Good Questions: Ikea Bamboo Flooring? Yes? No?

Hello AT,

I'm researching options for new flooring in our house. I want to use pre-finished bamboo for a variety of reasons, however I really don't like the natural or carbonized shades that most companies offer it in. Duro-design offers bamboo in a variety of great stain colors at around $7/sq ft which is way out of my price range...

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Checking out IKEA's bamboo line KVIST-it looks like they have a dark brown offering at $2.88/sq ft. which would suit me just fine, both style-wise and pricewise. The specs state that it can be sanded and refinished 2-3 times.

Does anyone have experience using IKEA's bamboo flooring who can speak to it's durability etc or suggest another manufacturer of pre-stained and finished bamboo at under $4/sq ft?

Thanks so much,
Mariah

Comments (4)

FYI, GrandOpening is no longer a reclaimed materials store, but their source is http://www.lumberlandpostandbeam.com/

I'm installing Teragren bamboo flooring in my apartment although it is quite a bit more expensive than ifloor and the bamboo at home depot.

I did my green research and discovered that not all bamboo is the same. The cheap end stuff is made in china and prbably contains using harmful agents - like formaldehyde - and stains that are not even approved for use in the US. I would worry about the emissions from products like these in my home. Also, a lot of the bamboo plantations in china that supply the cheap end bamboo have been built on clear cut forest land and proper wages are not paid to harvesters. These are all things I could not ignore. So I paid more for teragren.

If you are looking for greener practices try plyboo.com, teragren and nikzadflooring.com.

Bamboo Flooring is certainly one of the upcoming materials in today's floor market. With many many advantages over traditional hardwood flooring it has certainly been a kind of shooting star amongst the different new floor types used. Amongst many its durability and hardness make bamboo very resistant.

All bamboo flooring is not the same. Be sure that it is truly dent and scratch resistant. For example, strand woven bamboo flooring such as BamStrand is very dense. See online videos and get samples at http://www.mrbambooflooring.com