celebrity writers

The Low Down on Bamboo Floors

Are Bamboo Floors All They're Cracked Up To Be?

Jan 11, 2007

Bamboo floors were hailed as a great green alternative but do they stand the test of time?

If you recall I helped my friend install his bamboo hardwood floors recently (Carpet Be Gone!). Actually, I didn’t help much, he basically did it alone. Kevin touted the benefits of bamboo floors because they’re more environmentally friendly than other woods.

Bamboo is actually a grass and it reaches full maturity, about fifty feet in height, in about five years. This means that it can be harvested in a much shorter time period and that future generations can come from the same plant. Sort of like cutting your lawn, only on a giant scale. Traditional hardwood floors obviously come from trees that take years, if not decades to mature and once they’re harvested the tree is dead.

I installed my pseudo hardwood floors, or Pergo wood laminate floors (Installing Hardwood Laminate Floor) after Kevin did his floors and even though I knew that bamboo was an environmentally friendly alternative, I obviously went another route. The reason was strictly aesthetic, I just felt that the bamboo had a greenish hue that I didn’t really like.

Then, I just recently read an article that said to improve the odds of selling your home you may want to put in hardwood flooring, but it suggested you shy away from bamboo. The reasoning is that, although the trend caught on quickly it also is quickly losing favor.

Apparently, bamboo isn’t as durable as manufacturers originally claimed. In fact it is actually prone to show more dents and scratches than some traditional hardwoods. Also, not all bamboo floors are made the same. Some are harvested early, in a few months rather than a few years; these tend to be inferior products and are more likely to warp, delaminate, and expand.

Now, I personally think that bamboo flooring is an environmentally responsible choice and it does have a unique appearance because it is a grass as opposed to a wood product. But you’ll have to weigh the benefits to the downfalls and most importantly pick something you like.

The copyright of the article The Low Down on Bamboo Floors in Interior Decorating is owned by Kristin Abraham. Permission to republish The Low Down on Bamboo Floors in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Comments

Jan 12, 2007 10:46 PM

Barbara Nicholson Bell :

I also have seen this news about bamboo flooring being less permanent than originally thought. I wonder whether it will be difficult to replace or if solutions will be found to fix the problems. Sometimes fads seem to make sense at first, but without long-term experience with a product it's hard to know if the fad will turn into a real environmental trend.

I purchased bath towels made from bamboo which are touted as an environmentally friendly alternative to cotton (is there something wrong with cotton?) They are very soft, but not very absorbent. So I would not recommend them.

Jan 13, 2007 5:16 AM

Kristin Abraham :

I have to say, my friend glued his bamboo to his concrete floors. So I would assume this is a pretty permanent situation. Obviously his floors are still very new and he hasn't had any problems but I sure hope they don't buckle on him because that could end up being a huge problem.

May 12, 2008 7:56 AM

Guest :

I am a installer and laid all the differant kinds of flooring , when bamboo came on the scene it was just another type of flooring material . its not the be all to end all its just flooring . who is stupidest the sales person or the customer ? if you exspect a mirical then go play in the sand and if you believe silly sales stories you need you bump feeling ,gGod gave you a brain so use it !! it has the same problems as wood and does the same job , thats it ok plain and simple . and if you glue bamboo or wood to the sub floor you are asking for trouble , wood and bamboo move and need to be able to do just that ! so dont stick it down !!!

3 Comments