Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 Mar 24, 2012 7:12 am Bamboo sales are through the roof around Australia. Cannot get enough stock to satisfy the demand... Is this because it is seen to be better than timber in terms of hardness and perhaps the Eco story with it ? Or does it come down to price and the fact it tends to be less expensive ? If you could buy good quality timber at the same price as Bamboo, which would you choose ? CALL 1300GOHARVEY www.harveynormanflooring.com.au Carpet, Rugs, Timber, Bamboo, Laminate, Vinyl & Vinyl Tiles TIMBERMAX Real Australian Hardwood Flooring IN STORES NOW Re: Is timber or bamboo the preferred floor these days ? 2Mar 26, 2012 1:12 pm For me It comes down to the cost and durability. I prefer the look and colour of some of the timbers over the limited choice you have with bamboo however being so much cheaper and harder it was an easy decision to choose bamboo. Re: Is timber or bamboo the preferred floor these days ? 3Mar 26, 2012 1:34 pm If real timber was as cheap as bamboo.. i'd be all over it. Building with Jandson Homes - Eclipse 18. http://adgnetworks.blogspot.com/ Re: Is timber or bamboo the preferred floor these days ? 4Mar 31, 2012 10:08 am we were dead set on getting the natural bamboo - last week I went to a display home and had another look at it. The sales lady in the house showed me where there were little dents all over the floor from people wearing shoes with pointy heels. Its put me right off it - we are now going for redgum Re: Is timber or bamboo the preferred floor these days ? 5Mar 31, 2012 12:17 pm auds we were dead set on getting the natural bamboo - last week I went to a display home and had another look at it. The sales lady in the house showed me where there were little dents all over the floor from people wearing shoes with pointy heels. Its put me right off it - we are now going for redgum Doesn't sound like quality strandwoven bamboo to me. Keep your options open.. sounds like you experienced the worst of the worst Is timber or bamboo the preferred floor these days ? 6Mar 31, 2012 12:40 pm If bamboo was as cheap as carpet/tiles, I'd definitely go for bamboo. As we are comparing wood and bamboo.... I have to admit, if I could make that choice, I'd find it difficult. There are some stunningly beautiful wooden floors available, but I worry that the nicest wooden floors come from beautiful, old growth forests. If someone asked me, would I rather have a beautiful old growth forest down the road from me, or those trees on the floor in my house? I'd definitely pick the forest. On the other hand, if they were purposely grown trees, for wooden floors, then.... I'd probably choose the wooden floors. As long as I can get the colour and type of wood that I like. I would choose bamboo because I do prefer lighter coloured wood floors, people say it is harder wearing ,though this is yet to be proven, as I believe bamboo floors are a kind of composite material, due to the shape of bamboo. I'd also choose it if it was much cheaper and because I'd rather have bamboo on my floors than growing like a weed around the corner from my house. If we had giant pandas in Australia, I might have a different opinion Re: Is timber or bamboo the preferred floor these days ? 7Mar 31, 2012 4:13 pm Wood! Bamboo can't compare with the individual beauty of real wood grain. But it's still a good looking, easy clean floor. I would also change my mind very quickly if old growth forests were threatened. I believe bamboo is grown commercially, so the pandas are safe. Is timber or bamboo the preferred floor these days ? 8Mar 31, 2012 5:26 pm We have gone for Nutmeg bamboo - while it doesn't have the grain of timber, it does have more variation than many of the bamboos that are available. We had Sydney Bluegum in a previous house and it was very easy to damage - we had dents after the first week. Bluegum has a janka (hardness) rating of 9, red gum is 10 and strand-woven bamboo is 16 - it is one of the hardest 'timber' floors you can get http://ultimateflooring.com.au/About_Bamboo_Hardwood_Flooring/Bamboo_Hardness_Test.html Paul Re: Is timber or bamboo the preferred floor these days ? 9Mar 31, 2012 6:20 pm For anyone interested here's the hardness ratings, higher number is the harder wearing. Species Janka (kN) Bamboo (strand woven) 16.1 Grey Box 15.0 Ironbark 14.0 Grey Iron Bark 14.0 Mahogany 12.0 Jatoba 12.0 Santos Mahogany 12.0 Copper Cherry 11.6 Spotted Gum 11.0 Brushbox 9.5 Kempas 9.2 Blackbutt 9.1 Karri 9.0 Sydney Blue Gum 9.0 Pearl Beech 8.7 Tallowwood 8.6 Merbau 8.6 Jarrah 8.5 Stringybark 8.1 Doussie 8.0 Flooded / Rose Gum7.5 Australian Beech 7.5 Wormy Chestnut 7.5 Chestnut 7.5 Messmate 7.1 Bamboo (vertical) 6.6 Oak 6.1 Cypress Pine 6.1 White oak 6.0 Tasmanian Oak 5.5 Alpine Ash 4.9 Victorian Ash 4.5 So you can see that unless it's strand woven bamboo, it's not very hard wearing, as PaulW11 and cenz say. Re: Is timber or bamboo the preferred floor these days ? 10Mar 31, 2012 7:07 pm Thanks for the responses everyone. Yes the bamboo is commercially grown, but it is also of a different type than that eaten by Pandas, so no worries there. The costs associated with installing tiles are generally close to twice that of a laying a floating floor, so if you deduct that from the bamboo price, and you compare it with a good quality tile, you'll find there is no issues economically. What if there was an amazingly realistic laminate floor that this author, with over 20 years experience in flooring was fooled by this week in domotex Shanghai (ie we thought it was real wood). ? On close inspection, running your hands over it, looking at the boards from various perspectives and everything.....we couldn't tell the difference until we looked at it side on...it was next to the real timber and you couldn't tell where it transitioned from one to another.......now what if that was available to Australian customers ? Would it tempt you ? CALL 1300GOHARVEY www.harveynormanflooring.com.au Carpet, Rugs, Timber, Bamboo, Laminate, Vinyl & Vinyl Tiles TIMBERMAX Real Australian Hardwood Flooring IN STORES NOW Re: Is timber or bamboo the preferred floor these days ? 