Bamboo Flooring

• Flooring, Hardwood Flooring
• April 18, 2022

The Top Questions We Get About Bamboo Flooring

Have you set your sights on installing bamboo flooring in your home? Are you a little confused by what you’ve been reading online?

You’re not alone. Depending on what resource you read, bamboo is either the best or worse material for residential flooring.

We fall into the category that thinks it makes a great addition to any home. However, like any flooring choice, you have to understand how to care for and maintain it over time to truly fall in love with it, and enjoy it for years to come.

We get a lot of questions about bamboo flooring as people are trying to narrow down their choices. We thought we’d share them with you here to help you make up your mind as you’re deciding if bamboo flooring will make a welcome addition to your home.

Are there different types of bamboo flooring?

Yes, and this is where a lot of the confusion comes from. Bamboo flooring is usually broken down into two categories: solid and strand woven.

Solid bamboo is more traditional, where strips of bamboo are glued together to make a solid and stable floor covering. It’s made similarly to a traditional oak floor.

Strand woven is newer and more innovative in technology. Bamboo is shredded and woven together to create a stronger and more versatile floor. Strand woven is twice as strong as more traditional oak flooring.

Are there different kinds of strand woven bamboo flooring?

Yes! Innovation never stops, and you’ll find that once you start looking at strand woven bamboo flooring. The most common include:

Solid strand woven bamboo – this is twice as strong as traditional hardwood flooring, where bamboo strands are compressed under heavy pressure to create durable planks. They’re milled with a tongue-and-groove structure that allows them to be glued or nailed into place. Like hardwood, they can be refinished several times, giving you a long lifespan.

Engineered strand woven bamboo – this provides a thick strand woven bamboo wear layer over the top of a durable core. Like engineered hardwood, engineered bamboo gives you a tough, durable product that’s even easier to install with click-and-lock technology.

Rigid core strand woven bamboo – want an even stronger core? This may be your answer. These floors provide strand woven bamboo on the top layer, with a rigid polymer composite (SPC) core. This makes bamboo functional in places like kitchens, bathrooms, and laundry rooms where moisture may be a problem. Some rigid core products also come equipped with a padded base that serves as a vapor barrier. This means it can be floated directly over concrete subfloors without need of an underlayment. If you’ve debated about what to install in your basement, rigid core strand woven bamboo may be your solution.

Is strand woven bamboo flooring eco-friendly?

Yes! That’s what leads a lot of homeowners to look at bamboo as a flooring option.

Most of the world’s bamboo is grown in China. Bamboo is a regenerating grass, so it grows much faster than hardwood trees. That makes it more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

This regenerative grass matures within five years. Once harvested, it has self-regenerating properties that won’t require replanting.

To be truly eco-friendly, pay attention to growth and harvesting practices. Look to ensure the manufacturer follows best practices, and allows healthy harvesting and regeneration qualities. Certification by organizations such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) will ensure best practices.

Is strand woven bamboo flooring better than hardwood?

Like all types of flooring, it’s a personal choice. Many homeowners have installed bamboo flooring and are very happy with the results. The more research you do about the product to ensure it fits your lifestyle, the better chance of being pleased with the results.

Hardwood and strand woven bamboo flooring are both made from natural materials, can be refinished several times, have a similar feel and comfort level, are easy to maintain, and are installed in similar fashion.

The differences include:

• Bamboo is made from a regenerative grass, while hardwood comes from trees
• Bamboo matures in five years, while hardwood can take up to 60 years to reach maturity
• Bamboo is often more affordable than hardwood
• Strand woven bamboo usually has a Janka hardness rating of as much as three times that of traditional hardwood

Does strand woven bamboo expand and contract like hardwood?

Both bamboo and hardwood are made from hygroscopic material, which means they absorb moisture from the air in the environment. Both products do well in a balanced moisture environment.

When relative humidity decreases, there is less moisture in the air. This causes the final product to contract, which can cause gaps in the planks.

As relative humidity rises, it brings more moisture to the air. More humidity can cause buckling as the final product expands.

No matter which product you choose, acclimating it to your home’s environment is an important part of the process. If moisture is a problem, look towards engineered or rigid core.

Is strand woven bamboo flooring durable?

