Bamboo Floors Are Like Real Wood

We all love hardwood flooring but there are many drawbacks which range form shrinking and cracking to water damage. The key is to know what the humidity conditions are and where the flooring is to be installed. For example if you want wood in the kitchen you better have good sealing in place.

Bamboo can accept these challenges quite well. As we have said before in previous postings bamboo floors are not wood but a type of grass. The bamboo grows quite tall and strips are taken from the bamboo stalk and boiled in a solution of water, boric acid and lime which takes out all the starch. You can buy it as a plank or as engineered wood.

In the plank there are two distinct types: normal and vertical strips. The vertical does not have the distinctive “knuckle” that is associated with bamboo. In engineered flooring the backing is plywood with a bamboo veneer.

Bamboo can go over concrete in an engineered form. This is snapped together and placed over a vapor barrier for a floating floor or glued together if the floor is to be solid.

Bamboo wears like iron and, if cared for, will never need refinishing.

Hardwood flooring is a hygroscopic materials which means that water and water vapor can cause wood to swell. The when the water evaporates the wood shrinks but may not go back to the way it was. There may be warping or cracking and twists in the surface. Cupping is also a problem. As bamboo is laminated strips it resists these forces.

The World of Bamboo Floors

Next to cork probably one of the most environmantally-friendly floors is bamboo. While this flooring is classed a s “hardwood” in reality bamboo is actually a grass which grows in many of the warm, humid areas of the world. When bamboo is harvested the root of the stalk stays intact and so the plant grows back to a harvest size in 2 1/2 to 6 years when it can be cut again. Bamboo has grown very big in the in hardwood flooring industry. Besides being a product which is self-sustaining it is an extremely durable flooring which can compete with hardwood in price and hardness.

Most bamboo flooring planks are made from split bamboo stems which are flattened, dried and then pressed together with glue to form strips. The other process is called “carbonized,” where the strips are darker. This bamboo is steamed under pressure which breaks down the fibers and makes it darker. During this process bamboo flooring can be used in a laminate form where a low-emission formaldehye is now being used to prevent off-gassing.

Laminate: The bamboo is prepared like engineered flooring where the good surface is thin but durable. These floors can be “clicked” together and installed as floating floors.

Horizontal Construction: In this method the bamboo strips are stacked in three layers and then pressed together. The look presented by this method is the traditional bamboo stalk look with the familiar “knuckles.”

Vertical Construction: The bamboo strips are flipped on their sides, glued and then pressed together. Although this up to 19 strips of bamboo can be pressed into one plank they are not as durable as the normal horizontal construction.

Woven; Also called strand-woven, or stranded bamboo construction, bamboo fibers are put under pressure to create planks. This creates a lot of design opportunities for manufacturers as they can blend colors and lengths for differing styles. Woven construction is considered the most durable.

Bamboo – Renewable Beauty

Almost all exotic hardwood floors are manufactured from trees that take decades (and sometimes a century) to grow. Teak and mahogany are beautiful but are leaning toward the endangered list as the denuding of the world’s rainforest goes along unchecked.

One flooring product from the tropics runs opposite to this trend because it renews itself every few years. In fact some species can grow as fast as 1 meter per day to a height of 60 feet -all in 90 days! In addition, it’s one of the only natural products that doesn’t come from a tree – it’s a grass.

Pound for pound bamboo is one of the strongest organic products in existence. For eons it has been a prime structural material and the framework for homes, bridges and boats. As a flooring it possesses an unusual beauty one that makes every floor a one-of-a-kind surface. It is harder than either maple or oak which means that it resists hard blows and scrapes.

Bamboo flooring comes prefinished and goes down like regular hardwood so regular flooring contractors can do the installation.