As mentioned in my intro post, I have various types of flooring left by a renter who worked as a contract installer. Two of these types are bamboo products. As also mentioned, I'm using this site for education and I've already learned a lot. I've learned that bamboo is apparantly considered to be an engineered product and should be quite stable under difficult conditions. I'm not all too sure what "engineered" actually means but the NWFA website also indicates bamboo is an engineered product.

One bamboo I have is a no-name product (identified by numbers only) that is 5/8 x 3 3/4 x 37 3/4 and most obviously 3-ply bamboo that is a horizontal glue up of 13/16" wide strips. The other type is also a horizontal 3-ply bamboo but the construction details are much less obvious. It is manufactured under a higher standard of quality. This one actually has a name. "Forest Shade Bamboo - Elite". It is 5/8 x 3 5/8 x 36. Both are carbonized but light in color, finished on the top and coated on the bottom. Both are made in China.

It looks very pretty but is this stuff really worth bothering with? I don't know anything about the actual quality of the materials but my bright idea is to use some of it at the end of the house where there's very little traffic. We have a large vanity area at the end of the master bedroom. Off this room is a well ventilated shower/toilet room. These areas are used only by the wife and myself. I'm thinking I'll glue up the flooring and float it on a good quality sheetvinyl that's installed there now. I figure it won't hurt much to give it a try. If it fails, all it will cost me is the little bit of install time and a new wax ring. If this happens, I'll just rip it all out and proceed with the original plan of doing it all in tile. Do you think this a project with a low probability of long term success? I don't see much problem at with keeping it dry through use of bath mats and common sense. The bathroom itself generally stays within a point or two of the relative humidity of the rest of the house.

Bamboo is a pretty stable wood. Due to its construction it is called a solid and it looks like a solid in most respects. Its stability and its construction make it one of the only solids that can be glued directly to a slab. I install a lot of Bamboo and love the stuff. It is very stable, but it is not the end all. It can buckle due to moisture and it will scratch. I would venture to say that it is one of the most stable and durable natural products available today. A lot of people sell it as the toughest stuff under the sun, but it will damage like all other wood and laminate products.

Thanks for the info kls. I decided to tile that area and will use the bamboo elsewhere. No need to tempt fate just because the stuff was free.