Anyone with really dark wood floors- Dark Bamboo?

[jgreco]

We are thinking of installing flooring similar to this in our house
http://www.amazon.com/Hand-scraped-Solid-Stained-Bamboo-Walnut/dp/B009DFRMKE

Does anyone have anything like it? Will it show a bunch of dirt, dust, footprints etc? I have two short hair dachshunds and a 9 year old. I've always gone with lighter floors which is the trend in Florida, and great at hiding stuff- but I saw this in a model home and I thought it was gorgeous!

 

[branv]

I was considering floors like these, but fortunately a friend of mine bit the bullet first. Not fortunate for her, because they've been nothing but constant work for her. She doesn't even have animals, and she still has to dust and clean it constantly. She said even when it's clean, it looks dull easily. Her's weren't even meant to have a gleam or anything, but she says they still require a lot of arm work to have that richness about them she bought them for to begin with. She hates them now with a passion. Makes me sad because I LOVE the look, but would never want that kind of aggravation.

 

[jgreco]

Thanks for the post, I was just reading on another site where that flooring choice was being cursed lol. Guess I will stick with what I know

 

[pigletto]

That is the stain on my floors.
Just don't. Save yourself years and years of work. My floors are beautiful when they are cleaned and stay that way for maybe half a day if I am lucky. EVERYTHING shows. A bare foot leaves a print. You see every crumb, cat hair, dog hair and scuff. I was warned, I did not listen, and I regret it.
Our routine now is to do the floors an hour before we have people over so they will look nice for at least part of the time

I really wish I'd gone with a lighter finish and a more textured wood.

 

[LuLuO]

I have dark floors too. Hate them. If it were just the two of us, they'd be great but with two kids, a dog and a cat, they're awful to keep up.

 

[shortbun]

Our friends have dark cherry floors on their dining, living, kitchen. She swiffers them every day and a guy comes and polishes them yearly. These are old floors-probably 75 years old, maybe older, and gorgeous. They do show dust but they are magnificent.

 

[2mom]

I have dark wood for the first time ever. We have always had carpet. They do show everything but I have to say for us it's been a good thing. I have a house full of allergy laden family and asthmatics. The floors have really help me keep things clean. I'm the type that hates to clean but if I see it ill so it. Carpet help me put off cleaning lol. I also don't have to dust as often.

 

[disneyhand]

I'm the opposite of most here, I love mine! I've had them almost 5 years now. Mine are the wide plank walnut though, not bamboo. They are called distresses or scraped. They are holding up well to visiting kids and to our old black lab that just recently passed away.

I worked with a very knowledgeable flooring person when I purchased and got lots of great advice. He told me bamboo was really high maintenance and everything shows on it. He told me to buy this wide microfiber dry mop item at home depot and that's what we use every few days. Pretty much nothing else has been needed in 5 years other than the occasional wet mop for a spill. I call that low maintenance.

 

[North of Mouse]

We are thinking of installing flooring similar to this in our house
http://www.amazon.com/Hand-scraped-Solid-Stained-Bamboo-Walnut/dp/B009DFRMKE

Does anyone have anything like it? Will it show a bunch of dirt, dust, footprints etc? I have two short hair dachshunds and a 9 year old. I've always gone with lighter floors which is the trend in Florida, and great at hiding stuff- but I saw this in a model home and I thought it was gorgeous!

My son had the bamboo floors but they do sctatch (they had a large dog). Also, the dark floors show *everything*. We have the light to med. wood (not bamboo) and love them. They show far less than the dark.

 

[wiigirl]

I have dark wood floors....not bamboo but I love them. I do keep a swiffer handy because they do show dust/dirt but its worth it.

 

[eeyoresmom]

I have dark wood in my bedroom. They are beautiful for 3 hours every Saturday afternoon Even in my bedroom where the kids and cats never go, they show dust right away. Love the look, but when we refinsh we are going with a medium stain.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

I am so sad to hear the dark floors show everything. We just picked up some samples because I love the look. I am glad I am seeing reviews even if wish they went the other way

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[tiggerluver12]

I have two short hair dachshunds too and walnut hand-scraped hardwood floors. Yes, they show the dog hair and have to be swept/swiffered about twice a week, but would not trade them for the world. In our old house we had light colored Pergo that showed just as much if not more dirt, dust and dog hair.

