I have a pet Panda...so no bamboo floors in Tomland.
Bamboo floors
- Thread starter Altaf
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- Thread starter
- #23
Slight change in plans...
Had my installer come in and check out the new place. Tells me he won't install any floor unless it's solid, which isn't a problem since that's the route I was going anyway. He doesn't sell the hardwood himself, so it's up to me to shop around and buy whatever I want. But he does have a very good relationship with a local flooring store, so the wife and I stopped by to see what they had.
First thing I noticed was the selection - there are more types of wood floors than I care to know about. My installer had a bias towards Mohawk brand floors, so that's the brand we focused on. After browsing through a dozen options, we picked out Brazilian Cherry. We were really attracted to the multi-colors of the wood, it's reddish/brown and has some variations of darker brown and lighter gold. Of course Brazilian Cherry ends up being the most expensive wood
(why does that always happen?). It's more than double the price of bamboo (notice we haven't even looked at bamboo to this point). So then we ask to see their bamboo selection and let me tell you there is no comparison. After seeing a quality hardwood floor, bamboo didn't seem nearly as nice.
Soon afterwards, we started doing the math and quickly realized why we were looking at bamboo in the first place - PRICE.
But the Brazilian Cherry was so damn nice it was hard to really drop it from consideration. So we're ending up with carbonized bamboo on the bedroom level and Brazilian Cherry on the main level and stairs. 
Cost of course is going to be a lot more than I originally had budgeted... 
Had my installer come in and check out the new place. Tells me he won't install any floor unless it's solid, which isn't a problem since that's the route I was going anyway. He doesn't sell the hardwood himself, so it's up to me to shop around and buy whatever I want. But he does have a very good relationship with a local flooring store, so the wife and I stopped by to see what they had.
First thing I noticed was the selection - there are more types of wood floors than I care to know about. My installer had a bias towards Mohawk brand floors, so that's the brand we focused on. After browsing through a dozen options, we picked out Brazilian Cherry. We were really attracted to the multi-colors of the wood, it's reddish/brown and has some variations of darker brown and lighter gold. Of course Brazilian Cherry ends up being the most expensive wood
(why does that always happen?). It's more than double the price of bamboo (notice we haven't even looked at bamboo to this point). So then we ask to see their bamboo selection and let me tell you there is no comparison. After seeing a quality hardwood floor, bamboo didn't seem nearly as nice.Soon afterwards, we started doing the math and quickly realized why we were looking at bamboo in the first place - PRICE.
But the Brazilian Cherry was so damn nice it was hard to really drop it from consideration. So we're ending up with carbonized bamboo on the bedroom level and Brazilian Cherry on the main level and stairs. Cost of course is going to be a lot more than I originally had budgeted... Slight change in plans...
But the Brazilian Cherry was so damn nice it was hard to really drop it from consideration. So we're ending up with carbonized bamboo on the bedroom level and Brazilian Cherry on the main level and stairs.
The brazillian cherry is really SWEET! I loved it too, but we already have cherry all through the house and didn't want it to be too dark. The carbonized bamboo is also very nice, just be carefull, a friend of ours got it after seeing ours and quickly realized that when it gets scratched, it is very noticeable because of the color difference. But, in the bedroom, shouldn't be a problem, just make sure the legs of the bed are on those felt pad thingys. Sounds like a super nice combo. Good decision! Good luck.
-AYMC-
I just installed the Costco Bamboo and love it.
I couple of things I found durring the research:
The natural finish is harder than the carbonized.
The floor can be sanded and refinished.
there are as many ways to install it as their are installers.
I put down a layer of underlay plastic, overlapping joints by 6" and taping. Over that went two crossed layers of roofing felt. Then I floated the floor over that. So far it has a very good walking feel and it sounds "right" when walked on.
I couple of things I found durring the research:
The natural finish is harder than the carbonized.
The floor can be sanded and refinished.
there are as many ways to install it as their are installers.
I put down a layer of underlay plastic, overlapping joints by 6" and taping. Over that went two crossed layers of roofing felt. Then I floated the floor over that. So far it has a very good walking feel and it sounds "right" when walked on.