Bamboo Flooring – Know the Basics
Bamboo Flooring has gained massive popularity in recent years due to heavy marketing and a consumer push for more environmentally friendly floorcovering options. Bamboo flooring can give a look and feel similar to hardwood but lets you the consumer, make a choice on helping the environment and getting a great floor.
Why is Bamboo such an eco friendly flooring option worth considering? Traditional hardwood floors such as Oak can take may years, up to 100 or more, to grow to maturity for harvest. Albeit real hardwood looks and performs well, it can task the environment with unnecessary losses. Even worse, critical forests can be jeopardized with the culling of trees used to produce exotic hardwood floors from rain forests and third world countries. Bamboo can be harvested in as little as 3 years and even the hardest of Bamboo groups are culled within 5-6 years. Bamboo can also re-grows in the same spot as the original stalk with little to no fertilizer.
If you are going to shop for a Bamboo floor there are several terms that you will need to understand. Actually picking a Bamboo floor can present as many choices as selecting hardwood flooring. However, if you understand the terms you will be able to make a correct decision on the right floorcovering for your needs.
o Carbonized versus Non Carbonized – These terms for Bamboo Flooring apply to the color of the boards. Non Carbonized Bamboo has a very light and bright color. If you are looking for a true natural color, Non Carbonized is probably right for you. Carbonized has a softer look. Some even consider Carbonized Bamboo to have Honey look to it. This process is used to achieve a different look for Carbonized Bamboo floors. One thing to consider is the process to Carbonize causes a slightly softer surface of about 10%, so if you are concerned with dents or a less dense wood, consider a Carbonized.
o Stranding – Vertical, Horizontal or Strand Woven. These terms affect not only the appearance of the board and grains, but also the hardness. Vertical and Horizontal have the same hardness but vertical designs have a smoother longer running grain where as horizontal still has grain effects but noticeable joints where the strands have been joined in the manufacturing process. The difference between these two is simply aesthetics. Strand Woven Bamboo Flooring gives the closest appearance to wood and also due to the design of the product, has a harder surface than horizontal or vertical stranding. Due to the nature of the process, Strand Woven Bamboo is the most expensive of the three choices and is typically priced evenly with very high end exotic hardwood species. Some Strand Woven products also have a slightly warmer look like Carbonized but without the sacrifice of a soft surface.
o Stained versus Unstained – Early on, Bamboo was prefinished as a natural color only. Now you can find some manufacturers that will provide a stained product. Typical stains are Wine/Cherry, Spice, Gunstock, and even darker colors such as Toffee or Black Walnut.
o Installation – Engineered (multi layered) Bamboo is usually a glue down or floating floor design (no glue). Engineered can also be installed on a concrete subfloor in most cases. Solid Bamboo Floors are nail down products and can be refinished many more times than engineered designs.
o The production and finishing process of Bamboo Flooring can be accomplished several ways. Early on, Formaldehyde was a heavy ingredient in the process. Many manufacturers have eliminated or drastically reduced the amount of this chemical in their process. Be sure to ask about emissions and Formaldehyde levels in the product you are considering.
o What’s the finish? Inquire if the finish is just a Polyurethane coating or does the Bamboo have a Aluminum Oxide Finish or a combination. Stay with the products that have mostly or all Aluminum Oxide. This type of finish is basically the same as traditional hardwood flooring and has much less off gassing than the pure Polyurethane finishes. It is also quite hard and performs very well for day to day use.
Bamboo Flooring can be a beautiful addition to your existing or new home. It will perform well if cared for and give you an amazing conversation piece for visitors who compliment you on your choice. Not only will the floor look great for years, but you will have made a personal statement about making a difference to better the environment
Waterproof Flooring For Summertime
Are you looking forward to pool parties with the family and friends, and to having guests over for barbecues and other events such as a wedding reception? Have you been staring at the floor in your family room a lot? Does it lead directly out to the pool area? If the flooring is worn or damaged, all of that Summer fun and wetness could mean hazardous or moldy conditions in your home. What type of flooring do you have? Are you planning on redecorating? Now is the time to consider putting down a brand new floor. It’s not that hard if you do a little research on types of flooring and where to best use it.
