The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: TAB on May 12, 2010, 02:14:05 AM
-
for hardwood floors, this is bamboo, in a very modern looking house.
(http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n104/The_AnkLe_BiTeR/Picture048.jpg)
(http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n104/The_AnkLe_BiTeR/Picture047-1.jpg)
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.
-
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
-
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 ;D
-
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.
-
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 ;D
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.
-
Go with how it cuts easiest .
-
Diagonal would be better looking but much more labor intensive. Getting paid by the job or by the hour? ;D
My house - diagonal; someone else's - probably square it up.
-
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.
-
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
-
top one
-
Diagonal would be better looking but much more labor intensive. Getting paid by the job or by the hour? ;D
My house - diagonal; someone else's - probably square it up.
+1
-
Since this is only one room there is no real diffrence in labor.
-
I like the diagonal better.
-
Anything on the diagonal is always more interesting, more exciting, lively. Plus it would help make imperfections less noticeable, in the wood and the, I'm sure minor, workmanship. Cutting it may be more of a pain, but I'm sure you've got a system or some special apparatus for that.
If these folks are very subdued quiet types they may prefer the strait though.
-
I put tile in on the diagonal, ONCE!!! never again. Maybe if trying to hide an unsquare room, but it isn't fun. It does look more interesting, which sounds like what the homeowner would like.
I have bamboo in my house, put it in myself. Get a good finish blade in a power miterbox, take it slow and cutting is fine. The hardest part for me was shimming the foot of the nail gun since it was set up for 3/4 oak.
I love it. It does dent easily, but that just adds character ;) For me it was same cost per sq foot as builder grade carpet--no brainer there.
-
I would prefer diagonal.
I have a question about style.
I seem to suspect a doorway in the upper right of the pictures you posted.
If so, would it be better looking if the diagonal ran with the flow of traffic into the room?
-
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.
My wife says she feels sorry for the home owner :)
-
I liike both but would go with the straight pattern.
-
Hi;
Most old timers use to put "felt" paper between the subsurface(plywood) and the finish board. This eliminates the squeaks and floor noise.
-
Hi;
Most old timers use to put "felt" paper between the subsurface(plywood) and the finish board. This eliminates the squeaks and floor noise.
the felt is to prevent moisture from coming thru the subfloor, it does nothing for squeaks. I did the trowel on moisture barrer, much better, but 10x the price.
-
TAB, I'm sure you know this, but the best "movement" underlayment for flooring is the rosin paper. Tar paper makes little "sticky" noises when you walk on the floor. Rosin isn't really a moisture barrier, though. Good call on the liquid barrier.
In my specifier career I never saw bamboo considered as "green" except for the fact that it wasn't a more rare hardwood, and that bamboo is basicallly a weed and hence could be considered a renewable source. Personally I think it works better as a decoration like wainscot than as a flooring.
I agree with you...diagonal is no harder to do, and I think it hides any blemishes in the material a little better.