bamboo flooring

WTF why is it so damm expensive. I thought it was green & it was renewable. then why is it 1.50 a square foot for 6mm size. I thought it was renewable & I know bamboo grows like a damm weed. So it should be cheap as hell.

sorry looking at flooring & am pissed at prices

Because the natives have to fight off the Kung-Fu Panda to harvest it.

FTW, IIRC, it's pretty soft stuff and while it looks great and is an easily renewable product it is not very scuff scratch resistant. YRMV & ICBW.

Do you have any rehab supply houses in your area? Often, you can find craploads of discontinued flooring products on the cheap. Selection is limited. I once found enough engineered laminate flooring to cover my entire (3k sqft) house for about $0.50 sqft. Product looked great but, the wife didn't like the color (Pecan, I think).

Because it is trendy and cool, and has that "green" label... Never mind the petroleum products that go into harvesting, splitting, pressing, laminating, shipping, etc.

You're paying for harvesting, processing and shipping. When I looked at bamboo 10 years ago, it was $3-4 a square foot. Take a look at what any hardwood would cost.

GilaMinumBeer said:

FTW, IIRC, it's pretty soft stuff and while it looks great and is an easily renewable product it is not very scuff scratch resistant. YRMV & ICBW.

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I thought it was supposed to be super hard. I was in an 'eco-building' at the MN State Fair and they were touting it as a very durable hard flooring that is also used in cutting boards much like other hard woods. I'll have to check up on that, we are looking at new kitchen flooring and we were considering bamboo as well. Ash is relatively cheap up here so we were leaning that direction.

MNBugeater said:

I thought it was supposed to be super hard. I was in an 'eco-building' at the MN State Fair and they were touting it as a very durable hard flooring that is also used in cutting boards much like other hard woods. I'll have to check up on that, we are looking at new kitchen flooring and we were considering bamboo as well. Ash is relatively cheap up here so we were leaning that direction.

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Maybe processes have changed. I haven't really looked into it for years. back when it was early in the market it was notorious for being soft and high maintenance.

Isnt 1.50 a sq ft cheap? I see hardwoods going for 6-7

Bamboo flooring is very soft and a PITA to put down because it has a tendency to split.

I think the new laminates are pretty hard I have a bamboo cutting board, it seems to withstand some vigorous chopping.

If you have access to a CostCo check out their flooring. I put it in my office and it's holding up great. The new stuff they have has the foam underlayment already attached. It's floating so no glue to deal with.

HBHoss said:

If you have access to a CostCo check out their flooring. I put it in my office and it's holding up great. The new stuff they have has the foam underlayment already attached. It's floating so no glue to deal with.

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I used their cheap Maple with the foam attached. I then used an Expensive laminate in another room. I like the Costco stuff 100X better. I will be doing the rest of the upstairs in that.

I glued mine together but not to the floor

I seen laminate & nail down both. I have access builder supplys but i but material when they are on sale & i think it cost more to keep on driving around to find the best deal. just it used to be 89 cent for 6 mm now it is 1.50

The bamboo can also have two different "grain" patterns. It is "stiff" because of the process to get it together, but it does split. I dont like the look of it myself.

I'll tell ya whats NOT green is having to rip this stuff out in under 8 years and sending it all to a landfill and replacing it becaue its little better than mediocre laminate. And why don't they call laminate "green"? Its essentially sawdust and glue for goodness sake. Nothing living was CUT DOWN to even make it at all.
But in my opinion, REAL hardwoods will last 70 years, if they are 3/4" and can be refinished a few times, and are polished once in a while and taken care of. Thats pretty "green" to me.

The environmental hypocrisy is ridiculous sometimes. "Oh we gutted our kitchen so we could renovate with earth-friendly materials" meaning all their old stuff is sitting in a landfill. They drive a hybrid vehicle, but its still an SUV and they commute 40 miles each way. *****ebags.

$1.50 sqft is cheap for a flooring. But you get what you pay for. If you plan on staying in your house for a while spend the money upfront for the 3/4" hardwood. It looks good, it is durable, refinishable, and will save you money in the long run. The prefinished stuff is also quite easy to install.

Yeah, I didnt think 1.50/sqft sounded bad at all for a hard floor. Heck, carpet can run much higher than that if it is quality stuff.