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Many homeowners want to keep their property in top shape and like to change the design and layout of their interior on a fairly regular basis so that they can up with the latest trends.
Bamboo flooring may well have started out as a design fad some time ago but it has since firmly established itself as a smart choice, not just because its looks and durability but also because it ticks a lot of eco-friendly boxes with a small carbon footprint and renewable resource credentials.
Why bamboo is a good choice
In addition to being an environmentally friendly renewable resource it is stronger and considered to be more stable than more traditional hardwood and timber floors.
The natural qualities of bamboo mean you have a wide choice of colour options ranging from its unique naturally light colour through to many darker colour options as well, and if these were not good enough reasons to choose bamboo, consider also that it is an extremely fast-growing natural product with a high productivity ratio per hectare, making it an easily sustainable resource.
Choice of flooring options
Bamboo flooring comes in two distinct forms and you can choose between engineered planks and solid-bamboo planks.
You will often find that engineered bamboo is typically installed using the floating-floor method. It is a quick and easy way to install bamboo where a thin foam-rubber underlayment supports the wide planks that are laid on the top without any need for them to be attached to the subfloor in any way.
The installation process for solid tongue-and-groove bamboo is very similar to the way that traditional hardwood flooring is laid. It is a more time-consuming process because it involves fastening down the planks using nails or staples and may also require the use of mastic. The result is an almost permanent flooring solution that will withstand years of use provided you take care of your bamboo flooring.
Solid-bamboo flooring
If you choose to go with solid-bamboo flooring over engineered planks you will then have a choice of three different variations to consider.
You can have vertical-grain solid strip bamboo, flat-grain solid strip or strand bamboo. They are equally durable and provide a quality flooring option whichever one you choose and it is mainly an aesthetic issue, so you can go for the look that best suits your preferences and design brief, knowing that you will be getting a hard-wearing good looking floor irrespective of which one you lay down.
Vertical-grain bamboo is manufactured using thin bamboo strips that are stacked on edge and then glued together for a look that is similar to a butcher-block. The most common type of solid-bamboo flooring that is used is flat-grain bamboo and this is made up of thin flat strips of bamboo that are laminated together after they have been stacked on top of each other.
The third option is strand bamboo, which is manufactured from ultra-thin shredded bamboo which is then mixed with resins and pressed into solid planks.
Eco-friendly
You can see that bamboo is a versatile flooring product and as previously stated it is also considered eco-friendly, which makes it an excellent choice for these reasons alone.
When you consider that it takes about 3-5 years for bamboo to reach full maturity compared to anywhere between 20-120 years for hardwood to mature, you can see that choosing bamboo flooring would not only be a great design choice but an environmentally-friendly one too.
William Dawson loves to use sustainable materials when he renovates a home. You can find his informative articles on a variety of home improvement and DIY sites.
