I've installed and refinished alot of floors, though no bamboo. When critiqueing a floor material, some confuse dents and scratches. The hardest material in the world will scratch if it has a scratchable finish, and the best finish won't save a dentable floor from being dented or gouged. Excessive scratching is due to a poor finish (or abuse!) (or too low a tolerance for scratches to have a floor like these) so blame the manufacturer for this and not bamboo itself.

Is unfinished bamboo flooring available? Sometimes putting on a finish after installation works better...

incidentally, I am entirely ignorant of bamboo flooring.

I'm reaching the conclusion that there are a lot of 'junk' quality bamboo floors out there, that are creating the bad impression. The trick is to find the high quality ones so I'm really interested in hearing brands of the floors that are holding up well. Greenwood talks a good game on their website but I have not found anyone who has installed one.

Anybody out there have a Greenwood bamboo floor?

I wonder if manufacturers are using immature culms that haven't fully hardened because of the high demand for the product.

OK here is the scoop on what my Brother had to say about his floor. Just more input from someone. "My flooring is holding up pretty well, especially considering it is a main traffic area for us coming in from the driveway. Other than my stupidity of putting an exercise machine on it with no padding, which made some dent impressions in it, and my scratching it once with a big metal something that I dragged by accident, it's fine. I have the oxide finish on it so it's always shiny... cleans well with a damp mop cleaner (of course, I sealed mine in the joints as a floating floor so water can't get through). You could still use just a damp cloth/mop on it though. I don't know the brand... I got it from the Home Depot Expo Design Center in Union, and when I went back there a year or so after I got mine, they only carried types that had to be nailed down - the tongue and grooves were not the same roughed up material that I had so the glue wouldn't stick well. But if you scratch it or dent it, you're done. Hardwood you can always fill/sand/stain, etc."

Kurt in Stillwater NJ

I am amazed by this thread. What do you guys think this stuff is coated with? Diamonds? Any kind of finish will eventually show some scratches. Especially if there are dogs or kids.

Be it bamboo, oak, maple, ironwood, concrete, whatever. The finish will get scratched. Anyone that tries to sell you a "maintainnace free" floor is blowing smoke up your ass.

Any wood floor wil need to be re-finished every 5 to 7 years. I have lived in houses with wood floors my entire life, and I think that wood and bamboo are the most beautiful and most comfortable floors you can buy. Like all "living" things, however they require occasional care and feeding.

Of course, if you have to maintain your finish after only a year, then something is wrong with the finish, or it is being abused in some other way (tracking water into your house, dogs peeing, etc.)

My impression after reading through a bunch of comments is to avoid the carbonized, vertically laminated bamboo flooring since it appears to be the weakest and show marks easiest.

Hey Manny, don't be a know it all and back off. When my two year drops a PLASTIC cup on the floor from 2 feet and it leaves a 1/8 inch dent, that's a soft floor. They've done the same on my sisters oak floor and it doesn't leave a mark, much less a gouge. Keep in mind that most flooring retailers are saying bamboo is about as hard as the come.

I know a half dozen people who have bought bamboo floors from different retailers coming from different manufacturers, and we are all having the same issues. We didn't get what they are advertising. We all expect to be refinishing after 5 to 10 years, not after 5 to 10 months.

Funny i responded to the other flooring thread with hesitation. There shouldn't be an argument about flooring and such (I would assume that if i took a d-9 over a hard wood floor it would scratch....lol)....just some friendly adivice or suggestions. Manny i don't see you much in here but i do see plenty of people and this thread might amaze a bunch of people if they don't frequent this forum. this place is a more laid back approach to things. Just an FYI.....and that is just my opinion but i think others might agree.

Kurt

Last time someone tried to blow smoke up my ass... well he didnt like it to much, chased the fella around and pretty much had his way with him...
I work in the construction related field and the jury is still out on bamboo floors, but the jist I am getting is it is to soft..

I have strand woven carbonized bamboo in my house. It wears like concrete, but looks beautiful. Mine has an oxide finish on a 1/2" thick floor. You would need a sledge hammer to put a dent in this stuff. I agree that any floor will need maintenance, and they will all scratch. I dropped a hammer on mine from about 2-3 feet (top of the head hit, not the claw) and I couldn't see any damage at all. The stuff I have is not from Hilo, but the description there, and pictures, are just like my floor. Normal use has not put any dents in it either, only a few light scratches.

