How to Compare Bamboo Flooring to Other Eco-Friendly Alternatives: Making an Informed Choice for Your Home

 Bamboo Flooring is a hot design trend that’s green in more ways than one. Its durability, versatility and affordability make it an eco friendly option for any home. It’s also a stylish alternative to traditional hardwood floors and comes in a variety of colors and styles. It can be stained to match your existing decor, or carbonized and colored to a specific shade for a more dramatic look.

Bamboo plant is a fast growing

The bamboo plant is a fast growing, sustainable, renewable resource. Its stalks are harvested every five years and are able to grow again in a matter of a few months. This makes it a more environmentally conscious choice than traditional hardwoods that are cut and shipped long distances to reach your home. Bamboo is also less prone to warping and can be used in places where moisture is a concern.

Bamboo first entered the flooring market 

Bamboo first entered the flooring market in its earliest forms nearly 20 years ago. Its first incarnation was vertical and horizontal and in the early days, had a very limited choice with only two colours, coffee (carbonised) and natural. Sadly, many frontline salespeople, eager to meet sales targets, didn’t explain the differences in construction or quality.

Bamboo flooring increased

As the demand for bamboo flooring increased, manufacturers began to experiment with different methods of manufacturing. In the last couple of years, cold pressing and strand-woven technology have changed the game for bamboo flooring. Cold pressing uses a locking system that compresses bamboo strands under extreme pressure and creates a stronger, denser floor with a Janka rating of around 15. Strand-woven flooring is even more durable than vertical and horizontal, with a density twice as high as solid oak.

Horizontal bamboo

Both strand-woven and vertical and horizontal bamboo are available in a wide variety of colours from earthy tans to brights. They can be stained and are ideal for homes with light traffic, especially if you select an aluminum oxide finish that’s resistant to everyday wear and tear. Darker bamboo floors, like carbonised or a dark stain, work well in larger rooms as they add depth and contrast to the space.

Higher quality floor

When selecting a Bamboo Flooring, look for a product that’s certified by a third party as free of urea formaldehyde. Urea formaldehyde is a volatile organic compound that can be harmful to your health, especially in confined spaces. A higher quality floor will be certified as free of VOCs by a third party and have a FloorScore or Greenguard seal.

Conclusion

Once you’ve decided which style of bamboo to choose, it’s important to allow the floor a time to stabilize inside your home before installation. This will help prevent the floor from shifting and showing gaps after installation. The best way to know when the floor is ready for install is to use a moisture meter, which can tell you whether the wood has reached equilibrium with your home’s humidity level.