Benefits of Bamboo Laminate Flooring

It's ironic that one of the more popular hardwood floors is bamboo laminate flooring, because technically bamboo is not a wood. Bamboo is a grass - a hard grass, but a grass nevertheless.

But one reason that bamboo is used to make bamboo laminate flooring is that it is hard. In fact, it's actually harder than some woods. For example, surprisingly, the mean hardness of bamboo laminate flooring is greater than that of red oak flooring. Some call bamboo the hardest plant known to man.

Bamboo laminate flooring is liked, and even preferred, by many weekend do-it-yourselfers as well a professional flooring installers. It's flexible, making it easy to lay and, when compared by thickness, it's much stronger the many of the other typical hardwood floors. Bamboo laminate flooring is installed on top of a solid sub floor. It may be attached to the sub-floor by either nails or glue.

However, bamboo laminate flooring is also available in glueless systems. Here, the flooring is allowed to "float" on top of the subfloor, in which case no nails or glue are needed.

How Bamboo Laminate Flooring is Made

The process of making bamboo laminate flooring is simple in concept. The bamboo is first split and then cut into various standard lengths. Bamboo strips of the same length are then processed together. The strips are then boiled in water to which preservatives and water resistant materials have been added. have been added.

Following this, the bamboo strips are flattened and dried in the kiln. After being laminated in layers with glue under very high pressure, the resulting planks are run through a variety of planes and presses to ensure that they have the appropriate thickness and smoothness. The resulting product is one which is stronger than nearly all laminate materials and most hardwood materials as well.

Bamboo laminate flooring has a pleasing and natural luster, almost like real wood. They also tend to be moisture resistant, although you should still be careful of letting water pool in one spot for too long on these type of floors. Bamboo laminate flooring is also sound resistant, making it perfect for apartment use. In addition, they can withstand a great deal of daily wear and tear foot traffic.

Why Bamboo Flooring Is Good For the Environment

Many environmentalists see bamboo as a preferred alternative to wood. Since bamboo grows so rapidly, it replenishes itself much faster than a tree. This bamboo growth creates a natural water reservoir and prevents environmental degradation. And bamboo plants prevent soil erosion. This makes bamboo flooring popular for those who love the look of wood floors but want to be environmentally responsible as well.

When installing, to prevent bamboo laminate flooring from bowing, trim the edges leaving about 1/4 inch between the floor and the wall, one each side. This will give the flooring room to expand and help to prevent future squeaks as well as buckling.

How To Clean Carpeting
Knowing how to clean carpeting is one of the few annoyances you have to put up with when deciding to install a traditional carpet flooring over a much easier to clean wood, marble, or other hard wood floor.

Vinyl Plank Flooring
Vinyl plank flooring is an inexpensive, attractive, resilient, and practical flooring solution that can be used in all areas of the home.