Flooring: What's the deal with that?

[Brannigans Law]

I've been reading about various types of flooring on the internet, and I've actually never heard of 2 of them before until very recently. I'm aware of hardwood and tile of course, but bamboo flooring and laminate are new to me. A friend of mine has laminate in their house that's 5 years old or so and there's warping from water in a couple places and I think it look's like total ass (where the warping is). The laminate looks nice but feels like cheap crap. Anyone have any experience with bamboo flooring or cork? I plan on having a dog, I'm sure that will be a consideration.

[V]

I had some bamboo hardwood in one of my houses. It was geogeous. A friend has high end cork and it looks really good. I think it's pretty durable too.

[Brannigans Law]

How long did you have the bamboo for?

[V]

3 years before I moved. It was definitely a selling feature when I listed.

[zamler]

I've never seen a laminate floor that I liked, plus they simply don't hold up. Bamboo flooring looks amazing IMO, and if you get a woven bamboo it is more than twice as hard as oak. Even the regular bamboo is comparable to oak for harness which means really good. It really depends on the look you are going for, and of course how much you want to spend.

If you want a floor that will outlast you, then you have to move to something more exotic like Ipe, Cherry, or Red Mahogany.

On bamboo, it is becoming quite popular in part because of the perceived environmental advantages, plus it looks terrific. It grows exceedingly fast, but unfortunately forests are being cut down so they can grow bamboo.

[Brannigans Law]

Would a bamboo floor hold up to a dog? It's really intriguing me as an option.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by zamler

I've never seen a laminate floor that I liked, plus they simply don't hold up. Bamboo flooring looks amazing IMO, and if you get a woven bamboo it is more than twice as hard as oak. Even the regular bamboo is comparable to oak for harness which means really good. It really depends on the look you are going for, and of course how much you want to spend.

If you want a floor that will outlast you, then you have to move to something more exotic like Ipe, Cherry, or Red Mahogany.

On bamboo, it is becoming quite popular in part because of the perceived environmental advantages, plus it looks terrific. It grows exceedingly fast, but unfortunately forests are being cut down so they can grow bamboo.

Hard wood maple is the best and what I have

[zamler]

Originally Posted by Dion

Hard wood maple is the best and what I have

Hard maple is an excellent flooring material but not THE best. For that you would go with rosewood, ipe, cherry, ebony etc.

I don't think bamboo would stand up to a dogs claws all that well myself, even if it is woven. Bamboo is not actually a wood at all but grass, so it depends on how it is manufactured and finished more than other types I think.

edit - looked up a bit of info, bamboo does score well on the hardness test, but in reality it is not as durable as something like oak even though they are similar in the test. Bamboo does not seem like an appropriate material if you have a dog.

[sun]

Originally Posted by Brannigans Law

Would a bamboo floor hold up to a dog? It's really intriguing me as an option.

No.

People think bamboo is very hard, but what it is is dense. Dense, but relatively soft. Pick up a piece of bamboo flooring and you can practically make marks in it with your finger nail.

Anecdotal:
I used to build cabinets and one of the companies we did work for was a high end interior design/development company. The owner of the company had bamboo flooring in his own house that got mangled by his great dane (admittedly huge dog). Later we did a house where this same company decided to install bamboo flooring - knowing full well the homeowners had two dogs. Homeowner was not impressed when my coworker let slip that bamboo and dogs don't mix (not knowing the owner had dogs).

I believe there are different kinds of bamboo, but the stuff I've seen and handled was not hard at all. Of the woods I've worked with, I think maple is the hardest, but kinda ugly IMO.

[zamler]

Scroll down a bit, this site has a nice list of flooring materials and their relative hardness.

[sun]

Oh, and I don't think you can refinish bamboo like you can hardwood. Could be wrong there though.

[Bigtime]

Janka hardness does not equal best. Some exotics are so hard to the point that they are brittle with impacts on them, a Canadian maple or red oak would be a better choice. Plus any solid hardwood floor can be refinished many times and will easily outlive any of us.

Almost all bamboo except the strand woven's have stability issues in the drier Calgary climate.

Cork is warm and soft underfoot, uses a glue less click system (easy to install), but is definitely soft for wear and tear.

Laminate is a price point, relatively good bang for your buck, just never spend more than $2 per square foot on it.

Any others questions shoot me a PM and I'd be happy to help.

[guzzy]

Hard wood isn't a good choice with dogs. As long as you can live with the scratches and the idea you will have to refinish the floors before selling

[darklord700]

Hardness matters not as much as people tend they do (no pun intended). Pretty much any type of wood get scratched or dinged over time.

[flaming_potato]

It really does depend on what kind of dog it is as well. If it is a bigger dog it will impact the wear on your floor faster. I have seen houses done with wide plank Alder (a very soft wood) and be completely trashed in a year from their Golden Retriever, but also seen the exact material over a year or so with 2 Shi-Tzu's and while you could still see scratch marks it wasn't near the level of needing a re-sand immediately. Oak, Maple and Hickory stand up well with dogs and are a popular choice in the home market if you and worried about re-sale value. A floor is only as good as you take care of it as well.

As far as going up to the top of the Janka scale with a product like Ipe, like Bigtime said, Ipe while being very hard, is to the point of being brittle where it can split easily if humidity isn't maintained and while harder to dent it can actually chip instead like paint on a car.

Hardwood is a good choice just for the simple fact that you CAN re-sand it before you sell and have basically a brand new floor and even change the stain color if wanted to go with new paint or style.

If laminate is still an option there are some fantastic products out there now that look nice are very durable and come in around $2/sqft. Just don't get the stuff with 3 strips of wood pattern in 1 piece it just looks bad, get the single plank pieces (personal gripe of mine).

PM me or Bigtime if you need any more info or are ready to buy and have it installed. Happy to help.

[CaptainYooh]

Humidity is the key consideration in selecting wood flooring. Hardwood flooring needs proper level of humidity to stay nice. If it gets too dry in winter, it shrinks. If you live in a house, you would need a good quality humidifier (electrostatic or electronic) and you can choose any flooring you want. If you live in an apartment building, your choices are limited to engineered and laminate flooring only, because they don't have central humidification and flooring will get ruined. Engineered flooring has a thin layer of hardwood floor material on a multi-ply sheet. Laminate flooring has an artificial layer of material that looks like wood.

Both bamboo and cork flooring are engineered flooring, they don't come in hardwood planks to be installed directly on the subfloor. Bamboo doesn't behave well in Calgary over long run. It is just too dry here for it. Cork is excellent. Beautiful flooring, wears well, doesn't show marks from dogs, for example. I have it in the basement. It is also not overly expensive.

But, if it is a house, nothing acts and wears as good as rustic maple hard wood 3/4" plank, especially when you have a dog.

[Kybosh]

I've said this before, but if you plan on getting a dog you should consider putting down tile in high traffic areas. I covered my whole main floor with tile and put down hardwood in low traffic rooms (bedrooms, office etc.).

Also, you can reduce the dog damage on hardwood by grooming their nails routinely. There are also these plastic covers that you can put over the dog nails. They look kinda funny, but I know a lot of people who use them now.

[DFO]

Although a harder species of hardwood is better for dogs you won't eliminate the finish coat getting scratched & scuffed. Just have to live with it.

[krynski]

Originally Posted by zamler

Hard maple is an excellent flooring material but not THE best. For that you would go with rosewood, ipe, cherry, ebony etc.

Whooo boy. I could not see many houses with that in Canada. That would be pricey. Beautiful and strong, but pricey.

[Bill Bumface]

With dogs, if you're into the style, distressed hardwood can be a great option. It still gets scratched, you just don't care: