I'm interested in hearing too!
I'm planning on using stranded bamboo floors in most of my house.

We installed stranded bamboo flooring throughout our first floor living, kitchen and dining. I love the look of it but beware! Scratches very easily. Bought ours from ambient flooring

What do you do about scratching? I understand it can't be sanded and refinished?
I've also read some people have trouble with cupping and a crackling sound when you walk on it. Have you experienced that?

No problems with cupping or cracking. I have been using olive oil on the surface scratches. I don't know what to do about the really deep ones. I don't mind some wear and tear but I do mind having to be so careful. You have to put felt on the bottom if all furniture legs. We chose bamboo because it is renewable and green. We also knew it couldn't be sanded.

lbcross thanks for sharing. Do you know how many coats of protective layers your floor had (7, 10, etc.)?

Calibamboo says their floors can be sanded and refinished. Anyone out there with experience with this brand? Bamboo or other.

So what is "carbonized" stranded bamboo?

Cancork Floor Inc. thank you for your detailed reply! How does bamboo handle a higher humidity? We use central heating/AC but humidity does fluctuate w the seasons and is overall mid-high to high (Gulf coast environment). Sorry if this is a ridiculous question: Will any floor have some type of added chemical emissions, unless it's unfinished wood or raw concrete? What European brands (or a source to find them) are available here in the states? Greatly appreciate your input.

thiamom = carbonized means "baked or burnt"...it's how they get the bamboo to darken without adding a chemical. In essence they put it in the oven until it starts to "burn" and then they take it out. The darkened colour, just like a burnt pie crust, remains forever.

lindshammer - high humidity for bamboo is anything over 75%. That makes bamboo a "happy" camper in higher than normal humidity (most wood is 45%-65% window). Bamboo has a happy window of 45%-75% (depending on the make). Cork has a happy window of 35% - 65%.

Moisture in the subfloor is a major issue with bamboo. There can be no more than 3% difference of moisture levels between bamboo (5-6% moisture content) and the subfloor (plywood must be below 10% moisture content = bone dry). Slab concrete is a major issue with bamboo. Even a small amount of moisture/hydrostatic pressure in a slab will cause the bamboo to fail/have problems. Moisture mitigation can quadruple the amount of money to install (properly install) bamboo over concrete. The same reasons why hardwood is not suggested to go directly over slabs in humid areas, is the same reason why bamboo should not go down over the same slab. Almost all wood products have these issues.

Manufactured products (like bamboo, eucalyptus, engineered hardwood, laminate flooring, even some cork products) have more chemicals added - the more "natural" products such as hardwood, wool carpets, ceramic/porcelain/cement tiles have less.

A cork floating floor only requires a vapour barrier to be installed over a cement slab and then the floor is clicked together over that. Forna cork floors have been produced using 100% VOC free/Formaldehyde free adhesives/binders = very low emission floors. Why so low...because we use German manufacturing techniques, with German/EU standard binders and finishes = EU standard air quality control/emissions.

I have a contact in Canada who sells EU standard bamboo flooring = no formaldehyde binders. He will know who to contact in your area. Visit: www.superiorbuiltproducts.com he will help you find out where/who carries his manufacturer's bamboo in your state.

Thank you Cancork Floor for explaining, the carbonization affects the color, not the performance.
I AM dealing with a concrete slab floor...it has a plywood subfloor that my contractor is planning on putting a moisture barrier on, then the bamboo. This house is on the water, in the mid Atlantic region. Humidity? Yes, we have that.
The house I'm living in, for the last 20 years, not on the water, also is on a slab. I have had no problems with my hardwood or laminated hardwood floors there

IF he is putting down a moisture barrier then you are looking at a floating bamboo floor. Not very many reputable bamboo floors come in "floating". The highest grade/least chemical bamboo floors are glue/nail/staple in place. A vapour barrier can NOT be pierced by nails/staples and it can not be "glued down".

I suggest you find out the budget needed to properly install a lower end bamboo in a floating style vs. a higher end glue/nail/staple bamboo. Cheap(er) = floating floor with formaldehyde binders. Expensive = no formaldehyde with glue/nail/staple install.

Thank you

Cancork...With a plywood subfloor, what happens if water ever leaks in?

