Re: the question about bamboo flooring. It looks as though depending on what kind/style you get, some bamboo flooring is made in Washington State and some is made in China. Even thought Debra has had no complaints about the bamboo from China, I would be very wary of it. Using a flooring that needs no glue at all is a much better choice. After extensive research I decided to use Lauzon pre-finished solid hardwood. I am very pleased and have had no reaction whatever.

I was pretty sure I had heard that bamboo was very hard, so I googled "bamboo harder than oak" and got a lot of sites, where I read:

" ... Bamboo flooring is for instance, as hard as Maple (one of the hardest woods on the market), and 50% more stable and harder than Red Oak. ..."

And from: hard-wood-flooring.blogspot.com/2009/08/all-about-bamboo-floors.html

"It is important to note that bamboo is not a wood -- it's a grass, so we cannot call it hardwood. However, it can last as long as the standard hardwoods we have around, so that's probably why most people mistake it as such."

As with everything, how it's put together and finished is most critical, so ask about glues, finishes, and guarantees before you buy.

I also would be wary of product from China, as they often use chemicals I'm not comfortable with, and of course it would be a much smaller carbon footprint if you find bamboo that's grown and processed closer to you.

Do remember (and ask about) with any bamboo product that is sliced and glued together, that is a more labor intensive and additive-laden process, than say making a bamboo vase, where the natural stalk is just cut and smoothed, or anything made of solid wood.

The reason folks think bamboo such a sustainable choice as compared to hardwood, is that it grows so very fast, and keeps growing when some is cut, unlike a tree which can take many decades to mature.

From Wikipedia: "Bamboo is the fastest-growing plant on Earth; it has been measured surging skyward as .... bamboo should be harvested from 2–3 years through to 5–7 years"

I too was of the opinion that bamboo is very hard....in fact I tried a bamboo cutting board and didn't like it because it felt hard to my knife (which supposedly is hard on the sharp edge.) Also, like someone else mentioned it is usually made from small strips some how stuck together (both in cutting boards and flooring I have seen.)

Maybe we are seeing the same result as with our local woods....we don't plant enough to let them grow so the next generations have decent hard wood again. Got some old pine from a neighbor's garage. My husband ran it through the planner...it is beautiful and feels so hard and compact.

I think some bamboo gets quite big....maybe we need to learn more about this as to quality....it is so new to the market, I think we will find that some of our ideas may need refining.