If you’re in the process of renovating your home, flooring is likely at the top of your list. Since you want your new floor to last a long time, have you considered bamboo flooring? Since there are so many different colors and patterns, bamboo flooring may be just what you need to enhance your home’s interiors.
There are quite a few advantages of natural bamboo flooring. Its appearance and smooth texture alone make it easy on the eyes and the feet. Furthermore, since it can withstand a significant amount of traffic and won’t dent like other woods, it can work excellently in any room of the house.
Other advantages of natural bamboo flooring include the sustainability factor. Given the manner in which it is harvested, bamboo flooring does not contribute to tropical rain-forest depletion. Since only 16% to 20% of the total crop of bamboo is harvested, 80% or more remains untouched.
Since it’s important to have flooring that can hold up to foot and pet traffic, as well as furniture placement, you can rest assured that natural bamboo flooring can do so. Janka hardness ratings are used to measure impact resistance and resilience for wood flooring materials. When considering flooring, the higher Janka ratings are of course preferred.
You may be interested in a comparison of the average Janka ratings for wood and bamboo flooring:
- Northern Red Oak: 1290
- North American Hard Maple: 1450
- Brazilian Cherry: 2800
- Carbonized Solid Strand Bamboo: 3646
- Natural Solid Strand Bamboo: 3780
Another benefit to having bamboo flooring is that it doesn’t adversely affect a home’s air quality as with other flooring products such as vinyl. While many people may choose to use vinyl flooring, it is known to produce volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. Certain types of wood flooring may also emit VOCs due to the glues, solvents, and varnishes used during construction and placement.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), VOCs are gases that are released by a variety of solids or liquids used in household products, building materials, and furnishings. The EPA indicates that in addition to potentially having negative short-term health effects, they may also have long-term health effects. When materials that release VOCs are present indoors, the emissions can be approximately 10 times more intense than when found outdoors.
Whether you’re replacing the floor in a single room or your entire house, consider the benefits of bamboo flooring. In addition to being a beautiful, and versatile flooring material, it is also a sustainable and environmentally-conscious choice. When you contact a bamboo flooring company to learn about your available options, be sure to ask about other advantages of natural bamboo flooring.
