The bamboo flooring that wasn't meant to be
 

About 2 months ago my house flooded, and among other things, it destroyed all of our first floor flooring. I really wanted to replace it with bamboo, and I orginally got my mom to agree to this:

http://teragren.com/gallery_files/ga...ery_res_02.jpg

Teragren is a neat company and that flooring is commercial grade for about the same price as boring oak.

Unfortunately, my mom went and changed her mind behind my back. Whatever.

I recommend the floor to all of you though, if you're looking for a good bamboo. :)

A year ago, one of my ham acquaintances went with a cork floor in his kitchen / dining area.
Didn't sound too rugged, but I guess there is a heavy covering (clear) over it.
He says it's warm to the bare feet, and not fragile at all,
and it is somewhat soft to the touch,
so much so that a glass falling on it doesn't break like it would on a tile floor.

Yeah, cork has great sound dampening properties. I really wanted to go cork over bamboo but it didn't go with any of the furniture, :/

What kind of flooring did you end up getting?

Nothing yet. It's been two months and they're just getting around to starting on the damaged cabinets today...Prolly some solid oak with a light finish, bleh, :p

I've seen cork used on some of the shows on HGTV. Does it have that rough look like a buliten board or is it smooth?

I thought I had read somewhere that there was some kind of shortage, or over-harvesting of the plant or tree that they make cork out of. Has anyone heard anything about this as well? I thought that was one of the reasons (among many) that a lot of vineyards are switching to corks of man-made materials.

I was one of the guys who shot cork flooring for HGTV. (Ok, actually I was doing the SOUND)

The cork flooring is great. Soft, warm on your feet, etc. Looks really nice. Quiet too!

The wine industry has been switching to fancy rubber/plastic corks partly because of cost and availability.

Cork flooring can be made from smaller pieces of cork, sort of ground up and recycled from the wine cork industry. It is recyclable and sustainable.

Cork is actually bark. It is cut off the tree and then grows back later. This can be done every six to nine years.

It's neat stuff.

Why don't you tell her feedback of bamboo floooring?
Oak flooring doesn't give better service & it is costly.

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