of friction) and you will mess up the end of the piece trying to pound the gap closed. The longer the plank, the more likely this will happen. You essentially do the same with the tongue and groove but the glue actually acts like a lubricant and the planks slide together very easily. And last but not least, I can just lay glued faster than I can the clicklock and with less irritation.

Because the planks sit on a pad and "float", there is really no problem with the glued pieces separating. As you tap or push each plank of each course in place, you are also keeping all the other courses in place. I don't use anything to hold the planks together. The glue is fairly thick (is relatively inexpensive) and gives you a little time to work the planks into place and adjust them if they do move yet sets up relatively quickly to prevent any further movement.

Not sure this helps but that's .02 worth....

[john walker's workshop]

Originally Posted by Tobra

I guess Superman can't make a post that is not in some way condescending, even when he is asking about something he admittedly has limited knowledge regarding.

sounded "tongue in cheek" to me. you guys sure get worked easy.