My husband and I installed our bamboo flooring our self. It was easy. We have 2600 sq. feet of it. We also have 2 poodles who walk and run all over it. The flooring has been down for 2 years and still looks great. Yes, it is hard, but you can dent it if you try. It's not indestructible. No fading too.

We sure are happy with our good old American hickory...beautiful, hard, incredibly expensive...and worth it :)

At least one flooring installation company in my town refuses to install bamboo flooring. They got tired of dealing with the customer complaints! But obviously, it depends on the flooring manufacturer, as there are satisfied customers in the forum too. One thing for sure - low-end T&G bamboo floor strips are produced very cheaply in Vietnam without concern for quality, and the end customer has no reputable firm to hold accountable for quality failures. Best to ask your flooring installer if they've found a bamboo floor that they will stand behind.

fear of the bamboo floor led me to instead go with 'good old american hickory', a prefinished product i forget the brand but norm abrams is their spokesperson, but we seem to have had different experiences than elvis. the dogs have scratched the daylights out of the finish and the hickory looks junky. later i installed vertical grain bamboo flooring in an adjacent room and the dogs have not been able to scratch it at all, in fact i just bought more of the bamboo for the next 2 rooms. without a doubt there is junk bamboo flooring out there but the one i found from MWANZI Silkroad in NY is a great product.

Well, it has been almost 2 years since my last post on this thread, about about 3 years since I installed the flooring.

We bought stipped/laminated flooring from some place in long beach, ca, that claims to get it straight from asia. we got the click type that floats.

After 3 years (and having lived with oak floors before, and my sister in town having an oak floor that I am familiar with):
It is about the same as other wood floors. If you drop a coffee mug on it, it's gonna dent. Doesn't matter what kind of wood floor you have. It does, however, seem to keep it's shine better than the oak floors I've been on. It also cleans very easily (Bona products are great, by the way). It doesn't swell/shift nearly as much as I thought (or the manufacturer warns). consequently, on the long runs where they recommended upwards of an inch of space off the walls (1/4" per 10 feet of run), I had to figure out what to do with the gap. Nice, big baseboards all around, with a quarter round of the bottom!

Anyways, the stuff looks really, really good. I've got 3 kids under the age of 3 1/2, and we had a dog on it for about a year too. It gets a ton of traffic and abuse, and I can't say that is any better or worse than a tradition wood floor. The oxide coating, though, has held up very well and continues to look better than most oak floors I've seen, so that is a bonus.

My wife and I are still wanting to put in the bamboo floors. Which brand do you recomend. I have seen some say they have had great results, but I would like to know more good brands.
Thanks

silk road brand has held up way better to large, rowdy dog feet than our hickory in an adjacent room. i'm getting ready to install more of it in 2 other rooms. i had it shipped from NY state, with shipping it was around $3.80 psqft. mwanzi, i believe is the supplier, my only comment would be that i wish i had gotten variable lengths, instead of all the same.

We had Pacific Rim "E Boo" Carbonized Stranded bamboo floors installed one year ago and the installer used Bostics MVP Sealer (the best adhesive you can use). After about 6 months noticeable gaps started to appear between the planks. Splits down the middle and at the ends of the planks started to appear, too. The installer contacted the distributor who then had an independent inspector come out and look at the floor and he took moisture readings which he said indicated moisture was causing the splitting. The Bostics rep and the installer then came out to look at the floor and determined that the floor was clearly showing signs of drying out which was causing the gapping and then the pieces were splitting where they were weak. We had some extra planks we pulled out and looked at and some of them were also starting to split down the middle and at the ends, identical to what was happening on the floor. Anyhow, there has been a lot of back and forth between the installer, distributor, and bostics. I believe it is a faulty product batch from Pacific Rim Bamboo. I believe this because the pieces we hsd left over AND the sample at the show room had the same flaws. If Pacific Rim do not acknowledge this is a faulty product (batch) I will question the integrity of the company and would NEVER recommend the product. It is beautiful, but now we have to have it replaced. I am NOT going with bamboo again. We have chosen an engineered product from the US. I will repost once this is resolved, but the product is most definitely the problem, not the installation or the adhesive.

