Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 Jun 17, 2009 3:40 pm We are thinking of getting Bamboo flooring put in because we like the look and that it is enviromentally friendly. We had a kitchen designer come around on the weekend and he mentioned you have to be careful when laying it on concrete because it can absorb moisture and start cupping. I was wondering if anyone had had any expirence with bamboo flooring. Any responses would be appreciated. Re: Bamboo flooring experiences? 2Jun 17, 2009 3:50 pm Hi dstann! We're going to have bamboo throughout the main area of the house (including the kitchen). . . we've heard that there are some bad batches of the strandwoven stuff coming in from China, but we thought "what the hell" and we're getting it anyway. I think the idea is to go with a company that has a bit of experience in laying the stuff (as it's different to laying wood), and that's been in the business a few years, so they're more likely to still be in business if something goes wrong in 2, 5 or 10 years time. We've been to see a couple of different suppliers. . . we'd love to go with one of the expensive mobs, but we just can't afford it. I think we're pretty much settled on C0nc0rd Timber (Parramatta Road, Lidcombe). . . they've been in the business for 18 years and have said that they've had problems using the glue method, so they only lay the stuff using the "hidden nail method" on either beams of wood on the concrete, or pieces of cut-to-size plywood. . . that's got me thinking that the extra space and beams or plywood will give you a bit of protection from the moisture, but I couldn't be certain. Anyway, they've quoted $89 per sqm, laid. . . can't sniff at that! We also went out to Li0n K1ng flooring at Dur@l, but they've only been in business for about 4 years, and wanted to lay it straight onto the concrete with just a few beads of glue. . . we asked them to quote on having it stuck to the floor (with glue, like tiles are stuck down), and they quoted $100 per sqm. . . Re: Bamboo flooring experiences? 4Jun 23, 2009 9:37 pm Hello, I've been reading through the thread and i'm quite intrigued re the bamboo floors. Jodge do you know if the place at lidcombe has a website? I've been reading a few reviews on the floors and the big concern is it's durability. People mentioned that after two years its done its dash. Has anyone had any feedback on this? Found a pic of the flooring i have fallen in love with but not so sure i can get away with a dark coloured floor in my place but the texture is unusual, i love it. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Bamboo flooring experiences? 5Jun 24, 2009 8:58 am Hi panthus! Yes, it's http://www.concordtimber.com.au. They don't have the snazzy dark stuff you're looking for though (I think). . .it's gorgeous! Re: Bamboo flooring experiences? 6Jun 24, 2009 9:44 am Thanks Jodge, i'll take a good look through it tonight when i get home. Sadly i don't think i can have the snazzy dark coloured stuff anyway. *sigh* One day i'll win lotto and have a larger place by the sea to revamp in any colour i like! Re: Bamboo flooring experiences? 7Jun 24, 2009 9:51 am I love bamboo too, but one thing I read when reserching is that it apparently has a tendency to bleach if exposed to a lot of UV. I imagine that certain sealers would be more prone to this, and perhaps darker colours(?). It would be worth seeing if the floor you're looking at has some kind of warranty for this. Re: Bamboo flooring experiences? 9Jun 24, 2009 10:05 am I was reading another thread on here about people with hardwood floor and they mentioned that their floors have darkened (not bleached) from the sun. They moved a rug and noticed a comparable difference but also mentioned that if the rug wasn't put back down that in a short period of time the difference matched up again. Re: Bamboo flooring experiences? 10Jun 24, 2009 10:21 am That's interesting panthus. . . definitely seen the difference in wood colour under rugs etc, but didn't know it matched up again over time. We've got a border collie who likes to chase the cat around the house (when the cat's not chasing him), so rips up the floor good and proper with his claws. . . we were going to have tiles throughout the main part of the house, but I managed to convince the other half that my toes would drop off if I were to have to suffer freezing cold tiles every day. . . we took a sample of blackbutt timber floor and strandwoven bamboo floor home and set about them with a set of keys. . . the blackbutt marked a lot easier than the bamboo, hence we've decided to go with the bamboo. Our bamboo flooring will be at the back of the house (north facing), so won't be subjected to any summer sun, so hopefully won't fade (we're going for the natural honey coloured one anyway). Re: Bamboo flooring experiences? 11Jun 24, 2009 10:49 am haha sounds like you have had the same conversation that i have had with my husband. If he had his way we would have polished concrete right through so our compromise is wooden floors with some fluffy rugs. I have two cats that skid and run with claws out so i too was worried about its durability. We also want to rent the place out in about two years so need something that can handle the worst of tenants. I'm glad to read that you put it through the key test and the bamboo won. I actually hadn't considered bamboo floors before hand but the more i read on here the more convinced that it's the way to go. My next biggest hurdle is to convince my husband that it's the way to go. He's away at the moment so it gives me time to gather up the facts. I was referred a website over night and on the website they mention the hardness of the bamboo. Here is an excerpt from http://www.bamboofloorstore.com.au "Bamboos natural durability ensures a flooring alternative that compares favorably with traditional hardwood flooring. Timber hardwood flooring hardness is measured on the ‘Janka’ hardness scale. BALTIC PINE 2.1 TASMANIAN OAK 4.9 VIC ASH 4.9 VERTICAL BAMBOO 6.8 JARRAH 8.5 HORIZONTAL BAMBOO 8.5 STRAND WOVEN BAMBOO 14.3" This i found interesting. Re: Bamboo flooring experiences? 