Bamboo parquet in the kitchen?!

Hello everyone,

hoping that someone here knows something:

We are building our dream house in September: entrance area, hallway, living and dining area, as well as the kitchen are designed to be very open. Geometrically, it unfortunately results in us having to lay the same flooring everywhere for aesthetic reasons (except maybe in the entrance area, where a different flooring could fit in somewhat harmoniously).

So far, we have fallen in love with bamboo. The company Bambus Concepts offers either a 10mm two-layer (but with bamboo as both the support AND wear layer), as well as a 15mm solid parquet (3-layer, also all layers bamboo). Both at a very good price for us.

Oiled, sanded for self-waxing/self-oiling) are available. Lacquered is not an option for us, as scratches are not that easy to repair. So it comes down to oiled or waxed....

The question now is: Oil or wax?

We can protect the entrance area from the worst with a sufficiently large dirt trap. The living and dining areas are also not subject to heavy use. But the kitchen worries me.

I have already googled, but the opinions here seem quite divided. Here are a few questions thrown out for discussion:

[*]Is it worth choosing pre-oiled parquet? You apparently have to re-oil anyway...
[*]What lasts longer until the next maintenance interval? Oil or wax?
[*]Is it true that oiled bamboo parquet tends to show water stains more than waxed?
[*]From a technical point of view: What is easier to maintain? Oil or wax?
[*]Does anyone have (bamboo) parquet in the kitchen and can provide pictures?
[*]How about bamboo parquet in the bathroom? Okay? Or not a good idea?

Regards
Alex

Hmm, unfortunately I can hardly give you the answers you need... but a little courage ... we decided to take the 10mm from the same company. Some samples are lying around here (also from other suppliers), we are now taking the lacquered ones since we are only laying it in a guest/workroom.

A tip: just google wooden worktops in the kitchen. How are they treated?
My old wooden table was oiled. Unfortunately, it kept happening that drink stains soaked in. If you didn’t deal with it in time, sanding was necessary. That was a bit tedious (we are red wine drinkers ).
That’s why we are now also choosing the lacquered one!

Does anyone have experience with waxed bamboo parquet in the kitchen? From everything I've read so far, it seems to be the only alternative to the lacquered version, with the advantage that scratches can be repaired.

I would avoid wood in the kitchen, unless it is very rustic floorboards. But if you drop a pot or a knife, the wax layer won’t help you anymore... then you have a hole in it. And bamboo is not as hard as claimed, as we painfully discovered. Even before moving in, small stones were pressed into the parquet where it had been taped off before. Dust and small stones find their way.

I am also not yet convinced about wood in the kitchen. But I can easily refute your "pot falls down" argument:

We have very heavy pots with thick, massive bottoms. If one falls down, it leaves quite a dent in the parquet. But if it falls on tiles, then either the tile cracks, or a small piece even chips off. Therefore, wood would be smarter because you can at least somewhat repair it. A tile is simply broken by something that heavy.

I can live with dents in the wood. That somehow belongs to it. What worries me, and where I haven't read much positive or negative feedback, is the fact that due to higher stress (compared to living areas), stains and ugly spots spread, which can only be managed either with excessive maintenance or even only by sanding/refinishing/oiling/waxing.

In summary: I am looking for experiences (and pictures) with oiled/waxed parquet regarding stains/ugly spots in the kitchen... Just so I can form my own opinion.

Bamboo is not wood and much, much harder. It is a completely different building material and must be regarded and processed accordingly. Tiles in the kitchen and heavy pots also have their problems; there is no dent but a crack. The flooring material is mainly a matter of taste. And with bamboo, great possibilities open up in design and tactile feel.