Bamboo - The Environmentally Sound Choice of Floor for your Home
Bamboo flooring can give you the natural beauty of wood in your home without you having to feel that your choice in home improvements is having a damaging affect on the environment. As one of natures greatest gifts to mankind, bamboo has been used in many useful ways since the beginning of time. In modern times it has become the wood of choice for making both decorative and practical items that are aesthetically pleasing as well as environmentally friendly.
Bamboo flooring is typically made by slicing bamboo poles into strips. These are destarched by boiling, glued into boards, and milled. Preservative treatment—often boric acid, though more harmful chemicals may be used—is applied during this process. Most bamboo flooring uses a urea-formaldehyde (UF) adhesive in the lamination process. Though the use of UF resins, which emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs), is harmful to indoor air quality, bamboo flooring uses a relatively small amount compared with other materials, such as particleboards.
The most common form uses thin bamboo stems that are cut as flat as possible. They are cut to similar lengths and can be stained, varnished, or simply used as is. They are then nailed down to wooden beams or bigger pieces of bamboo stems. This form results in more space between each bamboo stem; flatness and tightness is not emphasized. This technique is usually used on stilted houses, resulting in better air circulation especially during the warmer summer months.
Bamboo has also gained a reputation as an eco-friendly, highly renewable source of material. Compared to wood it grows much faster because bamboo is a grass not a wood. Bamboo can grow up to 47 inches in 24 hours and 78½ feet high in 40 to 50 days. It takes about 3–5 years for bamboo to reach full maturity. Traditional hard woods can take 20 – 120 years to mature. |
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Bamboo can be harvested without the need to replant because the root system is left intact when it is harvested. The rhizome root structure has the ability to hold the soil in place preventing erosion. Rhizome root structures are horizontal stems that grow below the surface and help a plant reproduce vegetatively. Plants with rhizomes will colonize or spread laterally.
Bamboo reaches maturity in five years which is the optimal age to harvest. In a sustainably harvested forest only 20% of the forest is harvested annually allowing for 100% harvest in a five year period. In its natural environment it will need no irrigation, no pesticides, and no fertilizer. Bamboo has few pests so pesticides are not required. |
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Choosing bamboo flooring products is an environmentally and ecologically responsible choice, and they will endure for as long as and longer than products made of hardwood.
Studies have shown that flooring made from bamboo measures up against and even exceeds the most popular, stable and durable hardwood varieties, at a price that's about the same as that for premium wood floors.
Any way you look at it, buying bamboo flooring is an environmentally, economically and aesthetically smart choice! |
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Durability refers to the actual hardness of the wood and susceptibility to dents and scratches. Bamboo is as hard as hard maple, which is the standard flooring industry comparator.
In addition to durability and stability, bamboo might be preferred for its natural beauty and the fact that it doesn't contribute to the depletion of our hardwood resources. Bamboo is a natural, renewable resource that can be responsibly harvested every three to five years.
Finally, the natural beauty of bamboo floors is at least equal to that of hardwood flooring and, for many, it even surpasses it. |
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MJ Flooring Center & Design has a large Bamboo Flooring collection. Visit one of our local showrooms today to view our huge selection. Our Bamboo floors are not surpassed when it comes to quality and value. MJ Flooring Center & Design are Bamboo experts in San Diego. We have a team of in-house installers who are experienced with Bamboo Flooring. Give us a call to speak with a member from our talented sales team today, we will even give you a complimentary design.
