Because of the various benefits of bamboo flooring, it has seen significant popularity growth over the past few years, from its eco-friendliness and cost-effectiveness to its strength and durability. There’s no reason to wonder why homeowners, commercial developers, and architects have been choosing to turn to this excellent flooring material. But, to ensure that you have a firm grasp on why this flooring type should be your choice, whether you’re looking to move to a more eco-friendly home or redoing the floors in your current home, we wanted to properly outline and explain in further detail all of the benefits that it could offer.
1. Eco-friendly and sustainable
Bamboo flooring is one of the most eco-friendly interior design solutions. Seeing as it’s a plant that grows to maturity within five years, it’s very easily renewable and a great sustainable alternative to hardwood flooring. After a bamboo tree has been properly harvested, its roots continue to grow, meaning replanting is unnecessary. And it can be re-harvested fairly soon compared to other plant-based materials.
Pro tip: If you want to be extra careful when ensuring your bamboo flooring is properly harvested and good for the environment, you can look for its FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification.
2. Strong and durable
Strand woven bamboo is solid compared to other natural flooring materials. Seeing as it’s more than twice as hard as oak, it’s an excellent choice for anyone’s home, no matter how much foot traffic is expected. Additionally, vertical and horizontal bamboo flooring is highly durable and robust, making it another fierce competitor compared to other natural flooring materials.
One thing to note is that bamboo flooring is notoriously weak against water damage. This means you should be extra careful in situations where your floors will be exposed.
For example, if you’re moving into a more sustainable home with bamboo flooring, you should instruct your movers to be careful with things like spills, leaving doors/windows open if it’s raining, etc. It’s common knowledge that when hiring movers, you should ask some questions beforehand. Usually, that set of questions is relatively standard, but in cases like this, you can also ask whether they have previous experience working with homes with bamboo flooring.
3. Cost-effective
One of the most commonly thought of benefits of bamboo flooring is its cost-effectiveness. It offers the highly desired character and luxury of natural material at a fraction of the cost of other popular choices, such as hardwood. It can cost a third of the average price of hardwood flooring.
4. Dimensionally stable
Another highly beneficial property of bamboo as a flooring material is that it is dimensionally stable. This means it retains its original shape with minimal warping even after being affected by temperature and humidity changes. It also means you can install it in various ways without worrying about changing shape.
5. Available in different colors and styles
The variety it offers in terms of appearance is another one of the most significant benefits of bamboo flooring for a home. As we have previously mentioned, it can be found in three mean styles:
- vertical,
- horizontal,
- strand woven.
Each of these different ways of constructing the material offers a distinct appearance.
Aside from the variety it offers because of the different ways it was constructed, you can also find it in several different color options. The two most popular choices are natural and carbonized. Golden and pale wooden tones characterize natural bamboo. On the other hand, the carbonized option gives you a sort of “coffee brown” look. Additionally, you can find it in a stone gray color. They also sometimes brush it with a textured finish. Or they give it a more rustic appearance during production.
6. Available with different finishes
Bamboo flooring is also available in different finishes. And as a plus, you can easily refinish it. This is an important thing to consider when searching for an eco-friendly home. If you want to find a home with bamboo flooring, but the ones you did don’t have a finish that you found aesthetically appealing, you should always keep in mind that plenty of other options are available. You can always personalize it further after you move in.
The most common options are a matte or satin-matte lacquer finish. However, it’s really up to what you want to achieve with the look of your bamboo flooring. Something to note is that you should also look into finishes with certain protective features (ex., UV protection, anti-scratch, anti-slip, etc.).
7. Quick and easy to install
Another of the benefits of bamboo flooring is that, no matter what type it is, it’s straightforward to install and can be fitted in various ways. From gluing or nailing it down to the subfloor to floating it over an underlay, you can sometimes finish bamboo flooring installation in one afternoon.
Additionally, since it can also come with a click-fitting system, some people choose to finish the installation themselves. However, you should only do this if you already have experience with installing click-fitting flooring. And if you are generally good at handiwork.
8. Health-promoting properties
Bamboo floors are an excellent option for people with certain allergies. The fact that they don’t harbor dirt and dust particles like carpets do makes them a lot more hygienic and allergy-sufferer-friendly. Additionally, they can be good for the health of those without allergies, mainly because they are much more resistant to mildew and mold growth than other flooring options.
9. Long-lasting
While this highly depends on how well you care for it, bamboo floors are usually long-lasting. Their life expectancy can extend to even a few decades. As long as you regularly clean and maintain them and remove any liquid spills as fast as possible.
Final thoughts
Using this flooring material is an amazingly creative way to provide your home with a natural look while staying eco-friendly. You also shouldn’t forget the fact that bamboo flooring is budget-friendly. Furthermore, you can highly personalize it with all the different finishes, colors, and styles. If you install it correctly and subsequently care for it properly through regular maintenance, bamboo flooring can keep its original look and freshness for decades. This means that by following a few simple routines, you can reap the benefits of bamboo flooring we discussed in this article for years to come.