 

[magicaddict]

Guess I'm in the minority here because I love my dark hardwood floors. They are oak floors original to our 62 year old house that were stained dark at some point. While that do show dust easier than the light floors in my old house, I don't really notice the dust unless it's been over a week since I swiffered. We have forced hot air heat so we get lots of dust ( which really seems to accumulate under my bed) but it's not a big deal. When my son was younger and tended to dribble milk on the floor you could see it right away but I don't see that as a bad thing. I was always a fan of light hardwood but I love the rich look of my dark floors. Good luck making a decision.

 

[PocahontasLookALike]

We have dark chocolate brown stained concrete floors which I LOVE the look of and so easy to maintain but they do show every dusty footprint.

I sweep just about everyday. You'd be amazed at how much dust is hidden on your floors. So I'm more than happy to so it knowing how much dust/dirt is on there on a daily basis.

 

[SRUAlmn]

Here's my two cents...


We have dark wood floors similar to the ones in your link. We've lived in our home for 4 years, and for the first few I cursed them! We have a cocker spaniel, and I feel like the floors always look dull or dusty. But....then I got to thinking... they look that way because they ARE dusty (or dog hairy.) If I had lighter floors the dust/dog hair would still be there I just wouldn't be able to SEE it. I'm actually glad now because it makes me clean my floors much more than I probably would have otherwise A pain in the neck? Yes! Glad to know my floors are clean? YES!

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Here's my two cents...

We have dark wood floors similar to the ones in your link. We've lived in our home for 4 years, and for the first few I cursed them! We have a cocker spaniel, and I feel like the floors always look dull or dusty. But....then I got to thinking... they look that way because they ARE dusty (or dog hairy.) If I had lighter floors the dust/dog hair would still be there I just wouldn't be able to SEE it. I'm actually glad now because it makes me clean my floors much more than I probably would have otherwise A pain in the neck? Yes! Glad to know my floors are clean? YES!

Good points!!

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[Riverhill]

Here's my two cents...


We have dark wood floors similar to the ones in your link. We've lived in our home for 4 years, and for the first few I cursed them! We have a cocker spaniel, and I feel like the floors always look dull or dusty. But....then I got to thinking... they look that way because they ARE dusty (or dog hairy.) If I had lighter floors the dust/dog hair would still be there I just wouldn't be able to SEE it. I'm actually glad now because it makes me clean my floors much more than I probably would have otherwise A pain in the neck? Yes! Glad to know my floors are clean? YES!

Dark cherry floors here. I feel the same. We had light colored carpet before and I never saw how dirty things were. Now a simple wipe with my swiffer sweeper and we are good to go. We have 2 cats and a dog. I will never go back to carpet! My parents have light oak floors and while the dirt doesn't show it still is there.

 

[2bearsmom]

We installed brazilian cherry hardwood floors a few years ago. They are beautiful when they are freshly cleaned but that lasts about 5min with our two dogs and two boys and dh who run around barefoot and every footprint show up and drives me crazy! The dog hair is out of control too, we have a Golden Retriever and a Papillon so a lot of light colored fur. It has changed in color so much over the years and it's really pretty and I wouldn't change it for a lighter hardwood, I just have to not let it affect me too much after I clean and I see more fur and pawprints/footprints or I'd be cleaning it 5 times a day! We used to have realy light beige carpeting where the hardwood is now and I can't imagine all the stuff that was in there that we couldn't see.

 

[chrissyt27]

Here's my two cents...


We have dark wood floors similar to the ones in your link. We've lived in our home for 4 years, and for the first few I cursed them! We have a cocker spaniel, and I feel like the floors always look dull or dusty. But....then I got to thinking... they look that way because they ARE dusty (or dog hairy.) If I had lighter floors the dust/dog hair would still be there I just wouldn't be able to SEE it. I'm actually glad now because it makes me clean my floors much more than I probably would have otherwise A pain in the neck? Yes! Glad to know my floors are clean? YES!

I agree! Our carpet is just nasty. It's 11 years old and we have two dogs. It's mostly just old and worn since it was builder grade crap, even carpet cleanings don't help. We are pulling it up and putting in wood tile. The one we want is med dark and I worry about showing dirt, but you know the more I thought about it, the more disgusted I am that you can't really see how icky it is with carpet. It will for sure help my allergies when it's gone.