| Bamboo flooring may sound somewhat exotic and to some degree it is. Compared to traditional hardwoods it a relative newcomer to the flooring scene. It mimics wood floors yet it offers a distinctly different look from the well-known grain patterns of an oak or maple floor. Naturally a blond, it can also be a brunette thanks to a process called 'carbonization' that turns the bamboo a caramel color. And it also has a light environmental footprint, being a renewable resource and a quick-growing one at that. So, bamboo has looks and personality, and it's a good environmental citizen. Should you run out and get some now? Hopefully that's what the information below will help you decide. Bamboo can be a great flooring surface and there's a lot of information out there touting it's virtues. But like most other things, there's the good and not so good about bamboo you should understand before you buy. Take a closer look and see if it's the right choice for your next floor. What Exactly Is A Bamboo Floor - Is It The Same As Wood?You probably know what bamboo looks like but if you're not familiar with a bamboo floor, it's understandable if it's hard to visualize how hollow poles end up as flat boards. A bamboo floor looks like a wood floor but the only difference is that the planks are made out of numerous smaller strips of bamboo that have been milled into straight pieces and glued together. It looks like wood, feels like wood and can be stained like wood but officially it's not a wood. Bamboo is actually a "grass". The material used for bamboo floors is taken from the "culm" of the bamboo plant. The culm is the stalk or 'trunk' of the plant and produces bamboo poles with the characteristic nodes that flare out along its length, appearing to segment the pole into many sections. The poles are dried and then cut into thin strips which are planed to shape them straight and square. These strips are then laminated (glued) together to form the larger planks that make up a bamboo floor. Common Terms
Before going any further it helps to get familiar with some common terms that are associated with bamboo flooring. The first has to do with how the strips that make up the plank are oriented when they're glued together to form a larger plank. You'll come across these terms in bamboo floor brochures and other manufacturer literature. Vertical grain bamboo has the strips oriented so their edges form the top surface of the board. Vertical grain is sometimes referred to as edge grain. | Two examples of vertical grain (click on image for larger view) |
Horizontal grain bamboo aligns the edges of these strips next to each other so that the face of the strip forms the surface of the plank. Horizontal grain is sometimes called flat grain. The nodes or "knuckles" on the bamboo stalk are visible with a horizontal grain pattern, ... | 
