Bamboo Flooring Characteristics 2

About Bamboo Flooring page 2

Solid bamboo is available in lengths of three to six feet, although other sizes may be offered. Solid bamboo can be installed by gluing, stapling or nailing. A floating floor would only contain solid bamboo which is over four feet. The longstrip version of bamboo usually comes in lengths of seven feet and widths of about eight inches. It is generally used for floating installation and has a standard tongue and groove system. It can be stapled or glued down. The differences in the style of bamboo depends on the particular slats it contains. Most of the bamboos are referred to as either horizontal or vertical, which is basically the differences in the joining of the bamboo slats to make the flooring. The look of the floor can be altered a great deal depending on the direction of the slats, whether they are laid horizontally or vertically.

A style that is quite popular in the bamboo market is called the strand woven which is actually shredded, then glued together, then cured so that it will stick together again. This produces a very heavy floor which can stand up to very heavy traffic. The drawback to this type of floor is that it takes a great amount of glue to put the floor together, thus manufacturers may use a cheaper glue that contains high levels of formaldehyde. Therefore, this type of floor is not highly recommended. However, once another type of glue is available, without the somewhat toxic formaldehyde, this type of floor will be recommended to those who prefer this look.

In order to produce a strong solid bamboo floor, the high narrow stalks of bamboo are cut into strips, then glued together in layers and formed into flooring planks utilizing heat and pressure. These solid bamboo floors are usually 5/8 inch thick. However, cheaper bamboo is usually thinner, which makes it easier to notice its low quality.

Longstrip bamboo is believed to be a structurally engineered floor. It contains bamboo on its surface, plus a wood core board and a balancing wooden back layer. It is a floating floor that contains excellent expansion and contraction capabilities that are much better than solid bamboo.

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