Perhaps the simplest kind of waterproof flooring is a single piece of linoleum. Today’s linoleum is not your mother’s linoleum. This new “green” product comes in many colors and thicknesses and there is a design for anyone, just for the choosing. It’s easy to lay down, and you can cut designs (or paint on using a stencil) out of a circle or square of it, and then you have an instant rug. It’s easy to wipe down after spills of many kinds. Even if you just make a simple rug from a piece, you can get a bargain priced section because it’s a leftover. The best place to look for linoleum is online, and there you can compare all of the advantages, prices and designs. In a regular retail store there is often limited selection, and the product (tiles, linoleum, wood) can be very heavy to move around. This is akin to looking at rugs in a big pile, in that one remote corner of a big box store. Another waterproof flooring material is tiles. There are the basic peel and stick ones, plus many other kinds. Porcelain tiles are precise in measurement (usually 12 inches square or 18 inches square) and easy to clean, too. Natural stone tiles are attractive looking, but a little more difficult to lay down, because there are slight size differences. You cannot lay them in a normal checkerboard pattern because some may be off-measurement. Stagger those like a brick wall, and choose the right grout, and you’ll have a super looking floor. Some porcelain tiles look exactly like natural stone ones, but they are always square because they are made in a factory from molds. A few bargains can be found, if you look around.
The final class of flooring that’s considered water-resistant, is ceramic tiles. A few ceramic tiles such as Saltillos are harder to keep sealed and clean. Properly done, though, these could also work well. Saltillo tiles age beautifully and may look antique in just a few years. If you have a Spanish hacienda type home, these are lovely to have on your floors. If you have a small room, get large 18 inch square tiles and lay them down diagonally. This increases the visual space. Seal and grout them properly and you’ll have a long lasting floor surface that will last quite a long time.
Kitchen Flooring Options
For many families the most used room in the house is the kitchen. It is the focus of many activities. More than any other room, it reflects your lifestyle and values. Inevitably flooring in kitchens takes a beating and has to look good doing it. Whether you go with inexpensive vinyl flooring, or the best marble if it doesn’t stand up to the beating and fit in with your lifestyle you will want to change it faster than anything else in your home.
The most popular and common kitchen flooring is vinyl. It isn’t the best at anything but it really doesn’t have many glaring weaknesses either. It is durable, resilient and inexpensive; and you can get it in an almost infinite variety of patterns and colors. It has a nice cushy feel that you don’t always find in some of the other hard flooring choices. You can get it in tiles or sheets. Vinyl tile flooring tends to be more attractive because of the variety of patterns and colors available. But be careful, the self-adhesive variety doesn’t always stay down for long. Spilled water is more likely to get underneath the tiles and potentially cause a variety of problems. Because of the resilience of vinyl flooring, it requires a totally flat surface. Use a good underlayment before you put the vinyl down. If you put new vinyl over old vinyl tile, the pattern underneath will eventually show through in the new vinyl. If you go with vinyl flooring for your kitchen, make sure it is done right or you might regret it later.
Linoleum and vinyl are often confused with each other. They both look about the same once installed. But vinyl is made from all synthetic materials, whereas linoleum is made from all natural materials. Usually linoleum has a felt, canvas or burlap base with a combination of linseed oil, cork and wood powder mixed in natural resins on top of the base. The popularity of vinyl flooring has overshadowed linoleum. But the truth of the matter is linoleum is much more durable compared to vinyl. It is not uncommon for a linoleum floor with a good underlayment to last 35 to 40 years; even in heavy traffic areas. If durability and practicality are high priorities, don’t dismiss sheet linoleum as too old fashioned or out of date.
Laminate flooring is a relatively new option that may be the perfect compromise for your kitchen. It is intended to give the low cost, resilience and low maintenance durability advantages of vinyl and linoleum flooring. At the same time it can give the look of more expensive flooring such as hardwood, ceramic and marble. It is a compromise and won’t look as beautiful as a real hardwood or marble floor. But for many people, it is an excellent all around choice.
For many, the ultimate floor for a kitchen is a hardwood floor. Hardwood flooring is usually high maintenance, expensive, slippery and not as durable or scratch resistant as other flooring options. But despite these drawbacks, you cannot argue with the timeless warmth and beauty of a real hardwood floor.
If cost is not an obstacle there are many marble, travertine, granite and other stone flooring options available for kitchen use. They are all expensive, but no other kitchen flooring option will last as long or look as refined and beautiful.