Yes! If you’ve grown to love hardwood, but want something even more durable, you’re going to love what strand woven bamboo brings to your home.

Strand woven bamboo is a robust and durable product. But like any flooring material, it can be damaged over time. If you drag heavy furniture across it, you’ll notice light scratches. Drop heavy pans or sharp objects, and you may notice dents. It can withstand a lot of pressure; it just depends on what hits it, and the amount of force behind it.

The key to its success is maintenance. Luckily, the process to keep it clean doesn’t take too much effort. Use a dust mop or a vacuum with soft, non-rotating bristles to keep dust and debris away. For extra dirty floors or a more deep cleaning, a simple solution will do the trick. Check with manufacturer’s guidelines before using any cleaning product to ensure it doesn’t damage the finish. Never use a wet or steam mop to ensure best results.

What questions do you have about strand woven bamboo flooring? 

If we can answer any of your questions, give us a call. Whether you’re finalizing your flooring choice, or still have general questions, we’re happy to provide you with solid advice.

How can we help you?

• Flooring, Hardwood Flooring
• October 3, 2021

Why The Popularity of Bamboo Flooring Is Growing

People choose different flooring options for a variety of reasons.

Some want something new, something durable, sustainable.

Some have been dreaming about a certain material for years. It’s their dream flooring.

Others look for the latest trends.

Do you see yourself in any of those? For all those reasons and more, now may be the time to give bamboo flooring another look. It’s growing in popularity, and makes an excellent flooring choice anywhere in your home.

How bamboo flooring is made 

People love hardwood flooring. But one of the downsides to using hardwood is its sustainability. It can take decades to grow a tree. Depending on the species, there may be other risks associated with harvesting, such as deforestation issues.

While bamboo looks like hardwood, it isn’t harvested from trees. Instead, bamboo flooring comes from the stalks of a bamboo plant, which can be harvested in a matter of years, with the added benefit of being able to produce stalks again and again, without being chopped down at the core.

The bamboo plant is cut into thin strips, then bonded together in layers using an adhesive resin. These layers can be layered horizontally to reveal the plant’s natural shape, or vertically to reveal a striated pattern. Another option is to shred the stalks into fibers, pressing them together with adhesive into “strand woven” bamboo flooring, which is one of the most durable bamboo products on the market.

Like hardwood, you can select solid bamboo made from one of the three mentioned processes above. The planks will be made entirely from bamboo fibers. Or select engineered bamboo, which offers a thin solid strip of bamboo placed on the top of a plywood or fiberboard core. Like engineered hardwood, engineered bamboo has the benefit of being easy to install, as the planks can be floated into place using click and lock technology. No glue. No nails.

People love bamboo’s sustainability

Green living. Eco-friendly design. Sustainable materials and production.

While homeowners once paid attention only to how products looked, they are now looking beyond to determine how they are made.

And in some cases, flooring materials are created from less than earth-friendly resources.

It’s hard to ignore the sustainability factors of using bamboo flooring.

To start, bamboo grows and reaches maturity in a fraction of the time it takes a tree to reach maturity. While a bamboo stalk can be harvested in just a few years, trees can take decades to reach the same point.

Once you chop a tree down, your only option is to plant a new one. The growing process starts all over again, with decades to move from seed to maturity. But a bamboo plant starts to regrow new stalks from the moment it’s been harvested. This means you won’t have to replant a bamboo plant every time you cut down a stalk.

This process is also more earth-friendly to everything around it. Because you’re only taking the stalk and not the entire plant, it leaves the forest more intact. Less disruption for the wildlife in the area that depends on it. It also leaves the forest floor more stable, meaning it’s less likely to cause soil erosion and other environmental damage.

Bamboo is stylish, versatile, and showcases its own unique beauty

While many homeowners pay attention to sustainability first, a product wouldn’t grow in popularity if it didn’t look good too.

Luckily, bamboo checks all the boxes a homeowner looks for when selecting new flooring. The bamboo stalks give bamboo flooring a unique beauty that many homeowners are demanding. Yet because it looks and feels like hardwood, it’s a flooring choice that can easily be laid into place and enjoyed for years to come.

https://pro-flooring.com/not-all-bamboo-floors-are-created-equal/

Like traditional hardwood, bamboo flooring comes in a wide range of colors and styles. From there, it extends to unique patterns that can only be found with bamboo. If you’re looking for a specific color choice, a certain texture, or a look that screams your personality, we think you’re going to love bamboo flooring.

