Flooring is an important component of any modern home, apartment, or public building , and finding the right flooring options can make for a durable floor to last many years. Often, American construction has made use of local hardwood species; however, an alternative to traditional hardwood floors has emerged: bamboo flooring. It can be harvested, built, and installed with relative ease, and it is low maintenance and easy to fix should it suffer damage. The best bamboo flooring adhesive brands are also available for DIY builders to help them get their new floors installed, and finding the best bamboo flooring adhesive is one of a few easy steps to getting this convenient, trendy new flooring option put in place. Bamboo strength can be much higher than expected, and installation instructions may be available online or at local hardware stores.
The Flooring Industry
In nearly any building, the flooring is often taken for granted, but a bad floor will quickly draw complaints, such as creaking wood, ugly scratches and stains, or warping that makes the floor uneven. There is a huge floor industry alive and well today to make sure that any building gets the right floor options it needs. In 2017, for example, total sales from flooring work reached a total of $21.99 billion, and in taht same year, the total sales of flooring work covered some 19.736 billion square feet, meaning that a lot of homes and public buildings had some new floors put down. And those involved in the field are sure that this industry is still growing; a recent survey showed that 70% of responders (including distributors, retailers, and contractors) believe that growth of 3% or more can be expected for 2018’s flooring industry, and one in three respondents expects growth of 8% or even more. Hardwood flooring is still a widespread option, but by now, bamboo is catching up, and this eco-friendly material can be a strong competitor. Supporting materials for bamboo installation such as nails and the best bamboo flooring adhesive brands can also be found.
Why Bamboo?
Often, only nails and/or the best bamboo flooring adhesive brands are needed to put this flooring down to good effect, and it is a relatively DIY-friendly material. Bamboo has become popular not only because of its ease of installation and its performance as a floor, but also because it plays well into the global “go green” initiative to protect the biosphere. Bamboo is a natural vegetation, a grass more than a wood, and it grows very fast and abundantly; in fact, it can grow to maturity in just three to five years. Hardwood, by contrast, takes around 20 years for a tree to mature for use, and the logging industry sometimes strains forest habitats. Using bamboo instead can ease the pressure on forests, and it is highly renewable.
As a construction material, bamboo has a number of advantages that make it attractive, and a few drawbacks that should be noted before purchase. Bamboo can compete with hardwood prices, often being found for $5 to $8 per square foot (excluding professional installation fees), although buyers should be wary of very cheap bamboo, since it is probably cast-off material that may be subpar. Also, bamboo can easily be cleaned, needing only simple mopping or soap and water to clean should it ever get dirty, and bamboo can be just as tough as hardwood, since the original plants are shredded and then pressed together with heat and glues to form regular planks. No strength or durability are lost by replacing regular hardwood with bamboo. Another advantage is that bamboo can easily create a modern, clean look.
There are a few potential problems or issues with bamboo. Bamboo is made in overseas factories that may have lax quality regulations, so buying very cheap bamboo can be risky. And as a material, bamboo can get scratches or dents like any other flooring, which can be unattractive (although sanding and refinishing bamboo is easily done to restore its look). Bamboo can absorb water and expand and warp, a problem if water spills or if the floor is in a humid environment like the Louisiana or Florida coasts, and conversely, bamboo may contract and crack in very dry environments. Finally, bamboo comes in a limited range of colors and tones.
