I'm not convinced that engineered bamboo works as well as promised. The HDF is normally very dynamic (it likes to stretch out in summer and shrink up in winter). The bamboo on top is quite rigid. It doesn't like to move as much as the HDF it is sitting on.

Bamboo is a tough material to keep happy. It needs EXCELLENT humidity control in the home. I mean "finger tip control using a built-in Humidistat" on your VERY expensive HVAC system.

The HIGH end engineered bamboo products would be the only one's I would look at. Anything from a big box store (like Home Depot) or L. Liquidators will be some of the worst of the worst.

Check your HVAC system. Do you have finger-tip-control for humidity? If not, you might want to look at another product. Bamboo, any variation of it, is going to be problematic.

Interesting, I had not heard that about bamboo. We are buying an older home and it's in California humidity is not normally a problem but it's more humid in winter when it rains. The city we are moving to is coastal and very temperate no one has air conditioning and the HVAC is only run for heat at night a few months of the year.

Bamboo is extremely popular here and I see it in many of the homes we looked at (before buying this fixed upper with original 60s vinyl tile). All of it looked great and I did not see any issues, and these were not "flip" houses with recent flooring. But I don't know whether theirs is engineered or "straight" bamboo.

"Humidity" means both HIGH and LOW. Either way, bamboo has a HATE ON for anything outside of it's comfort one. Low humidity is anything less than 35%. Anything higher than 65% humidity is definitely too high. Those numbers are for "indoor living conditions".

Bamboo has a different range: 45% - 55% humidity. "California humidity is not normally a problem..." is in fact not true. LOW humidity is JUST as damaging as HIGH humidity.

Good luck. I've seen your other post...there are several things that need to be done in your situation to get bamboo to live happily ever after.

I'd welcome your suggestions for flooring, other than installing an extravagant HVAC system when we have open windows most of the year. (Btw Humidity rarely falls outside that comfort range here it is coastal not a desert. I have a hygrometer).

I'm attracted to bamboo for the durability, eco friendly factor, and appearance.

Of course given your username I can guess you might have certain suggestions

Bamboo doesn't behave as the myths would have it behave. It's more glue than grass. In the presence of humidity, it will cup, and keep on cupping. I know of a 45K claim at a local prep school. Denied. No humidifier for the dry winter, and the summer temperature was kept too warm for good moisture removal by the HVAC.

Most of the Cheepchinesecrapola stuff isn't as hard as oak either. It dents, and scratches. Even the $15 a square stuff has issues. It was the stuff that had the claim, and was ''the best'' available. It's too hard to nail, and too fussy about glue cupping it. Floating, you might as well do laminate.

We are looking at laminate as well. Samples have been ordered. I imagine all bamboo is "Chinese" because, well, that's where it grows!

Locally sourced solid hardwood = most eco-friendly stuff on the planet. Local = very small carbon foot-print (shipping/transport/manufacturing). Solid hardwood = no GLUE (the glue can be very nasty) and you can choose a finish that is VOC free (like Rubio Monocoat).

Right...solid hardwood = some of the most durable floors in the world.

Cork is a lovely product but if you are talking about HARD surfaces being durable, then you probably don't have the mindset to live with cork. Cork is very durable - so long as you accept the premise that scratches and dimples are allowed and fully accepted. If you are not that type of personality, then cork isn't in the realm of possibility for you - pretty as it is.

The good news about cork...it has some of the WIDEST range of "happy" in the flooring industry. It likes 35% - 65% without much issue. Bamboo MUST sit between 45% - 55% and there are very few places in the world that produce that range naturally.

Do you have some sources for this information about bamboo? Nothing I have read online or heard from suppliers (none of which are pushing bamboo) agrees with this information. All say that strand woven bamboo installed floating is very resilient to humidity compared to other wood type flooring materials.

Solid strand woven bamboo is the gold standard. And it still has issues with humidity (or lack there of). The decade of ruined floors/complaints/heart aches tell us this is so.

And Engineered Bamboo laid over HDF is NOT strand woven nor is it solid. I have many friends in the Bamboo business. Their businesses are all dying fast and furious because of the cheap competition that are RUINING the HIGH END bamboo reputation.