11Mar 31, 2012 7:26 pm Not a fan of laminate TBH HNFT my wife wanted Bamboo. She would try to sell me on bamboo every opportunity she could. But I want a rich red hued Australian timber floor. Bamboo is the material for the future though. I went outside once. The graphics were alright, but the gameplay sucked! Settlement:22nd June Slab:27th August Frame:16th Sept Bricked:21st Oct Roof:24th Nov Linings HANDOVER23rd March! Re: Is timber or bamboo the preferred floor these days ? 12Mar 31, 2012 9:00 pm Except for my love of spotted gum and marri I might be tempted. I love the rich variations in those two timbers, not that i can afford either one!! Depending on the thickness- (amount of re-sanding possible)- and colour it was available in, I'd be interested to see the new laminate, some of the new ones are amazingly real looking. Re: Is timber or bamboo the preferred floor these days ? 13Mar 31, 2012 9:21 pm out of only those 2 options I'd choose timber over bamboo every time. Re: Is timber or bamboo the preferred floor these days ? 14Mar 31, 2012 10:30 pm HN Flooring Team we couldn't tell the difference until we looked at it side on...it was next to the real timber and you couldn't tell where it transitioned from one to another.......now what if that was available to Australian customers ? Would it tempt you ? I'd be interested if supply/install was keenly priced. So what is the cost of the product? Building with Jandson Homes - Eclipse 18. http://adgnetworks.blogspot.com/ Is timber or bamboo the preferred floor these days ? 15Mar 31, 2012 11:45 pm Nah, too late for me I'm afraid. And I'm pretty sure I'm getting "average quality" tiles. I wasn't given wood/bamboo as an option with my builder Even carpet & tiles was an upgrade! Re: Is timber or bamboo the preferred floor these days ? 16Apr 01, 2012 9:40 am adgn HN Flooring Team we couldn't tell the difference until we looked at it side on...it was next to the real timber and you couldn't tell where it transitioned from one to another.......now what if that was available to Australian customers ? Would it tempt you ? I'd be interested if supply/install was keenly priced. So what is the cost of the product? That is yet to be decided upon, sorry. Of course we will update the forum readers with this and other new flooring solutions being launched as soon as they happen. As a rough ball park figure you could assume it will be less than $50m2. CALL 1300GOHARVEY www.harveynormanflooring.com.au Carpet, Rugs, Timber, Bamboo, Laminate, Vinyl & Vinyl Tiles TIMBERMAX Real Australian Hardwood Flooring IN STORES NOW Re: Is timber or bamboo the preferred floor these days ? 17Apr 01, 2012 9:48 am Treeseachanger Except for my love of spotted gum and marri I might be tempted. I love the rich variations in those two timbers, not that i can afford either one!! Depending on the thickness- (amount of re-sanding possible)- and colour it was available in, I'd be interested to see the new laminate, some of the new ones are amazingly real looking. You can't re-sand laminate flooring at all so it's more to do with the AC rating, which is a scratch rating. AC3 is normal, AC2 is not as good, and AC4 is better (easy to work out). AC5 is rare in Australia. CALL 1300GOHARVEY www.harveynormanflooring.com.au Carpet, Rugs, Timber, Bamboo, Laminate, Vinyl & Vinyl Tiles TIMBERMAX Real Australian Hardwood Flooring IN STORES NOW Re: Is timber or bamboo the preferred floor these days ? 18Apr 01, 2012 10:31 am If we were to build the house d/h & I originally designed, the living area upstairs would have timber floorboards. I love variation in grey ironbard & spotted gum but I must say I am also quite taken by the lighter coloured bamboo flooring. I don't think I would be interested in vinyl because, even though it may mimic real bamboo in the looks department, it still wouldn't feel like timber. "Whoever says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain!" Re: Is timber or bamboo the preferred floor these days ? 19Apr 03, 2012 10:56 pm Whoops I was thinking of sanding engineered wood floors- if that's the correct term? The ones that have the thin coating of real grain wood on them. Good to know the "scratch rating". How would you find the rating, or is it advertised in the product information? Re: Is timber or bamboo the preferred floor these days ? 20Apr 04, 2012 5:17 am Treeseachanger Whoops I was thinking of sanding engineered wood floors- if that's the correct term? The ones that have the thin coating of real grain wood on them. Good to know the "scratch rating". How would you find the rating, or is it advertised in the product information? If its a good rating like an AC3 or an AC4 then you might find it on the products packaging, if it is a poor rating it may be in tiny writing or not at all CALL 1300GOHARVEY www.harveynormanflooring.com.au Carpet, Rugs, Timber, Bamboo, Laminate, Vinyl & Vinyl Tiles TIMBERMAX Real Australian Hardwood Flooring IN STORES NOW 8 6138 I'll be here once a week, lets make that Mondays. If you have a question, this will be the day I will log in for a look around.. If your lucky, sooner. Ask away...… 0 6366 Engineering timber is certainly a less fuss option, times cheaper to supply and install and better withstands humidity. 1 15909 |