Bamboo Flooring
Bamboo flooring is trendy and popular. Answering some of your questions about bamboo flooring here:
Is bamboo flooring a hardwood?
No. Bamboo is a grass. But for lack of a proper category, it is often classified as a “hardwood.”
If bamboo flooring is a grass, will it stand up to daily use?
Yes it will. Bamboo rates 1642 on the Janka Hardness Scale. For comparison, Douglas Fir is 660 and Brazilian Walnut is 3800. So it’s middle-range hardness.
How can you make flat strips of flooring out of those round tubes of bamboo?
The tubes are sliced into strips. The strips are then boiled down, removing the starch. After drying and laminating, the bamboo boards are milled into strip flooring–just like the typical strip flooring you see anywhere. Because bamboo is a grass, it’s treated with a preservative.
Where does the bamboo come from?
Mostly from the southern Chinese province of Hunan.
Is bamboo quickly renewable?
Yes. It reaches full maturation in three years–at which time it can be cut for use as flooring.
What’s the average cost of bamboo flooring?
$2-$4 per square foot (as of October 2006).
How is bamboo flooring installed?
There are several ways bamboo flooring is installed. Installation method depends on the exact type of bamboo flooring you buy.
- Nail-Down Bamboo Flooring
- Floating Bamboo Flooring
- Glue-Down Bamboo Flooring