Bamboo Flooring

Simon

Simon

Has anyone used Bamboo as floorboards before? We saw them at a home show and are considering them for our PPOR we are building. They will be laid over a concrete slab and compare very favourable pricewise plus look nice. Environmental benefits too.

http://www.bamboofloors.com.au/

Cheers,
 
i'm very interested too, simon, as looking at it for one of our rebuild ip's. how does it compare to a hardwood floating floor (as that's what it sounds like it is)?

what was the price per m2?
 
At the Homeshow this weekend I was quoted about $100psqm laid. That was glued onto battens on a concrete slab. That was $80psqm supplied and around $20 for installation.

There are two types and the harder type is harder than Ironbark and 70% harder than Jarrah, You can have varying shades and the shading is done by heating the product which caramelises the bamboo sugars. This occurs right through the timber which means that subsequent sanding will be a consistent colour as opposed to a stain on the first mm or two.

I have since found a supplier at $39 psqm and $49psqm for the hardest product but shipping from Vic and laying would be extra. It comes in 2.21sqm packs with foam between each piece to prevent scratching. It is prefinished with a durable product.

Anyone tried it yet?
 
Thanks Boatboy - I think you have just solved my flooring choice problem.

MosoZebranoStore01.jpg
 
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sorry I haven't laid any, but I looked at it but in the end decided to go for prefinished tongue and groove kempas wood floorboards. This was mainly because we only needed a small quantity and were able to pick it up cheaply ($14 sq m supply only instead of $50-80 retail). However, we are ina remote area and need to lay over tiles without using battens so the laying cost may blow out. I really liked the look of the bamboo though and if it wasn't for coming across the deal that we found, we would of gone with it.

I am interested if anyone has used bamboo in bathrooms. I really really dislike tiles. Our current tiles have been painted and look much better but not sure how it will last. Maybe in the longer term we will put bamboo there.
 
Kamak said:
Oh Bugger, looked into the Zebra pattern bamboo. $110/m2 plus frieght plus laying :(
Click to expand...

That Zebrano in your picture above certainly will make a bold statement. Were you going to do a large area or just a single room? I quite like that look but am having trouble picturing it in a large family room - get the feeling it might be a bit overwhelming.

What do you all think?
 
Hi Simon

Interesting comment but I have been looking for a "contemporary" and "funky" look for a whille. My place is a 2 x 2 110m2 unit with the only natural light coming in from big sliding doors at the end of the lounge/dining and through sliding door and a small window in the master bedroom.

Would be doing an entry, kichen, dining and longe with are essientally one room and the master bedroom which is off the lounge. I leave the door to it open as it lets light into the lounge and would like a seemless finish between the rooms. Here's some photos from front door into kitchen area (2nd bedroom and laundry door to the sides), then from start of lounge across kitchen, the dining/lounge and from lounge showing bedroom door. I hang a lot of art and I like the art gallery look of the photo.

PS sorry its a little untidy.

Am more then open to your opinions :)

CAIFMVAL.jpg


CAOHMR8H.jpg


CAX8A1LN.jpg


CATGW7TL.jpg
 
I reckon it would make a world of difference. Even just the light colour Bamboo would.

With the smaller spaces in your unit than in our open plan house I think it would work a lot better. Would transform your unit. What paint colours are you using? With a lot of art hanging I would tend to one of the whites that are popular today. I think there is a huge thread just devoted to white paint!

I am the wrong person to ask for advice though. I am getting a decorating consultant to help me. Just the reassurance that I don't do something ghastly is $200 well spent.

Cheers,
 
Sorry to have hijacked the thread :)

Thanks Simon after driving around looking at potiental other products today Im pretty keen to move forward on this and have emailed the supplier. Will keep you all informed of my progress.

Now back to the original thread.
 
I have bamboo flooring. Very happy with it. I have lived in a house with blackbutt flooring and the maintenance is identical.

The mob at wetherill park have it in boxes and samples to look at. I got a guy to supply/install. In retrospect I should have been braver. I was inexperienced and leery of purchasing something that, as an ametueur I thought was identical but wasn't really. Didn't want to be (ahem) lumbered with an inappropriate material I had to sell.... and still pay the intaller to buy the timber at a mark up.......

Back to the flooring...... (timber came to site ahead so the floorboards could adjust to the humidity on-site prior to installation - anyone else do this? seemed to make sense to me but I am an amateur)

I am very happy with it so far (was installed in 2005). It is quite light (but not the lightest) and looks very nice. I get lots of compliments. That said I am in a unit not a free standing home and I don't have kids/pets. Not sure how it would stand up to furniture dragged across etc (I am careful).... but hardwood floorboards are not as robust as tiles. but might be much of a muchness between bamboo and hardwood.

I was surprised to find that bamboo flooring seemed warmer underfoot compared to the blackbutt timber flooring. I moved in winter from one type to the other and it was a nice surprise.

I was told that the bamboo flooring could be sanded and sealed a limited number of times. But I don't know anyone who has done this.

Initially chose it for price reasons. But I like the look and love that it is an environmental option (renewable)...... always trying to reduce my footprint.

Anyone else's thoughts?
 
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lizzie said:
i'm very interested too, simon, as looking at it for one of our rebuild ip's. how does it compare to a hardwood floating floor (as that's what it sounds like it is)?

what was the price per m2?
Click to expand...

Lizzie. I don't know that I would put a hardwood/bamboo floor in an ip. I know how I treat my floor but know that tenants will drag/scrape furniture through. Drop things (wooden floors dint). I think tiles have the benefits of wooden flooring but are far more robust.

Maybe I am too precious about the upkeep of my flooring. If i move out and convert my ppor to an ip I am prepared for it to get trashed (hope not but not everyone is a kind tenant). Perhaps I should have tiled it instead? But I do love living with the bamboo flooring and it is my 1st property. I wouldn't think that a poorly kept wooden floor would make as good an impression as a still immaculate tiled floor.

To maintain a wooden floor it has to be sanded and resealed every 10 yrs. My mum's been in her place 10+ yrs and had to have it done for the blackbutt floors she had installed in her duplex. It is a mammoth job doing the clean-up in your ppor and so if you have tenants it would be best to do between tenants. Apparently, if you let the floor go for too long it gets past the point of being rehabilitated. So while wooden flooring I think looks stunning it has a cost associated with upkeep that tiles wont. Ditto re carpets & upkeep in ips.
 
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Simon:

Bamboo flooring is an excellent choice. The look in my opinion is superior to most hardwoods, and its ability to take a beating is par none. The only thing I've heard from people in regards to negatives would be the price, but its generally around there with the price of hardwood.
 
I've been looking at that this week - to get the builder to install in our new house, so it goes *under* the skirtings and architraves.

The really hard stuff is moso strandwoven bamboo, and it seems one of the larger suppliers is in Adelaide, which suits me fine being in SA :)

http://www.bamboofloorstore.com.au/

The tongue and groove moso is $49sqm supply only, and they have a new clicklok version for $54. And of course the crazy zebra stripe ones. I like the caramelised 'coffee' moso strandwoven myself.
 
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