Bamboo Flooring

There are alternatives to the expense and general environmentally detrimental models of hardwood flooring. Hardwood floors are great in terms of convenience in any household- they are easy to clean without a lot of supplies, they are beautiful in appearance, and they can be installed by following easy instructions by any layman. Homeowners who choose to install hardwood floors need no longer decide between flooring materials that come form traditional sources of wood, however. Cork flooring, bamboo flooring, and epoxy flooring are all becoming more popular alternatives to traditional hardwoods. Here’s all you need to know about bamboo flooring!

In terms of the environment, traditional hardwoods are manufactured from trees that must grow to maturity before their wood can be turned into the highest quality flooring material. These trees take a lot of room to grow, and thus whether harvested naturally or from a farm, the impact on the natural environment is huge ad often detrimental. Bamboo, on the other hand, grows incredibly quickly, in large amounts, and is easy to harvest and ship (it is actually a type of grass, not a tree). The treatment methods for turning the bamboo into bamboo flooring are also less arduous than those used for trees.

Bamboo flooring is actually tougher and more durable than many kinds of hardwood flooring. Bamboo is actually just as hard as hard maple and is 50% harder and therefore more durable than red oak. Bamboo simply wears much better than other types of flooring material, and will last longer. The incredible thing is, because it is so easy to grow, bamboo flooring is competitive in terms of price with any models of hardwood floor, despite having to be shipped from the eastern parts of Asia where it is grown. If you are a protectionist, this fact might lead you to reject bamboo as a flooring material in your home. There are only a handful of bamboo distributors in the United States, and all of the bamboo they import is from growing regions in China.

Bamboo also has a very unique grain texture and color that will add some definition to any home. Make no mistake, just because bamboo is a type of grass by no means makes it less strong than wood. Many buildings in China and elsewhere in India are constructed around bamboo frames, including high rises and office buildings. Its flexible nature may also be the ideal building structure for earthquake-prone regions.

There are several reasons, then for considering using bamboo flooring for our renovation project. Bamboo is durable, hard, easy to clean, competitively priced, and has a very individual appeal in terms of aesthetics. Bamboo flooring is available in several different colors and cuts, so the odds are high that you can find any style you want.