Bamboo Flooring Review – Installing and Maintaining Bamboo Flooring

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Bamboo Flooring Review – Installing and Maintaining Bamboo Flooring

Friday, November 16th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

Bamboo flooring is one of the latest materials to be used to create a wood flooring style in homes. It is a popular material for manufacturer and buyer alike because it grows fast. This means it can be produced in larger quantities so is cheaper and does not have the same environmental impact as using trees like oak or walnut that take longer to grow. And bamboo hardwood flooring doesn’t look like the wood you remember in the huts in Robinson Crusoe or Gilligan’s island. The flooring is clean and uniformly cut. It is treated so that it is durable and resistant to staining and scratching. This article covers installing and caring for bamboo flooring.

Like most hardwood varieties installation can be done by a DIYer or by a professional. Bamboo flooring comes with tongue and groove fitting. It is usually put together on a sub floor and is termed a floating floor. For the sake of sound and warmth insulation a insulating material is placed between the sub floor and the bamboo flooring. Some bamboo flooring also require nails or glue to hold the floor in place. This is a bit more difficult to install and needs to be right first time.

Installing a bamboo floor is a good project for a DIYer and there is usually plenty of support from the seller of the flooring. They will give detailed instructions on how to put the flooring down and can help with the measurements and supplying the right amount of wood.

While bamboo is often thought to be a soft wood, manufacturing processes using high pressure along with impregnation with water resistant materials make them stronger than most laminate materials and some hardwoods.

Maintaining Bamboo Flooring

While bamboo flooring is a viable alternative to traditional wood, there are some special instructions needed to be followed for proper care to insure it lasts an average of 25 years. Following installation, the floor should be cleaned with a damp mop to remove any dust and small aggregates that can damage the surface. Many manufacturers use a scratch resistant coating on their bamboo flooring, but some materials such as sand can cause damage to the finish.

Many people with bamboo flooring use small throw rugs to catch these materials from shoes, especially at entry doors, or in other areas with heavy traffic. The use of furniture pads under heavy pieces may also prevent depressions from forming in less expensive materials and should also be used when moving the furniture to prevent scratching.

Most of the bamboo flooring materials are water resistant, however you shouldn’t let spilled water stand on the wood. If you spill liquid on the wood simply wipe it down. It will not stain the wood or cause it any damage if you clean it up.

Daily dust mopping with an occasional pass of a soft bristle broom will help protect the floor from damage. You can also use a vacuum cleaner to remove dust and dirt. Be careful that the vacuum cleaner beater bar does not touch the floor surface and cause scratching and generally harm surface.

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