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As flooring material evolves, one thing that remains unchanged is the natural beauty of wooden floors. Looking like wood and equally as hard, bamboo is one of the most appealing flooring materials, adding value to real estate with its unpretentious sturdiness. Bamboo is becoming one of the most eco-friendly alternatives to wooden floors because the plants mature faster and can be engineered to give different looks.
The floor remains one of the primary considerations when building or renovating a home. Get it right, and you add tremendous value to your home, but get it wrong and prepare for expensive rework.
Bamboo is a type of grass whose end product behaves much like wood. It shares some of the physical strengths of wood, like heat resistance, but also shares weaknesses like sensitivity to scratch. Unlike wooden floors, bamboo flooring is classified as a sustainable form of construction. Being a grass, the plant matures faster than wood and cuts the demand for unsustainable hardwood.
Hardwood and bamboo floors are fairly versatile and will fit in many places, from Victorian homes to contemporary residences. They’re also ready for commercial spaces. Bamboo is more resistant to mold and mildew. While most hardwoods have only one installation option, bamboo can be nailed down, glued, or floated.
By its nature, bamboo is an eco-friendly plant with higher growth rates that helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It consumes fewer resources while growing, and it helps to cut reliance on unsustainable sources like wood. Bamboo has a lower average installation cost compared to hardwood. One of the biggest strengths of hardwood floors is that some wood varieties can last up to 100 years, about three times higher than most bamboo varieties.
Bamboo flooring is now available in different shades and designs.
Bamboo flooring can be used in versatile ways. When selecting the right type for your home, there’s usually more to consider, like grain, color, texture, and installation type. The following list offers a glimpse into what you can expect from each option.
Grain types depend on the kind of engineering used to produce the finished bamboo product. Normally, bamboo is cut into thin strips or shredded into strands and then glued together to make the planks. All three options will give a different finished look, with patterns running horizontally, vertically, or random grains.
When it comes to color finishes, buyers can choose depending on their final home designs. Natural bamboo has no color additives. Carbonized bamboo is partially treated, giving it a tanned look, while stained bamboo is treated with wood stain. Direct print bamboo has patterns printed on it to resemble hardwood.
Smooth bamboo has a laminate surface, making it non-allergic and easy to clean. Hand-scraping gives the bamboo floor and vintage look, and so does sculpting.
Unlike traditional hardwood floors, bamboo can be engineered for different types of installation. Nail-down flooring is one of the hardest because bamboo flooring is very sturdy. Floating floors are the easiest to install as they come with grooves that click together. Some flooring planks may require you to apply a glue adhesive.
There’s usually more to decide when making home renovation decisions, and a large part of it comes down to getting the right floor. If you want to get more value out of your installation, consider going for professional installers. 12th and Oak Flooring has been installing the highest quality bamboo flooring in the Raleigh-Durham, NC area. Over the years, we’ve dedicated ourselves to providing quality hardwood floors to Clayton residents using the latest technologies.