Hello!
I am looking into installing bamboo flooring. I have heard mixed messages about bamboo regarding it's durability. We have 3 kids and a dog, so I can't have something that scratches easily.  Does anyone has any advice or experience using this type of flooring?

Thanks!!

Have had bad experience with bamboo cupping

Chris, was that in a glue-down application on concrete?

A hardwood refinishing company I was talking with said they have a lot of work redoing bamboo floors.  They also said you get what you pay for so if you go with bamboo get high quality.

If you're afraid of the floor being scratched then the alternative is ceramic tile. Any hardwood floor will scratch.

Depends on what you are looking for. Bamboo like most other woods comes solid or laminated over plywood, prefinished or not, nail down or click together etc etc. I prefer solid wood so that it can be refinished when (not if) it wears. Prefinished is becoming more common and the finishes used are becomming better & better. I look for a reputable brand with a good warranty, a local dealer who will stand behind the product and an installer familiar with the product. Check it all out. The hardest flooring (other than concrete) is ceramic tile. Hardest wood floor is probably click together laminate. Last bamboo floor I installed was Teragren: vertical grain, solid, prefinshed, and excellent warranty in the event of problems. They have an excellent website with lots and lots of information; helpful no matter what you end up using.

I recently watched an interview with Steve Milloy about his new book Green Hell.

While I definitely didn't agree with much of what Steve had to say, I like to keep up on both fringe groups. The ultra tree huggers and the ultra right wing (global warming is a hoax) are fun to watch. I know there is a middle ground and hope to learn where it is. Anyway...

I have known for years that tobacco and cotton are death on soil. I learned from Steve that bamboo is right up there with tobacco and cotton.

Turns out that China has turned vast swaths of land to producing bamboo for the western “green” market thus depleting their precious soil to produce a fake green product.

Besides that I have talked to several people that say bamboo is an awful product. It does not hold up.

Don't take my word. Search and you will see.

All bamboo flooring is not the same.  Strand woven bamboo flooring is denser than other bamboo floor planks and doesn't scratch or dent easily.  For some informative online videos, see www.mrbambooflooring.com

Posted By Jelly on  2010 10:00 AM
Chris, was that in a glue-down application on concrete?

glue down over topped AAC plank floor

I once asked a wood flooring company owner what he used (he had a big dog that played hard). I don't recall which variety, but it was one of the hardest tropical hardwoods and he said it held up great.