Bamboo Flooring for Sole replacement

[Wildrice]

I took a package of Bamboo flooring down to the boat, layed it out in the cabin. We will see if any changes occur. I will be bringing Windigo up to Amelia Island Yacht Basin at the end of the month too start the refit. I took all of my interior cushions to a Automotive upholstry shop. Price at the shop was $1100.00 for the whole deal including a new Bimini made out of some insulated military canvas that he said was great for rag tops(many years of service) we'll see! Anyway anybody keep their boat at Amelia Island.

[Wildrice]

Update on the bamboo flooring

I got down to the at the end on july and found black mold growing on the bottom of the bamboo, so thats the end of that. I've been looking and some of the plastic teak and holly and found a company that might work.. It's from TT Custom Marine and it's called Plasteak & holly that is 45$ a linear foot six feet wide. You can send a templete or buy it in lengths you need. Also looked at the Flexiteek with a price of $33. per square foot ready too install, a bit more than I wanted to spend. Recieved the samples of the platicteak and they look great. Anyone tried this brand before?

Keith

[drh1965]

When we had bamboo floor installed in our home, the installer told us 3 important things about it...

1) In can only be installed with a special adhesive because nails will not prevent it from lifting and warping. It will actually pull the nails out of the subfloor when it expands contracts due to humidity changes.

2) There need to be minimal voids in the adhesive.

3) Once the bamboo is glued down, it can never be removed. To replace small sections, the old bamboo has to be grinded off. To replace large sections, a new floor is typically installed over the bamboo.

While we absolutely love the way the bamboo floors look and feel under foot, we'd never get them again. As someone else mentioned, the stuff is so easilly dented with casters, furniture, etc.

I'd never consider them in a boat except for maybe a trim piece glued to soemthing else that can easily be removed.

Darrell

[schoonerdog]

Anything which doesn't breath and isn't glued down will have black mold on the bottom. We had tried some vinyl flooring a while ago as a replacement for the carpet in our PDQ and it had lots of black mold underneath. It wasn't a fault of the material, but the installation (and we really didn't like it that much to want to glue it down, more a stop gap).
The carpet breathed enough for mold not to be an issue when loosely laid down. Personally, we're looking at something called plynyl with a "bamboo seafoam" appearance, but like any vinyl flooring it would have to be glued down to prevent mold from growing underneath. Welcome to Frontier

It's a bit more modern in appearance, but that goes well with catamarans. It's soft underfoot like carpet, but doesn't absorb water and is probably far more wear resistant than either wood or carpet.

Originally Posted by Wildrice

Update on the bamboo flooring

I got down to the at the end on july and found black mold growing on the bottom of the bamboo, so thats the end of that. I've been looking and some of the plastic teak and holly and found a company that might work.. It's from TT Custom Marine and it's called Plasteak & holly that is 45$ a linear foot six feet wide. You can send a templete or buy it in lengths you need. Also looked at the Flexiteek with a price of $33. per square foot ready too install, a bit more than I wanted to spend. Recieved the samples of the platicteak and they look great. Anyone tried this brand before?

Keith

[Wildrice]

I decided to install Plasteak instead of bamboo. The installation was pretty simple. It looks great and I'm very happy with the outcome. Some of the reasons I decided to go with the vinyl was weight savings and low maintenance very good footing and easy to clean. Trimming the edges seems to be a problem because of the curving of the bulkheads , I was thinking of using garage door weather trim or staining some rope and trimming out the edges. It's all a work in progress and the true test will come when the wife gives her approval. Anyone else been using it if so what did you use for trim? I know some of you guys don't like it but it will suits me. I think the product was fairly priced unlike some of the other brands $7.50 per square foot and comes in six foot wide rolls. I'm not going to glue it down for now, you never know I might change my mind and decide that I really want wood.


keith

[eskfreedom]

Anyone have or tried cork???

[shadow]

That does look nice!! WELL done!! Not to get off the subject but, those shots of that CAT!! How large is it!! It looks Massive!! I would love to walk through that palace!!

[Lodesman]

Not sure where I got this picture, but it's cork in a cat:

[Wildrice]

Hi Shadow

It's an Admiral 38 and only 38' by 23'.

Keith

[Pelagic]

I am not sure if this could be an issue to anyone considering bamboo but you might want to check to see if it is resistant to wood boring insects like powder post beetle. (or treat accordingly)