Bamboo Flooring Vs Hardwood Flooring

Bamboo flooring is manufactured out of bamboo.

Bamboo flooring vs hardwood flooring.

Although it is commonly grouped with hardwood flooring bamboo is not actually a wood but rather a woody grass. On being harvested we boil bamboo and remove the sugar and starch using chemicals. Hardwood flooring is much longer lasting and durable than bamboo. Traditional wood is much longer wearing and requires less maintenance.

Hardwood flooring is made from solid planks of wood. Engineered hardwood floors can be made up of several layers of different types of wood or a top layer of wood with an hdf substrate. Real wood flooring can be refinished multiple times to restore it. Both types of flooring are prone to warping from humidity in the environment.

Bamboo flooring does not resemble the stalks that you see growing in the wild. Bamboo typically is lighter in color than most hardwoods although you can also find darker versions that have been carbonized. Carbonizing the bamboo however makes it softer. Bamboo flooring is more environmental friendly than hardwood flooring as it is an excellent renewable resource.

Finally a machine presses the bamboo fibers into boards and planks. On average bamboo flooring lasts for 20 to 25 years but the higher quality grades can last up to 50 years or more. Bamboo a native plant to tropical regions with heavy rainfalls grows much faster than hardwood and has a different cellular structure. Bamboo flooring also has high durability but its lifespan is somewhat shorter than engineered hardwood flooring.

Bamboo flooring cannot be refinished as often and depending on the type may scratch or dent more easily. Bamboo floors are cheaper and growing in popularity. While hardwood flooring can last up to 75 100 years bamboo floors have a lifespan of 10 25 years. Solid wood floors are made of sections of a single hardwood such as maple or oak and the planks are actually a continuous piece of wood.

In the case of solid bamboo floors often strands of bamboo are. Hardness and moisture resistance. Natural bamboo flooring is about 50 harder than hardwood flooring. As a result teragren bamboo averages 25 percent harder than red oak and 12 percent harder than north american maple.

With bamboo and hardwood flooring having similar characteristics and costs making a choice between the two is not always easy. Bamboo vs hardwood bamboo flooring. Natural bamboo has a janka hardness rating of about 1 380 making it harder than most domestic hardwoods. Elwell owner and operator of bamboo flooring hawaii in honolulu.