Edie,

My experience is similar. I have not moved anything heavy, but even with
the plastic casters on my desk chair, I've gotten a pocked effect in the
area by my desk. This is from the weight of my daughters (35 and 50
pounds, respectively), who roll the chair off the plastic mat I've
placed there. I had the desk on the other side of the room and had hard
rubber casters on a different desk chair. Not only did I get the pocked
effect there, but the black rubber embedded itself into the grain. I
don't know how I'm going to refurbish this floor.

The beveled edges do bother me, too. The edges are beveled because the
boards are pre-finished. Unfinished boards that will be sanded flush
after installation and prior to being finished don't need to be beveled,
but finished boards will not be sanded after installation. The bevels
allow the boards to avoid having razor sharp edges. But sanding to
refurbish a floor will be difficult because of the bevels. If sanded
unevenly, the bevels will change sizes irregularly. It would seem that
the only solution would be to sand down past the bevels -- and that's a
lot of sanding.

As much as I love the look of bamboo flooring, I will not be installing
it again. If it were installed in, say, a tatami room, in which
residents spend a lot of time stocking-footed and sitting on the floor,
perhaps then it would be suitable to the purpose. Since my wife is
Chinese, we already take our shoes off at the door and wear house
slippers. I'd hate to see what happens to a bamboo floor under the
typical assault of Americans who wear their shoes inside and outside the
house.

Doug Harrison
Minnesota

> My two cents on how a consumer chooses flooring. I was so impressed
> by the look of bamboo flooring that I bought it. Bamboo was touted as
> being "as hard as red oak." Ok, did I really check to see how hard
> that was? No, I had a friend, who just become an interior designer,
> organize the purchase and installation. I came home and it was
> done--Gorgeous!
>
> However, it is a very soft material. I moved the fridge--gouge marks.
> The plastic protector fell off a wheel on a rolling chair--gouge marks.
>
> So, buyer beware. I still love the looks of the flooring, but it will
> not last 100 years like oak floors. I know bamboo can be hardened,
> but that does change the look. Also, for some really strange reason,
> the edges of the flooring planks are beveled. I won't do that again
> either as it really holds dirt.
>
> It's a learning process. Keep up the good work all you Bamboosas, so
> that we have more bamboo products in the market that are sustainable,
> beautiful, functional, and yes, durable.
>
> Edie Marrs
> www.geomio.com




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