Bamboo is durable too

When bamboo first hit the market, there was some question about its durability. It was softer than some hardwood, and didn’t stand up to an active family home life.

No more. With today’s technology, you’ll find bamboo floors can be just as hard, if not harder than some hardwood choices. Strand woven bamboo flooring is woven together and compressed to be even harder than oak flooring.

Are you looking for a flooring product to lay over radiant heating? Bamboo flooring fits the bill there too. The stability of strand woven technology means it has the right structure for laying into place.

With a hardness factor that moves up the Janka rating, you can install it in commercial applications if you select the right bamboo flooring. It stands strong to even heavy footfall, making it a reliable choice in some office settings.

Low maintenance makes it an even better deal

We all lead busy lives. That means when it comes to selecting the right flooring, it’s important to do so with daily upkeep in mind.

Do you really want to be fussing over your flooring when there are better things to do? Luckily, that’s another reason bamboo flooring will meet your needs.

Because of bamboo’s durability, it requires little more than an occasional sweep to remove dust and debris from the surface. Wipe up spills right away, and it will continue to look great throughout the year.

Bamboo also provides moisture resistance. As long as you wipe up spills in a timely manner, they shouldn’t penetrate the floor. That makes it a good choice for areas you’ve been leery of installing hardwood before. While it’s not waterproof, it still does a pretty good job of keeping moisture on the surface, and not having it impact the individual planks.

Is bamboo flooring the right choice for you? 

To see our entire line of bamboo flooring, stop by today. We can answer your questions, show you which lines meet your specifications, and help you select a new bamboo floor you’ll be happy with for years to come.

• Flooring, Hardwood Flooring
• February 28, 2021

A Guide To Installing Bamboo Flooring Throughout Your Home

Are you remodeling your home? Looking for a flooring that will last for years and look great too? Don’t want to follow the Joneses – want something you won’t find in your neighbor’s home?

Maybe it’s time to give bamboo flooring another look.

Bamboo flooring is often considered a category of hardwood, even though it isn’t a hardwood at all. Bamboo isn’t a tree, and isn’t a wood. Instead, it’s a grass native to China. It’s cut down as strips, bonded together and crafted into planks that resemble hardwood. You’ll find colors, styles, and finishes in all spectrums, and often stand out over other hardwood options.

One of the top reasons people turn to bamboo is because of its natural, renewable sourcing. Unlike trees which can require decades of growth before harvesting, bamboo stalks can be harvested repeatedly every five to six years. Most of the bamboo on the market today is sourced from plantation-like applications that approach their farming operations responsibly.

While bamboo farming is a growing enterprise, it is important to understand that if you are looking for a renewable resource, it’s a good idea to pay attention to the manufacturing process. Less than reputable manufacturers are still in abundance in this category, so it’s important to dive deep and understand the product you are purchasing.

If you find inexpensive options online, there is a reason. Ensuring you receive a quality product means doing your research early.

The different types of bamboo flooring

If you decide to install hardwood flooring, you’ll be able to select from a variety of styles: traditional hardwood, laminate, engineered.

With bamboo, it works in a similar manner. Bamboo is constructed in several unique ways.

Stranded bamboo – it’s created by shredding the bamboo stalks and compressing them into sheets using a resin binder and pressurized heat. They are then cut into planks to install in your home. You’ll find both click-and-lock and nail-down varieties.

Horizontal bamboo – is manufactured by cutting the bamboo into thin strips and then glued together to form the planks. With this method, you’ll see the grain from the fibers within the plant. Because it isn’t pressurized when created, it isn’t as durable as the stranded option. But because of its grainy appearance, it can create a striking look.

Engineered – this is created by bonding a thin layer of bamboo onto an MDF core or a piece of plywood. It’s structured similarly to engineered hardwood, and performs  similarly. It’s the least expensive option, and cannot be refinished down the road.

Thinking about installing bamboo? Here are the pros and cons.

