[Bill_Vincent]

Hi Kayla-- Yes, the installer matters. but it also matters the material you start out with. Regardless of installer, water will ruin wood before it does tile.

That said though, I can appreciate that some will assume the risk for the material they like..... or in some cases, need, because of leg or back trouble.

I just can't see using it, especially something like bamboo, as a matter of GP, as this one contractor that I do work for does. His whole selling point is green building, and being that bamboo is as green as it gets with wood, he puts it everywhere, just so he can say he's building green. One of my comments to him the other day was how green is it when it all has to come up to be replaced?

[Kayla]

Sounds like a discussion you might want to have with the GC. I feel like this thread has gone all over the map.

Your opinion on wood (of any type, particularly bamboo) flooring in the kitchen is noted. But the OP didn't ask tile vs bamboo, she asked opinions on different bamboo.

Rather than having some discussion, where neither of us is likely to change our mind about tile in the kitchen I'm going to go back to answering questions and helping the lay people.

	OP OP means Original Poster

[Keter]

Originally Posted by kisaacs

I don't like the hardness of tile, the grooves of grout lines, or even the grid-like patterns on a wide expanse of floor. I also don't like that it chips and cracks.
Kristen

To me, visible grout lines are like visible panty lines!

On the other hand, I needed a very durable floor since I have three big dogs who are getting elderly and a husband who does metal work and drips shavings and grease everywhere. I ended up going with inexpensive slate tile. It is cut very precisely to the same size and I was able to lay it with only a 1/16th inch grout line, so that with dark gray grout (mixed very heavily with adhesive admix), the lines disappeared after applying sealer. I also used the grout to fill in a few naturally-occurring voids.

To prevent scaling, flaking, and to remove sharp spots, I sat on the floor with a Dremel tool and an abrasive bit and rounded off every sharp edge and scaly bit. The floor still has character, and after putting on the sealer, it sort of glued it all together. This makes the floor very easy to sweep and mop, as it is essentially monolithic. Two years later, even in the highest traffic area in the entry, the floor is perfect: not one scale or flake, and a few light scratches disappeared when I resealed the floor. If a tile does crack, I can chisel it up and put in a new one and no one will be able to tell.

It is hard, but it also has a very natural, organic feel underfoot, which I don't mind at all.

[Keter]

Originally Posted by kisaacs

We're thinking of putting strand bamboo in our kitchen and are looking for suggestions of brands to check out. Thought I'd ask here. We need a floating floor installation, so it seems our options are somewhat limited. Anyone have any suggestions?
Kristen

I started to use bamboo, and purchased some, but ended up using it for trim rather than flooring because a test revealed that my dogs' nails would mark it up too much. I found tongue-and-groove type that would be suitable for floating. I would go with solid bamboo rather than "engineered" with a particle board back because bamboo is much more resistant to water damage than the backing would be. Solid bamboo is a pleasure to work with, but when cutting it, use a high quality carbide saw blade because it will dull a cheap blade quickly.