Not Just for Tiki Torches Anymore! Is Bamboo Flooring for You?
Buyers of homes that currently have bamboo flooring and home owners looking to upgrade old flooring will benefit by reading this quick overview on bamboo flooring. Bamboo is considered a "green product" because of its ease of growth and ability to replenish quickly.
The first time I listed a home with bamboo floors, I researched the unusual "wood" so I could properly explain its features and benefits to prospective clients. I was pleasantly surprised by what I discovered. Here are the results of my research, as well as a quick video showing lots of different styles of bamboo flooring. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!
Is Bamboo For You?
The advantages of using bamboo flooring include beauty, strength, versatility and a "wow" factor for the uninitiated.
Bamboo is said to outperform even tradition hardwoods for both home and commercial applications. For example, bamboo flooring is 25% harder than red oak and 12% tougher than rock maple. Flooring pieces shrink or expand far less that tradition hardwoods with temperature changes.
Botanically classified as a grass, bamboo matures into a merchantable size in three to five years compared with 50 to 100 years for most hardwood species. Bamboo flooring has the classic good looks of hardwood flooring but the plant grows at a very fast rate. Because of this rapid growth it is a more easily renewable resource than hardwood.
After harvest, the round, hollow bamboo stems are sliced into strips, boiled in water with a preservative, pressed flat, and processed into laminated boards. Bamboo flooring is similar to oak in dent resistance and much more dimensionally stable than most common wood flooring species. Bamboo flooring can be nailed or floated and its strength and dimensional stability compare very well with traditional wood flooring.
Bamboo flooring is also being installed in commercial settings. At Bloomingdale's in New York City, for instance. Seattle architects used bamboo flooring for a Tommy Hilfiger store.
"This flooring was simply the best product for the application. It also just happened to be a good environmental choice." according to Gary Cruce of NBBJ Architects. "The look - the color - of natural bamboo was the one the client liked best... The first priority was that the flooring material be durable, while maintaining an air of distinction.
Janna Rankin Scharf provides a superior level of real estate services to home buyers and sellers in Coeur d'Alene and Kootenai County, Idaho. Visit www.JannaScharf.com to search for homes in the Coeur d'Alene MLS for anywhere in spectacular North Idaho.
No matter how grand or modest your real estate dreams may be, you can turn to me in confidence. Give me a call today and let me know what I can do to be of service to you!
Janna Rankin Scharf AB, GRI, CSP, CNS, CLHMS 208.651.9700
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