Bamboo floors installed!

Whoo-Hoo!!  My father-in-law and brother-in-law came down this weekend to help install the new floors.  We only had to deal with the sub-floor for a week (I had ripped up the carpet on a break from work last week) - but a week was long enough.  You couldn't walk on the sub-floor with bare feet or even socks for fear of splinters.  

Subflooring

But now.....

Bamboo installed over same area

 No shoes needed!!!!

We ended up choosing a color called, Java Patina Fossilized

The variation in the color of each piece was a bit more than I had thought it would be - but I like it BETTER than what I thought I would too!  My 80lb dog shouldn't be able to scratch it, but if he does - I don't think it will be noticeable with the high contrast variations.

We purchased vent covers from the same company.  They didn't have the exact color match (they didn't come in java patina - only java) - the same color minus the black contrasts - and I'm very happy we ended up doing that.  They seemed a bit expensive, but I think our old white ones would have looked hideous.  I had figured I'd just buy cheapish black ones from a home improvement store - but these blend so nicely they just disappear in the overall scheme!

I also ordered t-mould strips for the tile to wood transitions, but they did NOT appear to be the correct color!  They were supposed to be the same color as the vent covers.  They were NOT!!!  The actual floor we installed is on the top right of this pic.  The color that the vent covers and t-mould was supposed to arrive in is on the lower right side.  I had to order like 11 samples from this company before I found the color I liked, so I also had this color called, Kona Fossilized (top left of pic).  The t-moulds match that dark, red color and NOT what I ordered.  I am still fighting with the company over returning these.  At first they said, sure - We'll give you a refund - then I called Friday to find out why they hadn't processed anything - they said I had to take MORE pictures to prove to them it was the wrong color!?!  Really?  This seems like proof enough to me!!

Because we didn't have t-mould transitions by the time we were installing, we decided to just do without. Our tile flooring had this tiny metal transition already - we just butted the wood up to that.  It turned out pretty great.  We have a transition to tile in 3 different areas - to the front entry (picture), to the dining room - no pic, but for it the flooring was laid parallel and that transition turned out even better, and to the bathroom (see below)

 For all the hallway doorways, we did this transition board in the door jam area.  It looks great as the bedroom doorways (going to carpet) have this same style transition piece too.

 Overall, SUPER excited that the floor is down!  We rented a pneumatic nailer and used cleats for installation.  There were 4 of us total - my hubby used the nailer and officially laid the floor, my brother-in-law was on his knees the entire time - tapping the boards into place to be ready to nail, I chose board placements and otherwise hauled around floorboards to get them ready for tapping, and my father-in-law was our cutter - he is a master at the saw and cut the boards as needed (to start and end each row and deal with the hallway).

We started Friday around 7pm.  We were just going to lay a row or two to get things ready for the morning (psi, routine, etc).  We worked until about 10:30 - 10:45ish.  We got up and got started by 7 or 7:30 - and finished the entire project by 7pm!!!  Wow - that went so much faster than I anticipated!

One more DIY project down.  Who knows what's next!

For now...
Becky
of
SewSaneJane