Cancork, thks for the posts. I don't know about prefin. bamboo/cork and my bro-in-law is leaning toward Lumb.Liq.'s avail. bamboo for his kitchen. I'll tell him what you wrote.

BTW, apparently "old growth" for bamboo (older than 7 yrs.) is diff. than for native No.Amer. woods (harvested from older, slow growing trees...usually in dense, virgin forests).

I would not recommend regular bamboo - carbonized or natural - vertical or horizontal. The strand woven products are much stronger - they come in strand woven bamboo and also strand woven eucalyptus style. The strand woven eucalyptus is quite new on the market and we get rave reviews about it. Please warn your brother to only purchase from someone who adheres to the E1 standards for low/no VOC's and formaldehyde. Also have him check out the reviews on strand woven products from LL...

My daughter had bamboo floors installed in a basement over concrete. They cupped terribly and the home is in Colorado, so lower humidity. The house is currently being sold but they've had to rip out those floors. I think they were warned to not install bamboo in a basement over concrete, but did it anyway, hoping it would work out because they really wanted bamboo.

What caused the "cupping", Ann? Moisture from the slab?

I so wish I had had this information before I had my bamboo floors installed 3 years ago. I love the overall look, but the surface dents and gouges are visible everywhere. From the first day I have had pads on every piece of furniture, no children, no pets, just everyday use. We are a "shoes-free" house but the floors show everything. My bamboo is in the kitchen, living room, dining room (big open area) and master bedroom.
If I had it to do all over again I would not choose bamboo, now that I know the facts. hind sight is 20-20!

bubbasgma - they do think it's moisture from the concrete because the same bamboo is on the stairs and it didn't cup there. But, it's not a damp basement at all. I haven't seen the damage because the empty house was for sale for 6 months and I haven't been over there but ripping out those floors was the first thing the buyers put in the contract. After reading this discussion, it sounds like bamboo is a nice "green" idea, but isn't working out as well as some had hoped.

So, is the stranded bamboo ok to use? On a slab with moisture barrier, glued down? If not, someone please tell me what to do so I don't make a huge, costly mistake

Ann...I have been told that my concrete slab will ALWAYS be moist because there was no moisture barrier installed under the slab when the home was built. I've also read that new concrete takes months to fully dry. There is something called a "moisture test" that is done to determine if too much moisture is present. Apparently the wicking of moisture from the sub-floor is why people used to use carpet(it breaths) or tile (the grout breaths).

I'm still struggling to decide which way to go. The flooring store has recommended the Karndean LooseLay LVP. It isn't cheap but it is waterproof and has a great lifetime warranty.
These forums are helpful:
http://www.thefloorpro.com/community/vinyl-flooring-q-and-a/

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/basements/

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/flooring/

Thanks everyone for giving meat to this discussion! Also glad to know I'm not the only one looking for help :) ellen916 can you share what brand, "type" of bamboo, etc. your floor is?

LL bamboo has tested very high with formaldehyde (which is why they have 2 class action lawsuits against them for off-gassing). People have experienced nose bleeds, dizziness, headache, etc after installing LL bamboo products. I wouldn't touch LL manufactured products for love nor money. Some of their solid, unfinished products would be OK...in a pinch.

Bamboo over plywood is fine - so long as the plywood is subfloor grade (NO OSB allowed with bamboo). The plywood must be DRY and within 3% of the moisture content of the bamboo (bamboo should be 5-7% moisture = plywood must be less than 10% moisture = lots of time drying in the home). The subfloor and everything around the bamboo must be perfectly installed to both NFWA standards AND to the Bamboo flooring requirements set out by the producer.

Thiamom: the slab install must be done by bamboo experts. I wouldn't go anywhere near a bamboo without having it installed by a bamboo specialty store in your area. Moisture (and overly dry areas) are the bane of bamboo. Too much and it cups. Too little and it dry-cups/shrinks and splits.

If the wrong adhesive is used, it lifts. If too little of the right adhesive is used, it lifts. If too much adhesive is used, the floor swells and cups. This is the same for most floors...but bamboo is 50 times more sensitive.

In essence, you want bamboo that is solid woven strand produced and installed by bamboo professionals AND it should have a price tag almost double that of LL. You must also have a humidifier/dehumidifier in your HVAC system. Lack of humidity control is the single most contributing factor to bamboo failure in a home with "appropriate" installation.

