Is it Worth It? Different strands for different fans? These two both qualify as green, but they differ in look, performance, and price Laying the Right Foundation Cheaply made bamboo flooring can be soft and prone to warping, delaminating, and throwing off dangerous fumes. Not these solid boards, both made with mature Moso plants by Chinese mills that report directly to environmentally conscious U.S. companies. One showcases the grass's classic grain, while the other is made by compressing many strands to make a denser, harder board, treated to look like distressed hardwood. For their other trade-offs, read on. Teragren Portfolio Strand-woven in New country Size: 5" × ½" × 72"Finish Warranty: 25 years Is it for you?If it's going to take a beating and you want a wider plank with a rustic hardwood look. About $8.49 per square feet; Processed bamboo is compressed under extreme pressure with heat and adhesive to form slabs that are sliced into planks;

these self-lock and float. One and half times harder than red oak. Comes in 10 colors. Tiny pits and flecks give the wide planks warmth and depth; look is more fabricated up close. Less likely to change color when exposed to sun. Seven top coats include aluminum oxide and polyurethane. Tires For Honda DreamStain and embossing add texture and depth, which would be lost with refinishing.F1 T Shirts India EcoTimber Traditional Horizontal Grain in NaturalBee Healthy Weight Loss Clinics Size: : 3¾" × ⅝" × 77½" Finish Warranty: 27 yearsIf high heels and golf shoes get parked at the door and you like a natural-bamboo look. About $4.99 per square feet; Rectangular strips of processed bamboo are laminated horizontally (edge to edge) and cut into solid planks.

Slightly softer than red oak. Goes down like hardwood with glue or nails. Also available in a darker amber finish. Narrower, naturally pale planks reflect light and showcase bamboo's nodes; there's not much grain to hide dents. Darkens with exposure to sun. Smooth seven-coat finish includes aluminum oxide and a scratch-resistant acrylic. Refinishing will not change its look. gallery slideshow grid viewIs Bamboo Flooring really green?Tipster Brad installed a bamboo floor and says "The environmental benefits are great, but the flooring itself is awful". We have had mixed experiences with it ourselves and decided to look more closely.Before we look at the environmental issues, let's look at its utility- is it all it is cracked up to be? One of the major benefits touted by vendors is how hard and tough it is. The popular carbonized darker bamboos are comparable to Black Walnut, considered a soft hardwood, and the lighter natural colours test comparable to maple. (colour is achieved not by staining but by heating, and the longer it heats the softer it gets)

It is like any wood floor- it is damaged by dents, scratches and the killer of all wood floors, high heels. Jazzy aluminum oxide finish or not, it is a natural material that should not be marketed as being harder or more durable than conventional wood flooring. Is Bamboo Flooring Environmentally Better?We summarize a remarkable report by Dr. Jim Bowyer for Dovetail PartnersBamboo flooring can be green...There is no question that bamboo is a renewable resource- it is a grass and grows very quickly. Where oak takes 120 years to grow to maturity, bamboo can be harvested in three. It is recognized as a green material under LEED and as they said in Environmental Building News, "Environmentally, it's hard to argue with a wood substitute that matures in three years, regenerates without need for replanting, and requires minimal fertilization or pesticides."From a social perspective, 6 million people in China work in bamboo and 600 million people worldwide rely on income from it....but it isn't as green as it could beHowever it is clear that bamboo is not necessarily being managed in a sustainable fashion.

It is true that it naturally regenerates, but forests are being cleared to grow it and it is becoming a monoculture. Although it is claimed that fertilizers are not necessary, in fact they are being used to increase yield. Research quoted in the report:"Recently, bamboo expansion has come at the expense of natural forests, shrubs, and low-yield mixed plantations . . . It is common practice to cut down existing trees and replace them with bamboo.""As forestlands tend to be in hilly and mountainous areas with steep slopes, clearcutting has resulted in an increase in erosion until the bamboo becomes fully established . . .""Natural forests in the vicinity of bamboo plantations have sometimes given way to bamboo as a result of deliberate efforts to replace them or because of the vigorous natural expansion of bamboo in logged over forests. This process has also had a negative impact on biodiversity.""The intensive management practices employed involve manual or chemical weeding and periodic tilling of the land to keep the soil clear of undergrowth.

