BAMBOO BASICS

As a flooring product, the benefits of bamboo are unbelievable. Given its hardness, durability, beauty, and environmental friendliness, bamboo is a simple, common-sense alternative in a complicated world.

Strength and Durability:
When you think about a thin bamboo cane, it might seem almost flimsy. In comparison to Red Oak, the most commonly installed wood flooring; it is 25% harder and just as strong. Bamboo is even harder than Rock Maple, making it an incredible durable, impact-resistant form of flooring. Better yet, it expands and contracts 50% less than other hardwoods. As a result, bamboo can be used in homes and climates where a high humidity or temperature variation makes hardwoods impractical.

Colors:
There are two main colors of bamboo flooring to choose from. First is its natural blonde hue, which reflects bamboo’s true color, along with its beautiful grain, growth patterns and joints. Bamboo is also available in darker, amber tones that are achieved through a smoking process. When bamboo is smoked, the carbonized grains take on a darker, caramel or amber tone throughout.

Environmentally speaking:
Bamboo is probably the most environmentally sound flooring available, offering a responsible, sound alternative to hardwoods. While offering the beauty, strength characteristics and hardness of hardwoods, bamboo is technically a grass that can be harvested in about five years. Recognized as the fastest-growing plant on earth, bamboo offers 25 times the yield of hardwood, yet is much more sustainable and renewable. It can be harvested and replenished with virtually no impact to the environment. Harvesting does not kill the plant, because it constantly regenerates itself by sending out runners that result in new canes. Bamboo can be grown in soil damaged by overgrazing and poor agricultural techniques, and topsoil is not damaged when the cane is harvested. Not only does the topsoil stay in place, the plant’s dense leaf cover actually improves the soil over time. While protecting the environment and reducing the demand for over-harvested hardwoods, bamboo offers strong, durable, beautiful flooring that can accentuate any home or business.