Before you settle on flooring for your home, it’s important to think about your lifestyle. An empty nest couple will have different needs than a young growing family. If you live alone, you’ll have different requirements than if you own several pets.

In many cases, what can be considered a “pro” by one household will be a “con” for the next. Bamboo flooring is a great choice for many homeowners, but for others, it can be a mess.

What we like best about bamboo flooring is:

• It gives a luxurious appearance to any room you install it in. It has a look that steps beyond traditional hardwood.
• Like hardwood, if you go with a solid bamboo, you can refinish it and have it last for decades. That makes it worth spending a little more on it upfront.
• Today’s bamboo flooring isn’t what you could purchase even a few short years ago. It’s easy to find articles online that talk about how finicky bamboo can be. Yet today’s bamboo is more water-resistant than ever, and can even surpass the durability of some hardwoods.
• It’s natural. If you care about going green, having a sustainable product inside your home, look no further than bamboo.
• It can be less expensive than exotic hardwood, yet offers a completely unique look and feel. If you don’t want to replicate every other home in your neighborhood, bamboo flooring might just be what you’re looking for.

Still, bamboo flooring isn’t right for everybody. Some of the cons for using this in your home include:

• It’s just as easy to find poor quality bamboo as it is high quality. Don’t select a bamboo flooring online based on cost – less-than-reputable companies will give you a lower quality product. If you install the wrong bamboo, it will be softer and won’t hold up very well over time.
• How it’s created is important too. A less than reputable company can press the strands together using a high VOC adhesive, which can make it more dangerous to your health once you install it.
• It can be a sustainable, eco-friendly option … unless you go with a greedy manufacturer. There are lots of ways to cut costs in this product line. Be careful before you finalize your purchase.
• Flooding, high moisture, or pooling water will damage your bamboo flooring.
• It can be scratched quite easily. It isn’t the best choice with lots of pets who love to run and play.

Still think bamboo flooring is right for you?

Age is everything – select wisely

When manufacturers harvest bamboo, they know the proper age to ensure the highest quality. Again, this is a reason to go with a trusted resource.

With bamboo, age is important. Age determines its durability.

Most of the bamboo used in manufacturing today comes from China, and is created using a species of bamboo called Moso. Moso bamboo takes 5 to 6 years to reach maturity, and will achieve a base diameter of 4 to 6 inches, while reaching a height anywhere from 40 to 80 feet tall.

Maturity gives bamboo its strength. The younger the plant, the weaker the strands, the less durable the end product – your floors – will be.

If you’ve ever heard of homeowners unhappy with their bamboo floors, it’s most likely because they installed a weaker product. That’s when flooring will break apart, split, warp, and crack under pressure.

Talk with a flooring associate about the product line. Do your own research too. Don’t settle until you’re sure you have the perfect product for your home.

Are you ready to install bamboo flooring in your home?

We’re happy to help. Give us a call today, and we’ll be happy to answer all of your questions about bamboo flooring, and help you make the right decision for your home.

• Flooring, Hardwood Flooring
• October 18, 2019

What To Know About Bamboo Flooring Before You Buy

Looking for a new flooring option? Not sold on the same old hardwood floor?

There’s a new option for you … bamboo flooring.

If you haven’t considered bamboo flooring in the past, you may have heard and believed some of the rumors. It’s soft. It’s difficult to maintain. It won’t last as long as more traditional hardwood.

Don’t believe the rumors.

Bamboo flooring is one of the fastest growing materials in the flooring industry. For good reasons.

Let’s start with resale value.

You may or may not be planning on selling your home in the future. But even if it isn’t a thought, most of us like installing things that will bring us up to modern times. Sure, we want our own personalities to shine through. But we also want something that will last, and won’t look straight out of last century within a few short years of installation.

According to the National Wood Flooring Association, a poll they conducted asked real estate agents what they believe about houses with hardwood flooring:

• 99 percent say the house is easier to sell
• 90 percent say they can sell it for more money
• 82 percent say it sells faster than homes with other flooring options

And while type of hardwood is always a personal choice, one real estate agent stated that bamboo floors were at the top of the list for providing greater intrinsic value.

Bamboo flooring can help produce an easier sale.

Convinced you should take a second look at bamboo flooring?

What is bamboo flooring?