For anyone who has had GREAT or TERRIBLE experiences with the bamboo flooring, would you please let the group know what manufacturer you went with? From the research I've been doing, it appears to make a vast difference. I'm aiming to be one of the ones with a 'great' floor, not one of the ones that dents easily.

Thanks!

aRRRRGGHHHH. I was revisiting this thread after many years and amazed at my own response. What must have been my state of mind to get so worked up about wood floors? Anyway, sorry about that. SoCalBoo was completely justified in admonishing me. Let that be a lesson kids... don't drink and post.

I do maintain that there is no such thing as a "no-mar" floor, though some will be more resistant than others. I think it has a lot to do with the quality of the material.

For example, my house has two floors, a 70 year old oak plank floor and a 15 year old oak floor that mimics the style of the old one. The (I assume) old growth 1 inch thick original floor still looks great after all these years, but the newer, 1/2 inch thick flooring is already looking like it needs to be completely replaced. I guess bamboo is similar.

Installed Morning Star 5-8 x 3 3-4 prefinished strand carbonized bamboo less than a yr ago. Very hard and rather pleased with it. 3-4 plywood secured to concrete slab, with nail-staple down. Have to two 70 pound Weims. The can not scratch it. Can make light white scratches if sharp (furniture leg, rocks, etc) are dragged across floor. Never let half inch water (sink suppply line came loose) set overnight. Soaked it up, ceiling fans, ac, even dehumidifier for 6 wks. It cupped severely. Went down to fairly acceptable after 3 mnths. Then it started to bubble-flake. Have to replace it now. Without water damage, very happy with the product.

Looking at installing Morning Star Carbonized, 9/16 X4-3/4. Any pros and cons of floating floor????????

thanks

We just installed Bamboo flooring. It has been in my house less than two days. My husband dropped his Timex watch(not all metal, band is cloth) and we have a big dent, past the finish. Tonight my son dropped his Harry Potter plastic chest pieces from the kitchen table, and now I have at least twenty dents past the finish. The salesman said this was harder than oak. These objects were not as heavy as a fork or a spoon! Will these floors with stand anything??????

Victoria:
what exactly did you install? what was the cost/sq foot? we are thinking about getting bamboo- but there is a lot of variability depending on product. thanks for all the info, everyone.

Based on living with my own installation for two years, I would have to say that bamboo flooring seems to be a bit of a durability enigma. It is quite durable in some respects, yet easily damaged in others.

In my case, the finish itself seems to be quite durable. Dog claws and beach sand tracked in on shoes have had only the most minor effects of scratching...not noticeable, really, unless you get down on your knees. But, like Victoria, I've found that dents from minor vertical drops and deep gouges from sliding chairs happen much more easily than what is seen with even medium-density hardwoods. It only makes sense that a material that is as flexible as bamboo is going to have a certain amount of fiber compressibility, at least in the horizontal lay-up. This seems to be its Achilles' Heel as a flooring material. However "strong" it make be in terms of standing up to tensile force or longitudinal compression, it dents easily. Additionally, since bamboo flooring has more of a manufactured look than sawn wood, these scars are more noticeable and do not melt into the background as happens with the the knots and variations of natural wood.

I also question the putative "green product advantage" of bamboo. It may be a green building product when used where it is grown. But I find it difficult to believe that laminating all these strips with all those polymer adhesives and shipping it across the ocean is a lower-impact resource than using locally harvested hardwoods. I doubt if I'll use bamboo flooring again in the future.

Many of the posts are helpful but old -- does anyone have recent experience with bamboo? Have manufacturers made improvements with aluminum oxide scratch-resistance? I'm looking at a carbonized Mohawk Hilea Uniclic, which is engineered strand woven to go over a concrete slab. Has anyone put this in, and what was your finish scratch experience? Thanks!

How is Bamboo for water resistance? I'd like to put bamboo in the entrance way.

