You might have heard a lot about bamboo flooring recently, since this interesting flooring type has been getting more and more attention.

However, you might not know exactly what is meant by bamboo as a flooring material. While you’re pretty sure it’s not a series of round poles, it can be hard to envision flooring made from bamboo if you’ve never seen it.

Unlike sources for hardwood floors like oak, beech and maple, bamboo is a grass. However, it doesn’t look or feel much like one.

Bamboo is an extremely large grass. There are some species than can grow to be a foot in diameter and over one hundred feet tall – don’t mistake it for a tree.

Despite its grassy classification, you’ll find that flooring made from bamboo still has a lot in common with hardwood as a floor material. Maintenance is done in the same way, and this flooring offers a similar look.

Like wooden floors, tile, linoleum and other hard, smooth surfaces, you’ll find that bamboo is hypo-allergenic, offering no place for allergens to hide. However, unlike tile and linoleum, it’s much warmer feeling, and often more attractive.

Bamboo’s durability is also something special, since this material is about ten percent harder than floors made from red oak. Installation of bamboo flooring can only increase your home’s value.

Bamboo flooring is made by splitting bamboo stalks. These split stalks are then flattened using enormous amounts of pressure and laminated together.

What results from the process looks a bit like a hardwood laminate floor – prefinished, multi-layered and with an easy installation method. Some people can even install these even, regular planks on their own.

In addition to being strong and beautiful, bamboo’s environmental record also gets a lot of press. Most of us have heard that using bamboo as a flooring material is very environmentally friendly, but we might not know why.

Thats because of the speed with which bamboo grows, and its low pesticide and fertilizer requirements. To make a bamboo floor, the plants need to grow only for five to six years, and they regenerate extremely quickly after harvesting.

That’s why bamboo is considered a sustainable, renewable flooring option. However, buyers should take care when choosing their floors.

Bamboo’s newfound popularity has caused some people to try boosting their profits by adding extra chemicals while the material is growing, and to produce lower quality flooring material. These floors aren’t as good for the environment and don’t last as long – avoid them if you can.

Fortunately, this is isn’t really difficult. Most distributors and manufacturers of bamboo flooring want you to know all about their products and the benefits of installing them, so avoid cheap floors and people who don’t want to talk about their flooring or its origins.

Bamboo flooring makes an excellent investment for your home’s beauty and value, and for the environment. Since much of our yearly waste comes from the housing industry, choosing an environmentally friendly floor can make a big difference.

When the time comes to choose a floor covering for your home, think about bamboo. Bamboo flooring is beautiful, durable, and natural.

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