Natural Beauty with Bamboo Flooring
The most beautiful floors found in homes tend to belong to the hardwood family. These floors have an innate beauty that only Mother Nature can provide. The most recent trend in natural flooring is bamboo. This strong, durable flooring has become popular for its beauty and its environmentally friendly properties as well.
Many people consider natural beauty to include protecting the environment and saving the Earth’s natural resources for future generations. Natural bamboo flooring is perfectly sustainable and fits the profile for green products. Because it grows so quickly and is able to replenish in such a short time that this naturally durable plant is able to save literally hundreds of trees.
Natural bamboo flooring is made from the stalks of the bamboo plant. Unlike other hardwood trees that are made from actual trees, bamboo is in fact a grass with a super strong stalk. The stalk is harvested three to six years from the time it is planted. This short harvest time allows for successive plantings to occur in a short time period, saving the land from being destroyed by runoff.
Once the bamboo stalks are harvested they are further processed to create flooring planks. There are several different types of processing to bring natural bamboo plants to the stage where they are used to create planks. One type of processing creates solid bamboo flooring.
Solid bamboo flooring is created by laying the bamboo planks side by side and using extreme pressure along with an adhesive to bond them together. In contrast, engineered bamboo flooring is created using a wood underlay on which the bamboo strips are stacked. High pressure and adhesives are used to attach the bamboo to the wooden underlay. This type of flooring has an added strength due to the wooden base on which the bamboo is attached. Finally, there is woven bamboo flooring. This is where the bamboo fibers are processed and then woven into bamboo planks. The weaving creates a strength that is beyond what solid bamboo or engineered bamboo has.
Natural bamboo is beauty combined with a care for the Earth and it’s resources. Bamboo flooring is strong and durable, able to withstand family traffic and remain beautiful for many years. In an era where being environmentally friendly is the trend, bamboo is the ideal choice.
Sharon V Chapman provides decorating tips and consumer information on natural bamboo flooring for A1 Bamboo Flooring – your premier online guide to beautiful bamboo floors!