Which do you prefer???? remodel question...

[TAB]

for hardwood floors, this is bamboo, in a very modern looking house.







Just finished the stairs where both the treads and the risers are bamboo.



The home owner is out of the country so they left it up to me...


I'm about ready to flip a coin.

[fightingquaker13]

How is it for durability and noise? I think that bamboo loks and feels nice. It is also a very hard wood. Yet....It also is light since it drys out once its cured. Will this make the floors loud? Likewise, I have a bamboo cutting board and its on its way out as the scratches don't "heal" like they would on something like hickory. Will the floor have this problem? I like the color and smell of bamboo. I also like that its earth friendly compared to hard woods. I'm just not sure I trust it. But I speak from very limited experience with the wood.
FQ13

[tombogan03884]

To easy to lose track of your pattern with the diagonal. I'd match it to the rest of the house.
That's just me 

[TAB]

noise there is no diffrence, as to durabilty, this product dents with ease(compared to say oak), but it is very hard to scratch.  This product has 3 layers and is 5/8" thick, it can be sanded and refinished 2 times with a drum sander( if your taking say a 1/8-3/16" )


Its alos a PITA to install as it destroys saw blades, can not be routed and splinters easily( to cross cut for example you must score it 1st)  As to the smell, when you cut ths stuff it STINKS to high heaven.  Smells like a cross between a wet dog and burning hair.


I also doubt its very green, out of all the manufactors, its only made in 2 places in the world, germeny and china.  both get thier bamboo from SE asia, So the bamboo litterly travels around the world atleast once to get here, compared to say a domestic hardwood that just has to be shiped accross the country.  I also doubt if the chemicals they use to manufactor it in china are green.  Like most "green" things, it makes people feel good, but does more damage then other options.

[TAB]

To easy to lose track of your pattern with the diagonal. I'd match it to the rest of the house.
That's just me 

no its not, just take it all the way across, then work left to right. No diffrent then a normal pattern.    There is nothing else in the house, its a up stairs unit, so its just the stairs(done, don't get me started on chinas QC issuses, those stairs were a BITCH thanks to them) the front room and the hallway. The bedrooms are remaining carpet.

[Sponsor]

[tombogan03884]

Go with how it cuts easiest .

[Ichiban]

Diagonal would be better looking but much more labor intensive.  Getting paid by the job or by the hour?   
My house - diagonal; someone else's - probably square it up.

[MikeBjerum]

Given there is nothing else in the house to match, I'd go straight.  That is traditional enough that it takes out the risk of what a homeowner might think.  Like Ichiban, I'd probably do diagonal or patterned in my house, but I don't know how much I'd like someone else picking my patterns.

[crusader rabbit]

I installed bamboo in the kitchen and dining rooms of a previously owned house and would NEVER do it again.  Well, never is a strong word--but if I did, I would also make up a sign saying NO SHOES, NO HIGH HEELS, NO DOGS ALLOWED.  The stuff looks as pretty as can be, but it is not hard--it's soft.  My dog was about 60 lbs at the time, and left divits every time he walked across that room.  The realtor left little half-moon imprints from her high heels.  Dropping a piece of silverware leaves a divit.  And, after it had been in for a couple of months, it looked to me as if it needed refinishing.  Yes, you can refinish a couple of times with a drum, but what a pain.  The oak in the rest of the house was over fifty years old, and still looked great.

I went with bamboo for various reasons, but the renewable aspect of the material intrigued me most.  It can be farmed like a crop and you don't destroy an old-growth hardwood forest installing your floor.  Price point was good, too.  But, it is not easy to cut and does eat saw blades and leave great ragged splinters on the cut ends.  Too, even though it was nailed to solid 3/4" ply subfloor, and nail size and spacing instructions were carefully followed, after a few weels I started hearing little squeaks when I walked across the floors.

Offered in the interest of a longer lasting floor,

Crusader

[ericire12]

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