Posted by Hank FL on September 23, 2003 at 19:00:08:
My Sister in NY has Dogs, so this bamboo idea may not be good for her.
She just added an addition to her house and is remodeling everything else.
Her problem is that one of her dogs is getting on in years and has no controll over certain functions. He spends most of his time in the kitchen. Therefore she doesn’t want to go through all the trouble of leaving the house for two or three days while the floor in the kitchen gets the going over to prepare it for proper tile.
She was looking for a quick, cheap solution.
Hmmm… . I feel bad saying this, but this bamboo thing may be a good six month to one year solution – which is all the dog will last for at this rate of deterioration. Sad.
Posted by Nate(DC) on September 23, 2003 at 20:45:15:
I don’t know if you are planning to do the installation yourself, but if you are, you should be forewarned. A friend of mine installed this in his condo and tells me it was a major pain in the A$$ to install right - much worse than other types of hardwood. The bamboo is thinner than other hardwood planks, so it was hard to find a straight piece (most were slightly warped) and it also had a tendency to get damaged in handling fairly easily.
Taking off on what Marcos says, how about asking the salespeople of competing materials what they know of the bamboo alternative? Nothing like a salesperson of a competing product to point out the negatives.
Good Investing**************Ron Starr*************
Posted by Marcos on September 23, 2003 at 16:40:25:
Best thing to do would talk to the representative who is trying to sell you the flooring, and ask for referrals. If they can’t give you 5-10 referrals of customers 6 months or older, then you have your answer. If however they can, they would be the best to talk to.
You might also want to ask this on mrlandlord.com. Lots of savvy property owners there.