Bamboo flooring - hard wearing?

[Bill Carr]

It may seem like a daft question but I'm interested to hear about people's personal experiences of bamboo flooring. Specifically how scratch resistant it is. I want to replace the many carpet in my living room with wood - solid, engineered, whatever - but it needs to be dog proof!

For reference the floor is concrete underneath.

All advice appreciated.

[KIPSTER]

We have just gone for Amtico Spacia as that was the only zero tolerance, scratch free option. Costs a bomb but looks superb.
Engineered wood, real or bamboo - it will scratch at some point....

[dave_s13]

A mate has bamboo through the entire ground floor and it's shrunk remarkably. Left bloody great gaps all over the place.

It was cheap stuff off ebay though, 15 quid a metre, but saying that it was stored the house for a few weeks so it should have aclimatised.

[E31Shrew]

Friend has a mahoooosive antiques showroom. New build. All floors are bamboo. Been built now for 7 years and still looks superb bearing in mind continual footfall

[Bonefish Blues]

Strand woven from a reputable supplier. Has been bombproof over the past year. There are scratches, but not many, and they aren't in any way obvious.

[Bill Carr]

Bonefish Blues said:

Strand woven from a reputable supplier.

Care to share?

Thanks for the feedback so far guys, interesting reading. I'm not expecting it to remain pristine forever but I would like it to be durable and I know some wood floors just aren't going to cope with an enthusiastic springer spaniel.

[Bonefish Blues]

Bill Carr said:

Care to share?

Thanks for the feedback so far guys, interesting reading. I'm not expecting it to remain pristine forever but I would like it to be durable and I know some wood floors just aren't going to cope with an enthusiastic springer spaniel.

Simply bamboo, Bamboo Flooring Co, Panda all seem much of a muchness having got samples from each. Our builder went with BFC in the end.

[Bill Carr]

Bonefish Blues said:

Simply bamboo, Bamboo Flooring Co, Panda all seem much of a muchness having got samples from each. Our builder went with BFC in the end.

Thanks for that, I'd been looking at BFC. Which product did you go for?

[Bonefish Blues]

Bill Carr said:

Thanks for that, I'd been looking at BFC. Which product did you go for?

Wide plank natural strand woven

[55allgold]

I got some samples. One was natural looking and 'prettier', and I think the other was woven. For sure, the natural stuff dented VERY easily compared to the woven.

If/when I go for it (kitchen), it will be the harder wearing stuff.

[Flintstone]

I've had bamboo down in a bedroom and study for several years now. No shrinkage but I was careful to open the packs and let the breathe in the house for a week or so. Whatever you do don't be tempted to pin them into place, they need to move together.

Wear? Little traffic in either room but seems ok. The study floor has suffered from having an office chair rolling over it but that's my fault for not putting down a mat. A quick varnish should see it done.

[Bonefish Blues]

Bonefish Blues said:

Wide plank natural strand woven

You can see it here in situ in our living room - 6th row down http://rhbs.com/images/Gallery/index.html

[Bill Carr]

Bonefish Blues said:

You can see it here in situ in our living room - 6th row down http://rhbs.com/images/Gallery/index.html

Very nice!

[eliot]

I've got bamboo flooring and I hate it. Had it installed in a hallway about 8 years ago and it started looking aged after two years. It now looks and sounds like a cheap laminate. Its soft as ste, so if the kids drop anything - it leaves a big dent. It wasn't cheap - around £30-35 sq mtr, its was called plyboo.
And if you have boys dont make the mistake I did of putting in the downstairs toilet

Here is some photos I've just took of it: (not resized)




I recently had the dining room done in solid oak - and its far better. I went for a natural oil finish, as you can sand and re-oil it very quickly. The nice "finished" versions look nice, but try dropping a kids toy on it and it dents and looks like crap just like the bamboo.

Edited by eliot on Saturday 5th March 18:39

[Bonefish Blues]

That's suffered badly, hasn't it - looks like flat grain ply which isn't anything like as tough as the strand woven stuff we're discussing.

Prices have come down with a bump, too, based on what you paid.

[eliot]

Bonefish Blues said:

That's suffered badly, hasn't it - looks like flat grain ply which isn't anything like as tough as the strand woven stuff we're discussing.

Prices have come down with a bump, too, based on what you paid.

It was the latest and greatest at the time - should of paid the extra and used Oak. Now torn between Oak and marble like floors - but I'm worried the tiled/marble stuff could look like garbage quickly and its not easy to replace!

[55allgold]

That (bamboo one - above) does look a bit rough. Looks like the plain bamboo just isn't suitable for halls and heavily used areas (nor kids or blokes).

The PO of my house put oak down in the living room, and it does wear well. Not that keen on the look myself, but it is nicer than pine. The oak suffers from water marks, but that's about all that worries it.

[Bonefish Blues]

Bill Carr said:

Bonefish Blues said:

You can see it here in situ in our living room - 6th row down http://rhbs.com/images/Gallery/index.html

Very nice!

Thanks - much more character than it might appear from the samples you get. We have it throughout the ground floor.

[Rgee]

I looked at Bamboo when doing my flooring and got samples from some of the above mentioned. Found they marked so easily ended up getting engineered oiled oak. One year on and virtually unmarked even with my 3 yr old nephew skidding across it on his trike.

[Bonefish Blues]

Rgee said:

I looked at Bamboo when doing my flooring and got samples from some of the above mentioned. Found they marked so easily ended up getting engineered oiled oak. One year on and virtually unmarked even with my 3 yr old nephew skidding across it on his trike.

Was it non strand-woven bamboo by any chance? I couldn't mark strand woven samples, which greatly influenced my decision.