The July 2011 Consumer Reports rated EcoTimber Woven Honey as the best strand bamboo solid wood. I looked at it as I would like to do bamboo throughout a new apt renovation but was concerned about the ease of denting > scratching. This was rated "very good" against scratching so I looked at the product. The boards are a narrower design and the finish is a little dull to me. The engineered jacks up $7-$8/sf as opposed to the approx $5-$5.40 for the woven honey. I did see a product called Trilium stranded bamboo (caramel lifestyle color) which had a nice sheen which I prefer and was comparable to the woven honey in price at $5.26/sf.(These are pricings in Chicago). Does anyone have any experience with Trilium?

If anyone is think to install Bamboo flooring please do NOT install:
GOODFELLOW STRAND BAMBOO
sold by Home Depot and Rona it literally is about as durable as a Bamboo skewer.
The installer laid the floor and my 20 LB dog sat down and got up and she splintered and cracked the surface through the stain and the terrible finish (her nails are short)

When the Goodfellow rep came out to my home to inspect the flooring he was smug and rude telling me it is performing as it should. When I asked him about 2 other Goodfellow products he said they were GARBAGE.

Seriously - this is a terrible product and the company has the worst customer service in Calgary - AVOID!

I also bought in on the Bamboo craze when a few years ago. I got the light color bamboo stuff from ifloor.com. I regretted it now because my traffic areas looks all pitted with scratches. Yes I also have a dog which didn't help. I covered the entrance area with a carpet and strange thing is that when you take the carpet off after a few months, the covered area becomes darker then the uncovered area. Now I have a dark patch where the carpet was. Luckily I only did half my house. The original hardwood on the rest of the house still looks good considering it is at least 30yrs old. I'm gonna rip out the bamboo because it's looks dirty everywhere since dirt gets into all the pits and scratches and becomes very noticeable. I'm going back to true hardwood..Amen.

Hi - Interesting post. I am also looking to install a bamboo floor. I am willing to get the stranded for extra strength. Is this as good as a hardwood floor? Can anyone recommend a manufacturer of strand bamboo flooring??? thank you for your help.

Do not get BAMBOO. I got bamboo uniclic strandwoven coffee colour and in Nov last year and have had the suppliers out 3 times as my floor has some kind of disease in it and spreading fast..It is bubbling and splintering...They are being very nasty about it. I may be taking it further as im not getting anywhere with them. Im from australia and really annoyed as you can see the problem but they keep fobbing me off.:( Allot of money for a floor that you are told is the hardiest floor yet my 4kg mini foxie scratches it.. If they rip it up i wont be getting it again. Really unhappy with Bamboo..AVOID

I've always heard scratching is a function of the finish and denting is a function of the hardness of the wood species.. The hardest wood on the Janka scale (exotic wood Australian Buloke) will still scratch, it's just harder to put dents in it.

I installed Ambient Strand Woven bamboo flooring almost a year ago in my entire house except bathrooms and laundry
room. It looks great in less traveled areas, mainly bedrooms.
My 2 dens and kitchen have scratches everywhere. We entertain quite a bit and also have a lab. Drops, spills, dog hair all show up constantly. The only way I can clean the flooring is to get on my hands and knees and wash with one cloth and immediately wipe dry, otherwise the water marks show. I already regret putting it in and can't wait to come across some extra money to replace it.

I am writing from Sydney and we have the same problem it has been laid 6 months and still stinks. Since you Americans normally ahead of the rest of us. Has anybody contacted a government body about the possible health effects to get some proper facts. I am in the process here but it is hard.

mambo-
Interesting to hear that you think we are ahead of you on such issues...I have the reverse view! In any case, when you say it stinks, do you mean that literally as in giving off a gassy smell? If so, that may be brand dependent or a bad batch from a good supplier. Any more info you can supply?

Couldn't read all the messages but I wanted to post my 2cents. Bamboo is WAY oversold for it being "hard". I've had more claims on bamboo than any other flooring product in my 20 years in the business. Mostly because people are oversold and not prepared. It DOES scratch... the stranded is the way to go if you want bamboo. Becareful with the install and make sure you acclimate. Remember it is NOT a wood product, it is grass... ;)

Like everything else, you get what you pay for brand wise.

