Bamboo Flooring

[nellydoran]

Hi,

this is my my first post and i am a DIY novice.

Does any one have any thoughts on bamboo flooring? Good bad etc.

I am looking at either oak flooring or bamboo and at the moment i prefer the Vertical Coffee Bamboo Flooring opposed to oak, but dont know what to make of it. Will it last etc. So any advice much aprecciated.

Secondly, i will be looking to lay aprox 35m2 across most of my down stairs. The floor is a concrete base, i dont think damp should be a problem as been laid for over 50 years. So what is the best way to go about laying it.

Ideally and the quickest would be secret nailing, can this be done on to concrete as per carpet grippers or would it best or is the only possible thing to glue it down? Again any advice welcome.

 

[WoodYouLike]

Personal opinion on Vertical Coffee Bamboo: very, very busy look especially in a large area.
Professional opinion on Bamboo: strong, stable, eco-friendly (harvested) and long-lasting (depedning on the quality of the product/manufacturer of course, also with Bamboo lots of 'cowboy-producers around).

Solid Bamboo normally comes in small widths and short lengths (92mm x 920mm) and it's adviced to fully bond with the concrete floor (use flexible adhesive).
Secret nailing is a problem on concrete: you can't nail that well in concrete , plus with solid Bamboo the T&G's are mostly tiny.

Hope this helps

 

[nellydoran]

thanks for the quick reply. The one i found was on www.completelyflooring.co.uk. Cowboy or not?

 

[WoodYouLike]

Only comment I can make on this: retail price is way lower than what we pay our quality supplier for quality bamboo flooring.

 

[nellydoran]

could you point me in the right direction then and which adhesive you would use. Thanks

So in you considered opinion. What would your first choice be, real oak or bamboo?

 

[WoodYouLike]

Advicing people on wood-type is always 'tricky', even business people have their own preferences (I'm an Oak person)
But have you considered the following: if you would install a exotic wood-species (like bamboo etc) and you were to sell on your home, would your choice add value to the propery (or speed up the selling process) or would it hold it back?
In climbing the property ladder Oak flooring is still the safest bet, every body likes Oak and if stained in a 'personal' colour the new owner can very simply change that to his/her own colour (if needed). You can't do that with tropical or bamboo.

Depending on your choice of wood: for glueing the better products are: Sika, Lecol and Stycobond.
If you choose something else than Bamboo, most floors can be installed floating. For you concrete underfloor you need a combi-porduct as underlayment (DPM + sound-insulation).