Flooring - buying, installing

[hominidj.livejournal.com]

My wife and I just bought a home in Medford on the Somerville line. Does anyone have any recommendations about where to buy bamboo flooring in the Somerville/Medford area? Or any recommendations for installers? Thanks.

Comments

[masswich.livejournal.com]

We did this a long time ago, and my only advice is to make sure that whoever you choose understands the difference between installing bamboo and hardwood. Bamboo needs to have all the nail hole predrilled, increasing installation time and (probably) cost. We had someone who did not know about that, although he was a great sport about the extra time and did not charge me any more. He also took out a section that got scratched and reinstalled it without complaining (they had scratched it, not us...)

[benndragon.livejournal.com]

See, this is entirely the perfect opportunity to give out the name of that person and/or their company, since you've already said they're good people who take responsibility for doing it right plus they've now got experience installing bamboo flooring ;P.

[i-leonardo.livejournal.com]

lumber liquidators sells at least 4 different styles. you don't need to pre-drill it for nails; the correct fasteners are staples and the staples are driven by pneumatic staple guns. a decent crew can lay most of a 20' x 80' floor in a day. if you buy the pre-finished stuff, you're all done after a day or two. the pre-finished bamboo has slight bevels on the edges and if you have aesthetic objections to that, you can buy it unfinished. unfinished bamboo needs to be sanded and finished after installation and that can add a week to the completion time. if you take that route, for the love of god, man, don't use home depot brand floor finish. "street shoe" is ultra-durable and when we re-finish ours, that's what we'll be using. the crew that installed our bamboo were dipsticks, so no recommendation, but don't let anyone snow you about pre-drilling nail holes.

[i-leonardo.livejournal.com]

addendum: there are also bamboo products that can be used in a "floating" installation, requiring no nails or staples.

[unferth.livejournal.com]

I don't have personal experience with this, but Hosking Hardwood (http://www.hoskinghardwood.com/) was well enough reviewed on the internet that I bookmarked them for future reference. They're local, and will either sell you just the flooring or do installation as well.

[laryu.livejournal.com]

Bamboo flooring is pretty easy to source. If you wanted to stay away from Home Depot and Lowes, go to Longleaf Lumber in Cambridge. As noted above, there's also Lumber Liquidators (closest is Woburn, I think).

[nomacmac.livejournal.com]

We didn't use them for bamboo, but Father & Son Floorcraft in Watertown did a great job installing a wood floor and a linoleum floor (the real stuff, not vinyl) They had a big selection of bamboo, and I am certain they wouldn't sell it if they couldn't install it properly. They're across the street from Eastern Lamjun bakery.

flooring

[pch1.livejournal.com]

I got a great deal using ifloor.com there was also a great line of floor covering, it was commercial grade stuff that was expensive but has held up remarkably well. It was called "traffic."

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

We got great bamboo flooring from Longleaf Lumber (http://www.longleaflumber.com) in Cambridge. Our general contractors installed it, but I am sure the Longleaf folks either do installation or have recommendations.