Although bamboo flooring has been around for more than two decades, the recent advancements in its manufacturing has enhanced its appearance and improved its performance.
The major change in its manufacturing is the introduction of strand-woven super-dense bamboo that can be refined into boards that 2.5 times as solid as red oak. They can also be manufactured in various wood-look styles like walnut, tigerwood, maple, and cumaru. Strand-woven bamboo has made its mark in the flooring industry and has become a major player, providing durability and the look of Brazilian hardwoods for almost half the cost.
If you’re looking for something different from all the common flooring styles or have an idea of renovating your home in a unique way, bamboo flooring the flooring choice to go for. However, although bamboo flooring has become the standard option for most of the people, it should be noted that not all bamboo floorings are same.
Here’s a list of different bamboo flooring options with everything about their installation and prices that you need to know:
Bamboo flooring is of two basic types: Solid bamboo planks and engineered planks.
1. Engineered bamboo flooring
Engineered bamboo flooring is installed by the floating-floor method which involves snapping of wide planks together and laying them over thin foam. This flooring isn’t fixed to the subfloor in any way, so the installation process goes fast.
2. Solid Bamboo Flooring
The second type is solid bamboo flooring. Its installation method is similar to the common hardwood flooring. It’s fixed using staples or nails, sometimes with mastic and sometimes without. This installation method is quite time-consuming and takes almost twice as long as engineered bamboo flooring installation. However, this method produces a rock-solid floor that is highly durable and does not require much maintenance.
Types of Solid Bamboo Flooring
Solid-bamboo flooring is further categorized into three types: Strand bamboo, Flat-grain solid strip, and vertical-grain solid strip.
- Strand bamboo is produced using extremely thin, shredded fibers of bamboo that mixed with mastics and then fixed into rock-solid planks.
- Vertical-grain bamboo, on the other hand, is formed of thin bamboo strips glued together from the edges.
- Flat-grain bamboo, which is the most commonly used type, is formed of flat, thin bamboo strips that are placed on top of one another and then glued together.
Note that whichever bamboo flooring you choose, they all will come in pieces measuring 0.5 to 0.6 inch thick and 3.5 to 7.5 inches wide. Their length typically ranges from 36 to 72 inches. Also, even though the natural color and grain pattern of bamboo are both light, bamboo flooring comes with over fifty different pre-stained colors ranging from soft subtle tones to bright and dark tones.
A good thing about both solid bamboo planks and engineered bamboo planks is that they come prefinished, so you can place furniture over them as soon as the last plank is installed.
Cost Comparisons
Coming to the cost of different types of bamboo flooring, they’re fairly priced, especially when you consider their complicated manufacturing process. Getting into details, the cost for solid-bamboo flooring typically ranges from $2 to $4 per square foot. On the other hand, engineered bamboo will cost you around $3 to $7 per square foot.
These prices usually depend on the thickness of flooring: the thicker the bamboo plank, the higher the price. So if thick floors are your priority, then bamboo flooring can be a bit costly. However, they’re still worth investing in because of their durability and versatility.
Bamboo flooring as become increasingly popular over the past few years and its sales have grown enormously. All this is mainly due to its attractiveness, durability, affordability and the wide range of color options it offers.
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