We are considering installing Marbled Fossilized® Wide T&G Bamboo Flooring from Cali. We live in a high-rise and have 2 dogs. Too much moisture is not a problem, but too little could be a possibility. In addition, we were planning on using cork vapor/sound barrier. Any recommendations? Is eucalyptus better?

I have Cali Bamboo's Antique Java T&G flooring and it is extremely hard. We have a big dog and we aren't too vigilant in keeping her nails trimmed and she has yet to scratch it after a whole year. We did it ourselves without any trouble, just followed the directions on Cali's site. Goes down like any other wood flooring. The only real difference was the need for an 18 gauge flooring nailer as opposed to the typical 16 gauge. It's the typical cheap bamboo that scratches easily, not strand woven, especially not the strand woven from Cali bamboo. Their eucalyptus isn't quite as hard as their bamboo but 3500 on the Janka scale is still pretty darn good. Harder than any domestic woods you'll find.

My neighbor had Cali Bamboo...she's has a few issues with shrinkage causing small gaps between the planks. It was professionally installed, and they did acclimate it for weeks inside their house. She's also had some light scratching, which seems to cover easily. Not sure she would do it again. The place we bought our hardwood has quit selling any type of bamboo due to the problems people were having with it. We live in the desert, I'm not sure the dry climate has anything to do with it.

In regards to lbcross's posting at the top of this forum, we'd like to point out that the picture you posted of your home shows a carbonized vertical bamboo floor, not a strand bamboo floor. That carbonized vertical bamboo floor is part of our "Classic" collection and it is only about 1/3rd the hardness of our strand woven bamboo floors, so it will dent and scratch like any other mid-range hardwood.

There
are two basic types of scratching that homeowners experience with bamboo flooring:
scratching on old (horizontal or vertical) bamboo floors (what we call
"classic" bamboo), and white micro-scratches on the surface of
strand woven bamboo flooring that are often difficult to see from eye level. If you purchased a floor that has the word
Vertical, Horizontal, Edge Grain, or Flat Grain in the name, you are living on a surface that is about 1/3rd the hardness of strand bamboo
flooring, and mid-rage in terms of hardness for wood floors. If
scratched with something sharp, these floors will show a white mark on
the surface, and you may also dent the wood which will stay there for
the life of the floor. This happens with most hardwood floors.

Conversely,
with strand woven bamboo floors, a very sharp object may leave a small
white micro scratch on the surface, but typically it will not leave a
groove in the flooring itself due to the density and hardness of strand
woven bamboo/eucalyptus. Typically these micro scratches actually buff out over time under normal foot traffic. If you have bamboo flooring installed you can test this yourself: use something sharp to create the micro-scratch, then place the toe of your shoe on the scratch and
apply weight to it, then swivel your toe for a minute - you'll see the scratch start to disappear. A more immediate way to minimize a micro scratch is to dab it with a bit of
mineral oil.

Most strand woven bamboo and
eucalyptus floors, and some wood floors, are coated with aluminum oxide
polyurethane finishes - and these are expensive coatings - the
reason being that they have a very long life and will most likely never
need to be refinished.

For further reading on the hardness of bamboo flooring, we have a quick write-up for you to check out.

I know this is an old post but we installed bamboo floors in 2008. They were the Ty Pennington brand from Lumber Liquidators in Sambuca. I absolutely loved the way they looked. Dark, smooth, wide planks, modern, everything I imagined and more. But it didn't take long to be super frustrated with them. They dented and scratched super easily. They faded horribly near windows and doors. We tried our best to protect it but we had a lot of windows, which we loved, and didn't want rugs everywhere covering up the floor. When we sold our house 3 years later, we had huge color differences when we removed the area rugs. We had no problems with cupping, shrinkage, or moisture that I know of. Also, the packaging said they could be sanded and refinished up to 3 times. Hope that helps.

I can't decide if I want to use the Cali bamboo marbled fossilized wide T&G or the Teragren Synergy Wide Plank in Brindle on my concrete slab, with a underflowing. We are building a home in Shreveport Louisiana so we can move my parents in and care for them. One is soon to be in a wheel chair and the other not far behind him. We have two medium large dogs that will be in and out of the house...just like children. I really like the look of the floorings but I have read so much my head hurts. I am leaning towards the engineered flooring by Teragren but the Cali Bamboo is 3/4 inch thick and really looks good too.

