Bamboo flooring?

Can anyone advise me on the best brand name bamboo flooring on the market as I would like to install it in the kitchen/dining/living area. Thank you in advance

Bamboo flooring?
We got ours from Lumber Liqudators. http://www.lumberliquidators.com/home.js...





So far so good, and I really haven't read anything bad about the quality of their product. I've actually heard good things about the Ikea bamboo floor as well, but the installation seems a little different (ie, it is a floating floor, but instead of the planks clicking together, they click to to plastic piece in between).





Another brand that I know people like is EcoTimber (http://www.ecotimber.com/). The company is local to where I live, so I don't know it's availabilty if you live outside the Bay Area.





If you are going the DIY route I STRONGLY recommend getting the floating/click installation versus the glue down/nail down product. The floating stuff does cost more (for example, usually starts at about a $1 more a sqaure foot), but renting nailing equipment and buying adhesive is also expensive. We spent about $300 on flooring glue (Bostik's Best) for a 210 sq. foot room. In comparison, foam padding and plastic sheeting for a floating floor of the same size would be around $70. The floating (engineered) pieces are also about 3X the size of the hardwood planks, so that really works out to be about half the time cutting and laying the product.





If you are putting bamboo in the kitchen area, you may want to consider a laminate that has a bamboo pattern due to water damage potential. I don't think hardwood is really recommended in the kitchen/bathroom areas. If you are looking for a sustainable option for the kitchen, Forbo Marmoleum(natural linoluem, versus the vinyl sheeting that most homes have) is plant based and carries something like a 40 year warranty. The prices tend to be $4-$6 a square foot, so comparable to bamboo . I recently saw that Armstrong carries a natural linoleum product that I think is suitable for kitchens. I think their website says that is available at Home Depot and Lowe's, among other places.
Reply:I have bamboo wind chimes, and if they


are not treated they will crack.
Reply:In all honest, 90% of the Bamboo Floors on the market are manufactured in only a handful of factories in China. Different companies then purchase the flooring, from these factories and put the product into their own boxes.





A great way to weed out poor quality bamboo flooring is to ask the supplier for a copy of the milling specifications. The milling specifications are a list of technical data that document the manufacturing criteria of the product. For example, a milling specifications sheet should always include the allowable variance of width and thickness within an individual board. In this way, milling specifications can operate as a guarantee of a certain quality - one that both the supplier and the customer can agree upon. Without a recognized grading system or list of milling specifications, the customer is essentially without any concrete assurances as to the quality of the product. As such, they have no recourse should the product quality not meet their expectations.





Admittedly, interpreting a list of milling specifications can be daunting task, especially for the non-professional. Fortunately, the request alone is often enough to reveal the quality of the offered product. If a list of milling specifications is neither openly available, nor forthcoming upon request, it is highly probable the product is of an inferior quality.
Reply:Check out this site: www.lumberliquidators.com/