Sl

We installed 720 sf of the Morning Star Click bamboo flooring sold by Lumber Liquidators in June of 2013. The finish on the material scratches easy, however, the scratches are the least of our problems. The cupping started with the shorter pieces in the hallways. By December 2013, the entire installation was cupping and gaps appeared in random areas. After contacting Lumber Liquidators about the problem, We were told that since we did not hire someone to test the moisture of the subfloor and the humidity in the house prior to the installation of this material, the warranty was void. In addition, I was told that our method of cleaning resulted in the problems with the floor. It seems that if the cleaner is sprayed directly on the floor, the material absorbs the moisture along the edges and this was another reason for the damage to the bamboo flooring. We purchased a 32 oz. bottle of cleaner after the floor was installed. Most of the time, the cleaning involves sweeping and using a dust mop. About once a month we get on our hands and knees, spray a fine mist of cleaner directly onto the floor and use a cloth towel to clean the floor. Since the installation, we have used the liquid cleaner about five times and still have about half of the cleaner left in the bottle. I guess 16 oz. caused the damage to the entire 720 sf of the floor, including the material under the furniture and area rugs!! Seriously?!?!?!? In reading the various reviews on independent web sites for this product, it seems that there is a chronic problem with scratching, cupping and separations. The reviews for this product on the LLI website are "selected", gee....I wonder who selects them. Our first mistake in selecting our new floor was believing that the reviews on the LLI site were unbiased reviews. Our second mistake was actually purchasing this product. It seems that Lumber Liquidators will use any excuse to avoid the liability for providing the customer with a very poor product. I understand that a product warranty is only as good as the company that stands behind it and our experience with LLI is shared by too many others. We made a $5,000.00 mistake, please don't make the same mistake that we did. LLI should condense thier warranty to read "Warranty void if material is removed from factory packaging". We will have to replace our six month old floor and it sure as heck will not be with a product supplied by Lumber Liquidators. STAY AWAY!!!!!

jimbo-
That's a really unfortunate situation, and I can understand why you feel that way. Thank you for posting in that amount of detail as it is valuable to the rest of us considering bamboo floors.

We installed 1200sf 5/8's strand bamboo in 2010. We've been very impressed with the scratch resistance, we live near the beach and we track sand in and have two dogs with sharp nails. So far we don't have a scratch. Our problem is, when our washer sprung a leak and we had water on the floor, the bamboo seems to have swelled at the joints. It's not too noticeable, but if the light is just right you can see it. We also used the bamboo for thresholds, bad move because it's so brittle. Every threshold has cracked from dragging the vacuum over them. Bamboo can be a cost effective alternative to hardwood, but I think it got too popular before the bugs were worked out.

So, here's my two cents. We like jimbobreese have had a horrible experience so far with our bamboo floors, ours came from Cali Bamboo. Following the installation guidelines for a floating floor over concrete, I installed the stuff myself with the manufacturers recommended underlayment. At first the cupping began in the hallway and now there's cupping and lifting happening everywhere across the 780 sq ft of flooring. The flooring is spread across 2 elevations as the entry and dining/kitchen is 6" higher than family room and hallway.

Last week a highly recommended hardwood installer came out per my request to assess the situation. He said that the install was great and couldn't see any reason why the floor was behaving the way it is, other than a possible plumbing leak. He has since picked up a calcium chloride test for me that I'll use this week to verify moisture content of the concrete. I found it a bit disheartening when he informed me that his hardwood supplier won't sell him Bamboo...

After moving here from Seattle where Bamboo is used all over the place, I assumed that the dry climate of SoCal would be great with the product, apparently not. I'm to the point now where I'm secretly hoping for a slab leak so insurance will cover replacement, we certainly don't have another 5k plus to redo the flooring. Guess it kinda makes sense when you consider Bamboo is more like a grass than a tree in growing rates, my recommendation is to steer far and clear of the product.