Your situation calls for tile.

@ Sheryl...if you wouldn't use solid hardwood in your situation then I wouldn't use bamboo. I've had a client with in-floor radiant heat live with bamboo. Her home never warmed up. So she thought she would try cork. And the house never warmed up. She's had solid hardwood as well and, you guessed it, her home never warmed up.

Tile or high end glue down vinyl planks (Louisiana is a tough place to glue down floors to concrete slab - water tables are high and that makes for problems with glues).

If you want your heating to work = porcelain tile. If you want to prevent scratches from dogs/wheelchairs = porcelain tile. If you want a floor that prevents the heat from moving through it = bamboo. IF you want a floor that has issues with moisture = bamboo. If you want a floor that costs huge amounts of money and gets beaten up by dogs and wheel chairs = bamboo.

Ugh, thank you Cancork Floor Inc. I have heard from several floor companies how great Teragren Synergy Wide Plank in Brindle and that it will work in all climates. It is a floating floor. I really don't want to deal with the cost and the problems. I will try looking into tile floors that maybe look like wood. My only problem is the slipping when wet. I have parents that I want to care for that are both handicapped. I thought wood floors would be good and we can't use carpet because of..well, the messes and the allergies.

Sheryl, I would NOT use bamboo flooring. My contractor told me it doesn't hold up well in humid climates. However, I've had engineered hardwood floors for 6 years now glued down on concrete with no problems and that's what I'm planning for my new build.

The other suggestion would be Luxury Vinyl Tile. I personally would not do tile as it's too hard if you have any knee or back issues.

Ibcross, I use wood putty for any deep scratches, just like you would use for a wood floor, and it looks just fine! I also bought from Ambient Bamboo, this tiger wide plank bamboo flooring, and I'm very happy with it. Olive oil actually does a great job on the surface scratches, and you don't really have to be any more careful with it that a traditional wood floor. It looks amazing and I get comments on it quite often! I bought mostly because I wanted low VOC products for my home, but I'm also really happy about the sustainability of bamboo. I highly recommend Bamboo flooring, and I recommend Ambient Bamboo as well. Great customer service, and you can find any information you could ever need or want on their website.

Well we went looking and decided in porcelain tile that looks like wood with a PEI of 4. It matches with the tile we bought for the wet areas very well and even going the perfect tile for the showers and bathroom walls. Thank you all for your input. I think we made the correct decision

Looking to put wood/bamboo flooring in Lake Tahoe home living/dining rooms, hall and bedrooms, about 1000sqft. Elevation 7800'. Heated by gas fireplace. No A/C. Subfloor is plywood. Crawl space is unheated. Resident will include a couple of golden retrievers. Not looking to break the bank. What say you? Cheers!!

You want bamboo in the high desert? Not a good idea. No humidity control = no control of the bamboo. A solid white oak 3" plank will do just fine in your situation. No need to reinvent the wheel.

You need to work with SUPER HIGH END (read: expensive = $12-$15/sf) bamboo AND you have to add a humidistat to your HVAC (and possibly AC if it gets hot enough to need it) which adds another $6K to your install.

You will find it hard to find a floor that will be happy. Vinyl could work...but it would need to be glued down. It is sensitive to humidity changes more than most people think.

"Not looking to break the bank" in your situation is going to be problematic. Everything that goes into a high desert house has to be a snick better than average. You still can't beat white oak (or red oak if you need a bargain price) in your situation. It is one of our more stable hardwood choices. It will still shrink and show gapping (between the planks) but nothing short of EXTREME HUMIDITY CONTROL will stop that (that requires the $6K upgrade to the furnace HVAC system).

Thank you for the quick reply.

just to be clear, Lake Tahoe isn't the high desert. Reno and Carson City yes, but I'm in Tahoe National Forest.... 10-20 feet of snow in winter, occaisional thunderstorms in winter, yes relatively dry in summer. Pine and fir trees, bears and deer. Your comments may still be valid,but not high desert..... If that matters. Cheers!!

I am a homeowner planning to self-install a Cali Bamboo hybrid floor in our bedroom, which has a plywood sub-floor, and am trying to decide if I should use the floating T&G glue method or the nail down method of installation. In particular, the floating T&G method looks easier and does not require the rental or purchase of a nail gun or compressor. However, I am wondering if there any long-term disadvantages to this method?

