As with prefinished wood floors, micro-beveled edges help hide unevenness between planks. Click-together engineered planks are square-edged, as are some traditional horizontal or vertical bamboo floorboards. Though there is tremendous variation among products, vertical and horizontal bamboo floors typically score around 1, on the Janka scale a universal hardness rating for flooring , harder than hickory. Strand-woven can score nearly double that, around 3,, comparable to Brazilian redwood.
Check company websites to see if third-party testing has been done. As with hardwood flooring, the glossier the finish, the more scratches will show. Factory-applied finishes offer superior durability but require more skill and labor to replace, unlike finishes that are applied on-site.
For more, see the next slide. The second main ingredient in bamboo flooring is adhesive resin. Cheap urea-based resins can off-gas formaldehyde, a known carcinogen. Most durable is a factory-applied, multilayer aluminum oxide coating—manufacturers claim anywhere from 2 to 10 layers—that comes topped with an additional clear coat.
Aluminum oxide finishes provide superior wear resistance; the clear coat makes recoating easier and gives a smooth appearance. A new and growing trend is a wax-based coating, typically made of a combination of linseed oil, carnauba wax, and beeswax, that imitates the vintage look of a hand-applied oil.
More matte in appearance, it's often applied over a distressed texture. Another part of its appeal: Scratches are less noticeable, and if damage occurs, the surface can be sanded and touched up with more oil. This finish requires renewal every few years with a specialty cleaner and a wipe-on oil, such as Rubio Monocoat.
As with wood, most types of solid-bamboo flooring that are not stained or textured can be special-ordered without any finish. Sanding the boards after installation gives you the flattest surface, with no eased edges on the boards, and the opportunity for the custom stain of your choosing.
It's much easier to refinish this type of floor if any damage occurs; however, finishing on-site won't provide nearly the longevity of factory-applied aluminum oxide. As with wood, nailing yields the tightest results underfoot, but there are glue-down, floating, and click-together bamboo boards to suit whatever your site calls for.
Just keep these considerations in mind. Before it's installed, all bamboo flooring needs a waiting period inside the house so that its moisture content can stabilize. Skip that wait and your new floor can shift or show gaps. The only sure way to tell when the wait is over is with a moisture meter. Most horizontal and vertical bamboo can stabilize within three to four days, but strand-woven takes much longer, in some cases up to 30 days. Be sure to follow the manufacturer's instructions.
Over a flat plywood or oriented-strand-board OSB subfloor, bamboo needs only a layer of pound builder's felt.
Installations over concrete rely on glue or float over a foam underlayment. In either case, seal the concrete first to prevent moisture from causing the glue to pop off or the flooring to swell. As long as the heat source does not rise above the temperature limit stated by the manufacturer's guidelines, and the floor is floated, you can use radiant heat with bamboo flooring in your home.
Shown: A mallet racks boards together; the pneumatic nailer secures them. Consider This: While factory-finished bamboo that suffers severe damage can be mechanically stripped and refinished on-site, the job requires special sanding equipment, advanced dust filtration, and some finesse, especially with strand-woven bamboo. The only exception to this is the engineered bamboo flooring.
Hardwood is more resistant to humidity compared to bamboo. Exposure to moist air will make your floor planks buckle and swell if you live in a humid climate. An arid environment will do the opposite — shrink the planks.
If the situation gets critical, your bamboo flooring will most likely crack. As we have noted earlier, adopting a bamboo flooring design will improve the aesthetic state of your interior design. The appearance and feel are close to that of the hardwood; however, the uniqueness is clear. If you are all about making your space distinct while making a strong statement with a renewable material, go for bamboo flooring. It is compatible with almost all home styles, but most compatible with contemporary styles.
The installation process of the solid bamboo is similar to that of the solid hardwood. You can choose to glue the planks down over a concrete floor. Alternatively, you can blind-nail the tongue-and-groove boards to the subfloor via the board edge. Either way, you need the help of a professional to achieve these. The thinner variants of solid bamboo are more suited for floating floor installation. The second option is to adopt the normal tongue-and-groove design, which requires gluing the edges of the boards together.
In either case, you end up with a floor resting over a thin layer of foam underlayment. In this case, the subfloor is not fitted with any permanent attachment. In addition to the simplicity of this installation method, it allows for easy expansion of the flooring in situations of a drop or rise in humidity levels.
The only compatible installation method is the click-lock floating method, considering the manufacturing process of the engineered bamboo surface veneer bonded to an MDF core or plywood. You can do the installation by yourself.
The chances are that your bamboo flooring product will come with finishing from the factory. However, if it does not, you must seal it with a urethane product after installing, or stain before sealing in the case of raw bamboo planks. The Bamboo vs.
Hardwood Flooring argument is quite subjective, especially when you consider the closeness in features and costs. The color tone in bamboo is lighter compared to most hardwoods, although carbonized variants are darker. The grain and texture in bamboo is also uniform; the grain pattern in hardwood is always distinct. Lastly, the sustainability of bamboo is striking — the bamboo stalks will always regrow after harvest, thus preventing deforestation.
On the other hand, bamboo is considered a grass, growing and developing in a five to seven-year cycle and can be harvested without replanting the root system. Bamboo floors are relatively easy to maintain.
Sweeping and vacuuming regularly to remove dust and debris should suffice. An occasional cleanse with a bamboo floor cleaner or a mild soap and water solution can help it look cleaner. Over time, bamboo can get scratched and discolored. Fortunately, the surface is easy to refinish by sanding it down and applying a new coating seal. Refinishing the top layer can bring a new, even look to the floor again, protecting it from future damage. Keep in mind that engineered bamboo flooring cannot be refinished.
Bamboo flooring is beneficial for areas with high traffic like living rooms, kitchens and entryways. It is naturally resistant to abrasion caused by footwork and the impact of fallen objects. Strand woven bamboo flooring weaves the grass fibers together, creating an interlocking pattern that can be three times stronger than other types of bamboo flooring.
DIYers can cut installation costs depending on the type of bamboo flooring they use. This installation method is quick and effortless, and it also allows the floor to expand and contract as humidity levels change in the room. Bamboo naturally has few pests. Even during harvesting, it requires little use of pesticides. Some of the chemicals used to treat bamboo flooring make digestion impossible for termites. Overall, most types of bamboo flooring are pet resistant. In addition, bamboo is inhospitable to dust mites and repels dust and pollen, and it makes an excellent choice for allergy-prone homeowners.
On the downside, bamboo flooring shares many disadvantages with hardwood floors. Both are susceptible to scratches and require special sealants to protect against water. For anyone considering bamboo flooring options, these are some cons to consider. Thank you! Kimberly — You are an excellent writer! Hard to find these days. Your email address will not be published. November 5, The best flooring: what is it? Is it hardwood? Vinyl plank? Sheet vinyl? Sorry, we got a little carried away there.
But you get it—trying to find the best flooring is really difficult. There are endless types of flooring out there, and each one is great for certain applications. Trying to choose the right LVP flooring is hard. How does brand A stack up to brand B? Which has the better wear layer? Which is more expensive? The list goes on. We get it—flooring is a big purchase, and you want to make sure you buy the right product for your home. So: is […].
Engineered Bamboo Flooring: Pros and Cons. Table of Contents 1 First off: is all bamboo flooring engineered? About The Author. Thank you.
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