laminate, oak, or bamboo flooring?

[mzamzow]

I am nesting (!), and DH and I have been talking for a while about replacing some yucky carpeting with flooring. I am really stuck on what kind of flooring to get. DH and a buddy or two would install. So ease of installation is a factor. We'd prefer a floating floor. As inexpensive as possible would be nice, too. Other than that, here are our choices as I see them:

- Laminate -- Not natural, some outgassing from adhesive, but most durable and requires least maintenance of all our choices.

- Hard wood (oak) -- We have oak flooring our bedrooms. I think this can come in a floating floor. Natural wood, but requires sanding every several years. Fairly durable but not the best.

- Bamboo -- Can be $ from what I have heard. Is a "manufactured" flooring, which Consumer Reports says is not great as far as durability. Can only be sanded once. But is made from a pretty renewable material.

Anyone have any experience with any of these? Thanks.

[mommyabroad]

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[stellimamo]

My dp did wood flooring for awhile and he hated working w/ the liminate. His favorite was the bamboo. He loved working w/ it and it looks so great when you get it in. It is actually pretty durable from what I know. There are even cutting boards being made of bamboo!

[julesinottawa]

We've had laminate before and hardwood currently. I like the hardwood better for appearances and the feel of it under bare feet but the laminate was more durable and worry free. I just saw a bamboo floor for the first time the other day in a house that is being renovated and it was beautiful. I don't know anything about it in terms of maintenance or durability but it sure looks lovely.

[Chinese Pistache]

IF we didn't have tile, I'd love bamboo. Check around for pricing. I don't think it's as costly as it once was since it's becoming more common. You can learn a lot at this website: www.ifloors.com

[Baby Hopes]

I'm unearthing this thread. : My husband and I are just a couple weeks away from installing new floors in our home and we want to finish the downstairs with hardwood. (or cork, or bamboo.) I hear a lot of cheerleading in NFL circles for bamboo floor, but I have as yet run across some one who can personally testify to it's durability. We stopped at a large floor-wharehouse yesterday and the sales guy all but rolled his eyes when I asked about the bamboo flooring. According to him bamboo floors dent and scratch easily and for the expense I can get a high grade hardwood that will "wear" better and have a longer lifespan.

I've been trying to do a lot of online reading but I am not certain if I'm just running up against bias. Bamboo flooring companies say this:

Bamboo has been used as a construction material for thousands of years. In fact, bamboo has a tensile strength of 28,000 per square inch compared to 23,000 for steel and a Janka hardness rating of between 1300 and 1900, depending on finish and region of growth, making it harder than most hardwoods and perfect for flooring. Bamboo is a grass not a wood, and as a grass, it develops quicker than hardwoods and can be harvested within five to six years of planting, making it a truly renewable resource.

But then I found a website (lost the link) that pretty much trashed bamboo flooring as not having the same longevity as hardwood. Not to mention I stumbled accross a link that questioned the "Labor practices in the Pacific Rim countries" and I got to feeling all conflicted.

How does a person go about knowing if they've purchased "good" bamboo vs "cheap" bamboo? Anyone know? The iFloors link has bamboo flooring at an extremely competitive rate. However, what good does it do me to install flooring that is going to look awful in 5 years?

Help?

Oh, and for those curious. I did run across this link. It is a moisture meter settings chart for flooring.

Regarding cork flooring. I actually LOVE this idea. Although, I haven't found any styles or designs that Dh likes. So that's probably not going to happen. (Hense my limited interes/research in cork.) Although if anyone has any links to cork flooring that does a better job of immitating hardwood designs. I'd be interested. :

[mzamzow]

Here is an update. We decided to go with laminate, pretty much for cost reasons. It is by far the least expensive option for the durability. And we are happy with our choice aesthetically. It feels different under our feet but it is installed in our highest traffic area so I think we will be okay.

I, too, ran across a web site where the posters trashed bamboo (where people were actually talking about class action lawsuits against the flooring industry for lying about bamboo's durability). It really freaked me out. Later, I went to a local store that sells environmentally-friendly products of all kinds, and inquired about bamboo flooring. I told the woman about this extremely negative web site. She said, cheap bamboo will scratch easily. The stuff they sold -- for $7.99 a square foot -- would never scratch. So, she basically said you get what you pay for. Well, there is no way we can affor $7.99/sq. ft.! So we went with laminate.

Maybe we will do our last remaining carpeted room in decent bamboo one day! Thanks to everyone for your input.

Monica

[sedalbj]

I had laminate and now have hardwood in the main areas of our house (kitchen, hallway, etc). I really miss the laminate. we have a nice quality bruce hardwood but it has a water based urethane on it so i am not supposed to use water on it. i do anyway because i can't get it clean w/ the cleaners designed for it (and now have to get it refinished, in oil based this time). the laminate was so much easier to clean, and i think better on my legs when standing (dishes) because it is on a layer of foam. we also installed a cork floor recently and while it looks nice and cleans wonderfully and muffles foot fall sound, it fades in the sun. so i guess i would go with high quality laminate every time!