What You Need to Know about Bamboo Flooring

For those who are a bit more conscious about the environment and want to step away from the traditional types of flooring, bamboo is the answer for you. The concept of bamboo flooring is quickly catching on for primarily two reasons: one, the increasing price of hardwood, and two the increasing awareness about the environment. If you want to jump onto the bandwagon too, there are a few things you need to know. After all, change is always difficult.

Is it really Green?

To answer this question, you need to know one basic fact – bamboo is not technically a tree; it is grass. Anyone who is familiar with lawn mowing knows how fast grass grows. A bamboo tree takes about 5 to 6 years to reach maturity while any hardwood tree takes around 25 years! Now you do the math. When you cut down a hardwood tree, it will take 25 years to grow back and people cannot wait 25 years so they keep cutting down trees. This leads to mass deforestation. So, the more people switch to bamboo, the more precious trees can be preserved.

 Is It Worth It?

We of course, being selfish creatures, do not really care whether something is good for the environment unless we know whether it is good for us! Bamboo, as a flooring choice, is pretty versatile actually and with the different colors and textures available, it will fit into any decor. You could opt for earthy, simple floors, or polished elegant floors. As far as durability is concerned, the strand-woven kind of bamboo is the toughest of them all while carbonized bamboo is the most fragile. If you think you can work with the untreated variety of bamboo, you can go with that as well. They are durable and lend a very distinct look to the decor.

Is it High Maintenance?

Yes and no. If you are worried about how to clean bamboo floors, then there is nothing to be worried about really. Cleaning bamboo floors is pretty straightforward. Regular dusting, occasional wet mopping and cleaning with bamboo cleaners once in a while are enough to keep the bamboo floors clean and shiny. However, when we speak about overall maintenance, then that could be a bit tough. First of all, bamboo is not a good choice in high humidity areas as they tend to warp more. Moreover, they are more prone to wear in the long run. If you have a house with kids, pets and adults rampaging up and down the floors, then bamboo is not a good choice for you.

Bamboo flooring is good for a lot of reasons but still it is not devoid of its faults. Learn about both before you bring home this grassy friend.