Bamboo or laminate? maybe hardwood?

[djheater]

Originally posted by: Rage187
I installed and finished hardwoods for many years (red/white oak, cherry, heart pine, etc.)

I did hardwood in my kitchen but have installed laminate the last 2 times. 90% of my 1st floor is laminate.

Will cost you about $1.12 a sqft. Plus whatever a roll of 15 tar paper costs and a chop saw blade or two.


I'm betting you could knock out the 500sqft in a weekend. I could knock it out in a day

Hmmm, maybe I'll post pics for you of my new home so you can see the floors in action.

Any reccomnedations on what I should be looking for in a laminate?

 

[Rage187]

Originally posted by: djheater

Originally posted by: Rage187
I installed and finished hardwoods for many years (red/white oak, cherry, heart pine, etc.)

I did hardwood in my kitchen but have installed laminate the last 2 times. 90% of my 1st floor is laminate.

Will cost you about $1.12 a sqft. Plus whatever a roll of 15 tar paper costs and a chop saw blade or two.


I'm betting you could knock out the 500sqft in a weekend. I could knock it out in a day

Hmmm, maybe I'll post pics for you of my new home so you can see the floors in action.

Any reccomnedations on what I should be looking for in a laminate?

I bought 1200sqft at SAMS. It came with the padding on the bottom so it was one less thing to install.

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/rage187/100_0579.JPG
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/rage187/100_0580.JPG
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/rage187/100_0581.JPG
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/rage187/100_0582.JPG
http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/rage187/100_0583.JPG

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: djheater
There's an ifloor.com store location pretty close to me, so I'll stop by some weekend and check stuff out.

I live in a small home with no upgrades, and am looking to replace the old carpet on the first floor, with a solid surface. I have three young kids, with lots of friends and a dog so it takes a beating and unless I steam it every two weeks looks like a murder scene.

I have very little money, but would squeeze this in, (no x-mas for mom and dad this year)so I'm looking for something that I can install myself, that's attractive and will still look nice when we're ready to move in ten years.

I have my little heart set on bamboo, because it's attractive, renewable and cheaper, but some of the laminates look pretty nice, at least the picture do.

Any body have thoughts, or experiences they could share that will stear me in the right direction.

I'd end up looking to cover about 500 sq ft

Thx!

bamboo was my 1st thought when i saw your title.

but little $?

laminates are the way to go.

 

[Kenazo]

If you go for laminate, do not skimp. We have some really nice looking stuff that is one "board" per each piece of laminate. Each piece also has beveled edges on all four edges, to make it look more like hardwood.

If you get that stuff where there's three "boards" on each piece it just looks like crap. People ask us all the time if we have hardwood.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: djheater
There's an ifloor.com store location pretty close to me, so I'll stop by some weekend and check stuff out.

I live in a small home with no upgrades, and am looking to replace the old carpet on the first floor, with a solid surface. I have three young kids, with lots of friends and a dog so it takes a beating and unless I steam it every two weeks looks like a murder scene.

I have very little money, but would squeeze this in, (no x-mas for mom and dad this year)so I'm looking for something that I can install myself, that's attractive and will still look nice when we're ready to move in ten years.

I have my little heart set on bamboo, because it's attractive, renewable and cheaper, but some of the laminates look pretty nice, at least the picture do.

Any body have thoughts, or experiences they could share that will stear me in the right direction.

I'd end up looking to cover about 500 sq ft

Thx!

bamboo was my 1st thought when i saw your title.

but little $?

laminates are the way to go.

Actually you can get Bamboo at the price of good laminate now.

www.lumberliquidators.com has solid bamboo for $1.99 a sq foot. Of course the install I think may be more.

But I have never seen bamboo floors and don;t know what type of upkeep they have and durability.

 

[mercanucaribe]

Bamboo is the most eco friendly and extremely tough. Of course a lot of fuddy duddy ATOTers, the same 20somethings who buy LL Bean products and ugly Victorian furniture, will rave about hardwood.

 

[DainBramaged]

I used to work with bamboo. It's beautiful and durable. I would go with that if you can afford it.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Hardwood is considered to be the best by most old-fashioned folks. If you intend on selling the home, go hardwood.

I've got a few friends that have gone the bamboo route and they are happy with them. I haven't gotten a chance to check them out yet, but they claim bamboo is just as good as hardwood. I think they also ended up saving money on the bamboo. Not sure about everywhere, but it should be cheaper since bamboo is basically a weed.

 

[SampSon]

It depends on how much you want to spend initially and how much you want to spend for any potential repairs at the end of your time in that dwelling.

Hardwood really is the standard by which most is judged (excluding ceramic tile due to the utilization in this case). Bamboo isn't readily used in the US currently, due to it's non native production and lack of widespread recognition. Laminate is the historically accepted lower end floor covering. Though in recent years advancing technology has made big steps for laminate flooring.

Generally it's' hardwood > bamboo >=laminate or hardwood > laminate>= bamboo.

Hardwood is thicker than bamboo and laminate. Bamboo and laminate are very close in thickness in most cases, like within .1 inches.
Hardwood and bamboo are more difficult to install than laminate and generally more expensive.

I think the cure for your affliction is some high quality laminate floors, installed by dad himself. Your wife will be impressed and may even initiate the baby making ritual on the new floor.

 

[drnickriviera]

Some pics of a tile and lamitate floor I just finished. $1.00/sq including underlayment

Pic1
Pic2
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Pic5

One thing i've seen about bamboo is the wide range of Janka hardness. Some of it's soft, some like strand woven bamboo is as hard as Brazillian Cherry.

 

[iamwiz82]

iFloor has some very nice laminates, we ordered a bunch of samples and then I proceeded to beat them with hammers, screwdrivers, etc, to see what kind of durability they have. I wa suprised how well the more expensive ones held up.

 

[dartworth]

If you are on a tight budget, I would go with a laminate flooring. They are fairly easy to install, don't require any special nailing guns, and are already finished.

I've installed a few different types of laminates and you truly do get what you pay for. I would suggest shopping around and not buying the first one you like from Home Depot or Lowe's.

If you do go with the laminate flooring, remember to work from at least 3 different boxes of material. This will help with creating a more random natural look.

Just google laminate flooring, you will find enough info to read for the whole weekend.

Here are some helpful links:

Laminate Flooring @ doityourself.com

Installing a laminate floor

Laminate Flooring FAQs

FloorFacts

 

[vi edit]

Kids and a dog? Laminate for sure. Nothing like seeing your dog's nails claw the ever living crap out of $4000 in hardwood floors. And this is on brazillian cherry hardwood, one of the hardest ones out there. Plus you have kids doing a number on it too.

Spills, claws, dragging stuff across the surface, ect. Go with laminate now and forget about it. It's infinitely more durable than hardwood.

Yes hardwood looks better and can be resurfaced, but it simply can not stand up to the wear and tear that quality laminates can take.

Get a quality laminate and don't skimp on the subflooring under it. Yes it might end up coming out about the same price wise as a cheaper hardwood, but trust me. It's gutwrenching seeing a big scratch or dent in your beautiful floors.