I have just recently come across the CaliBamboo Mocha Fossilized Eucalyptus flooring in Lowes and was considering it when I went searching for other's experiences. I live in New Hampshire and we don't have central AC so very cold and dry in the winter with the wood stove going and extremely humid in the summers when we have the windows open. I'm looking to put hardwood just in the kitchen and hallway and we have a subfloor to nail into with basement below. Any thoughts on this flooring in my situation? Also we have pets so did I understand correctly that this flooring cannot be refinished? I've also seen Acacia wood in a few stores that I like as well. I am not interested in Oak flooring but might consider walnut or hickory. Thanks in advance for any recommendations!

Anything that needs humidity control is going to be an issue for you. Anything "wood like" from Lowe's is going to be low-end. They're installers are the lowest of the low. So you could be stuck with thousands of dollars of bad flooring + bad install in a home that can't handle "bad" in anyway shape or form.

Work with the NARROWEST plank you can find (like 2.25") in a VERY stable wood. Hickory isn't stable and walnut is soft and likes to dent quite nicely. Oak in the narrow plank will work. Acacia would be a better option than hickory - and please shop somewhere other than a Big Box store. Please shop with a locally owned/operated hardwood flooring store. They know their business. They know their climate. And they know how to install. Some of the biggest headaches/heartaches have come from homeowners buying for "looks" instead of climactic concerns. You have climactic issues in your home. You would be better off listening/working with a grey haired guy who has sold hardwood floors for 20+ years in your area. He will have seen it all.

Good luck.

Just want to say that even though CaliBamboo is now sold at Lowes, it is not a "low end" product. I have their solid Antique Java bamboo flooring (DIY nailed down) and I have had no problems whatsoever. No warping, separation, dents or scratches, even with a big dog and young kids. It is a very hard and durable floor.

The product lines designed for big box stores are a lower level quality than the "brand name" carried by exclusive retailers. This is common knowledge and common practice in the flooring industry. Like other brand names, CaliBamboo will have created a line SPECIFICALLY to capture the market share that shops for flooring in a home improvement store. This product will often be altered in some basic way - but will be visually identical to the original brand it was inspired by.

This is well known and well documented. As a CaliBamboo product, it should still be a decent product but it will not have the same specifications as the original sold by elite retailers. It might be a little thinner; it might have a slightly different width; or it might a lower-grade finish applied. Or the adhesives in the product may be altered (cheaper adhesives are one way to get things cheaper without altering appearances).

The point of purchase - Lowe's - will not have the knowledge to deal with a complicated install such as Aimee describes. And Aimee's situation is very complicated.

Giving consideration to using CaliBamboo's Fozzilied Eucalyptus to go over an above grade concrete slab in our home, which is about 30 miles from Hilton Head island, SC. Thinking more of floating as obviously nail down isn't in play. Any comments greatly appreciated.

Ok so I have read most of the posts here, never considered managing humidity or temperature with flooring so now am now compelled to ask.....We are considering Mocha Fossilized Eucalyptus from CaliBambo, solid, not engineered ...we live near Tacoma Washington (1 hour south of Seattle) and run our wood stove in quite a bit in the winter..any concerns installing we should consider. The wife really like the Mocha Fossilized Eucalyptus, beautiful floor. All advise every much appreciated.

shellinda, start your own post. the OP on this post (which is years old) will be getting alerts for this.

I put stranded bambo throughout my house and love it. Last year when we remodeled the mother in law suit we installed Cali Bamboo Eucalyptus flooring and it cupped after a few months. The floor was stacked and acclimated for three weeks prior to installing. Since we use this as a guest house there was very low traffic.

Wife and I are still looking for flooring for a home with radiant floor heat under plywood. Half of the house can't support the weight of tile as it uses engineered beams with large rooms underneath with no supports needed. Think the dead weight limit is something like 14 lbs / sq foot. The other half can support tile, but really wanted the floors to match. The house is on the cool side in upstate NY. More humid than most due to altitude. The radiant floor heat is awesome, but a pain to find flooring for. We were thinking a floating floor to allow for expansion and contracting. Hardwood is difficult. Started looking at Bamboo and then came across eucalyptus. We do have dogs and people do walk in the house with shoes on as we entertain a good bit. Thoughts?