Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering 1 Jun 14, 2014 8:42 pm I was always going to go with bamboo for our flooring (we have a concrete slab for the home we are building). But I've recently seen some spotted gum and fallen a bit too fond of it. So I've been investigating options of doing spotted gum on ply in a prefinished plank. I don't think we can afford to wait the extra weeks for flooring to acclimatise and dry up before we move in as rent is $$$. So I got some quotes today. Went out to Auburn in Sydney (big treck for us north siders) for some of the cheaper options. $85 for the Maganda bamboo installed and $115 for the timber installed on ply. I can't decide which will work better for us. Both I think will be a lovely finish. I kinda have to decide though as the back door is being installed in a recessed fashion and we need the flooring height for the fit out. The price will make a big difference I guess as we need 115m2 plus a staircase, but want to be happy with the finished product. I'm taking opinions if you feel up to it! Mr Brown Bear isn't helping. Re: Arrgh - can't decide! Solid prefinished timber or bamboo 2Jun 14, 2014 9:36 pm If you like spotted gum, just get it. Sure you'll pay more, but in a year's or 10 years time you won't regret not getting real Australian hardwood. Selling the house in 15 years time? Sand and repolish them and they will be like new (can you sand bamboo?). Spotted gum will be twice the price as today and like everything from China bamboo will be the same if not cheaper in 15 years time. I have spotted gum flooring, but never thought about using floorboards on staircases. My stair case builder was going to charge me more than twice the price of Vic Ash for spotted gum staircases. At those prices I just stuck with Vic Ash! Re: Arrgh - can't decide! Solid prefinished timber or bamboo 3Jun 17, 2014 4:32 pm I agree with JB1. The years will tick by fast. You'll have no issues resanding the Spotted gum. However many of the bamboo's do not sand well. Especially the ones that have been stringed and glued back together under pressure. They pit and require at least 5 coats to look any good and that is Big $$$$. Spend a little more now in the setup, save huge $$ in the long run. Mark. Floor Sanding Brisbane with The Perfect Process. Only at Quicksand & Polish. Mark. Like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/quicksandandpolish Re: Arrgh - can't decide! Solid prefinished timber or bamboo 4Jun 17, 2014 4:35 pm P.S. Prefinished planks don't need to be acclimatized. Just raw ones. If they are prefinished, they are sealed! There moisture content is already low and sealed. It isn't going to change. Floor Sanding Brisbane with The Perfect Process. Only at Quicksand & Polish. Mark. Like us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/quicksandandpolish Engineering timber is certainly a less fuss option, times cheaper to supply and install and better withstands humidity. 1 16180 I thought this would be a popular question but I haven't been able to find any similar posts. Perhaps I'm wording my searches wrong? When you have car insurance and the… 0 6745 If this is a custom build then I would expect the builder to set out the door frame closer to the wall to avoid the gap between architrave and the wall and or specify… 9 8430 |