Cali bamboo flooring experience
j_sakellar
| Posted in General Questions on
Good Afternoon,
Does anyone have feedback regarding use of the Cali Bamboo brand (available at Lowe’s and online) solid strand or engineered bamboo flooring? The company appears reputable, and has experienced steady growth over the past ten years. If not, do you have a recommendation?
Intended use is for a below grade basement finished space, installed on a sealed concrete foam/wood combination subfloor.
thank you
GBA Detail Library
A collection of one thousand construction details organized by climate and house part
Search and download construction details
Replies
HI Jason -
BuildingGreen did a product review of Cali Bamboo back in 2010: https://www.buildinggreen.com/product-review/bamboo-dimensional-lumber-lumboo-here. A brief summary is in front of the BG paywall but to read the full article you need to be a BG paying member.
And then there is this past discussion on Q&A: https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/question/stranded-bamboo-flooring-is-it-a-good-choice.
I've had very bad experience with solid bamboo, nail down gaps / click comes apart with seasonal humidity change.
No problems with engineered version (that is bamboo over plywood).
I have about 700 square feet of their mocha solid clicklock bamboo flooring. It’s a pretty good product and the company was very good to work with. Be careful using it in the basement, bamboo is very sensitive to humidity so it’s vital you prep the floor correctly. I’d call the Cali bamboo people directly and explain what you’re doing so that they can recommend the proper installation methods and materials. They were very helpful for me with my installation over concrete.
Bill