Wood Floors Plus

People across the world are now waking up to the fact that there are more sustainable alternatives to conventional hardwood floorings, such as bamboo flooring. It takes anywhere between 2 and 5 years for a bamboo grass crop to be ready for making floors, unlike the conventional wood trees, which can take a minimum of 20 years to grow that tall, and have adequate hardness as well. Bamboo flooring prices also lure customers away from other flooring materials such as marble, ceramic and vinyl. Engineered bamboo floorings look similar to wooden floorings and are comparable in terms of durability as well as hardness. Usually though, people turn to bamboo floorings because bamboo flooring prices fit in their budgets.

Varieties in bamboo flooring and the variations in their price

There are three varieties of bamboo floorings possible with such grass woods. These are:

• Solid bamboo variety

Bamboos are hollow on inside. In floorings made from solid bamboo, there are no changes made to this natural aspect of bamboo. Instead, the bamboo sticks are glued together with some contemporary adhesives including at times toxic substances such as formaldehyde. Such floorings are easily identified because of the nodes on them. They are also not very even. Conventionally, such floors were common in South Eastern regions of the world. Even today, these are used by local people. However, people use ropes or shredded bamboo strips to weave the bamboos together. The manufactured varieties have no gaps between them, when compared to the traditional woven varieties. As of date, this type of flooring could cost anywhere between $2 and $4 per square foot.

• Engineered bamboo variety

As the name suggests, some engineering is done to obtain this variety of bamboo flooring. Bamboos are cut in layers. These layers are then affixed on another substrate such that a smooth and even flooring material is created. Usually, bamboo floorings are of dull yellow to slightly brighter yellow or golden in color. Engineered varieties are available in different colors which can match different interiors. The strength of this material is, however, a suspect because of factors such as the quality of glue and cross ply support. Even processes such as carbonization used to give this variety required hues can affect its strength. It however scores by looks. This is the reason engineered bamboo flooring prices hover anywhere between $3 and $7 for every square foot.

• Strand woven variety

As the name suggests in this variety of bamboo flooring, bamboo is shred into strands and these are woven together. These not only look attractive but are also extremely durable. The only problem is it is hard to differentiate between this flooring variety and conventional wood floorings. Caramelizing and carbonizing of this type of bamboo flooring is possible to give the flooring required shades and textures. Such processes however adversely affect the strength of natural bamboo. As of date, strand woven variety of bamboo flooring is available for anything between $8 and $10 per square foot. Therefore, such bamboo hardwood flooring prices are almost as much as any conventional good quality wooden flooring prices.

Usually, bamboo flooring prices quoted above include installation charges but exclude other costs such as contractor’s profit margin, sales tax, and any inspection or permit fees applicable locally. Prices of such floorings from reputed wood flooring retailers such as wood floors plus are usually lower because such companies have more sophisticated equipments and better technologies at their disposal for installing bamboo floorings.

Conclusion

Though a green alternative to conventional hardwood, there are disadvantages of bamboo crop. Larger area is needed to grow such crops, since yield of wood per bamboo is not much. Unlike these, each tree can give substantial timber. Bamboo also needs to be transported from tropical regions to other parts of world. Therefore, bamboo flooring prices per square foot include costs towards transportation. Charges towards relevant supplies and equipments are also included in such costs.