I also am having trouble with the 1000 sq. ft. of Java Wide Click Cali Bamboo that I just purchased. Long, painful story short: the floors won't click lock and we can't install. The company, Cali Bamboo, first blamed my installer then later told me that the boards need to acclimate even longer (at that point it had already been a month). I felt like the company didn't believe me and hoped I would just disappear if ignored. It was so frustrating! Actually, now I see that I've been saved from an even more expensive and stressful nightmare in the future. I've just looked at the sample pieces of Cali Bamboo I got in December and they have mold all around them. Nothing else here has mold. Things do mold here in Hawaii, but 3 months is unacceptable. I can just imagine if the floors had installed and then months passed before the joints swelled up and the boards started to come apart exposing all the mold. GROSS!!! The inspector and the company would have blamed my installer and the environmental conditions. My installer and I would have both been completely victimized! The Universe is protecting us. This is why I am dedicating time now to share my experience online. When I was researching bamboo there wasn't a lot of info out there, especially naming manufacturers. I was under the impression that people were having trouble with the cheap stuff. The Cali Bamboo is beautiful, but don't be fooled by looks and beauty. It's a trap! BUYER BEWARE! I'm going to try to attach a photo of the molding samples.

WOW! My story is much like Jimbobreese's; NEGATIVE towards Lumber Liquidator!!! We self-installed 2 of 3 rooms of the Morning Star Click bamboo flooring sold by
Lumber Liquidators this past October-November of 2014. While there are some scratch issues the finish is the least of the problems. Cupping began in the two rooms (dining and living) about 1 month after it was laid down and is getting worse. The LL store manager stated how I should contact LL directly. Interestingly enough, another customer was there and shared that I had better look on the internet since there are MANY stories concerning this product and company.

Like Jimbobreese and other consumers who have posted their stories here and on other sites, we went through the process of emailing pictures, telling how we did the work, how long we acclimated the product (over 6 weeks), glue used (what LL sold us), etc. Just like I read on other sites, we received a formal letter stating the problem was not theirs, but ours. The letter stated how they based the decision on their history and there was no need for them to come to our home to see the crap flooring.

We placed the flooring over 10 year old DRY concrete. Where they alluded to a possible water damaged pipe, I included in my letter to them how there is NO PIPING in our foundation and that both rooms have NEVER had water issues as well. Then they stated it has to be the humidity, to which I explained how we have a high-end LENNOX system with humidity control that helps the home stay at 40% at all times. Still, sorry Charlie! We must have done it wrong...the warranty was void...WITHOUT their even coming to SEE it. Of course we can pay to have a professional person come out and re-submit, but must know it could still be determined our issues since it is several months past the time frame and, "Anything could have happened before the inspection was completed." We use the recommended cleaning products purchased at LL ensuring we sprayed the product on the pad etc. In other words, we followed their process to install, clean, etc. Still we did it wrong. As for the cleaning product, we still have 90% of the 32 oz. bottle of cleaner left that was bought there. Like Jimbobreese, the little liquid we used must have been where we went wrong...

LL is in the news right now for other concerns as well concerning how and what products they use in China to manufacture their laminate floors. Guess what? It is ALSO used in manufacturing the Strand Bamboo! There are definite problems
with scratching, cupping and separations and you can go to any independent on-line customer review site to read them. DO NOT TRUST the LL website since they DO NOT add reviews like this one to it.

The LL "Customer Care" person is right that we made a $4k plus mistake, but not in how we did the work...it was CHOOSING and trusting THEM! PLEASE do not make the same mistake we did...you WILL BE SORRY, even if you use professionals to place it down...READ OTHER WEBSITES....stories abound! The Pictures below are what we emailed to their "Customer Care" person.

Living Room Cupping

I agree 100% in my experience that most stores and manufacturers don't stand behind their products.

But there's also the DIY issue. I'm a DIYer not a floor installer, but I've installed maybe 20 floors of different materials, and about 10 were bamboo, different finishes, flat, vertical and strand, going back about 15 years. Lived in those homes for several years. It does scratch and dent. I don't know what test they do to get that "harder than maple" and I assume the test they invented is true, but that only means for that specific test maple wasn't as hard. In normal application, in my experience, bamboo dents pretty easy. That's marketing. Why anyone would ever trust anything any store or manufacturer says about their product I don't know. That's just not the way our system works or as ever worked. In my experience the more a seller says a product does X the more likely the opposite is true. But that's true for all flooring I've seen and used. I do think natural wood hides scratches and dents really well, can even improve the look if you're into that look. The room I'm sitting in now has blonde bamboo flat grain and black strained bamboo in a pattern. I see lots of scratches and dents in the black and none in the blonde. I'll bet the blonde has just as many, just don't show up. And of course the dirt really shows up on the black. True for all floor material.

