Curious if anyone has any experience with these in their home. I am buying a home that is currently being renovated down to the studs and trying to educate myself as much as possible. I read reviews talking about their issues with moisture but when I read about hardwood floors in general that is a potential issue with them all.
Engineered Bamboo Floors
- Thread starter natron20
- Start date
I've seen them and pretty sure I have two family member using them.... They can be of different color and mimic other woods ( or be hard to tell that it's bamboo). I personally haven't used them but they are aplenty... My guess is (the case in many building products) you get what you pay for...
One had professional installation and the other was DIY.... One thing I really like about them is the finish.... The engineered product can withstand sctratches very well (like pooch or your wife's fingernails)......... What's she doing down there BTW?
One had professional installation and the other was DIY.... One thing I really like about them is the finish.... The engineered product can withstand sctratches very well (like pooch or your wife's fingernails)......... What's she doing down there BTW?
We built recently and installed bamboo pretty much throughout our first floor. We've been in for about 1.5 years now and I think they have held up pretty well...We have a 4 year old and a 60 lb bulldog who have yet to put any scratches on them. Supposedly they are harder than regular hardwood floors.
Been researching the stuff for 2 weeks now , I'm doing a new construction and its time to pick out the floors . Got 2 real expert opinions . The opinions vary some but the gist of bamboo floors is this : It is an extremely hard surface , the primary makers of bamboo carried by Lowes and others is Cali brand , they encourage the employees to bring their dogs to work to prove bamboo wont scratch . That seems to be their big marketing thing .. a floor dogs wont scratch up . Bamboo has a hardness rating of 4000-5600 or so .. Oak has a rating of 1800 or so . But we had a bamboo sample setting around that my lab pup got a hold of , he dented it all over . Here is the biggie for me , both the expert floor guys I spoke to said attempting to nail it is flat out dangerous and horrible to work with , it bends EVERYTHING , one guy said after two nails in the gun ended up in his beard he quit trying , the other guy said he took a job to install it , hes a real pro , does floors and floors only for a living , he said it took double the amount of time because it kept tearing up nail gun . So you can do a floating floor , un nailed I guess . But its hard to lay in general . One of the guys says he loves his after it was down . Has a rather unique look to it , a " love it or hate it " look .
Heard the same thing about a lot of the “exotic” woods from our installer. He said he didn’t like working with them for that reason. Expect to pay more for the install.
Installed my own bamboo floor in April. Bought a 18 gauge floor nailer for bamboo. Went off without a hitch and floor looks great.
Appreciate the info. The information I had been reading online gave me the impression that if I didn't monitor my humidity in the house on a daily basis the things would start to warp pretty fast. Seems to me if I keep the inside of my house at a comfortable temperature, and I don't have a problem with water getting into the basement or leaks then it should be fine.
I will ask another question here, just to get some other perspectives. This home has the original hardwood floors, narrow plank oak. The floors are in a position where they could be refinished in almost the entire house with the exception of the kitchen. When you walk in the front door its possible to see through the entire house. I'm afraid it will drive me absolutely nuts if I can see one kind of floor for 2/3rds of the house then a different floor for the back 1/3rd. I've tried to look for images of floor transitions, but nothing I see looks very good. So, what would you do? Refinish the original hardwood or replace with the bamboo from front to back?
I will ask another question here, just to get some other perspectives. This home has the original hardwood floors, narrow plank oak. The floors are in a position where they could be refinished in almost the entire house with the exception of the kitchen. When you walk in the front door its possible to see through the entire house. I'm afraid it will drive me absolutely nuts if I can see one kind of floor for 2/3rds of the house then a different floor for the back 1/3rd. I've tried to look for images of floor transitions, but nothing I see looks very good. So, what would you do? Refinish the original hardwood or replace with the bamboo from front to back?
Refinish the hardwoods. What do you mean by narrow? How narrow? Are they face nailed 5/16” thick or 3/4” thick?
Most common surface width is 3 1/4 . The thickness of the floor is usually 3/4 . Usually the wider the more $$ . And engineered Bamboo will not warp unless its been really wet .
If you have a floor vent lift it up and you will see how thick your floor is.
