Bamboo floors are increasingly being used as an alternative to laminate and hardwood flooring. Modern engineering techniques allow bamboo to be formed into a wide array of beautiful presentations that have nothing to do with bamboo’s tiki lounge image of the past. Colour, finish options and durability are similar to traditional wood floors.
How do they do it?
Bamboo is cut and laminated into sheets and planks. This process involves cutting stalks into thin strips, planing them flat, boiling and drying the strips which are then glued, pressed and finished into luxurious flooring. The quality of bamboo laminate varies between manufacturers and the maturity of the plant from which it was harvested. The sturdiest products fulfill their claims of being up to three times harder than oak hardwood but others may be softer than standard hardwood.
Other reasons to consider Bamboo?
Bamboo is good for the environment. Bamboo is actually a rapidly growing grass and not wood. It can be harvested every five to seven years unlike most hardwood species used for flooring that reach saleable size in fifty to one hundred years. Bamboo also regenerates itself without needing to be replanted and requires minimal use of pesticides or fertilizers.
Bamboo is one of the fastest-growing plants on Earth; it has been measured growing as fast as 100 cm in a 24-hour period, and can also reach a maximum growth rate exceeding one metre (39 inches) per hour for short periods of time.
At HomeLife we strongly believe in the importance of initiatives to help the environment. Under H.E.L.P, HomeLife’s environmental leadership program, for every home we sell, we plant a tree.