If you are planning on home renovation, consider the newest and most popular bamboo flooring trend. Many people believe that bamboo is a kind of wood, but it is not. Bamboo is a kind of grass whose looks deceive you. It might not look solid and durable, but on the contrary, it is a much stronger option when compared to hardwood. Scrap all the traditional flooring materials and get bamboo because it is much easier to install and maintain. It makes your home look great and has advantages that can’t be found on other flooring materials. Bamboo flooring comes in different hardness levels, and it is less susceptible to changing weather conditions. It does not expand or contract during cold and hot weather like other kinds of wood.
Ecologically friendly: The threat of deforestation has forced many to resort to eco-friendly measures. Trees that are being felled for their wood take decades to replace. On the other hand, it grows much faster, and it is believed to be the fastest-growing plant on earth. Some bamboo plants can grow up to 3 feet each day. This feature has made bamboo immensely popular. They need only 3 to 6 years to mature, whereas hardwood trees take almost 100 years to mature. They don’t need any fertilizer or pesticides to grow well.
Bug friendly: Bamboo is the perfect choice for your flooring if you want to keep away termites, moisture and rot. However, you have to treat bamboo floors with mineral boron so that the termites do not destroy them.
Water and stain-resistant: The absorption power of bamboo is amazing. Hardwood flooring degenerates whenever it is exposed to tremendous amounts of water, but bamboo does not. Bamboo is considerably stain resistant, so it is much easier to clean. However, remember to clean bamboo floors as soon as something spills on them, especially milk and red wine. Keep your bamboo floors polished so that stains are easy to clean.
Fewer chemicals during treatment: Usually, bamboo is sliced into strips for bamboo flooring, then ‘despatched’ by boiling. The strips are glued into boards and milled. A simple preservation treatment is done with Urea-Formaldehyde (UF). UF is not good for breathing, but much less UF is used for bamboo than hardwood. It is also possible for you to buy bamboo that is not treated with UF at all.
There are mainly two natural colours of bamboo. People who love light and natural colour go for it. There are darker varieties of bamboo; the carbonizing process makes the colour bamboo amber. Compared to the natural light colour of bamboo, the hardness of bamboo is reduced by 10%. Even then, bamboo flooring is considered much more vital than hardwood. If you wish, you can colour your bamboo for a different look. Dyed bamboo is beautiful; remember to choose a dye that is not toxic.