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Bamboo Flooring: What You Should Know!

Bamboo has become a popular flooring material, particularly as a renewable resource with good properties as a flooring material. Bamboo can grow to a useful size in just a few years, versus trees which must mature sometimes for decades to be useable as flooring. There are other advantages to bamboo flooring, so let’s take a look at a few:

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  • Little maintenance needed — bamboo can be maintained primarily by sweeping or wiping with a soft cloth. It will maintain a good look for years with little additional maintenance needed, unlike natural wood which must be finished, waxed, and periodically refinished.
  • Different hardnesses available — natural woods of the same type can vary in hardness to some extent, but bamboo is particularly versatile. A technique knows as carbonizing will make natural bamboo much harder, making it useful for high-wear areas. Another technique is to make strand woven bamboo, even harder still and extremely durable.
  • Bamboo is offered in a wide range of board lengths and widths, colors, and the finish cut.
  • It is more moisture resistant than natural wood, making it a good product for areas where spills can occur such as kitchens. See below for a caution about installations in high humidity.

Don’t be confused about renewable products necessarily being cheaper or of less quality. Bamboo is an excellent hardwood-equivalent flooring product, and you should expect to pay equivalent prices for quality bamboo as you would for natural hardwood. The advantages above make bamboo in many cases a more viable product, particularly when looking at moisture resistance and low maintenance over time. These factors will make bamboo very cost effective for a residential or light commercial installation.

Less desirable conditions for bamboo are cold environments, where the flooring can shrink more than natural wood, and in high humidity where warping can occur. If bamboo is to be installed over damp areas or areas where moisture can occur it’s important to use vapor barriers, special underlayment to resist moisture, and proper installation to account for changes in shape as the humidity changes.

Here at Flooring.org, we have an extensive bamboo inventory for your consideration. We offer manufacturers such as Bamboo Hardwoods, Home Legend Bamboo, Teragren Bamboo, and Wellmade Bamboo and you can buy hardwood floors online now too! Contact us today to place an order, or if you have any questions about using bamboo for your next flooring project.

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