I am flooring 2 new condos and was going to use bamboo, having read that it was harder than oak and maple. At the flooring store today, the sales person told me that bamboo flooring is now made from new growth bamboo and is softer than pine. Does anyone have information about this change or have had experience with installing bamboo?
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There's definitely a difference between the old and new growth...this comes from the supplier of the two batches I bought first in 98 and then again this year. I can see the difference. But it's not softer than pine. Don't have numbers, but the pine comparison doesn't come close to applying to the samples I have.
From what the guy at the store said, there is so much variability in the hardness of batches of bamboo that they don't rate it anymore...the written material that I saw today specified hardnesses of many woods, but only said that bamboo's hardness varied.
This will not answer your question directly, but it's worth checking out. You may want to find out if the material you are installing is tested for hardness.
http://www.environmentalhomecenter.com/popups/JANKA.pdf
bamboo is a grass, not a wood, so I'm not sure that the new growth/old growth arguments apply.
Instead, the big variable, from what I have read only - never having used it, is that there are a coupel thousand varieties of bamboo, and a few dozen that get turned into flooring stock, so it stands to reason that some are harder than others
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>I'm not sure that the new growth/old growth arguments apply.Call it long vs short growth. The batch I got this year...same supplier, who was one of the first to distribute in the US...same guy I spoke with years ago...was not only softer, but also lighter in color. He explained that demand is such that the "old" growth stocks were used up and they're now harvesting from planted areas, and harvesting the plant at a younger age than before. They had no way to match the old color, which was somewhat darker, or hardness, be/c the plant was being harvested sooner in its life cycle.
lakeshore:
Here's what I know about bamboo: over 1000 species; matures for harvest in 3-5 years; it's a grass not wood; tensile strength greater than mild steel; fastest growing plant on earth. I think the difference with what you are talking about is not a question of old/new growth, but rather which species is being milled and turned into flooring. Most of the bamboo that first came into this country was from China (I think China and Vietnam are the two main countries controlling the market) which is known for its hardness. You had to figure that as the market demand increased there would be companies harvesting softer species of bamboo because the cost would be less. We always specify the harder variety when we use it on a project; our supplier wouldn't sell anything but the best anyway. The best way to insure that you get high quality material is to buy from a reputable supplier. It is definitely not softer than pine, no matter what the specie. And it is much more environmentally friendly than any wood flooring material on the market.
Here's some info that might help. They have a chart that shows various hardness and explains why the darker colors are softer than the natural color.
http://hardwoodinstaller.com/hardwoodinstaller/bamboofloors.htm
If you like the color, rember, it goes ALL the way trough, never needs staining
I'm still on the fence on wether to use it. Dear wife wants carpet, not wood floor with area rugs.
I agree that some brands are softer than others. I saw some at HD and not a bad product, quite dense. And in stock in some stores on the West Coast.
Item #438-151
Note that when I talk about color, I'm not talking about the carbonized stuff...in each case "natural" was specified and delivered, but natural looked different seven years apart. (My other gripe is that the milled size changed, too. THAT was fun to match up.)