12Jun 24, 2009 11:31 am ah panthus! I've seen the polished concrete, it looks amazing. . . I just worry that it's going to look outdated in a few years. . . after growing up with avocado bathrooms, retro wallpaper and peach shagpile carpet, I'm a true believer in keeping things neutral and traditional (white bathroom suites and tiles all the way!). . . though I suppose with the polished concrete you could just cover it with whatever you like and you'd never know it was there anyway! Yeah! I've read the same thing about the hardness of bamboo! I'm hoping it holds up! Oooh, I bought an apartment then rented it out after a couple of years too! One piece of advice I'd give is to put in flickmixer taps throughout the house. . . I've always had problems with the traditional style separate hot and cold taps, I have a habit of turning them off too tight and having to replace the washers often. . . which is ok if you're living in the house, but having tenants wreck them can be costly if they have to call a plumber out to change them each time they stuff up. Also, I had a depreciation report done on my apartment. . . the thing was 15 years old, but I got about $4000 back in tax because of it! Amazing! Keep all the receipts for stuff you buy for the house (that will remain in it after you rent it out), you can claim on stuff even if you buy it before you rent it out (the depreciation people will be able to tell you), I went through "Washington Brown" for mine, as they were the cheapest at the time. . . I could even claim tax on their fee! Also, for CGT purposes, I think it's wise to have a valuation done on the property just before you rent it out, though a financial advisor would be able to give more advice on this. . . did you know that if you live there for a year, or six months (I think) then rent it out, if you sell it within 6 years of renting it out, you don't have to pay capital gains tax? (Don't quote me on that though). Re: Bamboo flooring experiences? 13Jun 24, 2009 11:57 am Thats great advise on the taps. I hadn't actually thought of that before. I'm very new to the renovating world so i'm a sponge with any advise, right down to washers! . We bought this place from people who had rented it out and its true, all our taps were shot to pieces! Now you have set me on a mission to find new taps! haha There are some wonderful little tax perks with investment property's we just have to watch out for those hidden traps too. It would be nice to see some stability in the market though over the next 24 months so we can work out whats going on!! Crazy economy. Re: Bamboo flooring experiences? 14Jun 24, 2009 12:26 pm Yep, I was an absolute novice to everything too (still am). . . I bought my apartment in Sutherland 3 years ago, it was about 13 years old at the time and still had the original paint on the walls. . . it was rented out for $245 a week at the time. . . I moved in, painted all the ceilings and walls, did a few superficial (and cheap) renovations - (changed the taps, resurfaced the vanity doors (the woodchip had been damaged by water and they were flaking away) and changed the handles, changed the plastic towel rails for nice stainless steel ones, added a cupboard to the laundry and put up some ikea paper towel racks). I rented the spare room out for $180 a week while I was there, then moved out after 18 months and rented the place out for $330 a week. Re-rented it for $360 a week just before I sold it last December (though I'd replaced the oven and rangehood with nice new shiny silver ones). I didn't even replace the old worn carpet. . . I was amazed at what a lick of paint can do to a the price of a rental property (I think it was the feature walls that did it). I definitely don't regret not spending much money on the renovations though. . . tenants don't look after things the way they would if it was their own home (I'm a tenant and I'm guilty!) But basically, apart from that . . . and painting my other half's house for selling it, we're both pretty green when it comes to this building business. . . I've learnt sooooo much from this forum (and from going backwards and forwards with the poor poor builder), we're having fun and we haven't even started building yet! Whereabouts are you building panthus? Re: Bamboo flooring experiences? 