Does anyone have firsthand experience with the Cali Bamboo line of click lock bamboo flooring? We are looking at replacing floors in our house. Internet reviews have been a mixed bag and I honestly never have a good feeling about those review sites. We are looking at the real bamboo for the main and upper levels, and the luxury vinyl plank for the basement floors.

sinus211 could tell you...floor guru

We had bamboo at our old house, Costco. Was very soft and marred easily.

there are different kinds (methods of manufacture and finishing it) some are harder than others. Some you can refinish, some you can't..

Ask Mike. He's a professional floor guy (sinus211)

All you need to know about Cali Bamboo is don't ever buy it.

I installed it for a customer in Snohomish who decided to purchase their own product instead of going to one of my wood floor distributors. This was their first mistake, but we'll get back to that. They bought a dark stained strand woven solid click lock. Had it shipped to their house a month prior to installation to allow for proper moisture acclimation. (I usually recommend 1-2 weeks but they wanted to be extra safe)

The customer went so far as to take all of the material out of the boxes and stack it log cabin style in the work space to give the material maximum exposure for proper acclimation. This is really going overboard, but not a bad idea. I installed the material to spec (Jukk0u can back me up on this, he worked with me on this job) with proper expansion spacing around the perimeter on premium moisture barrier/insulative pad. Expansion spacing is extremely important on floating (click lock) floors because the floor will expand and contract with changes in humidity. If the floor catches on a wall, cabinet, etc during expansion/contraction it will either cause buckling or separation.

A month later I got a call from the contractor on the job about boards separating on both sides of the kitchen island. We removed the baseboards and trim around the island, uninstalled a 200 ft section of flooring back to the separation and reinstalled the flooring. There was no apparent conflict between the flooring and any fixtures that would bind the movement of the floor, it simply pulled apart from itself.

Upon closer inspection the problem was found. Cali bamboo uses wax in their click system to seal the board seams when installed. The wax was applied so heavily that it interfered with the click system locking together and allowed the boards to easily disconnect from each other. That was problem 1. Problem 2 was that the bamboo they use is so brittle that although the click lock system was fully engaged the floor still separated in a few areas because it simply tore itself apart leaving the click edge a splintered mess of failed bamboo.

I informed the customer that although I had repaired the floor this would most certainly happen again. 2 months later I got a call from the contractor again. The floor was separating in 4 spots now. I told the contractor to have the customer contact Cali Bamboo and send out a rep because I wasn't going to repair their failing product for free again just to have it fail on the customer again in a month or two. Cali Bamboo sent the customer 2 boxes of flooring with a "Sorry" note but refused to send out a rep to meet with me. They would only agree to meet with the customer but not me because I hadn't purchased the material so the warranty was only good for the customer, not the professional who installed the floor. Fucking insane! If the customer had bought from one of my distributors I would have had their salesman, the owner of the flooring distributor, and a materials rep from the offending company on hand to meet with the customer and myself to discuss proper resolution of the problem. But since they went around me there was no way for me to help them. Worst part is, I don't upcharge on materials. I only ask my customers to buy from my distributors so I can make sure they are taken care of the in event of a problem.

I repaired all of the separating areas with the new material to the tune of $750 labor billed to the customer. Supplied him with pictures of all of the proper expansion spacing in the failed areas, picture of the failed material, and moisture content readings on the subfloor and flooring in the failed areas. This was 4 months ago. I spoke with the contractor again 2 weeks ago. The floor is separating in a few new areas as well as in a couple of the areas I repaired with the new material. Cali Bamboo refuses to accept any responsibility for materials defect.

What did we learn?

-Cali Bamboo will not stand by their warranty on their defective product
-Cali Bamboo is substandard product with inherent design and material defects
-Always buy your flooring from a local distributor so you can contact them in person in the case that they try to skate out of warranty responsibility


In general I recommend avoiding bamboo flooring. It's not nearly as strong as advertised, it expands/contracts severely with seasonal humidity changes in your home, it's overpriced, and on nail down floors it doesn't hold on to the fasteners (nails) well causing boards to come loose and squeak. Feel free to PM me if you'd like help finding a good product to suit your needs.

P. Jukk0u this is Torsten's floor material

This. If you have pets or kids they will wreck your floors quickly.

Mike installed my Bamboo flooring that I bought from a local distributor he recommended.
I have had no problems beyond a minor squeek by my Fireplace and some minor chipping of an end cut butt at the LR step down transition.
Mike did a great job for a very reasonable price, I highly recommend him.
Save yourself some grief and listen to the Panda. Then hire him to do the install.
It's fun to watch fat guys work, too.

I'm thinking about ripping out all my OLD carpet, and going with wood/synthetic flooring. I like carpet, but I got cats that puke. What would give me the best bang for the buck? Tri-level with stairs too.

Jesus. This is more depressing than a bump-stock thread.

I hate flooring threads, every time I see one it makes me look down at my hardwoods and I want to vomit.

Someday, someday.

Damn. That's exactly the kind of real-world feedback I was looking for. I'd seen similar reviews online that mentioned the separations and the buckling, but they were always mixed in with reviews saying the product was great. So, its hard to know who to trust. I'm grateful I got it straight on this forum, and will definitely contact Mike to help figure out my flooring needs. Thanks everyone!

You're such a fucker.

..

Cheap laminate holds up surprisingly well. I wouldn't recommend going any thinner than 12mm. Remember to factor in the cost of underlayment pad and trim accessories. You can install it yourself. It's not nearly as easy as they want you to believe. "Just click it together" Nope. There's work involved, and laminate isn't the prettiest flooring choice but it's tough and very resistant to pet issues. Remember to buy an extra box or two even beyond your expected install waste. You'll want to have extra around in case a section gets damaged and your product is discontinued.

http://www.ifloor.com/laminate These guys are local and have very fair prices. Call their subsidiary Overstock Flooring and you might be able to find even better prices.



Glad I could help, I'd really hate to see anyone else go through what that customer had to deal with. Feel free to contact me anytime you have questions, I'm always available to help out fellow Wagunners!

If it makes you feel better I consider bump stocks, guns, optics, ammo and accessories to be legitimate forms of payment for my work. I also accept scantily clad pictures of usrifle's very pretty wife as payment, although she said that was just a tip. You knew about that, right Johnny?