apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I am in the process of installing Plyboo bamboo flooring in my kitchen, so I can't testify to its durability quite yet. What I understand is that there are manufacturers with better reps than others (Plyboo and Teragren were recommended to me), and that there are two types - normal and strand. The strand version is compressed under pressure to be a lot stronger. If you hold samples up against each other you will notice it weighs about 3 times as much. It is supposed to be highly durable. See: http://www.plyboo.com/strand.html

We just installed bamboo flooring in our front office. I can't say anything about the long run because we just got done last week, but I can say it looks great and the price was very close to wood.

With the dogs though, I would have to say it does dent easily. My son dropped a wooden sorting cube from about 2 feet up and there was a dent left. You might want to look for something different in that way.

Lastly, the staff person at Lumber Liquidators, where we got our flooring, also said that if you get the carbonized bamboo it is even softer. The bamboo is actually burned to get the darker color and that's why it's called carbonized.

Just my 2 cents. You can check out our floor on our blog at In the Key of Life

We've had bamboo floors from MOSO since 2002. The three dogs haven't done a thing to it. The only damage is from dropping things & it denting a tad. Oh, and a small rock under the couch when my dh decided to move it by himself. ::rolls eyes::

Go for it!

It's great to read these responses. My husband and I are going to a store near us (www.greenfloors.com) this Saturday to order bamboo floors. For anyone in the DC area, the people at this store have been incredibly helpful by phone, explaining differences between floors, treatments, etc. Even though we've already made the decision to install them, I am still curious about owners experiences with them. Great question!

Bamboo floors are great - very strong & hard. One thing you have to be careful is how they are installed and finished. Prefinished bamboo floor are great for a consistent finish, but the downside is to make sure they are PROTECTED during installation. If the finished is scratched then you have to refinish the entire floor. But you don't have to get prefinished floors. Plyboo, Teragren, and Dragon Board are good companies.
http://www.greenmakersupply.com/products/ultratouch/4.php?page_id=69

Another VERY cool wood floor is TerraMai reclaimed floors. They have a variety reclaimed wood floors and timber, so because they come from old industrial buildings, houses, etc. they have a very unique look. The Cinnamon Flooring is the coolest - they are made of reclaimed, un-treated railroad ties.
http://terramai.com/products/flooring/index.html

We have bamboo since 2002, too. As said,the only damage is from dropping things but it can be easily removed. Hold a steem iron over the damage for a minute and it desapeares. Scratches desapair from alone after few months.
It still looks beautiful and feels great!
Go for it.