defender 19th November 2009, 11:53 PM thinking of laying a floating bamboo floor, can some one please give me a run down on it . is it as tough as they say it is ? is there any deaw backs ? waist of money ? or should I look at something else
defender
artme 20th November 2009, 01:49 AM I nhad thought about it defender but it didnot suit the furniture.
I have see a couple of floors and it really looks the goods. Should be tough enough., but I guess only time will tell.
yasinthomas001 20th November 2009, 05:41 AM bamboo floor is really the tough thing to do...it looks very beautiful but it need lots maintainence
Greg Hall 20th November 2009, 07:10 AM Hi Defender,
Just a word of caution when laying bamboo flooring. I had a bad experience with one in a commercial environment, and leart some salient lessons.
There is an Australian Standard for the laying of Australian timber flooring, but this standard does not include the laminated bamboo products imported from China. We had an issue with the floor cupping about six months after it was layed, and I had a real hassle proving that it was layed incorrectly. (direct stuck to slab, as oppsed to being fixed to battens on top of a moisture proof membrane).
Make sure your contractor provides you with his proposed method of instillation, and that the warrany on the floor covers the instillation.
Having siad that, once we pulled it all up (100 sqaue metres) and re-layed it, the floor performed very well. It is resistent to the bane of timer floors, ladies high heels, and the pre-finished boards hold their gloss well.
Cheers,
Greg.
spongebrain 22nd November 2009, 02:40 PM I'm not sure what you get your neck of the woods, but for what it's worth, I explain my experience with bamboo.
The company I got it from is ecotimber.
The reason I chose bamboo over hard wood was mostly because of the price difference. It was about half of what they were charging for their cheapest hardwood flooring, I got a coupon off their website, and the store I got it in had it on sale to boot.
It comes in either natural, or amber. The amber color is due to a heat treatment which darkens the fibers. This process also makes it softer by about 20 percent.
I did the job my mother and she waned the amber color. It was tung and groove, but not floatable. It looks nice. It does dent easily though. Even the dogs claws have already made plenty of grooved scratches. Somehow, the scratches don't show unless you see the glare just right, and still looks great.
One thing that you should note, is that the dust from cutting the stuff is very bad to breath. I'm not sure if it's the finnish, or the bamboo itself. After installing the floor, it took about a month for me to recover. Sharp hard boogers which I couldn't get out were lodged in my nasal cavities. And the smell of the dust haunts me to this day. So make sure to wear dust protection.
The instructions from the company were to leave a 3/8 inch gap around everything. Rented a manual floor nailer. It wasn't that hard to do. Just make sure you get the first row as strait as possible.
shanetorque 24th November 2009, 02:03 PM None of the answers above seam to relate to the question - Floating floors.
[QUOTE](direct stuck to slab, as oppsed to being fixed to battens on top of a moisture proof membrane)/QUOTE]
I wouldn't expect any bamboo to be installed onto batons. Direct stuck yes, moisture barrier yes, but batons no. I have not seen any that is considered 'Structural' therefore it must be in contact 100% with the subfloor i.e floating or glued onto underlay / plywood / concrete etc.
As for the question at hand - Hardness - very hard but it is also a draw back as it becomes brittle but as you wish to float it, not a problem.
Prefinished coatings are generally harder than moisture cured coatings used in traditional in house Sand and Coat procedures so therefore is more scratch resistant.
You get what you pay for. I've seen good, well installed jobs go bad because of poor quality manufacture.
As far as looking at something else it's personal preference as the the appearance of how you want your floor to look. If you maintain any floor well it will last a lifetime. If you don't it won't matter what you've got it will be destroyed in a matter of months and you'll be looking for someone to blame.
Simply Bamboo 30th August 2010, 10:15 PM thinking of laying a floating bamboo floor, can some one please give me a run down on it . is it as tough as they say it is ? is there any deaw backs ? waist of money ? or should I look at something else
The only bamboo that is any good is the compressed/strand bamboo, this is the hardest.
Regarding the floating bamboo :- is the cheaper option, because no glue is required just sit on a underlay. Sounds hollow when waked on and can creak due to the sub flooring being unlevel.
Direct Stick Bamboo Flooring is more expensive but is the better option because doesn`t make a noise when you walk on it, but the concrete must have a moisture barrier applied before the flooring goes down. In the floating option the underlay as the moisture protection incorperated.
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