I have tile floors. Want to float a floor over the top. Have looked at Schon lock and click strand bamboo. I am reading here not so great reviews. Of course the only place I've been is LL so far.
I live in SW Florida. I have Large dogs. I know I will get some dents and scratches. I read bamboo is the best as far as hardness and animals. Then........
One place you hear one thing one place another. (hardness)
I have never layed a wood floor but I did lay all this tile and can build fencing so I'm pretty handy.
Could someone point me in the right direction. I don't like dark colored woods and I don't like to light either.
Would like reasonable prices as PRICE is an issue. I do have a budget, lol. Thanks in advance.
Anyone here in the Fort Myers area please point me towards a good store. Ok I'm done.

First, stay away from LL. I am doing a Schon B Koa and it just ain't like the last one I did whcih was ok. The quality has gone down significantly. I am culling wood left and right, plus lots f damaged wood just thrown in the box. Quality control is non-existant!!!

Second, bamboo hardness is over rated. It all depends on the age of the bamboo and lots of it is harvested before it ages properly. Stranded is a different story.

I would consider a slightly distressed look, with large dogs. Unless your good about keeping their nails short. And YES...Stay away from that place.
If you gotta have Bamboo..Strand is the way to go. I've seen too much natural,carbonized, horrizontal &, vertical, self destruct.

Nope bamboo is not a must have. My girl won't let me near her nails,tried once, and she put me and the nail tech in the wall three time, but we did cut three nails, lol. and Im a losy house keeper.
So I just want to know what a good option is for me. Thanks for the reply's.

Drug the dog! I do my 120lb Rhodesian Ridgebacks. The boys will not let me touch their nails unless I get a script from the vet. And they do not like pink fingernail polish either, go figure....

BR-111 & Mirage are good choices

Floorcrafters on Metro Parkway usually does good work and has good selections.

<former SW Fla resident of 28 years>

Thanks for the help. Its really appreciated. I am going to install myself, and it has to be a float floor. Disstressed is good. Also looking at shaw floors.Thanks again, no ll for me.

Karen, as far as species, the real plus with bamboo is that it is extremely stable and Florida is extremely humid. That is one of the main reasons to consider it as it isn't going to take very much more abuse than most other hard woods. However, engineered floors are generally very stable compared plain sawn non engineered.

Another thing to consider is the look of the floor. Most pre finished and engineered floors come in multiple strips.This means that if you purchase a 3 strip floor, every piece will have 3 longs joints. Then there is 2 strip and then the there is 1 strip which looks like 1 actual board and is the most expensive. I personally hate the look of 2 and 3 strip.But if oyu don't mind , then it wont be an issue.

Some excellent engineered floors are Kahrs and Mirage. But they are also very expensive. With Lumber Liquidators, you will get flooring for less but you will get what you pay for.

Say Paul,I hate to critique you post, but I have a few concerns....Iv'e installed thousands and thousands of feet of Bamboo, and IMO when your talking about Horizontal or Vertical grain, it's probably one of the most un-stable pre-finished hardwoods,(or I should say grasses), out there. Maybe your talking about Strand? This has descent stability.
As far as an abuse level, IMO Horizontal and Vertical Bamboo probably hold up the bottom of the chart. Where as Strand is hard as a rock, ofcoarse your still dealing with a finish, and lack of texture, that will show everything.

Re: " Most prefinished and engineered floors come in multiple strips." I dont even know where to go with this comment . Have you ever sold or installed Engineered? Maybe your experience is in solid ?

I installed one bamboo prefinished (non engineered)floor . One particular contractor I do work for sells and installs quite a bit of it.I've seen about 4 of their floors after they were installed. I have to double check on the manufacturer . The problem with some flooring is that the base material isn't great and if it gets wet, it will crown or cup and move obviously.

I'm not sure what you mean by strand but the floors my contractor has been selling are straight grained, not necessarily quarter sawn . I have other bamboo experiences in some wood working and guitar building. One manufacturer is experimenting with bamboo guitar necks and gave them a great report so far

But to get back to flooring, I'm surprised to hear that you're finding bamboo to be unstable.

Yes, we too have had more than our share of stability issues with bamboo (other than strand). Although lab testing indicates that it is very near inert, it hasn't worked out that way in field use.
One notable example is a condo we did about two years ago partly do with Mirage, engineered oak, and the master bedroom in Teregren Bamboo. (both were glue-down installs).
Floor was installed in climate controlled space with humidity monitored and kept at 40-45 %.
Steam generated humidifier installed on the Unit's self contained furnace for winter use, and by January following our August install, there were up to 1/8th inch gaps throughout the bamboo floor, and the oak was sitting flat and pretty. Same glue was used, same conditions when floor was installed, same conditions when problem arose. (Have some nasty pictures around here somewhere, if I find them I will u/l them.)

Teregren is the bamboo prefinished that my contractor has been using. Thanks for the advice about it .

BR-111 and Mirage