Bamboo-flooring sales have grown exponentially over the past few years, and it's easy to see why. Bamboo is attractive, affordable, durable, available in dozens of colors, and it's grown and harvested in an environmentally responsible manner.Bamboo looks like wood, feels like wood, and cuts like wood. It even smells like wood. And it's much denser than most hardwoods, including maple and oak, so it's ideal for flooring. But bamboo isn't wood at all—it's grass. And because it's grass, bamboo is one of the fastest-growing plants in the world. Bamboo can be harvested after just four or five years. By comparison, it typically takes between 30 and 60 years before hardwood trees can be milled into flooring. Plus, bamboo regenerates after cutting, and the same plant can be harvested again just four or five years later. Try that with an oak tree.But is it right for your home's flooring?Bamboo flooring comes in two basic forms: engineered planks and solid-bamboo planks. Engineered bamboo is typically installed using the floating-floor method: The wide planks are snapped together and laid over a thin foam-rubber underlayment.

The flooring isn't attached to the subfloor in any manner, so installation goes fast.Solid, tongue-and-groove bamboo is installed similarly to traditional hardwood flooring: It's fastened down with nails or staples, with or without mastic. Paper Towel Napkin Holder SetThese methods are more time-consuming—they take twice as long as a floating-floor installation—but they produce a permanent, rock-solid floor. Auto Repair Shop For Sale In Sacramento CaBoth engineered planks and solid planks come prefinished, so you can carry in the furniture as soon as you install the last plank.Led Light Bulb For VanityThere are three different kinds of solid-bamboo flooring: vertical-grain solid strip, flat-grain solid strip, and strand bamboo.

Vertical-grain bamboo is composed of thin bamboo strips stacked on edge and glued together, similar to a butcherblock. Flat-grain bamboo, the most common type, is made up of thin, flat strips of bamboo that are stacked on top of each other and then laminated together. Strand bamboo is manufactured from super-thin, shredded bamboo fibers that are mixed with resins and pressed into rock-hard planks.Whichever type you buy, bamboo flooring typically comes in pieces measuring 1/2 to 5/8 inch thick and 3-1/2 to 7-1/2 inches wide. It's available in lengths ranging from 36 to 72 inches. And while the grain pattern and natural color of bamboo are both rather subtle, bamboo flooring is available in more than 50 different prestained colors ranging from soft cedar tones to bright reds and greens. Prices for solid-bamboo flooring usually range between about $2 and $4 a square foot. Engineered bamboo typically costs between $3 and $7 a square foot. Prices are often based on the thickness of the flooring;

the thicker the plank, the more it costs. At those rates, bamboo can be a bit pricey—low-end bamboo is about on par with red oak strip flooring. But bamboo seems fairly priced when you consider its rather complicated manufacturing process and the fact that it's harvested in East Asia.Warranties are an excellent indicator of quality. The best and most expensive floors come with longer warranties against manufacturing defects, delamination, and premature wearing of the factory-applied topcoat finish.Finally, it wasn't long ago when bamboo flooring was sold almost exclusively over the Internet. While it's true that online shopping still offers the greatest choices, most local flooring dealers now sell and install bamboo flooring. , , , , , . Home Buyer, Brookline, MA Bamboo is a good wood for flooring, but you need sustainable bamboo, otherwise, it is of much lower quality AND is a big drain on environment Home Buyer, New York, NY Agent, Lakewood Ranch, FL I have Bamboo floors in almost my entire house - While I would not say it is on its way out (of course I am biased), I will say that for the most part it has held up very well after 2.5 years of heavy use.

We gutted our entire house and put the new flooring in. I am only having trouble with durability in one small area of the house - near the back door where my 100 pound Newfoundland comes in and out and sleeps. She has completely ruined that part. Bamboo is too much of a green product and renewable resource to be on its way out. Savvy buyers are looking to more green choices and I seriously doubt it will be gone in five years. Stainless steel appliances...now that is another story - Mac's Wholesale Flooring is awesome as far as getting the best quality and price - we looked long and hard before making the choice. Home Seller, Saint Louis, MI ) is a manufacturing process that leaves very little wasted. ) are compressed, intertwined and bound together to make Strand woven flooring. The binding process of strand woven flooring is a safe, UV resistant and scratch-resistant resin which also makes the bamboo even more resistant to moisture. ) that has grain patterns that are more like those of a hardwood floor.

Once again, if your next home improvement involves updating your floors, and you have the environment on your mind – consider bamboo flooring as your way of saving the environment. , Lake Stevens, WA Home Buyer, Seattle, WA Agent, Key West, FL , Silver Spring, MD I've heard it's strong. A lot of homes in Hawaii use it. I can't find the article I read on it not too long ago but I personally don't know what's wrong with Bamboo. Home Buyer, Charlotte, NC Home Buyer, Hampton, NH Agent, Lake Oswego, OR Home Owner, Canada, KY Home Seller, Detroit, MI Home Owner, Cheshire, CT Home Buyer, Atlantic, Seattle, WA Both Buyer And Seller, Chinatown, New York, NY ) , the most we concern is the eco-friendly and renewable properties, in fact, bamboo is also very hard than most of wood, therefore, we encourage pepole to use bamboo flooring if possible , Ann Arbor, MI Bamboo is a hardwood, equal to or greater in strength than oak.