Bamboo Flooring Poor Quality

1. China Wholesale Carbonized Wood Timber Flooring Standard Bamboo Wall Panel Solid Bamboo Flooring
2. Five Reasons Why Bamboo Flooring Is A Good Idea
3. Renature 3/8 In. Raleigh Strand Distressed Wide Plank Engineered Click Bamboo Flooring 5.13 In. Wide
4. Bamboo Flooring Costs
   1. Bamboo Flooring Vs Other Floors Chart
5. Bamboo Flooring: Everything You Should Know

Katie Barton is a home improvement freelance writer. For as long as she can remember, she's had a passion for making homes beautiful. She specializes in cleaning, organizing, and home improvement projects.

Bamboo flooring is similar to hardwood but comes from grass rather than a tree. Like hardwoods, bamboo is available in solid or engineered planks, different colors, and many plank sizes.

Learning the pros and cons of bamboo flooring can help you determine if this is the right product for you or if you’re better off with a different option.

Bamboo Flooring Performance

Bamboo flooring has about the same durability as hardwood floors – lasting at least 25 years. High-quality bamboo is more scratch and dent resistant than many types of hardwood. It’s a safe flooring option for high-traffic areas like living rooms, kitchens, and bedrooms.

Like hardwoods, bamboo is susceptible to water damage. If water is left standing on bamboo for a prolonged period, it can absorb the moisture and swell. Since it isn’t fully waterproof, avoid using bamboo in high-humidity areas like bathrooms and basements.

It takes about six years for bamboo grass to reach maturity for flooring. When harvesters cut the stalks of bamboo, they continue growing, eliminating the need for replanting. In fact, cutting bamboo makes it grow even faster. The bamboo growth and harvest process has little impact on the environment.

China Wholesale Carbonized Wood Timber Flooring Standard Bamboo Wall Panel Solid Bamboo Flooring

Manufacturers slice bamboo stalks into pieces, then press them together with heat and an adhesive. In low-quality bamboo flooring, the glue sometimes contains formaldehyde.

The formaldehyde in bamboo flooring is similar to the amounts in many brands of engineered wood floors and sheets of MDF. If you’re worried about the potential effects, look for alternative adhesive options with a ‘formaldehyde-free’ label.

When your bamboo looks dull or shows scratches, you can refinish it. There are some exceptions though – for example, if you have engineered bamboo with a thin veneer, sanding can be risky. Likewise, the strongest type, strand woven bamboo, doesn’t absorb stains well, but this type of flooring should last decades without needing to be refinished.

Five Reasons Why Bamboo Flooring Is A Good Idea

Bamboo comes in many light shades. While it also comes in darker shades, dark tones of bamboo are ‘carbonized, ’ which means they’ve been heat treated to achieve a deep color. The heat treatment reduces that floor’s durability making it more susceptible to scratches, dents, and moisture damage.

The maintenance of bamboo is the same as hardwood floors – sweep as needed and mop with a gentle PH-neutral cleaner. There are no special steps in caring for bamboo.

While bamboo works similarly to hardwoods, the grain pattern doesn’t feature any hearts or knots, with few variations. Bamboo has a straight-line pattern with varying density and features a distinct aesthetic.The Home editorial team is independent and objective. To help support our reporting work, and to continue our ability to provide this content for free to our readers, we receive compensation from the companies that advertise on the Home site. This compensation comes from two main sources. First, we provide paid placements to advertisers to present their offers. The compensation we receive for those placements affects how and where advertisers’ offers appear on the site. This site does not include all companies or products available within the market. Second, we also include links to advertisers’ offers in some of our articles; these “affiliate links” may generate income for our site when you click on them. The compensation we receive from advertisers does not influence the recommendations or advice our editorial team provides in our articles or otherwise impact any of the editorial content on Home. While we work hard to provide accurate and up to date information that we think you will find relevant, Home does not and cannot guarantee that any information provided is complete and makes no representations or warranties in connection thereto, nor to the accuracy or applicability thereof.

Renature 3/8 In. Raleigh Strand Distressed Wide Plank Engineered Click Bamboo Flooring 5.13 In. Wide

The global bamboo flooring market is valued at $1, 249 million and is expected to reach $1, 549 by the end of 2026. Bamboo flooring is receiving more attention in recent years, particularly among homeowners looking for environmentally friendly and sustainable building materials.

