Understanding The Pros And Cons Of Different Types Of Bamboo Flooring

When it comes to home flooring, everyone’s got a preference. Some swear by the natural look and feel of a hardwood floor. Others prefer vinyl flooring or laminate flooring. Whatever a person’s preference is for flooring, he/she tends to choose flooring for its look and feel as well as its durability.

While carpet, vinyl and laminate flooring may be popular flooring options, there are also many reasons to consider bamboo flooring:

  • Top-grade bamboo flooring is very durable, but make sure to find flooring with a warranty. The Janka test is often used to deduce bamboo flooring hardness. This test measures the force required to embed an 11.28 millimeter (0.444 inch) steel ball into wood to half its diameter (0.222 inch). This method results in an indention 100 square millimeters in size.
    Only three flooring options have a harder Janka rating than strand bamboo: Brazilian Teak, Tiete Chestnut, and Brazilian Walnut.
  • Bamboo flooring outperforms most traditional hardwoods because it has a clean and contemporary look.
  • Bamboo flooring can be refinished, but keep in mind the thickness of the floor.
  • Bamboo flooring, particularly laminated flooring is very DIY-friendly.
  • Bamboo flooring outperforms most traditional hardwoods because it is termite resistant and generally costs less to install than traditional hardwood flooring.
  • Bamboo flooring also outperforms most traditional hardwoods because it is more eco-friendly.

While there are many benefits to bamboo flooring, it’s important to look into prices for bamboo flooring before anything is installed. Prices for bamboo flooring tend to vary depending on cost of materials and labor. Prices for bamboo flooring can be as little as $4 per square foot for material and $4 per square foot for labor, but that doesn’t apply for every situation. In some situations you can find discount bamboo flooring and discount bamboo flooring can help keep your overall costs down.

If you’re considering installing bamboo flooring, it’s important to know the pros and cons of each type. There are five main types of bamboo flooring:

  • Groove engineered bamboo
  • Click-lock engineered bamboo
  • Solid strand bamboo
  • Floating bamboo
  • Horizontal and vertical bamboo

  • Solid strand bamboo: This flooring is very hard (about three times harder than oak) and is also renewable, able to regrow in five years. It can be refinished a handful of times and can either be nailed down to subfloors or glued down to wood. In many ways this can be considered a discount bamboo flooring since it will cost significantly less than traditional hardwood flooring.
  • Grove engineered bamboo: This flooring is also highly renewable and is easy to install. It can be refinished a couple of times depending on the wear layer.
    Installation can be a little tricky as it requires the application of glue on every groove of each plank.
  • Click-lock engineered bamboo: Like grooved bamboo, this can be refinished depending on the length of the wear layer. It also requires the use of less wood than traditional wood flooring, making it a more eco-friendly material.
  • Floating bamboo: Like regular solid strand bamboo, floating bamboo is very hard and it is available in a variety of styles. It’s renewable, easy to install and is composed of solid wood all the way through it. One thing to keep in mind is that this type of flooring works best for low-humidity indoor environments; shrinkage tends to occur in homes without stable humidity.
  • Horizontal and vertical bamboo: This flooring is also very eco-friendly and comes in a variety of styles and colors. It can be refinished up to three times and there’s no limit on the amount you can put down going a particular direction.
    It’s important to keep in mind that horizontal and vertical bamboo is a softer type of bamboo and it can be dented or scratched more easily than other types of bamboo flooring.

There are plenty of benefits to using bamboo flooring and many ways to install it. For whichever way you choose, take time to looking into prices for discount bamboo flooring, do a jobsite inspection and then follow the steps based on your desired method of bamboo flooring installation and type of bamboo flooring.

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