Where you going to tear out the floors? I can’t imagine laying over the original hardwood.
Are you in Louisville?
I’d refinish.
Where you going to tear out the floors? I can’t imagine laying over the original hardwood.
Are you in Louisville?
I’d refinish.
Appreciate all the suggestions. The house is in Danville. I will try to get an idea of the thickness of the board next time I stop by. I was initially wanting to keep the floors then I changed my mind because of my OCD about the floor differences, but now I feel like I’m back to keeping them. I just gotta decide how to do this kitchen floor so it compliments the existing hardwood. 
-you won't have moisture problems with hard wood unless you don't have a/c in a house.
- refinish, can be done much cheaper, and look brand new
- put the same flooring in the kitchen that is throughout the house. You have to go to a specialty store,( like Lanhams flooring in Louisville) take a piece of your existing flooring. From your description it sounds like 3 1/4 inch oak or fur. They will match it with your existing flooring, and then it all gets sanded and stained together.
- refinish, can be done much cheaper, and look brand new
- put the same flooring in the kitchen that is throughout the house. You have to go to a specialty store,( like Lanhams flooring in Louisville) take a piece of your existing flooring. From your description it sounds like 3 1/4 inch oak or fur. They will match it with your existing flooring, and then it all gets sanded and stained together.
Last edited:
Wood floors in the kitchen is definitely attractive. Hopefully you never have your ice maker or dishwasher have a major leak. I like some sort of tile then you also don’t have to try to match the hardwood.
If you are worried about water damage to the kitchen floor, have them turn the wood a different direction at a reasonable transition point.
If you do have a leak and need a refinish job, then you have a stopping point that any good hardwood floor guy can finish too.
Icemaker leaks, sink overflows, and dishwasher leaks can all ruin a tile floor too. If tile is laid over wood subfloor, the water can get to the subfloor or between the durock.
If you do have a leak and need a refinish job, then you have a stopping point that any good hardwood floor guy can finish too.
Icemaker leaks, sink overflows, and dishwasher leaks can all ruin a tile floor too. If tile is laid over wood subfloor, the water can get to the subfloor or between the durock.
I used cork in my kitchen:
Renewable resource
Acoustic
Soft on feet as I like to cook
Anti microbial
Soft for drops...
Great for high traffic.
Renewable resource
Acoustic
Soft on feet as I like to cook
Anti microbial
Soft for drops...
Great for high traffic.
Had solid wood floors in my last home (on a crawl) and they started warping so I had to get a de-humidifier installed in the crawlspace to get the moisture out. They ended up straightening out and looked fine. However, they scratched too easily and I was always fearful when moving anything that they would scratch. We are getting ready to build a new home and am thinking of going with the engineered wood (not bamboo). From I have been told and read, they do not scratch as easy, hold up much better to moisture (we will have a basement so not too concerned about that) and can be sanded several more times that solid wood can.
If anyone has some experiences between the two would be interested in your thoughts.
If anyone has some experiences between the two would be interested in your thoughts.
No way that engineered can be sanded more than hardwood ..... Engineered is basically wood veneer glued over solid plywood. Its far far far thinner ( on the sandable surface) than hardwood . All this hard wood talk reminds of me Joe Biden's famous (intentional) gaffe while observing HIGH SCHOOL cheerleaders and I quote " The stuff they do on hard wood , it blows my mind"
Engineered hard wood looks great , gets great reviews , is indistinguishable from solid hard , but it cost about the same as solid hard wood . I think its a big profit product since its contains far less solid wood than the other . I think we are going to go all bamboo in the downstairs part of our home .. I think .. lol
The engineered floors look great but when they get wet the plywood substrate breaks down, swells up, and just goes to hell. I have twice installed vynil planking. 100% water proof. Comes in different finishes. I prefer the thickest I can get. (They come in different thicknesses.)
Those aren’t 100% waterproof either.
Water can always get around the edges and then to the subfloor. You spill something? Then yeah, they will be fine.
Overflow the sink for an hour? That subfloor is affected.
Water can always get around the edges and then to the subfloor. You spill something? Then yeah, they will be fine.
Overflow the sink for an hour? That subfloor is affected.