Bamboo Flooring

[Wood'N'Scout]

We are looking at redoing most of the floors on the main level of our house.  Currently the floors are a combination of tile or carpet.  The main floor has a subfloor of 3/4 T&G plywood over 2X10 joists.  There is a full basement under the house. 

I really like the look of the ultra strand solid bamboo flooring.  The bamboo is shredded then glue back together, caramelized to provide color, and then finished.  My wife wants the wider plank style (5 inch).  I would nail the flooring down since it comes at 9/16" thickness. 

I've been told that installers hate bamboo since it's so hard that sawblades don't last long.  It is also supposed to be very sharp and splintery after being cut.

Has anyone installed/had installed this type of flooring and can comment?

[AgGEM]

I have it in my bedroom and adjacent loft. Using the band saw to rip or crosscut, I recall no issues. Perhaps installers that handle it daily might think otherwise.
After several years under low traffic / socks or slippers only, it still looks like new.
Ag

[vernonator]

Had our bedroom done in the (i believe) similar flooring you are describing. Its a square room - fairly large (20x20) and it took the two of them ALL DAY to do the install, and when they left they "conveniently" did not dust mop the floor as it was full of splits and cracks. Made them come back a couple days later and redo 1/3 of it. They HATED the material - very hard, nails would not set, tongue splintered, etc, etc, etc. Could hear them in there cussing up a storm all day. 

I would NOT attempt this one on my own, and yes I have installed regular hardwood in my younger days. But just seeing the issues they had (they were a crew from the retailer) I would leave it to the pro's AND make sure they have done bamboo before - these guys had NOT.

[kencombs]

I did about 550sqft a few months ago over 3/4" T&G plywood. Install was easy. I crosscut the bamboo with a Dewalt miter saw and ripped with my little Makita 4200. No issues with either. I stapled it down with a HF flooring stapler and HF staples. the tongues do split if the stapler isn't properly positioned, exactly. But, I don't think it's much different than hard dry oak in that respect.

We've been using the room now for about 5-6 months. It's a bedroom, so light traffic but so far we have been very happy with the result.

[tomsteve]

i havent worked it, but heres a good read

http://www.wood-database.com/bamboo/


lookin at the janka scale, appparently theres some brands...errr...species that are harder than others, and from what i read, even the lowest janka rating bamboo is harder than red oak.

my opinion? i think ya should go for it! whether its difficult to work with or not, its a beautiful flooring and youll be happy ya used it.
no disrespect to maple and oak flooring, but theres a crapload of that.
BE DIFFERENT!
oh
and post pictures!

[museumguy]

I have not installed it. However, I have seen it installed, both correctly and incorrectly. When done correctly, it looks amazing. When done incorrectly, it has to be redone, I've seen guys redo a room that was approximately 60' long by 30' wide. Take your time, be careful and concentrate, you'll do fine.

[Bob10]

I just did about 600 feet of it, while it looks good I would never buy it again as it has splinters like metal and are a pita to dig out.  
In my case I need long transitions well at least longer than are sold pre made so I am making my own and having a hell of a time matching the color. red oak was too red so I found white oak and tried several stains and a couple of combinations still off a bit but close enough at this point

---

This is the product I used

http://www.lumberliquidators.com/ll/c/Na...5/10023750

[KC]

I've done two bedrooms with bamboo... one solid glue-down, one floating engineered, both pre-finished. They look fine, but I'd think long and hard about using bamboo in the 'public' area of the house if you ever think you might sell it.   Bamboo is a 'love or hate' thing... and the haters are plenty.

[Bill Wilson]

A couple years ago, my daughter & SIL got a good deal at Lowe's on a batch of bamboo flooring that was part of someone's cancelled order.  I put it down in their dining room and kitchen.  As I understand it, there are several different types of bamboo flooring.  From my SIL's description, his was the same type that you described.  It is very hard but I didn't notice any excess splintering on the stuff they had.  I was able to do the whole area with one blade on my 12" CMS, but it was dull as a rock when I was done.  
  I've done several laminate floors and they do the same thing to a blade.   We had a flooring nailer and there were a couple spots where I had to use my 15ga finish nailer.  Both worked fine.

[Woodenfish]

Bamboo is snot wood.