Bamboo Flooring TipsBamboo is one of the hottest trends in flooring today; captivating consumers with its beauty, durability and earth-friendly story. This site provides basic information on bamboo flooring, tips on how to choose a floor that’s right for you and what to avoid when making your purchase... http://www.bambooflooringtips.com When you think about a thin bamboo cane, it might seem almost flimsy. But in comparison to Red Oak, the most commonly installed wood flooring, it is actually 25% harder and just as strong. Bamboo is even harder than Rock Maple, making it an incredibly durable, impact-resistant form of flooring. Better still, it expands and contracts 50% less than other hardwoods. As a result, bamboo can be used in homes and in climates where high humidity or temperature variations make hardwoods impractical. How durable is it? This very hard and very durable material is an average of 13% harder than maple. It... http://www.bambooflooringtips.com/strength-and-durability.html Solid bamboo is available mostly in three or six foot lengths, although it’s sometimes possible to find a company that offers random lengths as well' Solid bamboo has pre-milled tongue and groove on all four sides and can be installed by gluing down, stapling or nailing' Only solid bamboo over 4” should be considered for a floating floor application' Longstrip bamboo typically comes seven feet long and approximately eight inches wide' It comes with a standard tongue and groove system built primarily for a floating installation; however, you can staple or glue this down as well' Available as a high quality, tongue-and-groove,... http://www.bambooflooringtips.com/available-options.html There are two main colors of bamboo flooring to choose from. First is its natural blonde hue, which reflects bamboo’s true color, along with its beautiful grain, growth patterns and joints. Bamboo is also available in a darker, amber tone that is achieved through smoking process. When bamboo is smoked, the carbonized grains take on a darker, caramel or amber tone all throughout. There are two basic colors of bamboo available – natural and carbonized (fumed). Natural bamboo looks just like it sounds, although it actually receives a bleaching treatment to accomplish the light tone. Carbonized bamboo, on the other hand,... http://www.bambooflooringtips.com/bamboo-floor-colors.html Bamboo can be installed over concrete floors using glue down method, or it can be installed on plywood using the nail down method. If you use a floating method of installation, you can go over concrete, vinyl and other stable hard surfaces. Thanks to advances in flooring technology, bamboo is now available in easy to install glueless systems that any homeowner can install in one weekend. As you know, the beauty of the click together system is its ease of installation. Since there is no glue being used, you have less of a mess and faster installation time. Overall, this... http://www.bambooflooringtips.com/installation-of-bamboo-floors.html There are hundreds of bamboo flooring manufacturers. But when you walk into any flooring retail store in North America or Europe and ask to see samples of bamboo, you’ll find that only 20-30 percent of stores have samples available. Of that percentage only ten percent of the sales staff will be knowledgeable about bamboo flooring. It's not because bamboo has just been recently offered outside Asia, it just hasn’t achieved that “critical mass” as yet. Worse, retailers who have recently started to introduce this option in their flooring departments don’t even know the basics about bamboo. BUYERS BEWARE! However, as North... http://www.bambooflooringtips.com/bamboo-floor-brands.html Bamboo is probably the most environmentally sensible flooring available, offering a dependable alternative to hardwood. Bamboo is technically a grass, and it can be harvested in about five years. Recognized as the fastest-growing plant on earth, bamboo offers 25 times the yield of hardwood, and is much more sustainable and renewable. It can be harvested and replenished with virtually no impact to the environment. Harvesting does not kill the plant because it constantly regenerates itself by sending out runners that result in new canes. Bamboo can be grown in soil damaged by overgrazing and poor agricultural techniques, and topsoil is not... http://www.bambooflooringtips.com/environmental-facts.html