Thread: BAMBOO FLOOR

I think you will find most wood flooring that is direct stick (not just bamboo) will act in much the same way. In my last house I had jarrah floorboards layed in just this manner and was told in no uncertain terms to keep it dry, and to be VERY careful when mopping (ie. don't use hot water, don't just pour water everywhere with the mop, etc). That looks like a bugger of a repair job!

Bamboo is apparently more prone to swelling and shrinkage than others. I was advised not to use it for my house without an expansion strip down the middle of the living area.

Same with Floating floors either laminate or like are MDF based on a lot of them, they also don't like getting wet. But fashion sees these things installed all over the place.

We've had it for some years. It's brilliant with dogs. There are absolutely no marks on the floors from dog claws. Ours is coffee coloured and shows no sign of wear.

Re expansion, I removed all the skirting boards prior to the flooring being laid to allow an expansion slot along the walls. The skirting boards were refitted and it covers the slot.

To allow expansion under the architraves around doors, the installer undercut the vertical sections of the architrave to allow the flooring to fit underneath. Very neat.

Re water, we soaked pieces of the flooring in a bucket of water for several days and saw no appreciable change and no damage.

These pics show at how neat the floor looks when undercut at the architrave and door frames. The pic also shows I needed to repaint the chipped paint around the frame!



The skirting boards were new. I pre-cut and pre-painted them. You can see I hadn't painted over the puttied nail holes when I took the pics.

Had bamboo down for 6 years - like Ron, have found it brilliant with the dogs who can't mark it. I have had a flood on one part of it that came out of the laundry - it dried out no problem, but I have a bit in the kitchen that was subjected to a slow leak from the old dishwasher over a couple of months and this has caused it to swell locally, but not to the point it needs replacing.

Any timber laminate would do the same thing, but isn't anywhere near as hard wearing.

Both love and hate our bamboo floor. Rotten thing expands and contacts 360 degrees and leaves me kicking board back often! Band new renovation!!!

Love its price. Do not try puting in in to several rooms without cuts at doorways or you might like me love and HATE it

We had ours layed when we did out renivations 7 years ago . It is also coffee coloured All the skirting boards were removed & new ones fitted after the floor was layed. I think the problem with ours is that they glued it to the slab so it go anywere but up when it expands. I agree it is very scratch resistant. It seams to be a real problem here in Qld , I had a couple of guys in to look at it & booth told me it is a common problem in Brisbane.

Originally Posted by NavyDiver

Both love and hate our bamboo floor. Rotten thing expands and contacts 360 degrees and leaves me kicking board back often! Band new renovation!!!

Love its price. Do not try puting in in to several rooms without cuts at doorways or you might like me love and HATE it

Never had expansion and contraction issues with mine, but mine wasn't cheap. Like a lot of flooring products, the price range and what you get for that is very wide. Stability was one of the big selling points for the product I bought. It weighs a tonne too, about twice the weight of a bit of similar timber. Mine runs in a continual length from my front door, up the corridor, throught the lounge, into the back bedroom corridor with no expansion joints - a long way, I'll get a pic later.