And again, a fair chunk of the material = glue. The glue will be different INSIDE the bamboo (the stuff that holds the grass strands together) then the glue that holds the bamboo to the HDF. And the glue in the HDF will be different from the stuff that holds the bamboo down.

Each layer is a weakness (the weakest link in a chain is the weld point). If you feel that engineered bamboo over HDF is the way to go, then please enjoy. You can do yourself a favour by keeping the humidity STEADY between 45% - 55%. You might be able to "push" 60%...but I wouldn't bet on it.

Go ahead and google "ruined bamboo floors". Once you've seen the millions of postings, go ahead and narrow down to engineered bamboo over HDF. That should bring you to a more reasonable couple hundred thousand posts.

I wish you well in your search for floating bamboo to go down over old concrete slab (which currently has loose vinyl tiles that may or may not contain asbestos).

We redid all of the flooring at my old showroom in a "quilt" type pattern in order to display multiple options. Slab foundation, conditioned warehouse type environment, but not pinpoint humidity control. We chose an $16 a square engineered bamboo for a glue down application, as engineered wood was the choice of rest of the 29 selections in the wood section.

It had only been down a month when it began to buckle. We had left expansion gaps and used a metal edging strip between the flooring types to separate them. It shouldn't have expanded as much as it did. But it did. We removed the metal transition edging and cut about 1/8" off of it all the way around. Then reinstalled the transition strips with almost 1/2" of space between the bamboo edge and metal edge.

Come fall, it laid down, but was still cupped. Then it shrank. While still cupped. Unbelievable, right? And it had big enough gaps that it was a tripping hazard. We put up a Caution sign and moved some displays around to keep people off if it. It eventually laid flat with only minor gapping. Spring rolled around again, and it started cupping again. And we ripped all but a small bit of it out. We used that small cupped bit to sell against bamboo. The account managers still there probably still do the same thing.

Bamboo simply is not stable. I'd much rather someone consider a domestic maple or ash if they are looking for a light wood floor. Or even a lightly whitewashed rift and quartered white oak. That is a beautiful choice that straddles both contemporary and traditional. It is also much easier to live with.

There are two types of Bamboo. The original is made from Bamboo cut into uniform strips and laminated together, made in two patterns, Horizontal and Vertical. You can see the construction by looking at the end of a board. Strand Bamboo was likely developed to deal with the waste from this operation and is formed from Bamboo pieces and a binder subjected to heat and pressure. Strand Bamboo in a solid configuration can be problematic so many are now using it as a surface veneer with either an HDF core or plywood backing. Anyone burned by solid Strand Bamboo is unlikely to use it again, yet many companies still make it. Strand Bamboo tests much high on a Janka hardness test and is definitely more resistant to indentation. The biggest issue I've seen with click solid Strand Bamboo is shrinkage and decoupling, usually resulting from improper acclimation or extremely dry weather. It's worse in larger areas. If you can find an engineered product you like within your budget, it's probably the better choice.

Thanks - lots to digest. How about "regular" engineered wood installed floating (yes we have to go over old vinyl tile) vs laminate? Obviously engineered is considered better quality for resale as it's refinishable and "real" wood on the surface, but given the problems described above (and rather conflicting information unfortunately) isn't that a potential issue with any engineered wood? We had Shaw engineered wood in a condo prior to our current home and it was beautiful but it scratched and dented so easily, we were not pleased.

Would a decent quality laminate be more resistant to these issues (since we will not be installing A/C in this home)?

We're going to the flooring showroom this weekend and want to be informed before the salespeople give their spiels.

I'm probably not the best person to weigh in on laminate vs. wood. We have always been a wood company but have sold vinyl in the past that was a decent fake. My preference would generally lean strongly toward wood. Part of my dislike for laminate is due to the noise of a floating floor but since you're going to float either that would level the playing field. I suppose it would then come down picking products I liked and comparing price and quality, with an eye toward how long I might intend to stay in the house. I can think of only one laminate floor I thought was attractive so it's quite likely I would pick wood.