List of Pros and Cons of Bamboo Flooring
Over the last couple of years bamboo flooring has become a popular option for many homeowners and home builders. It has a beautiful finish and adds a unique compliment to any room. People also looking at mitigating carbon footprints have gone for bamboo flooring because it is biodegradable. On the other hand bamboo floors may not ideally be the best choice for your home.
List of Pros of Bamboo Flooring
1. Renewable Resource
An upside of bamboo flooring is its renewable ability as a resource. It can be compared to other hard woods like maple, but it grows in little time. It can possibly take up to a century for a hard wood tree to reach such a point of maturity that it can be used for flooring. Over time this can be detrimental to forests around the world. Bamboo, being to some extent a grass, re-grows rapidly and roughly takes 4 years to mature.
2. Biodegradable
One major attraction of bamboo flooring is its eco-conscious age where it is biodegradable. The fact that it grows rapidly and breaks down easily after replacement is often viewed as a better alternative to cutting down trees that take centuries to grow. Sadly most bamboos are grown and imported from Asian countries where carbon emissions from factories, freight liners and other modes of transportation often offset the eco-friendliness of bamboos.
List of Cons of Bamboo Flooring
1. Questionable Business Practices
The downside is that majority of bamboos are grown in China where there are questionable business practices. Out of the numerous bamboo dealerships there, only two have complied with worker treatment agreements. Because of the soaring demand of bamboo flooring in recent years, many natural bamboo fields are being stripped off to meet the growing demand.
2. Easily Damaged
Although bamboo flooring can add some class into any home, it is generally soft wood and any heavy furniture may scratch or damage it. Something as simple as high-heeled shoes can scrape and leave mars on your bamboo floor. While the actual softness is determined by the way in which it is processed, bamboo flooring is not as durable as other hard woods like oak, and it can also be difficult to maintain than traditional hard wood flooring. One way of testing the durability of bamboo flooring is to press down a finger nail or penny into it and see if it easily scratches or dents.
3. Color Bleaching
A notable drawback with bamboo flooring is its tendency of the color bleaching out when exposed to extended periods of sunlight. This may damage that effect it gives to a room, something of a headache to homeowners.
4. Treated with Toxic Chemicals
Majority of imported bamboos are treated with formaldehyde, which can be a turn off when shopping for wooden floors. Like any other toxic chemical, this has the potential to cause illness.