bamboo vs. wood flooring

Bamboo flooring is an attractive alternative to traditional hardwood flooring, and may also be a environmentally-sustainable option.

Bamboo flooring is affordable, durable and rich-looking (indistinguishable from wood flooring). It is made from a grass (bamboo is a giant grass, not a tree) that matures to reach market size in a record time (4 years average), making bamboo flooring a very sustainable alternative to traditional wood.

Selection cares

Many manufacturers use formaldehyde (a common but unhealthy chemical) to laminate the bamboo. Look for no-formaldehyde and VOC added bamboo products.

Bamboo flooring advantages

Bamboo can be a sustainable resource; besides, it is extremely durable, similar or better than the best hardwood. Bamboo flooring is the hardest «wood» floor on market today, similar or harder than maple, white oak, red oak, walnut, etc. Bamboo flooring is ideal for high traffic commercial and residential uses.

Bamboo flooring disadvantages

Some bamboo forests are being destroyed due to unsustainable management, and the embodied energy for transport is high, whenever the bamboo comes from distant forests (most of the bamboo used for flooring is harvested from Vietnamese and mostly from Chinese Hunan province forests).

Bamboo floors appearance and colors

The appearance of bamboo flooring can be similar to that of common hardwoods.

Bambo flooring honey-natural pattern Bamboo flooring amber-carbonized color

Bamboo flooring is typically offered in a honey-natural color or in a darker color (amber-carbonized color).

Recommended uses

Bamboo flooring is used in bedrooms, family rooms, living rooms, dining rooms, entryways…

Cost

Bamboo flooring costs are competitive with those of conventional wood. Prices around $5-6 per square foot are common, but the price range is wider: $4 - $8

Bamboo laminated boards: manufacturing

After harvested, the giant bamboo stems are sliced into strips and boiled in water with some additives. The final engineering stages involves pressing it flat and processing it into laminated bamboo boards.