The Perks of Having Bamboo Flooring Put Down

Although often taken for granted, the flooring of any building is quite important for both work and a living space, and a defective floor will soon get some attention. If a floor isn’t made of concrete, such as in a factory or warehouse, then it is probably made of hardwood, such as in a house or office building. Such flooring, made of hardwoods found across North America, can be quite durable and attractive to have installed, and the flooring industry is a large one today. After all, it has overlap with both the construction and the home remodeling industries, and many clients are hiring flooring contractors every year. Good flooring can make a room and house quite comfortable and stylish.

Hardwood species such as redwood, oak, and cherry can be found across North America, and have been used since the colonial days for building houses, furniture, and flooring. This continues well into the present day, but the demand for lumber is higher than ever, and some are concerned that this is straining natural forests and destroying wild habitats. But the flooring industry can’t afford to simply have its supply cut off, so instead, alternatives such as flooring made from eucalyptus, bamboo flooring, and bamboo floor trim may be used. Engineered bamboo floors are often the same in function as the hardwoods that they replace, and the prices for bamboo flooring is often on par as well. The prices for bamboo flooring may vary by their exact amounts, but even high quality bamboo flooring may compete fairly with hardwood on the market. Contractors and their clients alike may appreciate the fair prices for bamboo flooring. What is there to know about today’s prices for bamboo flooring and different types of bamboo flooring?

All About Bamboo and Floors

Whether a floor is made of hardwoods or engineered bamboo, it must be durable, price-friendly, and attractive, and good flooring helps bolster today’s flooring industry. In fact, this industry is seeing some growth, and many surveyed contractors, suppliers, and distributors agree that this industry may see 3% growth in the coming few years. One in three of them, in fact, predict growth rates closer to 8%, a generous rate of growth indeed.

What is the problem with hardwood? This material is no doubt highly effective, but logging demands are higher than ever for flooring and other industries, and critics say that this is not sustainable. It takes some 20 years for a hardwood tree to reach maturity, and many forests are being logged faster than they can regrow. This lead to habitat destruction that many find unacceptable. Rather than shut down the entire flooring industry, the solution is to turn to other materials to act as a substitute, and both bamboo and eucalyptus have been recognized as viable alternatives to hardwood flooring.

Making generous use of bamboo and eucalyptus eases the strain on hardwood forests and leads to a reduction in logging, and bamboo is much more sustainable. Why? Bamboo is technically a grass rather than a tree, but it rapidly grows wooden stalks that are useful for construction. A bamboo plant needs only three to five years to reach maturity, and its woody stalks may then be harvested. What is more, that plant will then regrow it stalks with even greater speed, and it may be harvested multiple times without being killed. That makes bamboo highly renewable.

To make flooring, bamboo stalks are harvested, then sliced and shredded into fibers which are compressed, heated, and glued to form planks useful for making flooring. Not only does this preserved hardwood forests, but bamboo planks are just as tough as the bamboo that they replace, if not more so, and quality bamboo offers competitive prices on the market. Customers may appreciate how tough and attractive bamboo flooring is when it’s installed, and it offers a clean and fresh look. Such flooring is also low maintenance, needing only wet mopping for messes and simple refinishing for removing scratches and other imperfections. Customers should practice discretion, though, since bamboo flooring doesn’t react well to humidity extremes. Very dry regions will make it shrink and crack, and very humid climates may cause it to warp and twist. Moderate climates may be best for installing bamboo flooring.