New Floors - strand bamboo vs maple (flooring, opener, color)

[jenlion]

Looking to remove the carpet in our entire upstairs in our split-level. We have a dog, a cat, and two young boys. The floors will take a BEATING.

I like wood, but we are seriously considering strand bamboo. We brought some wood samples and strand bamboo samples home and beat on them. Nothing touched the strand bamboo - we couldn't dent or scratch it until I got out a bottle opener. The same force that it took to put a nick in the bamboo put a gouge in the wood (just birch, I think, on that sample, but wow, it was a major gouge).

So, my husband is in love with the bamboo. But thinking ahead, I worry about resale. Everybody likes wood; not everyone loves bamboo. Strand bamboo looks quite a bit like wood, and the one we're looking at buying (Teragren or possibly Higuera) is very-low-VOC (important to me), but it costs as much as a good maple I liked ($6.50 vs $7.25 a sq ft). This stuff is going to cost an arm and a leg.

I worry about denting, scratching, and slightly more expensive product with maple. And there's a huge factor too with my husband WORRYING about the wood. He will make us miserable being in the house if he's afraid it will dent or scratch all the time. With the bamboo, he's less worried. Less nagging is good.

I worry about scratching, discoloration, and resale if we use bamboo. It's difficult to find good information on this for strand. Lots of people upset at cheap bamboo, or soft horizontal planks under dog claws, or caramelized planks that discolored. But I can't tell what happens with strand bamboo over time. One of the rooms does get very bright light for part of the year.

Anyone have experience with maple and kids and animals and how it holds up? Or with natural strand bamboo and if it's as strong as it looks and whether it fades?

[kyle19125]

I wouldn't worry about resale so much because you'll have buyers in either camp who don't like a specific material, or worry about durability unless you're planning to move in a couple of years....and if that's the case go the least expensive route possible and forget about your design aesthetic and go for something more universally appealing like oak or light cherry. If you plan to stay I'd recommend Maple. Maple is one of the most durable choices for flooring and would urge you to buy the better quality as the sample of Birch you picked up doesn't replicate the same durability. Bellawood at Lumber Liquidators is the way to go. Good luck!

[gentlearts]

I, too, am looking at bamboo because for the durability. I think that resale is not a problem as long as it looks beautiful.

[SXN]

I don't think bamboo would hurt resale. If anything it would help attract a lot of buyers. It's "green" and sustainable flooring. Strand bamboo should hold up to wear and tear. I've read good things about Teragren and EcoTimber. EcoFusion has a lower cost line and I bought about 1000 sqft for my house - love it. I have kids and pets and dropped a few things and so far not a scratch. The Eco lines are made without urea formaldehyde unlike a lot of other bamboo flooring. Dark colored bamboo does fade if it gets a lot of direct sunlight. Dust also tends to be more noticeable. I'm pretty sure dents or scratches would be more visible also. Light color doesn't fade or isn't noticeable. I had it for three years in an older home.

Stay away from Lumber Liquidators (LL) bamboo flooring. I originally bought from there but after some research, I came across several forum threads about people complaining about strong chemical odors that would not go away for years! LL definitely removes/ blocks negative flooring reviews on their website. After a ton of back and forth I got my money refunded. Total nightmare and reading complaints on the web, I know I wasn't the only one.

I highly reccomend looking online to buy flooring. I searched for flooring in at least a dozen brick and mortar shops within a 75 mile radius of where I live. All the high quality bamboo flooring was expensive in that $6-8 range. I then expanded my search by looking online and found a store on the other side of the country. They just dropshipped to my house straight from the manufacturer. Saved over $2K.

[gentlearts]

The only thing that bothers me about this, SXN, is how would you know that the bamboo flooring from across the country wouldn't be stinky too? At least Lumber Liquidators is local.