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Hardwood Bamboo Flooring: Beautiful in Your Home, Beneficial to the Environment

Hardwood Bamboo Flooring

It's an alarming fact that today almost one million acres of forest vanish each year. Deforestation has led many economies and companies, including the worldwide flooring industry, to rethink manufacturing processes and materials. Over the last ten years, American flooring companies have begun to look to eco-friendly bamboo as a beautiful, sustainable flooring option.

Known as the world's fastest growing plant, bamboo is also as tough as steel. In terms of deforestation and bamboo, a sixty-foot tree cut for market can take 60 years to replace, while a sixty-foot bamboo cut for market should only take 60 days to replace. Bamboo is a great restorative agent in even the harshest environments, as it generates great amounts of biomass and oxygen. Bamboo's production of biomass and oxygen leads to improved watersheds, reduced soil erosion, and fewer toxins, all contributing to cleaner air.

Bamboo's restorative qualities are not only present in the outdoor environment, but in the indoor environment as well. High-quality bamboo is stronger and more flexible than many hardwoods, as bamboo is a grass that is built to bend in the wind. Bamboo is also hypo-allergenic, making it a great choice for those with allergies.

Bamboo is rapidly becoming one of the most popular types of residential and commercial flooring, as it is termite resistant, moisture and stain resistant, easy to clean, and harder than most hardwoods. Bamboo has an expansion rate of only about 50 percent of that of hardwoods, costs 10 to 50 percent less than hardwoods, and can be installed over many types of sub-flooring - even concrete.

Bamboo flooring comes in a variety of rich colors and finishes, and can be stained to meet designer specifications. Manufacturing options include hand-scraped bamboo flooring, which consists of a solid bamboo floor with a hand-textured top layer. Strand-woven bamboo is made by heating long strips of bamboo, weaving them together, and then compressing them under extreme pressure, which leads to harder and denser floors than the already-dense traditional bamboo flooring. Engineered bamboo flooring consists of a bamboo wear surface laminated to a plywood base, making it more resistant to moisture. Finally, solid bamboo flooring is made of whole strips of bamboo, making it heavier and harder than engineered flooring. Solid bamboo is the most popular bamboo flooring option.

When choosing eco-friendly, durable bamboo flooring for your Maryland or Washington DC home, trust Floor Gem, the expert in floor installation, refinishing, and maintenance. Floor Gem services Howard County, Montgomery county, Prince Georges County, and Anne Arundel County, as well as the Washington, DC area.