Easy to maintain and install, bamboo offers a modern and natural aesthetic that could boost real estate value to a home, and the cost of bamboo flooring is comparable to other popular floor types. Unlike trees, bamboo stalks can have a five to six harvest cycle, making them significantly more sustainable. As flooring, bamboo shares many of the same pros and cons as hardwood flooring, with a few more advantages to its favor.

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Bamboo Flooring Costs

Although bamboo is the most appealing to consumers interested in using natural, renewable building materials, it boasts plenty of benefits that make it an attractive choice to anyone looking at flooring options.

Traditional hardwood is made from oaks, rock maple and hickory trees, which can take around 20 years to mature before harvesting is possible. On the other hand, bamboo is considered a grass, growing and developing in a five to seven-year cycle and can be harvested without replanting the root system.

Bamboo floors are relatively easy to maintain. Sweeping and vacuuming regularly to remove dust and debris should suffice. An occasional cleanse with a bamboo floor cleaner or a mild soap and water solution can help it look cleaner.

Is Bamboo Flooring Noisy?

Over time, bamboo can get scratched and discolored. Fortunately, the surface is easy to refinish by sanding it down and applying a new coating seal. Refinishing the top layer can bring a new, even look to the floor again, protecting it from future damage. Keep in mind that engineered bamboo flooring cannot be refinished.

Bamboo flooring is beneficial for areas with high traffic like living rooms, kitchens and entryways. It is naturally resistant to abrasion caused by footwork and the impact of fallen objects. Strand woven bamboo flooring weaves the grass fibers together, creating an interlocking pattern that can be three times stronger than other types of bamboo flooring.

DIYers can cut installation costs depending on the type of bamboo flooring they use. Floating bamboo planks use a “click-lock” system that’s easier to install and can be done without professional assistance. This installation method is quick and effortless, and it also allows the floor to expand and contract as humidity levels change in the room.

Bamboo Flooring Vs Other Floors Chart

Bamboo naturally has few pests. Even during harvesting, it requires little use of pesticides. Some of the chemicals used to treat bamboo flooring make digestion impossible for termites. Overall, most types of bamboo flooring are pet resistant. In addition, bamboo is inhospitable to dust mites and repels dust and pollen, and it makes an excellent choice for allergy-prone homeowners.

On the downside, bamboo flooring shares many disadvantages with hardwood floors. Both are susceptible to scratches and require special sealants to protect against water. For anyone considering bamboo flooring options, these are some cons to consider.

While bamboo is highly durable, its surface can easily scratch, just like most wood floors. Carbonized bamboo flooring, which has a darker tone, is remarkably more susceptible to scratching too. Placing felt pads on furniture and refinishing the bamboo floor from time to time can extend the life of this flooring and reduce the appearance of scratches.

Not All Bamboo Is Created Equal

Despite bamboo being trendy flooring material, it has many style limitations. Aesthetically, bamboo flooring can adapt to different styles, though it’s best suited to match contemporary and Scandinavian design styles. Most bamboo floorings only have vertical and horizontal grains, in limited finishes and tones that might not suit all interior decor settings.

Since bamboo is grass, humidity affects it more severely than it does hardwood flooring. If the flooring is used in a very humid climate or rooms with drastic climate changes, the moisture in there is likely to cause the floor planks to swell and buckle.

In dry environments, the planks can shrink significantly, making them more likely to crack under extremely low humidity. For this reason, we don’t recommend bamboo flooring for bathrooms or homes with drastic shifts in humidity. A humidity monitor can help maintain air moisture levels when seasonal temperatures shift.

Bamboo Flooring: Everything You Should Know

Low-quality bamboo can contain traces of urea-formaldehyde. Levels of toxins will vary on the resin adhesive used and how the bamboo planks are manufactured. Cheaper products may have higher levels, while more expensive options may use alternative materials for their resins. Still, the amount of formaldehyde found in bamboo flooring is very similar to that found in engineering hardwood flooring and it only tends to be problematic for sensitive individuals.

There isn’t an effective and reliable grading system when it comes to bamboo planks. Retailers usually sort them into grade A and grade B, but this is an arbitrary system that means different things to different retailers. It has little to do with the quality of the bamboo.