Basement - Bamboo planks

After the DriCore, I began installing the bamboo flooring. I purchased the planks from BuildDirect, who had the best prices I could find. You had to purchase a minimum order of 1,200 square feet, but that was about what I needed and the cost, even with shipping, was 30% less than the local supplier.

Bamboo is available in two colors, a yellow that is similar to maple, and a brown that seems like a dirty white oak. Bamboo is too dense to stain well, so they create the dark brown color by heating the wood until it begins to char, then stopping. They call this "lightly toasted" treatment carbonizing. However, that word apparently doesn't translate well from the Chinese.

I installed the bamboo with an air powered flooring nailer.

The work went pretty fast, this was the results of the first hour
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The highlight of this bit was for my daughters. The boards were small enough that they could help lay them out for Daddy, a task that they loved.


But by the end of the day, they'd had it!

Hey, this place is looking finished!