Recently got a question from a guest which I think deserves due space. I’m posting it out for answers. Will send in my own within the week. So here it goes. Feel free to post your answers in the comment box.

I am conducting a study in bamboo certification. I wanted to ask consumers: Do you think bamboo certification necessary? What kind of certification would you like to see: FSC, Organic, Fairtrade or something else? Do you think certification would give the wrong message about bamboo because it is not managed in the same way as timber and is a renewable resource?

One question that is frequently asked of me is this: Will purchasing from an online store void the manufacturer’s product warranty?
The answer is plain and simple: Absolutely not. Manufacturers cannot void warranties based solely on the fact that the product was purchased over the Internet.

The Federal Trade Commission protects your rights as a consumer with the Magnuson-Moss Act. The warranty act is the federal law that governs consumer product warranties. Passed by Congress in 1975, it requires manufacturers and sellers of consumer products to provide consumers with detailed information about warranty coverage. (http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/warranty.htm#Magnuson-Moss).

But you must keep in mind that the warrantor may in fact void your coverage if the item was bought from an unauthorized dealer. Mirage Floor is one example of a manufacturer that expressly states this in its warranty coverage. This is a way for flooring manufacturers to protect their reputation and their consumers by ensuring that you always get the best of what they offer. As such, you should always find out if the company you are dealing with is an authorized dealer.

There are also many stipulations that could push the warrantor to void your coverage. So as a piece of advice, read your warranty thoroughly. Consider things such as approved product application, limits of the warranty to the original purchaser, the coverage’s specified period of time and other factors.

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After 4 being online for 4 months, Bambooandhardwoodfloors.com finally gets a PR ranking from Google. Although I’m not all that sure if this is just part of the “dance” that Google does, it stll gives me the giddies to know that Bambooandhardwoodfloors.com now has PR ranking of 3. Why is this useful, it helps users find us better with organic search engine listings…to those not so familiar with Netspeak, it just means that the site may come up higher on the rank page if a searcher enters the targeted keywords (like bamboo floors, hardwood floors, hardwood flooring and the the like). Bambooandhardwoodfloors.com has a policy of not paying for ads (we do not have a pay-per-click campaign that puts us on top of the search engine results pages) While we want to continue writing the articles to help readers learn more about bamboo and hardwood floors, we would really want to do this with as little cost to us as possible — this is after all our gift to the community and is a non-profit site (we do not sell stuff here, but we can provide you with the proper resources). Thank you for your continued patronage of our site..and thank you Google!

Ah..the lovely world of hardwood. It’s always amazing to enter a house with hardwood floors. It feels so classy, so Americana. Nothing beats the glimmering wood floors that emit a certain kind of warmth and character. Hey, that’s probably why homes with hardwood floors sell faster and at higher prices than carpeted homes.

But shopping for hardwood floors can be a drag. I’m telling you, it’s just not that easy. There are millions of choices out there. From specie to color, style to size..it could be oh so confusing. Read the rest of this entry »

Bamboo, in a word, is simply stylish. It’s a trendy choice for kitchens and dining rooms. It goes great on entertainment rooms…and best of all, I heard Brad Pitt has it in his house. For me, those are just the top reasons I chose bamboo flooring for my guest room.

I really wanted my guests to go “wow!” when they see where they’re sleeping. So I spent a fortune. So it took me couple of days on my hands and knees. So I cried a little when my dogs came in, played a little rough and scratched up some of the floors that I installed. But it was all worth it. My guest room floors are divine.

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A couple of months ago (or has it been years?), when I had my first DIY flooring project, I had my virgin floor shopping experience. It was an absolute thrill. It’s probably hard to imagine a girly-girl like me shopping for planks and tiles, spacers and tapping blocks and whatnot.

I looked at my local home improvement store first…I gotta tell you, there just isn’t enough floors in big box companies. So I turned to the Internet for help….and boy did I get a lot. It’s really overwhelming to know there are over 50,000 kinds of floors out there. Hardwood, laminates, bamboo, vinyl and cork are just some of the few available back then. And those were just the categories. I haven’t even started looking at brands yet.

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Bambooandhardwoodfloors.com gives consumers the opportunity to talk about their favorite topic: floors! We have added this blog so we can give you more information about bamboo and hardwood floors, that we hope aren’t as formally present as our articles. This section will also feature our unbiased view about the latest products in the market and maybe even a list of retailers where you could purchase your new floors. As we always want to point out to our site visitors, we are not a flooring retailer. The purpose of bambooandhardwoodfloors.com is solely to give out free information about what we know about floors, hoping that it could help in your decision making. In the long-run, we intend to feature retailers who have had good reviews from people we know.

Not that into flooring? Don’t worry, we’re also open to your comments on other topics about the home. Projects, for one, are always a nice thing to talk about. Just drop us a line via the comment box and we’ll try to start a thread about the topic you want to talk about.

Don’t forget to visit our articles section at www.bambooandhardwoodfloors.com/articles for more news and info about bamboo and hardwood flooring.

Well, that’s it for now. Let’s talk more later!

-Vylette
Senior editor
Bambooandhardwoodfloors.com