Hi!

Searching for nice, good floating floor brand recommendation, for a new home. Getting cabinets put in this week so I have to finally decide on something or put the project on hold.

I want something GOOD, not cheaply made but cost is always relevant!

I wouldn't say that price is no object by any means but you only do this once (at least that is my intention!)

I am looking at Bamboo because it seems to work good over radiant floors, according to all that I have read. Anyone disagree?

I was looking at Teragren and like the fact that they are U.S owned and only harvest mature Bamboo. They have good reviews, it appears and a good warranty (5 years commercial because of their German finish, it seems.

Their synergy line has very wide planks and no short pieces (all the same long length). 7 11/16" x 9/16" x 72"

Their base is also bamboo whereas many others are plywood of various thicknesses and wood types. Thoughts on this?

I do not want carbonized because I read that it weakens wood or makes it softer AND I prefer light colors like their wheat..

Does anyone feel that they offer the best bamboo product? Is there anything else comparable?

Heard about Cali, EcoTimber and Plyboo with good reviews (one one website) Teragen had some bad warranty reviews but maybe they were the customer's fault? Cupping problems too? The flooring store said that Teragren gave a customer 4 free boxes ($1000) for something not their fault (an uneven subfloor, apparently. Any experiences?

I saw a brand I have not heard of, in a local flooring store; Harris Wood Since 1902??

- radiant heat approved
- lifetime warranty on finish
- lifetime warranty on construction
- MADE IN USA!
- 5 ply
- 4 3/8 wide and random length
- the plant is only 40 miles from me in TN!

NO BAMBOO but if this is a good product, I may consider American Cherry.

Any thoughts on the wood choice over radiant or the company; Harris Wood?

I will take any suggestions!!

THANKS!!

Ben

I would not trust a bamboo over radiant heat. That stuff needs moisture or it will split and fall apart. How is it going to keep it's moisture content if it is being cooked?

My radiant heat system (WarmBoard) is super efficient and only runs at 110F and they say that it will not dry out wood.

Many forums and manufacturers say that Bamboo is the best for Radiant heat.

110 degrees will kill your floor most manufactures require radiant to be less than 85 degrees under the wood. Bamboo is very difficult without radiant heat, it moves with fluctuations in m/c terribly. Some salespeople will say anything you want to hear to get the sale. If you do go with bamboo i would say you've been warned. I cannot tell you how many times we(wood floor contracors) warn a customer about different characteristic of a certain floor and they use it anyhow only to come back later and tell us that they never knew it would happen.

Hi Mickey,

Let me clarify, the WATER temp is 110, whereas many radiant systems are 20-30 degrees hotter to get through 1 or 2 layers of wood. The flooring will never exceed 85 and heat is very evenly distributed.

You never said what you would recommend; brand or wood species.

Thanks,

Ben

We deal mostly with solid unfinished flooring. As far as brands go there are several different mills that produce flooring, aacer,, shamrock, Smith , northwood to name a few. We have had good results with oak, brazillian cherry, and walnut. It is best to stay with a narrower floor 2-1/4 to 3-1/4 to help keep shrinkage to a minimum. I would stay away from hickory and most of the exotic floors. As for prefinished floors again there are many different brands kahrs, Robbins, Mirage are a few that we install that seem to have good milling and consistency. I would also shy away from the cheapest deals, normally you get what you pay for.Also be sure to acclimate the floor to the conditions in the home.

It isn't written in concrete but you generally want an engineered floor or a rift and quarter sawn floor over radiant heat. I would not recommend bamboo at all.The one place that bamboo seems to get good results is when you buy a "strand" bamboo floor and install it somewhere that is very humid like Florida.

Hi!

I am definitely going with the engineered flooring, without question. Even when I was looking at bamboo, it was going to be engineered, not solid.

However, my wife has her eye on Hickory! She thinks it's absolutely gorgeous.

So, can you give us a recommendation for an engineered wood in Hickory, suitable for Hydronic radiant heat?

BTW, I scratched Harris off of my list, after looking at their flooring in person. It looked a little cheap, it was thin and the first piece I tried to put together, ended up with a crack tongue - not good.

I came across another product called Max Windsor. They guarantee their product over radiant heat and it has a lifetime construction warranty.

I had never heard of them but their president responded to an e-mail I sent (unbelievable), and said this amongst other things, "We have the lowest claim in the industry because our quality is exceptional. The construction and milling is with German technology and machinery. Our factory is ISO 9001 for Quality, ISO 14001 for Environmentally Friendly. You cannot be a Bona X finish supplier unless your factory has state of the art machinery and strong structure and system to produce exceptional output. Only a selected few factories are Bona certified.

We have almost 9,000 distributors and dealers who supply Max Windsor Floors. Combined, they sell to millions of consumers. We know this because we average over 8,600,000 square feet of wood floors each year since 2004."

Their website says that they are claim rate is 0.5% where as the industry average is 2%."

Any and all input will be greatly appreciated!

By the way, I am looking for a lighter color (natural is one option) plus Saddlebrown and Golden. We really like the way the scraped wood exemplified the grain. We didn't like it in the pictures we have seen of other flooring but this is beautiful.

Best regards,

Ben

Did you happen across this thread? hard-wood-separating-from-backing-t8682.html

Hi Stephen,

Yes I saw it after your post. THANK-YOU

A couple of comments got my attention.

JamesTRD said, "how wide was the cherry...there is your first problem" But I don't know what he means by that. I did see another reply down below that one...

Most manufacturers say that wider is better when floating and having to glue the joints. Is he saying that if is too wide, that could be a problem?

He went on to say, "AMERICAN CHERRY......never over radiant...NEVER....

...american cherry is a very volatile material when it comes to reacting to moisture, increased and decreased..."

What about Acacia wood?

Why is the type of wood a big issue when the plies are an entirely different material and they will be warmer than the top layer? I do realize if it expands and contracts at a different rate than it could be a problem... is that all?

In his third reply/post he said, "5" is also very wide...now given its engineered, this ould allow you to go over radiant as long as maker says ok."

So is a 5" width generally considered the widest over radiant heat? Will it cause more problems? Doesn't a floated floor make a difference?

THANKS!!

Ben

As floating engineered floors become more and more prevalent in today’s market, more and more manufacturers are creating lines of floating engineered flooring.

Vintage in Canada has a line of 3/4" solid engineered products(Solid Sawn engineered) that can be floated, nailed or glue down.