While we keep referring to bamboo flooring as a hardwood, it in fact, is not wood. It’s a grass. Yet because it doesn’t fit or resemble other flooring categories – tile, vinyl, laminate – it is slotted into the hardwood category because it looks a lot like hardwood.

What makes it even better than hardwood is its renewability. Because it is a grass, it grows very quickly. It can be harvested in as few as three years, cut down to be made into flooring materials. Compare that to some exotic woods that can take as long as half a century to come to maturity. It’s easy to see why this renewable resource is becoming so popular.

Processing

You’ll often hear bamboo flooring referred to as either horizontal or vertical, or strand-woven. It’s important to understand the difference.

If bamboo is cut either horizontal or vertical, it will give you a floor that looks like actual bamboo. During processing, bamboo stalks are sliced into strips. They are boiled to remove the starch, dried, and laminated into a board format. These boards are milled into planks to create strip flooring.

These stalks can be laid either horizontally or vertically into the board, thus creating either horizontal or vertical bamboo strips. Horizontal bamboo gives a greater impression of it looking like bamboo stalks, while vertical placement creates what is often referred to as tigerwood because of its streaks.

Strand woven bamboo flooring combines smaller pieces of the bamboo shoot and interweaves them with adhesive to make a stronger flooring product. Because the bamboo is pulped and mashed up, it can be formed into many different types of flooring, taking on a variety of appearances.

Durability

Because of the way bamboo flooring is processed, it is an extremely durable product that won’t change a lot over time. That means it’s an excellent choice for active households and high-traffic areas.

Because of the processing and the addition of adhesives to the final product, it creates a hardness factor that can easily compare to some of the more popular hardwoods. The Janka Hardness Scale puts natural bamboo somewhere around 1400. Compare that to Douglas Fir with a 660, or even red oak with a 1290.

It’s just as hard, if not harder, than the most popular hardwoods. It looks just as good as hardwood. And it can cost us to 50 percent less per square foot than some hardwood choices. All of that adds up to a flooring material that seems perfect for your home.

The downside of bamboo

It’s no wonder people are turning more to bamboo flooring than ever before. But before you dive in and add bamboo to the top of your list, there are a few things you should know and watch for.

Quality

There are several hundred different bamboo species, and not all of them are up for the job of becoming flooring. Yet that doesn’t stop some manufacturers from trying to pass it off as flooring.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that most bamboo comes from China. And not every manufacturer holds itself up to high business standards. As a result, many companies put profits first and product last. This causes quality issues to vary widely throughout the product lines.

If bamboo is harvested too soon, mixes toxic chemicals in with adhesives, or bonded with inferior material, it weakens the end product. This can lead to flaking, peeling, easier scratched or dented product line.

There isn’t a set standard for bamboo flooring that crosses the globe. Without set standards, buying bamboo is often buyer-beware. That’s why you should think carefully before you make your final selection, and find a reputable dealer who spends time sourcing from high-quality manufacturers.

Moisture

With set standards in place, every aspect of production would be carefully controlled. Because that isn’t the case, bamboo is produced in all kinds of factory conditions.

Even when properly processed, consistent moisture is important throughout the drying process. This is important to create a product that is stable and handles well over time. Once on the job site, it’s important to let bamboo acclimate to its new surroundings. Strand woven bamboo can take anywhere from several days to several weeks, depending on the climate.

That’s why it’s important to select a contractor who understands bamboo. This isn’t just another hardwood. You can avoid potential problems if installation is done only after testing and gauged to be ready to install.

Chemicals

From a health perspective, it’s also important to focus on the entire manufacturing process. To create bamboo flooring, adhesives are mixed with bamboo pulp to create the final product. Some Chinese factories use things like urea and formaldehyde in glues, which are known to harm health. Not only do installers run a greater risk by handling the product, but off-gassing can also cause serious health problems for everyone in the household.

We can help you make the best selection

We don’t say all of this to make you afraid of installing bamboo flooring in your house. Instead, as Denver flooring experts, we tell you this to ensure you ask questions before you make your final selection.

Bamboo flooring is a popular choice for many reasons. We love the look and durability factor.

But to ensure you get a great product, don’t trust those “too good to be true” sales where you find material at a very low cost. Spend the time to get a high-quality product you’ll love for years.