These practices increase erosion and result in single-species plantations over large areas.""The intensive use of chemicals (pesticides, weed killers and fertilizers) [associated with growing bamboo] also affects the environment . . ."We have, literally, been researching and planning to replace all the flooring on the first floor in this home since last August. We were initially going to go with a bamboo, but the one we were looking at wasn’t very thick and we didn’t feel confident it would outlast the daily wear and tear of our 150 pound dog, Greta’s scooter rounds, or the long Idaho winters–which mean a lot of snow and wetness. We moved on and started looking at the hardest hardwoods available, which would be a lot more durable and then we ran into another problem. We have particle board subfloors on top of strand subfloors. Almost every hardwood flooring company we talked to said that any sort of warranty would be voided if we put flooring on top of these kind of subfloors.

We talked about replacing the subfloors, which would be very labor intensive considering there’s a layer of tile and two layers of subfloors. Our other option was to use a special underlayment (the same one John and Sherry did) before putting down the hardwoods, but unfortunately the flooring company we were talking with said that the warranty could still potentially be voided since we would still be technically laying it on top of particle board subfloors. Through this process, we were introduced to the idea of wood tile–not technically wood–but surprisingly realistic. We ordered 9 different samples and were finally feeling like there was hope for us. We really love the look of wood floors–that’s something we wanted. But, and maybe I’m asking too much, I didn’t want to baby my floors. I don’t want to put little socks on Charly, or worry about our guests removing their wet shoes immediately after entering our home or follow wet foot prints with a towel. I don’t want Greta (or future children) to not be able to ride their scooter in the house–which I get is a completely absurd thing to do, but something she loves and we allow.

Maybe faux wood tile is for us? Here’s a look at the 9 samples we ordered: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 While we could see an application for almost all of them, for our home three of them we liked right away. Number 6, 8 and 9. We stared and moved those three around for over a month. Researched more about each one’s color variance, printing method (it matters!) and watched how it collected dust and hair throughout the day. Right off the bat, our favorite was this great deeper brown (but still mid-range) option called Hickory Vintage (number 8). The color was rich and warm and the print was pretty cool. The downside was this was the only option out of our top three that was roto-printed (instead of ink-jet). It would have the least variation from tile to tile meaning it would probably look the least realistic when all lined up next to each other. The other clear downside, seen from the photo below, was it showed every speck of hair and dust. The second option we considered (number 9) was called Fronda Roble.

The graining was gorgeous and it hid hair and dirt the best out of all three. A couple things we didn’t love were the slightly pink undertones and the size. At 8″x24″ it felt more tile-sized than your average hardwood–even most of the wide planked ones that are popular today. The third option we looked into was called Nordic Brown (number 6). You can see a couple “Charly hairs” (as we so lovingly call them around here every second of the day) but for the most part it disguised things pretty well. The more we looked into and researched this option, the more we liked it. First, it was printed (like the previous option) using an ink jet. This means the variation and repeating pattern is greater than older roto-print type printing applications. It’s the most realistic you will get because they are based on actual digitial pictures of wood flooring. We dug deeper and discovered that, on top of a large pattern variation, this type of tile actually has about 9 different shade variations as well, which would give it a nice realistic touch.

In fact, if you scroll up, the one we deemed “too light” (actually called Nordic Light) is the same flooring, but a different color–which gave us more confidence that some tiles in this collection might have some of that graining that the Nordic light showcased, and some might be just long strands like shown here. Perhaps the thing that sold us most on this one, which if you haven’t guessed is the one we decided on, was the photo on the manufacturer’s site: We are really excited to get this project done. We called around for estimates to lay the flooring, and were quoted $17 THOUSAND dollars–cue heart sinking–so we’re doing it ourselves and sharing every detail along the way. From tearing our our existing tile, to laying the heated flooring system to laying the tile itself. To be honest, the task is daunting. From the mess of demolition to making sure every tile is perfectly level, it should be enough to make us postpone the whole project indefinitely. But, on the contrary, we finally feel like we found something that is perfect for our needs and wants, and can’t wait to see it all come together after the dust settles.