Hardwood vs Bamboo Flooring. And where to buy.

In My Humble Opinion
21

On the subject of Lumber Liquidators, I have had this experience:

I purchased what I thought was enough red oak flooring to do my project. I was right on the money, except that I forgot about the stairs, I wanted the stair runners to match the floor. So I went back to get more red oak. What they sold me was completely different from the first batch - different interlocking shape, different board lengths (first batch was mixed lengths, second batch was all one length) and somewhat different color.

Lesson 1: make sure you buy all you need in the first batch. I was lucky that this batch going on the stairs didn’t have to interlock with the first batch on the floor.

Also, they sold me red oak bullnose for the stairs. Only it didn’t really match. It was noticeably thicker, and it had a different finish from the floor.

Lesson 2: no real lesson here except to check around for other places to buy your floor. I would have gladly spent more to get a better match between the bullnose and the flooring. There are competitors, even aside from the big box stores like Home Depot (which I would avoid), and you might get some good advice for your money.

p.s. I think engineered flooring is probably a good compromise between solid wood (expensive) and laminate (not re-finishable). You can probably re-finish once or twice with engineered, and really, how many more times than that would you need to? I’ve had engineered flooring in for a couple of years, so it’s too soon to tell, but a floating floor was a lot easier to install than a nailed floor.
Roddy

22

Thanks for the comments re engineered flooring.

**Roderick{/b] - Check the business model - I have never been in a LL’ but the term “Liquidate” means to move a product fast and cheap. These stores do not have fixed suppliers - they buy on the “distressed inventory” market, which comes down to an owner with a few tons of merchandise, but no money for the next payroll. Sometimes called the “spot market”.

Have you seen on of those “WE BUY HOUSES” signs? Those are the liquidators of the residential business.
Big Lots and Drug Barn are such stores.

23

Can’t help about this particular company, but we have had bamboo floors in my wife’s study for several years now, and it’s still almost as good as the day it was laid, not significantly scratched at all. Ours is a German-made product IIRC. It is a very smooth surface, noticeably more so than the Oregon pine and terracotta tile we have in the rest of the house.