Replies

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 12, 1999 04:32am | #1

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   Larry, funny you should ask, I was just around one being put in yesterday. The wood does look nice. Personally, I didn't care for the chamfer on the ends and edges, but the owners loved it.

   All the pieces were 3' long by 3 1/4" wide by 9/16" thick. Three equally thick laminated layers, offset to make the t & g. The pneumatic gun (normally used for 3/4" flooring) had to have it's base removed and replaced with a piece of 3/4" birch plywood and a couple pieces of tar paper for shims. This probably wouldn't bother you, 'cause you'd have it hand nailed before I could modify the base!

   I don't know how much it cost, but it went in quickly and had a very slick finish (and this was satin).

   Now, ask me about wiring up bamboo shelving, BB

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 12, 1999 06:08am | #2

   *Back in '96 I put down 1200 feet of it in a house up in NH. It was a glue-down over radiant heat.Looked great then, I saw it about 10 months ago and it still looks terrific. The homeowner has two dogs, BTW.I'm stretching on this, as the homeowner bought it himself, but I thought it was about $5.50 per foot. Back then it wasn't easy to get. I recall the homeowner trying to shop prices but he was limited as there were only a few suppliers he could find in the Northeast that carried it. I'm not sure where the price stands today.It went down very well. No problems with the batches in terms of quality of the boards or the finish. I liked it so much I came close to putting it in the kitchen in my house, but opted for brazilian cherry instead.

1. 
   Guest_ | Jun 12, 1999 06:55am | #3

   *HI Larry,I don't think it has anything to offer as a flooring.It's not as attractive as real wood flooring, its not as warm as cork and seems more of a gimmick flooring based on weak environmental concerns.I rate it right up there with Pergo, lots of marketing in order to sell it to the consumer who was happy without it.Gabe

2. 
   ml_ | Jun 12, 1999 09:46pm | #4

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   Here in Los Angeles I've seen it for $4.50/sq.ft.
   The stuff looks great to me. They say you can glue it to a slab on or below grade, and I'm wondering if anyone has tried that. Seems like a great material to me. Bamboo is pretty amazing; nice to look at and about as hard as maple. They say it's quite dimensionally stable as well. I've seen in "smoked" (sort of a dark finish given by carbonizing it) and natural, prefinished in gloss or semi-gloss.

3. 
   Guest_ | Jun 12, 1999 11:36pm | #5

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   P.S. Larry,

   I don't think we need another Formaldehyde impregnated flooring product, do you?

   Gabe

4. 
   Elite_Flooring/ken_fisher | Jun 13, 1999 12:59am | #6

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   Bamboo?

   I installed about 220 sf of the "carbonized" darker look about two weeks ago. Gluedown to the slab with the use of the poly based Bostiks Best product. I can't recall who the manufacturer was.but it was 5/8"/3 ply...I CAN"T read ChineseLOL. Unfortunately the finish was too heavy on the end joints and the floor had to be screened and coated after the install. There is a bamboo unfinished option..finished on site.

   I'm a little skeptical on bamboo. After noticing the way it's engineered, it looks like they're using alot of cheap glue to laminate the 3 layers. I've seen alot of voids in the process. there are other bamboo manufacturers. A good source may be floorfacts.com....just click on the Hardwood Manu...there's a couple bamboo producers web sites.

5. 
   larry_haun | Jun 18, 1999 08:24am | #7

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   Has anyone laid any of the pre-finished bamboo flooring now on the market? I would like to know how you laid it, how you like it, how much you paid for it? thanks, larry haun

6. 
   Guest_ | Jun 18, 1999 08:24am | #8

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   shelving? oh please don't start that again!