Posts Tagged bamboo flooring
Bamboo Flooring – Eco-Friendly Flooring and Easy to Fit
The modern, environmentally friendly and durable alternative to hardwood is bamboo flooring. Being a grass, as opposed to timber, gives bamboo the edge as not only a building product (being strong and at the same time flexible), but also as a sustainable resource: wood takes approximately 15-20 years to reach maturity, whereas the non-harmful harvesting of bamboo takes a mere 3 to 5 years. Bamboo has traditionally been the material of choice in most of Asia, and it is only recently that its benefits and environmental properties have begun to be utilised more fully in the west.
The growth in popularity in recent years for wood flooring has increased the burden on already stretched timber resources. Bamboo flooring shares many of the properties that attract discerning customers to hardwood; it’s low maintenance, hard wearing, and looks contemporary while having a timeless appeal; but it is without any of the environmental concerns that are attached to its hardwood counterpart.
Due to its flexibility as a material, bamboo flooring has a broad appeal that can be manipulated to suit a variety of styles. Its range of applications varies from period homes to offices, designer hotels and bars.
As well as being environmentally sound, bamboo flooring is competitively priced and easy to fit. Ease of fitting is always a worry for the prospective purchaser, with bamboo flooring the process has been simplified by the formulation of three different methods:
- Floating floor: this involves gluing the tongue and groove joints of the bamboo flooring together over an underlay.
- Secret Nailing: the bamboo floor is ‘secretly’ nailed down to a wood sub-floor.
- Gluing down: literally gluing the bamboo floor to a sub-floor.
Each of these methods has its own benefits.
One concern that has arisen with the implementation of bamboo flooring is regarding the use of Urea Formaldehyde, which is used as a binder or adhesive in the manufacture of bamboo flooring. Using the present technology, its use is unavoidable. However, reputable bamboo flooring suppliers with firm environmental principles, make every effort to ensure that its use conforms to the rigid E-1 European Standards. It is important to stress that exposure to any dangerous chemicals in bamboo flooring is negligible.
The benefits of choosing bamboo flooring are chiefly to found in the warm, comforting ambience it creates. Bamboo flooring immediately draws attention and recognition to a room, giving it character and focus. With its hard wearing properties, environmental benefits and natural beauty, bamboo flooring is the flooring of choice for generations to come.
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Bamboo Flooring Information
For a unique look in flooring, with many additional benefits, the popularity of bamboo flooring in on the rise.
Most bamboo flooring is imported to North America from China where there is an abundance of this fast growing plant. Bamboo is actually a grass, even though most peoplke think of it as a tree.
Due to the fact that bamboo can reach maturity in as little as four years, it has become an excellent product to use for flooring.
It has many of the features of hardwood floors, with its durablilty and warmth, yet is more cost effective.
Bamboo floors are excellent for high traffic areas because it is considered harder than some of the other popular hardwood floors.
This is partially due to the process by which bamboo floors are produced, where the wood is dried first, and then cut into strips. These strips are then shaped before being laminated together and stained to form an extremely hard, colorfast surface.
As with any home product there are various different standards of product quality and more often than not, the cheaper discount products will give you a less than desired performance rating. If the bamboo hasn’t been processed correctly, you can have problems with color fading and in some cases a surface that is below par for wear and tear.
It is always essential that you deal with a reputable bamboo flooring dealer when building or renovating your house to ensure that you are getting a quality product that will service your needs for many years.
One other major benefit from the increased use of bamboo for flooring is the fact that it is saving the rainforests that take so many more years to replenish than bamboo does.
Not only will you have a beautiful floor but you will also be helping the environment.
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