Strand Woven: Is the best of bamboo flooring. If bought at a stable thickness stranded bamboo flooring can be a great investment for commercial and residential building and is one of the hardest types of wood flooring on the market, period. Not all bamboo flooring suppliers are created equal when it comes to stranded bamboo; it is important to find the right thickness, a good finish, correctly matured bamboo (5-7 years), and a warranty to back it up. An evident downside to strand woven bamboo flooring is price, with higher quality comes higher prices.

Solid: Has a comparable strength to red oak and is about 20% less expensive. It is available in a natural blonde color or a light brown carbonized color. Due to the natural properties of bamboo, this type of flooring is less susceptible to water damage than standard hardwood floors. Also, manufacturing techniques used in the Pacific Rim allow for almost 100% of the bamboo plant to be used which means waste is minimized with scrape being used to make chop sticks and tooth picks. The downside of solid bamboo hardwood flooring is the overall strength; although it is stronger than red oak it is still much weaker than stranded bamboo.

Engineered: It is specifically designed for areas of highs and lows, or fluctuating humidity. All hardwood floors are hygroscopic; meaning they absorb and exude small amounts of water. Engineered bamboo hardwood flooring is made with layers of poplar wood underneath that create a much more stable floor in areas with humidity issues. A con of engineered bamboo is that it only has a 1/8 inch (sometimes less) bamboo wear level that can only be refinished once safely.

Distressed (Hand Scraped): Is beautiful and unique. The solid bamboo construction makes distressed bamboo just as hard as red oak with elegant waves and ridges to distinguish the floor. Like most beautiful things, this floor is also delicate. This type of bamboo always gets its color from being stained; which means if it gets gauged, your only option will be to replace the plank.

Bamboo Flooring in general:

Some say that bamboo is not as green as locally sourced flooring. However, even with the embodied energy used to ship ocean containers from Asia, bamboo flooring is still a more eco-friendly product than that of other hardwoods, tile, ceramic, and carpet. Many complaints usually deal with cupping and warping in lower quality brands or issues with poor installation. Overall, bamboo flooring is a fantastic green product that looks great, and is easy to install and maintain.