Three things definitely to stay away from in the flooring world (there are others but..........). Lumber Liquidators, Cheap Bamboo and anything Bellawood...................

As millworkman states. I HATE engineered bamboo. I mean the stuff that sits on FIBRE BOARD that clicks together. There can be sooooo many issues with this type of product that I don't have time to tell you everything there is know about this.

Suffice it to say, bamboo NEEDS interior STABILITY. That means the HUMIDITY must be kept CONSTANT! I mean within a 10% range (40%-50% is a "10%" range). First things first: check your HVAC system. Do you ALREADY HAVE the humidity control? That means you touch a button and adjust the humidity up or down and then press "Set" on the touch-pad controller mounted on your wall.

If you DO NOT have this feature, you will need to do one of two things:

#1. Find something else (no bamboo, no hardwood, etc)

#2. Purchase and install the additional hardware needed to be able to control the internal environment ($6K should do it).

Your location and and local external environment (West Coast, East Coast, Deep South, High desert, etc) will determine the TYPE of extra hardware needed.

Once you decide to do all that is necessary to add bamboo, you will then look for SOMEWHERE ELSE to purchase your products. Lumber Liquidators is NOT the place to shop if you want quality - of any sort. It is where you go when WANT new flooring every 5-7 years ('cause it only lasts that long).

Bamboo *SHOULD cost $9/sf for "mid-grade" product. The "good stuff" starts at $12/sf. And you would purchase such products from places like Calibamboo or a high-end hardwood flooring shop run by a Ma&Pa operation that has been in business for at least 25 years. They will have seen the bamboo trend "come and go and then die". They would have seen many failures and many successes. They will ONLY carry the 'successes'.

That's how you find bamboo. But please check your HVAC system to find out what needs to be added for bamboo and hardwood.

Good luck. Keep us posted.

Don't use engineered bamboo, it's a pain to deal with.

Thank you for all the information. I live in Florida, so I am grateful for the information and especially about the humidity factor. Never thought about that, so I will check on that before I decide what to do. I did look for a reputable small company that did flooring, as I had a company that I used in New Jersey and they were fantastic. He was a real artist when it came to wood. However, I have not been able to find anyone like that here in Orlando. Just these big name companies. I may decide to go with ceramic tile that looks like wood, maybe that would be a better choice in the end. I do thank all of you for your help.

Hi Barbara, what did you end up going with? I'm also in Orlando and we're considering getting bamboo flooring as well, but not sure about the humidity problems that could arise.