Podcast Episode Summary
Bamboo Flooring
While similar in appearance to wood, bamboo is not a tree - it's a grass. Coming originally from China, its use as a flooring material has spread around the world. It is rapidly gaining in popularity, due in part to its colorful, grainy appearance.
Bamboo flooring has two grades: natural and carbonized. Natural grade bamboo flooring shows the real color, grain, and growth pattern of the plant. Carbonized bamboo is made by a process that causes the bamboo to take on a darker color than it has in nature. The bamboo is steamed, causing its sugar molecules to turn brown, or caramelizing it.
In order to make flooring planks, the original bamboo can be cut either vertically or horizontally. A vertical cut causes the planks to closely simulate hardwood. Cutting it horizontally more readily shows the small nodes that appear where branches protrude from the main stalk, and gives the bamboo flooring a unique appearance.
One of the main advantages of bamboo over wood is its strength - nearly twice that of oak, the standard-bearer for hardwoods. This causes bamboo to be very durable, so it doesn't need as much maintenance or repair. It is also quite resiliant, and doesn't dent easily on impact.
Coming from the tropics, bamboo naturally resists moisture, so it makes a good choice for bathroom and kitchen floors. During its manufacture, bamboo flooring is glue-treated under steam and high pressure. This makes it resistant to scratching, abrasion, and being accidentally stained when food is spilled on it. Bamboo flooring is also less likely to warp, gap, or cup.
In these times when everyone seems to be "going green", bamboo flooring is an excellent choice. The use of bamboo instead of wood helps to save our rapidly-depleting hardwood forests. Not only that -- it is sustainable. Just like grass, when it's cut, it grows right back. Its rate of growth - up to 10 feet per year - causes it to mature in only about 5 years!
Bamboo flooring is less expensive than hardwood flooring, and it's just as easily installed. The bamboo planks are grooved, interlocking for easy assembly. They can be held in place by nailing, stapling, or glueing.
Ezra says: To get an idea of the beauty and variety of bamboo flooring available to use in your home, you should visit your nearest flooring supply store. Or even better, browse the websites of the online suppliers in the box at the top, where there are many pages of bamboo flooring available from as low as $1.89 per square foot. For the cheapest bamboo flooring line sold by each of these suppliers, click on one of the 4 pictures shown on this page.
Here are links to webpages that will show all the cheap bamboo flooring available from each of the 4 merchants:
- FastFloors
 bamboo flooring that costs from $2 - $4 / sq ft.
- After you click on this Flooring Select link, check the box on the left that says "$4 or less".
- Lumber Liquidators
 bamboo flooring that sells from $2 - $3 / sq ft.
- Clearance items at simpleFLOORS
 . Don't forget to get extra material so you can repair worn sections later on.
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