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bamboo flooring

Green Flooring Series: Bamboo floors

bamboo flooring

Bamboo flooring will work for any budget and lifestyle.

Bamboo floors look like wood surfaces, but because bamboo is a type of grass, it’s more sustainable and environmentally friendly than other types of flooring, including hardwoods. It’s a popular choice because of its durability and its aesthetic appeal. Bamboo floors are also resistant to insects and moisture, so they work well in any type of climate.

There are several varieties of bamboo flooring that consumers can choose from when planning to build or update their own homes. Most floors are made of moso bamboo. In Southeast Asia, many floors use thin, flat strips of bamboo that are loosely drawn together so air can continue to circulate between them. Common North American floors use bamboo that is more processed. The strips of bamboo are boiled to remove starch and sugar and then dried and planed. They can be left in their natural color or stained and varnished to get different hues. Bamboo floors are easy to install and pieces lock into place.

Growing bamboo is easier and faster than growing wood, which is what contributes to the eco-friendly reputation of bamboo flooring. Instead of taking 20 or more years to mature, as hardwoods do, bamboo takes only a few years to grow. Pesticides are rarely required because bamboo does not attract insects and pests like wood does. Harvesting bamboo creates new growth almost immediately.

Maintaining your bamboo floors is not difficult, but you will want to be careful to avoid any scratches on the surface. Gently dusting and mopping is the best way to keep them clean, and try to keep the mop as dry as possible. While they are resistant to water, you don’t want to change the look of the floor by getting them saturated.

Talk to a flooring expert when you’re picking out bamboo floors for your own property. You have several options that will work for any budget and lifestyle.

This post was written by Thais Sousa. Follow Thais on Google.