To me it would be really cool if a manufacturer did this...most problems have to be seen in person to have any hope of determining the problem. So when customers have a problem it would be nice if they sent out a trouble shooter and if the problem is their floor the visit is free and if not the customer pays for the visit. Of course that's never going to happen. I'd like it because it might lower the cost of flooring I buy. A lot of the cost if to cover dealing with floors not installed correctly.

I don't know anything about this floor cause I'm not there. But a couple of things stood out. It's not possible for concrete to ever be DRY. Even here in Phoenix, humidity < 10% much of the time, rain a couple of times a year, if we place some plastic on a concrete floor that's in contact with ground we will normally see moisture collect within a day. That's just the way concrete works.

Also, I don't know what was glued..."click" flooring shouldn't be glued in my limited experience. I don't know if the jointed were glued or the floor was glued to the concrete. I personally wouldn't glue any flooring to concrete because it's a pain to get up. But also I think glue is a risky vapor barrier.

If you really think there was a problem with the flooring and the install was done correctly you can hire a professional floor installer to do an inspection for you. Get the most reputable you can find. Expect to pay a fair amount. Expect them to pull up some flooring. If they agree you have a case. Send a report and photos to the manufacturer and retailer making sure the manufacturer knows you sent this to the retailer. Ask for a specific dollar amount. That should include the cost of material, install cost (even if DIY) and inspection costs (attach receipts). Say you'll go to court unless the claim is paid in say 60 days. Forget about threats about reporting them to BBB, Yelp, and whoever else. They don't care about that stuff. They sell to thousands of customers a year and expect 1%, 2% or whatever to complain.

You don't want to go to court, they don't want to go to court. You and they both know no one is actually going to court...probably. But they do know you're not just one of the dozen people that call them a day complaining about stuff and swearing at them. They know you're probably not going away and who knows might even actually sue. This increases your chance of getting a settlement. Timing has a lot to do with whether you get money or not. The person at the other end has a budget for refunds. If they have money left your chances increase.

The money comes from other customers in the form of higher prices.

The bottomline is they know their product claims are at the outer edge of being true. And you should know you didn't do the install 100% correctly because in the history of the world no floor has ever been installed 100% correctly. It probably isn't even possible. The real question is whether you can get compensation for what believe is a valid claim. And that has little to do with who's right and who isn't. It's a game, its our system.

For others not wanting problems I suggest hiring an installer with a guarantee that says they'll fix any problem you want fixed. Expect to pay a lot. The customer is always right as long as they pay.

My original statement above is from May 2005. I loved my Morning Star bamboo from Lumber Liquidators then and I still love it. Truly sorry for anyone who's had problems but our floor still looks great, with no cupping at all. We used the bamboo in 3 heavily traveled rooms and it's stood up to the traffic.

I got samples of many many different woods. Then put them all to the scratch and dent test. Bamboo really is VERY very hard. The stuff feels as hard as concrete. I had a really hard time getting it to scratch or dent.

Also never ever buy anything but strand woven. Non strand woven is tempting because it's so cheap. But don't do it. It's terribly soft, and dents and scratches incredibly easy. Carbonized bamboo floors are also slightly softer since the process of heating it weakens it some. So better to get non Carbonized.

It also seem perhaps gluing down is causing problems and I'd avoid it. To much moisture.

On top of that I think it's a better idea to use the click and lock anyway. That way the entire floor can float, contract, and expand all together as one giant piece. And also can probably breath better. Bamboo does seem to absorb moisture a little more than other woods I think. If you have a moisture or humidity problem you're going to know about it. Don't blame the bamboo. Out of millions of homes some of them just aren't going to work for bamboo. I did commercial floor installing for years (not wood though), and you'd always randomly get one place that would have some issue with moisture for some reason or another. It's just how it goes. And yes you may have acclimated it, but if you acclimated it and there was high humidity in the house at the time you just allowed the floor to absorb all that moisture out of the air. And some peoples houses just go through way to much dry/humid, hot/cold extremes in a year. Concrete is really hit and miss as someone mentioned. It's never really dry and is always absorbing moisture. If you must go over concrete use a good moisture barrier and never glue it to concrete. Some people may not realize too that their crawl space under the house is way to moist. Get some fans under there if you need, get it vented, and put down some thick plastic to keep the moisture down.

