Types of Bamboo Flooring
There is only one type of bamboo grown for flooring, but the various ways it is manufactured produces different qualities. Each is discussed below:
Horizontal Grain Bamboo
This is the most common method of manufacturing. Several layers of bamboo are laid on top of each other, with glue and pressure combining them. The full beauty and variation of the bamboo grain is visible, running the entire length of the board.
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Vertical Grain Bamboo
This product is often called side-pressed bamboo due to the manufacturing process. Strips of bamboo are cut to a uniform width (which later becomes the thickness of the board), laid on edge, and glued and pressed together to make a flooring board. The width of the board is determined by the number of strips used. This process results in a clean and uniform grain pattern.
Strand Bamboo
This type of bamboo is made from individual bamboo fibers that are stripped from the original plant and fused together with chemical binders, high heat and intense pressure – resulting in a bamboo floor that is much harder and durable than any other bamboo option.
Why Install Bamboo Floors?
Bamboo offers several unique flooring benefits, including:
- Eco-Friendly: Hardwoods supplied by trees take 20-30 years or more to replenish. Bamboo is actually a grass that only takes 4-5 years to reach maturity, meaning C02-scrubbing tree forests go unharmed.
- Unique Style: There is no other hardwood near bamboo’s price range that has a more uniquely beautiful appearance. A single piece of bamboo typically has as many as ten different color shades.
- Durability: Each type of bamboo is comparable to other hardwoods in terms of hardness, but strand bamboo is among the most durable woods known to man. The Janka hardness scale, which is a standardized measure of a wood’s hardness, records strand bamboo at 3,000 (compared to mahogany, which rates between 1,600 and 1,700).
- Board Stability: Due to the fact that bamboo flooring is manufactured either from several ply’s (layers) or strands fused together, it resists warping, swelling and splitting much better than other woods.