Is Bamboo Flooring A Good Alternative to Timber?
Timber flooring has long been a primary choice for many people. It you want to avoid carpet or include the warm look of wood in your home, it’s been the best option for a long time.
However, timber now has competition. Bamboo flooring is a comparable, but durable and environmentally friendly floor alternative. Against the popular floating form of timber floors, it performs favorably.
Floating timber floors are most popular because they’re inexpensive. Unlike solid timber, they’re made up of wood veneer just a few millimeters in thickness. This veneer is laminated onto less expensive wood, or onto a wood composite. Bamboo floors, on the other hand, can be made of solid bamboo. That means that they’re more durable, and may be less expensive than a solid timber floor. As a plus, bamboo is harder to damage and much stronger than most woods.
A bamboo floor, unlike floating timber, is fixed permanently to the surface on which it sits. That makes it a lot more stable than timber. There’s less movement or opening of the joints between the individual pieces.
Unlike both floating and solid timber floors, bamboo flooring doesn’t sound hollow when walked upon. It’s also a lot harder to scratch and easier to clean than either type of timber floor.
Since there’s little to no movement between pieces of bamboo flooring, you can easily refinish your floor. Bamboo provides a better surface than solid timber, and veneered timber can’t be resurfaced at all!
Instead, the damaged portion of the timber floor needs to be replaced. Bamboo can be resurfaced many more times than other types of floor, and could last another five to ten years longer because of it.
If you’re concerned about sustainability and the environment, bamboo is the better choice. While both timber and bamboo are renewable natural resources, it takes a long time for timber to renew. Veneered timber requires less hardwood to produce, but it still uses softwoods, composite woods, and even toxic and environmentally damaging glues.
You’ll find these kinds of practices mostly in China and other countries where regulation is minimally enforced. Fortunately, it takes only a little research to tell you if you’re getting some of the large percentage of products made from sustainably produced bamboo.
If durability is a serious concern, bamboo is the better choice over hardwood. Bamboo stands up well to daily wear, and there are a number of floors that come with a warranty. You should, however, be willing to spend the money for a quality product that will last out the years.
Where contraction and expansion are issues, you’ll find that bamboo offers a favorable performance. Unlike hardwood veneer floorings, bamboo will hold up to a number of resurfacings, and there’s no treatment or waxing required. To make sure you get a product that’s non toxic and fully sustainable, look for flooring that uses glues that won’t off gas and don’t contain toxic chemicals.
Anyone who’s curious about how bamboo flooring holds up when compared to hardwood should take a look online. It’s easy to see the whole range of available products and find out more about this great type of floor. It could be right for your home.
Source: Home Improvement
