zebra flooring

While away in Toronto we stopped by Lumber Liquidators to see their selection and found this interesting product called zebra bamboo. LL doesn't have the best reputation in the States but their selection was likely the most different compared to what is available in local stores around here. This zebra bamboo is a strand compressed bamboo flooring with a warm finish. We both really like it, but are hesitant to put bamboo in a century home.

The pros: It's a easily renewable wood product, within our budget and has presence (by that I mean it draws the eye forward along the dark stained sections, which is important since we are installing the flooring right from the front door down the entire length of the house basically). The cons: off-gassing from the finish, still more expensive than re-using some of our old softwood planks, discordant style compared to the age of the home.

I was disappointed in the board lengths of most of the products available through LL, but this bamboo was the exception. Part of me thinks this is my forever house so I should just do what I want with it, even if that means bamboo floor in a 100+ year old house. Well we got a sample so the next step is to beat the shit out of it to see if it withstands the abuse of dropped hammers, doggie nails & kiddie toys.