15Jun 24, 2009 12:56 pm Our little place is just down the road from your old place actually. We're in the heart of Cronulla. Love the location but our unit is exceptionally dated. It's a 1960's building but i think our unit was last renovated in the 80's. We too want to take the least-expensive approach however our biggest compulsory expense will be the the floors. At the moment we have a mish mash of bright blue carpet in the living areas, fake floorboards in the bedrooms and the kitchen and dinning room are blue tiled. The walls were yellow when we moved in too. It gave me motion sickness every time i walked in the room haha. So I'm in the midst of repainting the walls a light beige colour as we speak. Each night i go home from work and do a little bit more. Hopefully tonight it will be done...for the living areas anyway. I also contacted a wallpaper company in Queensland yesterday to send me some samples as I will be doing a feature wall in white contemporary wall paper. Not that i know anything about wallpaper. How hard can it be! I'm also trying very hard to get an electrician out to quote me on some new powerpoints and change the light fittings. So if you know anyone local, id love to hear a recommendation. All you asked was where my property is and you got the whole lot! haha I had a look at your blog. Fantastic block of land that you have. Very envious. Re: Bamboo flooring experiences? 16Jun 24, 2009 1:30 pm Oh! I see! If I'd read your answer earlier properly, I'd have picked that up! Isn't getting your first place just the best feeling in the world? I was SOOO excited. Cronulla's a great location, much better than Sutho. . . but I work in Artarmon so getting the train from Cronulla would have been a nightmare. . . my Sutho apartment was about 3 minutes walk from the train station (actually, I gave up getting the train after about 3 months and just drove instead). Yes, floors do cost a bloody fortune, we're carpetting quite a few rooms to try and keep the cost down a bit (rooms that have doors on them, so we can lock the stinky-fur-machines out), but we're still having to have 120square metres of bamboo (ouch). Oooh. . . 80's renovation. . . I'm thinking grey, black and red stripes. . .am I right? Oh yeah! I did all my walls in Dulux's light rice (a beige-type colour) (I think I did half strength, can't quite remember), then I did a mink colour feature wall for the living room, dark red feature for the bedroom, and green in the bathrooms (the tiles had green in them so there was nothing else I could do). I bought some canvases and used the leftover paint to do some "artwork" (I use the term loosely) for the bathrooms and to go over the switch box in the living room (I actually left it all in there when I rented it out and sold it). Oh yeah! How nice are some of these wallpapers now? Wallpaper is huge in England (that's where I'm from). . . mainly because the houses are all so old over there - you can cover cracks with wallpaper! I've never actually hung any, but my mum used to be a dab hand so I've seen her hang a roll or two. . . From what I can remember, she used to slap it up on the wall, move it into place (use lots of paste and match up the patterns to the previous piece), then slice the top (along the cornice) and the bottom (along the skirting) with a stanley knife . . .easy!!! (Let me know how you go) . . . actually. . . look it up on the web, I'm sure they'll have a better explanation of what to do! Ooh. . . electrician. . . I had one that worked for my real estate agent, but he was SOO SLOW and a bit of a butcher when it came to cutting up the kitchen to fit the rangehood. . . I could (and should) have done a better job myself, so as far as that goes I'm no use. . . why don't you start a new post and see if there's anyone that someone can recommend? Oh. . . you don't know what a "Whole lot" really is. . . I could talk on this site ALL DAY (but unfortunately, sometimes I have to do some work - bugger). And the block of land. . . have you seen the slope on it? We should put in a chair lift and get some fake snow, we'd make a FORTUNE! Re: Bamboo flooring experiences? 17Jun 25, 2009 11:00 am Hi Guys, We had bamboo flooring in our townhouse that we built & lived in for 2 years before renting it out. We loved it & it stood up to our 2 small dogs running around on it!! It was bamboo style boards in natural glued to the construction flooring- had it upstairs lounge/dining,kitchen & hallway. We would love to have it again in in the house we are planning to build but due to costs we are going with tiles... will have to get the slippers out!! I must say the bamboo is nice & warm on the feet! Have attached a couple of pics Loretta [img=http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/3112/dining.th.jpg] [img=http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/4571/20080210aroundthehouse0.th.jpg] Built The Jenmark with Cavalier Homes Macarthur. http://camdenacres.blogspot.com/ Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=17870 We are in - front landscaping begins Re: Bamboo flooring experiences? 19Jun 28, 2009 5:04 pm We have had ours for nearly 3 years now, the compressed bamboo in the lighter colour. It was done as a trial in my home office, so relatively rough use with chairs sliding over it etc, and it's been wet mopped a few times by mistake. So far it has held up very well, so we will definitely be putting it around the rest of the house when we renovate. But a cousin of mine had hers done by a different company, and it cupped after a year. Both were laid on concrete slabs. I haven't posted any company names as I'm not sure that's allowed, but feel free to PM me if you want to know who we used. You have mandatory building inspections and privately engaged building inspections. The difference between the two comes down to inspecting the building so it's safe and… 3 18178 1000000% definitely add insulation. I have in my home and it makes a big difference minimising sound transfer. Insulation is pretty cheap and definitely worth it 2 6260 Engineering timber is certainly a less fuss option, times cheaper to supply and install and better withstands humidity. 1 16004 |