Bamboo Flooring Advice – Things You Need to Know about Bamboo Flooring

Bamboo flooring provides an excellent alternative to traditional hardwood flooring.  Growing in popularity as an alternative, bamboo flooring has many features that make it stand out when compared to hardwood.  Although harvested primarily in China, bamboo flooring can now be found easily in both European and North American markets.  Many of those that adopted bamboo flooring early on point out its environmental friendliness.  The bamboo plant regrows very quickly when compared with the time it takes a forest to regrow.  In fact, the bamboo plant is considered a grass, as it grows much quicker than any tree.  When done responsibly, bamboo plant harvesting can be done without causing any permanent damage.

How does bamboo flooring compare with traditional hardwoods?  High quality bamboo flooring provides a tougher surface than even the rarest and most expensive hardwoods.  Moisture does not affect bamboo in the way that hardwood suffers from water damage.  Where traditional hardwood may cup and crown because of water exposure, bamboo flooring will keep out water without a problem.  Bamboo flooring is engineered like a laminate and treated under extremely high pressure with a high quality glue.  This makes bamboo flooring very resistant to abrasions and scratches, where less treated hardwood floors may show scratches after a while.  Bamboo flooring has become significantly more affordable in the past few years as well.

Best of all, bamboo flooring is easy enough to lay down without any professional help.  Like many of the newer hardwoods, bamboo flooring is made with a groove that allows the planks to interlock, making them considerably easier to install.  Prior to laying down a bamboo floor, allow the planks sit in their new environment for no less than 72 hours.  Although bamboo flooring is very resistant to moisture, they do need some time to adjust to the new environment before installation.

What should be done to maintain a bamboo floor?  Maintenance requirements are fairly simple for bamboo flooring.  Be sure to clean the floor after installing it, using a mop with only a little bit of water.  Regular dusting and sweeping should be done after installation.  This will prevent dust and dirt from collecting on the finish.  A mat used at the entrance way will keep out a great deal of dust and dirt.  Dirt and small rocks can easily scratch the finish, and a mat can do a great deal to prevent this problem.

For more advice about discount laminate flooring and an updated version of bamboo flooring pros and cons go to flooring options.