How does Bamboo Flooring compare to Hardwood flooring?

Public Comments

1. bamboo is stronger and more resilient, most wood flooring is a laminate of hardwood on a pine base, depending on what you choose the price is similar but bamboo is the same material all the way through Bamboo is resistant to Termites as it is a grass and is less likley to swell if it gets wet. Bamboo looks and feels better to walk on.
2. bamboo, awesome... i grew up with bamboo floors in the dining room and in the kitchen....same durability with hardwood
3. When I was doing my floors, I considered both. Personally I liked the bamboo but the other half liked hardwood (we got maple). Bamboo is a bit "harder" than some other woods so it's not as easy to scratch or nick (and let me tell you that even after only 1 year of maple floors, no children or pets, and no shoes in the house, we have tons of nicks). Also, if you install it in a particular way so the grain of the bamboo is all in on direction, it visually makes nicks harder to see. Also, as you know bambo is easier to grow and grows faster than wood, so it is considered a more environmentallly conscious choice. On the flip side, people either seem to like the look of bamboo or they don't...there doesn't seem to be an inbetween. Bamboo can look a little bit more exotic than some people prefer. Sometimes it can also resemble Pergo or cheaper fake hardwood. In any case, I think it just depends on your personal preference. Even though in my case, we were comparing it to maple (which is softer), there are other varieties of wood that are harder. Also, I'm sure you are looking at it for aesthetic purposes (color, style, etc..).
4. Bamboo flooring typically comes prefinished, which is nice. But so does hardwood. Bamboo is actually pretty hard but I have found that it scuffs and scrathes easier than hardwood. Also bamboo is glued together in strips where as hardwood is solid sawn. So you have two choices of grain pattern with bamboo. If it is glued together vertcally there is alot of narrow "lines" in the planks, because you are looking at the edges of all the glued together pieces. If it is glued together horizontally the stripes within the planks are wider so there are fewer than the vertical. Cost of quality bamboo flooring is comparable to cost of quality exotic hardwood. Like Brazilian Cherry, Lyptus, etc.
5. Bambu flooring is a hardwood flooring! Bambu take the 27th place in the Janka hardness, this mean is not as strong as the others 26 other wood flooring species you can check it here to find out more http://www.floorsincalifornia.com/jankahardness.html If you get pre-finish bambu you can save some-money it be about $8.00 per sqft labot in materials, the problem with pre-finish is that most of the time is finish with aluminum oxide that is not good for you bambu also keep a moisture level of about .00431 this proved that is a semi-soft wood, overal bambu flooring is nice and have a good price good luck!