And last, some people just shouldn't have wood floors, any wood floors, period. I read reviews for a hundred different floors, and every single one there are 10 people totally happy with it, say how hard it is, never scratches, etc. Then you always have this one person that says it scratches easy and for all I can figure must be playing golf on the floor complete with spiked shoes. Then gets mad it doesn't look brand new. All wood floors have to be treated different than other floors. And all wood floors react and act differently from each other and some considerations should be done for each type. But if you have any wood floor you always have to be conscientious of it. I've watched how some people live and I cringe for their wood floors.

I absolutely love my bamboo floors. The price is incredible for what you get. It's incredibly hard. Over twice as hard as oak. I got the morning star strand woven from Lumber Liquidators. I got a light color white washed since yes the aluminum oxide coating although being very strong if it does scratch it makes a white scratch. Which would be very noticeable on dark floors. So got a light color just in case. I also put 1/4 inch cork under mine. It makes it so incredibly pleasant and quiet to walk on. I'd honestly never use anything else but bamboo floors again. Looks beautiful, is much harder and tougher than other woods, and is usually half the cost or less. But as mentioned, get the right stuff, and take care of it, and hope your house doesn't have moisture and humidity issues.

We purchased Cali stranded bamboo in February from Mr. Carpet in Newnan, GA after some water damage in our home. First of all, we received a different color than the sample. The sample is not accurate to the color being laid in your home. It was a major project having this floor laid, so we did not push the floor color discrepancy. We were told to use Bona hardwood cleaner with a microfiber mop to clean the floor. After about three or four cleanings, we had a terrible sticky build-up on our floor. Cali Bamboo told us we were using the Bona improperly. It is not rocket science to read the back of a Bona bottle. And after having hardwoods in our home for 29 years, we should know how to clean floors. Well this floor is like living on a mirror. Everything that is done on the floor stays on the floor- foot prints, our dog's nose, my elderly father's walker. It is a maintenance nightmare! Cali Bamboo told us to use a vinegar water mixture to remove the Bona. Well, we did that, and the stickiness is gone. But there is still a streaky film on the floor - impossible to clean. It is a MAINTENANCE NIGHTMARE! We have only had the floor for a few months, and hate it. We have gone round in circles with the installer, manufacturer, and Bona company. Noone wants to take responsibility, and we have paid a considerable amount of money for over 1,700 square feet of flooring. We feel that the finish on the floor is faulty, and the manufacturer should take responsibility for the color and the quality. Would never purchase this floor again!!!

It's been about 4 years since my last comment on here and what tcameronk says is the key. Every single floor I have seen down here has cupping issues. Bamboo floors just aren't right for this climate.

On the other hand, I have a bamboo "picture frame" fence from Cali-Bamboo that's just amazing. Maybe because unprocessed (minimally I guess) whole bamboo stalks, which are what make up this fence are much better at dealing with the humidity and heat than what results from whatever they have to do to bamboo to make it flat for flooring? I don't know.

I do know that if you live in a hot and humid area, go see a few floors that have been around for at least three or four years before you spend a few thousand dollars on a bamboo floor. Make sure they aren't popping up or cupping. If they are good, then you're probably going to be fine as well. Me, I will stick with good old oak if I want wooden floors.

We have a Teragren Strand Bamboo floor. It is touted as being much stronger than oak. BS. It scratches easily and every footprint shows. I have been cleaning weekly with Bona as prescribed by the manufacturer but when I called them about the footprint issue they told me that i shouldn't be cleaning so often. That I should be cleaning once a month or less! With a floor that shows every footprint, that is an impossibility for us. They said that there was probably a build up of Bona floor cleaner on the floor. Well Bona was the cleaner that say to use. Bottom line, if you want a floor that you can clean and don't want every footprint to show, don't buy a bamboo floor or learn to levitate!