Mar 12 2010
Bamboo Hardwood Floor
Bamboo hardwood floor is quickly becoming the preferred flooring for homebuilders who are joining the green movement. Going green is the equivalent of saving the Earth and its resources for future generations. Homebuilders recognize that installing a bamboo hardwood floor means they are saving hundreds of acres of land from deforestation and at the same time providing the homeowner with a floor that is beautiful, strong, durable and at the same time sustainable.
Bamboo is an exceptionally strong material in addition to being beautiful. Structural engineering tests using bamboo have shown that it has a higher compressive strength than many types of concrete mixtures and a higher tensile strength than many types of alloy steel. Surprisingly to some people, it has also got a higher strength to weight ratio than graphite, proving it is a super strong wood flooring choice. Proof of this strength can be found in the many buildings made entirely of bamboo that have stood for hundreds of years and have even held strong through 9.0 magnitude earthquakes.
A wood that can withstand an earthquake will surely withstand daily life in most homes. Bamboos strength as a flooring rivals that of oak, cherry and other traditional hardwoods that are typically seen in homes. Homeowners can be assured that their bamboo hardwood floor will hold up under the rigors of daily life.
The selling point of bamboo wood floors for many people is the fast regeneration of bamboo. Traditional hardwood trees take anywhere from thirty to fifty years to mature enough to be usable as flooring. After harvesting and until the next crop is ready to harvest the time period is one filled with less oxygen being produced and less carbon dioxide being consumed by the trees that would have been there to use it; additionally, there is more runoff where the trees were harvested, all of these add up to environmentally damaging effects.
Bamboo, however, is environmentally friendly. It is one of the fastest growing plants on the planet, maturing in five years. Some types of bamboo have been recorded growing over four feet in 24 hours. Some species can be harvested every three years with no damage to the environment or the plants system. This time span is so short there is not time for damage to occur to the environment.
Eco-scientists and other proponents of bamboo argue that if bamboo were planted in mass fields that global warming’s effects could be reversed in less than ten years.
Using bamboo hardwood floor to beautify you home also helps to keep the planet healthy and out atmosphere in stable condition. Oak, cherry and other hardwoods can still be harvested on a smaller scale to make beautiful wood furniture but it doesn’t have to be mass harvested to create strong, beautiful floors, bamboo is capable of handling that without damaging the environment in the process.
-Sharon Chapman
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