Bamboo Floor Vs Hardwood Flooring
2011-06-22

Nowadays, there is an emerging trend, the preference of bamboo flooring over traditional hardwood flooring in Australia. In fact, bamboo flooring has become the number one flooring choice for so many Aussie homes. In this article, we will learn the reasons about how bamboo flooring has out-performed traditional hardwood flooring and why people all around Australia, especially in Perth, Western Australian residents seem like the organic glow and elegance of bamboo flooring in their homes.

First of all, bamboo makes a forest friendly choice because of the number of benefits that it has to offer to our environment. Bamboo is an organic material and is a highly renewable resource. Bamboo belongs to the grass family of plants and has an amazing growth rate. It can grow up to 30 cm a day, thus making a wonderful natural resource with a high production rate. Hardwoods, on the other hand, take decades to reach maturity and need large plantations as well.

The bamboo wood is of high quality and is comparable to any hardwood material. The high production rate of bamboo reduces the destruction of forests which not only is helpful for the reduction of greenhouse gas content in the air, but is also beneficial for the well-being of the native animals. There is an abundance of bamboo wood in the market throughout the year, making it less likely that installation of the bamboo flooring in your home would be delayed.

The elegant appearance and great physical properties of a bamboo floor outsmart the traditional hardwood flooring as well. Not only does the bamboo flooring complement your interior décor, but it also adds style to your living.

The wood-grain appearance and glossy surface of a bamboo floor give a look of a hardwood floor, while offering higher stability and density at the same time.

Another advantage of the bamboo flooring is that its installation process is quicker than other hardwood flooring. Moreover, you can avoid the dusty process of in-home sanding and polishing by installing a bamboo floor as the bamboo planks come in a pre-finished form and they are ready to install as soon as they arrive in Australia. The installation of bamboo flooring doesn’t create health hazards for residents as there are no fumes and emissions. Furthermore, you can walk on a bamboo floor on the same day of its installation.

Bamboo flooring is more scratch resistant than traditional hardwoods because it is pre-coated with the 7 layers of hard-wearing European Polyurethane. Another attribute that makes bamboo flooring far superior to hardwood is its termite resistance, it is pre-coated with a layer of Boron to minimize the risk of insects’ attacks.

An important factor in choosing a particular type of a hardwood floor is its durability and strength. Not only is bamboo nearly twice as hard as Jarrah, but is also tough enough to cope with the high foot traffic and high-heeled shoes, whilst still maintaining an attractive appearance.

In comparison to timber floors, which are highly susceptible to the dents and indentations due to the heavy furniture and fallen objects, bamboo flooring tends to retain its shape no matter how much weight is placed on it.

In Australia, you can find three styles of bamboo flooring on the market: horizontal, vertical and a compressed grain style.

Both horizontal and vertical styles make use of knots or nodes in the bamboo strips which give your flooring a more distinctive bamboo look.

The compressed grain style, on the other hand, contains fibers running the full length of the board, thus giving it a wood-grain appearance and a much more consistent finish.

Moreover, bamboo flooring can easily adapt to the taste of a wide variety of Aussies because it is offered in various tones and colours.

In order to preserve the great natural look of the bamboo flooring, colour variation is kept to a minimum and you can still choose the colour of your choice.

Unlike timber floors, bamboo flooring doesn’t significantly change its colour over time.

It is important to keep in your mind that if bamboo flooring is installed on an area which is directly exposed to the direct sunlight, then bamboo can lighten or darken due to the exposure to the ultraviolet rays.

Bamboo flooring gives a modern, warm feel to your home, which can’t be matched by traditional hardwood flooring. Knowing the benefits that bamboo flooring offers its users, confirms why so many Australians prefer bamboo flooring over timber flooring.