I have been doing a lot of research on bamboo flooring, much of it on these forums - thanks guys!

I have narrowed it down to a few choices right now:

Shaw Horizontal Natural

Home Legend Engineered Click Bamboo

Westhollow Horizontal Natural Style Series II Premium Collection 3'

Springwood Longstrip Click Bamboo

I am leaning toward the Shaw, since I have heard that it is a very good quality, mid-priced brand. I have heard good and bad things about click bamboo, and I really want a good, quality floor and would rather not skimp on price, but also don't want to spend a ton of money.

I would really love any advice on these choices, especially the Shaw flooring. Thanks so much!!

 

Compare apples to apples for price and finish and structural warranties. Each manufacturer offers good, better, best levels of quality and warranty and price. Read and compare installation instructions to determine which one is preferred for your skill level if DIY.

Another consideration PVC (polyvinyl chloride) offgassing. A no or low PVC product is preferred. Formaldehyde and other chemicals are often used in manufacturing bamboo flooring. Some people are more sensitive to offgassing odors than others, especially young children, the elderly, and people with allergies and respiratory problems.

 

Thanks. I didn't find out about the offgassing. I'll look into that. We're going to go with the Shaw, I think. We went and looked at it today, and I'm going to order a sample directly from Shaw. The place we're getting it from offered us a price of $4.75 sq/ft, which seems to be a really good price for it.

 

Boston doesn't have the same regs as a lot of other major cities and states in this country. California has one of the stronger policies for this. Teragren Bamboo and a few others have actually done a very good job of this. I am not sure of Shaw but I can find out. I have taken over a dozen trips to China inspecting the bamboo factories that make the flooring for most of the large brands. For the most part, the larger companies are taking a lot of precautions with the glues and finishes that are used.


A lot of them have switched to European glues such as Dasso from Finland, that meets E-1 standards (far superior then the standards in the USA)

 

Shaw doesn't use PVC anymore in any of its flooring, I found out, and they use waste carpet and flooring to burn to help fuel one of its factories, and they also offer 'green' hardwood and recycled carpeting products. I'm having a horrible time typing a logical sentence. :P All the stuff I found in on their website, shawfloors.com, and I also saw the same info. elsewhere online.

But I have a question I hope you may know the answer to: what is the difference between bamboo from China and bamboo from Japan? They have two similar products, and I think the one we are going to be getting is the one from Japan. Is there a difference in the bamboo itself? What are the labor practice differences?

Thanks so much!

 

95% or greater of the worlds bamboo flooring comes from China. The balance comes from Vietnam, Japan, Korea, and a few others. How do you know that it is coming from Japan? Based on the pricing that you stated in one of your other posts, I would be surprised about that fact.

Reputable manufacturers in China using the best green practices, have a cost of approx $1 to 1.25 a sf to produce. This gets sold to a distributor for appox $2 delivered to the US, then a retailer between 2.50 and $3. The consumer gets charged high 3's to low 6's.

The big box stores use a B grade bamboo (various reasons classify it as such) and therefore charge a much lower price. Their glues, finish and manufacturing practices are also lower than those companies I described above.

The work ethic and employer conscience in Japan is higher than in China. For that reason, the cost of mfg and living, I would expect bamboo from Japan to be much higher especially if the products are as green as you were led to believe. I know several distributors in Japan that bring in high quality bamboo from China because the prices are that much better.

Are you buying solid bamboo, engineered, or strand woven (compressed)? That will make a large difference in the materials used.

Also, although they may not be using PVC glues anymore, that has little to do with the formaldehyde factor. Several companies in Asia manufacture non PVC glues that still have formaldehyde or other non-healthy components. The important thing to ask is if the flooring meets or exceeds E-1 standards.

The bottom line; if you are happy with the floor, feel it will perform for you, get great service and belive in the warranty, you are probably going to be just fine.

Michael

 

Actually, the Sagano, which is the one from Japan, is $3.00 more than the Bamboo Horizontal, which is the one from China. We got a really good quote from a flooring company that is a distributor of their products. I was wondering why the price difference was so high, and I had wondered if it was because the bamboo was from Japan. Looks like that may be why!

I'll also look into their warranty info. Thanks again!

 

Much like Europe, Japans quality standards are much higher than the US. I am sure you will be fine. I still would get in writing that you can install below grade and on concrete. If they have a warranty for that, make sure you follow the install to a "t" as they will hold you to it if you have any problems. Keep the receipts for the adhesive and note all the preparation steps that you take.

If a consumer came in with all of that info and had an issue, we would have paid out the claim without thinking about it.

 

I do have an email correspondence going with someone from the company, and they do state in can be installed below-grade, so I will def. save all the info. if I need to for the future - I hadn't thought of that before. Thanks again so much!