Flooring: Bamboo Laminate Flooring
June 19th, 2008Bamboo flooring is quickly becoming one of the most popular materials in interior design circles. Bamboo is environmentally friendly–renewing itself in the wild every four to five years. Its also one of the hardest woods and, being a tropical plant, one of the most resistant to moisture and insect infestation. Its natural beauty needs no staining or varnishing, although bamboo is available in up to 30 different colors. For those who want the lowest possible maintenance on their hardwood floors, bamboo flooring even comes in a variety of laminates and finishes.
Laminates refer to thin layers of paper-like material that are either pressed or bonded to the surface of floorboards. The purpose of a laminate is to make a floorboard or panel easy to clean, resistant to scratches and scrapes, and more durable than its non-laminated counterpart. Natural bamboo floorboards are pretty easy to maintain even without a protective laminate layer. They can be cleaned with the usual dry mop or light vinegar and water mixture. Bamboo laminate flooring just takes easy maintenance to the next level, providing busy people with a floor that looks great and requires very little upkeep.
Easy to Install Bamboo Laminates
Unlike other types of hardwood floors, bamboo laminates are easy for the average home owner to install via the do-it-yourself method. In fact, many of the best online bamboo laminate flooring suppliers include detailed self-installation instructions on their websites. Most bamboo laminates come in ready-to-install panels, which makes them extremely simple to lay down. Actual step-by-step instructions are available online, but for anyone who is considering installing his or her own bamboo laminate flooring, the process isnt much more complicated than snapping the pre-finished panels together and laying them down.
Bamboo laminates are an excellent choice in flooring for families with small children. Any home that has young children in it is subject to a lot of wear and tear on its interior. Many families choose to go with tile or linoleum flooring when their offspring are very young, because those types of floors are easy to clean and maintain. Hardwoods are by nature more susceptible to damage than tile or linoleum, but with a good laminate treatment a family can enjoy the beauty of bamboo without worrying about scratches, scrapes, or water damage.