All Forum Posts by: Sam Booth

If the floors look good but just smell bad, have a floor refinisher take a look. My guy uses a commercial buffer(not a sander) to slightly rough up the surface. Then go back with 1 or 2 coats of poly to seal it. Probably $700-$800 for that house.

Plan B, leave the bamboo, put LVP right on top of it.

There's odor and severe scratches in one room. Because it's bamboo it sounds like it can't be refinished?

Thought about laying lvp over, but won't it trap moisture between slab and lvp? Slabs usually have a little moisture come up over time.

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Quote from @Marcus Auerbach:

Do it once, do it right. LVP all the way. And don't buy the cheap stuff. Medium grade sounds much better when you walk on it, your installer will not hate you and is also more resistent.

Any certain brands of lvp you recommend? I think my flooring guy used 20mm Shaw or one of those main brands (not lifeproof).

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Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Yeah, bamboo is sooo dated. Unless you have an Asian theme going I'd get rid of it now while the timing is right.

And a floor scraper is better than a little jackhammer, it'll save you time.

I am gonna take it all up! How long ya think it will take me to remove 1000 sqft? It's an out of state rental so I got to plan my time.

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Quote from @Joel Bongco:

@Sam Booth They are comparable -- $100 to $130/day from Home Depot/Lowes.

Right on! Is the floor Scraper quicker? I got 1000 sqrt. Wonder how long it would take?

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Quote from @Joel Bongco:

Quote from @Sam Booth:

Quote from @Joel Bongco:

@Sam Booth - Bamboo was such the rage a while back. Today, I hate it, especially for the issues you cited above. Did you glue it down, float or nail it? Do you have a concrete or wood subfloor? If it were me, I would rip off the band-aid and replace it with LVT. You'll want to saturate that subfloor with some enzymatic cleaner and possibly some odor blocking paint thereafter if it smells really bad. LVT is a must for most of our rentals. HTHS! Joel

Whoever owned the property before put it in but I think it's glued down. I am thinking get rid of it as well! Any tips for ripping it out? I have ripped out engineered wood before and it was a pain. This is solid tounge and groove bamboo looks like.

Yes! Been there, done that. You can do the Jack Hammer w/ Chisel Bit, or Rent a Floor Scraper from Home Depot or Lowes. I've also done the manual floor scraping method which takes forever!

How does the rent a floor scraper compare with jack hammer? I got about 1000 sqft to do if I pull it all up!

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Quote from @Alecia Loveless:

@Sam Booth Yes to the Oil based Kilz on the sub flooring or something similar to help kill the odor.

Yup! Kilz works great to seal odor. What do you think of Bamboo flooring? Just curious? Take it out?!

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Quote from @Joel Bongco:

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So I just got a rental property under contract out of state in Alabama and the floors are 3 3/4 width x 9/16 bamboo. It's a B- class neighborhood.

Apparently there is some dog pee odor and some bad scratches in 2 of the 3 bedrooms and water damaged next to the kitchen (which is tile).

The bamboo flooring flows through all the rest of the house except the bathrooms and kitchens.

Would would you suggest?

1) Should I remove all of the bamboo flooring and replace with vinyl plank? I assume bamboo will scratch later or get water damage from tenants.

2) Replace just the rooms that have odor and scratches?

I usually travel to the property (from out of state for a cosmetic rehab) so want to make the best use of time. Other then flooring the property just needs a fence, appliances, and minor plumbing.

Thanks in advance!

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Quote from @Greg Parker:

Volume will be the key with the postcards. A local wholesaler here in Montgomery spends $30,000 monthly on postcard mailouts. But, it works!

It seems to be a numbers game

1 Vote

All Forum Posts by: Sam Booth

Sam Booth has started 44 posts and replied 226 times.

Post: Bamboo Flooring - Replace or Fix?

Post: Bamboo Flooring - Replace or Fix?

Post: Bamboo Flooring - Replace or Fix?

Post: Bamboo Flooring - Replace or Fix?

Post: Bamboo Flooring - Replace or Fix?

Post: Bamboo Flooring - Replace or Fix?

Post: Bamboo Flooring - Replace or Fix?

Post: Bamboo Flooring - Replace or Fix?

Post: Bamboo Flooring - Replace or Fix?

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