Bamboo Flooring
#21
(09-17-2016, 10:23 PM)Woodenfish Wrote: Bamboo is snot wood.

Correct...it is a grass.  (assuming you meant 'not' instead of 'snot'
Laugh  ) 

Nobody has mentioned it here, but I see it being marketed as a "green alternative" to hardwood.  If you like the look or hardness, I have no 'problem' with bamboo, but it is somewhere between a lie and an insult to intelligence to call it "greener" than American-grown hardwood.  It is grown in monoculture plantations where they deforested areas to grow it...somehow conversion from forest to grass is "greener" than selectively cutting a few trees out of an area that will stay forested.
Reply
#22
Since it is a grass it also has a rep for swelling up considerably more due to moisture from what I heard the manufacturing process determines to what extent that happens
Phydeaux said "Loving your enemy and doing good for those that hurt you does not preclude killing them if they make that necessary."


Phil Thien

women have trouble understanding Trump's MAGA theme because they had so little involvement in making America great the first time around.

Reply
#23
I have done a several laminate floors. They are really hard on saw blades really hard!

Reply
#24
Lowes had a blow out on blades for cutting laminate from original price of $149 to less than $15
I was shocked when I saw the original price until I found out it was a diamond blade.  When I found out about the blow out they were sold out in CA.
Seems all that engineered stuff is hard on normal blades
Phydeaux said "Loving your enemy and doing good for those that hurt you does not preclude killing them if they make that necessary."


Phil Thien

women have trouble understanding Trump's MAGA theme because they had so little involvement in making America great the first time around.

Reply
#25
The sided woven you are looking at is like you said shredded then glued back together basically with an epoxy. It's tte better types but the flame torching does have some negative effects on it but no biggie. 


       Lots of different brands designs and qualities of bamboo. II have yet to hear any flooring installer or seller ever d anything but totally make sure you never nail it down. It splits horribly if you use flooring cleats and it splits most of the time when using staples. The tongue will split off when the staple drives in. The  commercial flooring guy gave me a couple different bamboo samples and said here try it out yourself. I took them and nailed them with a regular flooring nailer and bam split on the first hit and all the rest. 
  
       The only ones that didn't split much at all were the pieces that required using an 18 ga flooring stapler. Basically an 18 ga nailer with a shoe. So if I went with bamboo I would follow their advice and glue it down. 
  
         Ended up with a very thick laminate and it's holding up very well...
Reply
#26
I like the look and wear ability.  After having it down for about 7 years it is holding up quite well.

1. I don't believe its any harder on a blade then hardwood.  Certainly not as much as laminate.  Certainly not anything that would cause me not to use it again.

2. My installer recommended nails plus glue.  I think it was a good decision. Be sure to clean glue residue immediately.

3. Bamboo is not as hard as you think and dents easily.  Keep this in mind with heavy furniture.
Reply
#27
(09-21-2016, 09:37 AM)rwe2156 Wrote: 3. Bamboo is not as hard as you think and dents easily.  Keep this in mind with heavy furniture.

I think this depends upon the style/brand. Ours is the "Tiger Stripe" from Lumber Liquidators and it is WICKED hard, the dog can leave claw scratches on our oak, the bamboo does not show ANYTHING after 2yrs installed.
Reply
#28
The product I pointed at is hard as can be that is part of the reason I bought it but I still wouldn't buy it again
Phydeaux said "Loving your enemy and doing good for those that hurt you does not preclude killing them if they make that necessary."


Phil Thien

women have trouble understanding Trump's MAGA theme because they had so little involvement in making America great the first time around.

Reply
#29
What JosephP said.  It doesn't bother me what wood people use for their flooring.  What does bother me are companies promoting their products as green, environmentally responsible, sustainably harvested, whatever other feel good terms they can use.  In addition to the environmentally insensitive practices growing and harvesting the stuff in China, think about the pollution added just from shipping the stuff across the ocean and then across the country to where you buy it.  Compare that to a small sawmill operation in your neck of the woods who makes flooring from trees harvested in your area.  There is no comparison.

John
Reply
#30
if you want to go nuts consider the people driving electric cars thinking they don't cause any problems.  They never consider where the material to make the batteries comes from and what has and is being done to secure it
Phydeaux said "Loving your enemy and doing good for those that hurt you does not preclude killing them if they make that necessary."


Phil Thien

women have trouble understanding Trump's MAGA theme because they had so little involvement in making America great the first time around.

Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)

Product Recommendations

Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.