Eco-Logic Bamboo

Production Ready Timber

You are here: Home > Bamboo Products > Bamboo Flooring

Bamboo Flooring

The fact that you have reached this page leaves us guessing that you are looking at various types of flooring materials. There are a myriad of options, and tons of (mis)information about the various kinds of flooring. We hope you’ll be a bit better informed on bamboo flooring and where it fits into the available types of flooring for homes after reading this page. We’re also guessing that you might be considering either a solid wood floor, an engineered floor or a laminated floor (tiles and concrete floors are just too cold & hard – and everybody has tiles anyway – ok we are biased, tiles and concrete floors definitely have their place). If you have already decided on one of the best types of flooring, a solid wood floor, well done! This often happens when you are familiar with that warm, luxurious and solid feeling you get when seeing and walking on one. Most immediately think of Oak, Maple or Cherry when they first think of installing a hardwood floor. Or, if you’re looking for pure luxury (price doesn’t really matter), most look to Walnut or Brazilian Teak.

We urge you to seriously consider bamboo flooring. Here’s why!

First, when considering bamboo flooring, you need to see it as a solid wood floor. Even though our solid bamboo flooring planks are “laminated” together, they are still solid – that means they are 100% bamboo, all the way through. Our strand woven bamboo flooring planks are crushed & pressed together, so are 100% solid, not laminated flooring planks.

Laminated flooring vs bamboo flooring

There is often confusion between “laminated” bamboo flooring and laminated flooring. Laminated floors are made of a base layer of sawdust or similar material, pressed & glued together, plus a top layer of a “photographed” texture, simulating the wood or pattern with a protective top layer. You’ll know a laminate floor immediately when you walk on it, it feels thin (because it is). Here is a quote from a very experienced flooring installer after inspecting water damaged bamboo flooring after 3 weeks of exposure to water:

Flooring Installer
If this had been a laminate or Oak floor, you would have had to throw the floor away! — Hendri – Hendri’s Wooden Floors, Client Testimonial

Engineered flooring vs bamboo flooring

Engineered flooring, on the other hand, consists of a cheaper & softer wood base (typically Fir or Pine) with a thin 3-5 mm top layer of the desired wood (Oak, Cherry, etc). This manufacturing technique allows for a wider plank. Most exotic woods used for flooring are not that stable and will buckle at greater widths, so the width of a solid plank is typically restricted to around 96 mm. Engineered flooring also uses a lot less of the exotic wood required for the floor due to the thin layer at the top of the plank. This is a good thing, but it does not necessarily make engineered flooring any greener. Solid wood flooring is well known to up the value of any property, is warm underfoot, and as it ages (yip, solid wood floors can last generations), it adds a unique character to your home. Solid bamboo flooring does the same plus it’s the truly eco-friendly option.

Why choose bamboo flooring?

Simple, you get;

a solid wood floor
with excellent durability
easy-to-maintain characteristics
that is beautiful
affordable (solid wood is becoming very expensive) and in line with engineered flooring
increases the value of your property
environmentally friendly

Cheap bamboo flooring

As with most products, you’ll always find the cheap and nasty brands offering “discount bamboo flooring”. You’ll notice that some bamboo laminate flooring reviews are not great. Why? Some factories skip on important aspects in the manufacturing process in order to make the product as cheap as possible and to gain the maximum profit from the products.

Unfortunately to the untrained eye, one bamboo flooring plank can look just like any other – leaving the unsuspecting consumer with an inferior product. Fortunately nowadays the Consumer Protection Act hold unscrupulous suppliers accountable for their product offerings. We support this act wholeheartedly. Low quality products affect the reputation of bamboo flooring as a whole.

Our bamboo flooring guarantee is simple – if there is any fault in the manufacturing quality of an Eco-Logic Bamboo flooring product, we’ll sort it out – no fancy footwork or fine print. If we receive a warranty claim, we commission a third party independent assessor to determine the cause of any issue. If there is a problem with our product, consider it resolved.

Bamboo flooring for specifiers

If you are an Interior Designer or Architect, Eco-Logic Bamboo flooring, and especially our top rated hardwood flooring - strand woven bamboo flooring – will exceed your requirements and give you a number of Green Star points in your next project.

Bamboo flooring for commercial flooring?

MTN High Volume Repair Center

A common question is around bamboo flooring durability – strand woven bamboo flooring is almost as hard as expensive Brazilian Teak. This exceptionally high density and factory pre-finish make this one of the most durable type flooring, suitable for use in commercial applications.

You’ll find strand woven bamboo flooring in hotels; One & Only™ and Louis Group Hotels™, car showrooms; Honda™, restaurants; Mugg & Bean™ and KFC™ , commercial office blocks; Verisign™ and MTN™ and high class housing estates such as Val de Vie Polo Estate™ and many other commercial installations.

Click this link for more detail on each of the types of bamboo flooring and specifications of Eco-Logic Bamboo floor planks.

Have a look what the Director of Operations & Facilities at a public facility – Debbie Shock – had to say about a high traffic bamboo floor under her management:

Solid Bamboo Flooring in a Public Space
We’ve had over a million people on it [650 square meters of bamboo flooring] —strollers, high heels, wheelchairs, you name it—and it’s held up great, I think it’s done extremely well for what it’s been through. — Debbie Shock – Director of operations and facilities @ William J. Clinton Presidential Center, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=bamboo-boom&page=2

And here is what a hotelier had to say when they experienced a water leak after some roofing renovations:

Green Hotel
We specified Oriental Bamboo for both Erinvale Estate Hotel & Spa as well as Devon Valley Hotel, in line with our strategy to “green” the hotel group, using sustainable resources like bamboo flooring.

We had moisture damage in the public area of one of the hotels and Oriental Bamboo assisted in getting the best people on site to sort this out; after allowing for drying time we were able to reuse over 90% of the original floor.

I have enjoyed the proprietorial spirit of active caring that I experienced with Oriental Bamboo and thus I am pleased to recommend them. — Craig Seaman – Managing Director Louis Group Hotels & Vineyards, Client Testimonial

Are you concerned about the “embodied energy” of bamboo flooring as it comes from far away? Then this page is a must read.

Talk to us now about your project – let us know what you’re thinking! Or sign up for our occasional “Bamboo Showcase” newsletter to keep up-to-date on what others are doing with bamboo flooring, bamboo boards and bamboo panels.

Bamboo flooring – where can I buy it?

If you are looking for bamboo flooring suppliers or installers, contact us with your requirements (click on the link) and we’ll point you in the right direction.

If it’s the bamboo wooden flooring price you are looking for – click on this link and we’ll send you pricing.

Read on for more detail on each of the types of bamboo flooring …

[fbshare]