Each owner making repairs in his apartment has to consider a huge amount of finishing materials, including flooring. The modern market offers us a wide variety of products for flooring, so an unprepared buyer is sometimes very difficult to make a choice in favor of one of the options.
Today we’ll talk about one of the newest products on the construction market - bamboo flooring. This type of flooring has recently appeared on our shelves, so many do not quite understand what features it has.
To understand what constitutes bamboo flooring, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with this material in more detail, consider its main characteristics, advantages, disadvantages and installation technology.
Origin of material
Bamboo flooring is a product for flooring made from dry stems of the same plant (bamboo).
The technology of its production is as follows:
- Raw materials, whose age has reached 4-6 years, undergoes preliminary processing: it is purified from sugar, degreased and sterilized.
- Wet stems are placed in an oven where they dry at a certain temperature.
- The prepared material is crushed into chips, after which it is compressed into bamboo planks under the influence of pressure. From the resulting blanks, a high-quality and environmentally friendly product is made.
Types of parquet made from bamboo
Modern technologies allow manufacturers from one raw material to produce several varieties of flooring, which differ in their structure, color and type of coating.
During the production process, the planks can be positioned horizontally or vertically.
In the first case, the product looks as natural as possible, an imitation of natural wood is created. With a vertical arrangement, the parquet is given a peculiar pattern, and on the cut of the board you can notice the "annual" rings of the plant.
In addition, bamboo flooring varies in color. The product can be presented in its natural form or with a light coffee hue, which is obtained as a result of heat treatment. The front side of the finished coating can be treated with glossy or matte varnish.
Material benefits
Now we will consider what properties bamboo flooring has. Pros and cons of any finishing material. This kind of flooring is no exception. If we talk about positive characteristics, then they include:
• Environmental friendliness . The natural origin of the material allows us to talk about its absolute safety for humans and the environment.
• Wear resistance and durability . Bamboo is particularly hard, so a floor covering made from it can be used even in rooms with high traffic. Manufacturers of quality flooring give more than 30 years of warranty on their products.
• Resistant to moisture . Since the raw materials are compressed under high pressure during the manufacturing process of parquet, moisture practically does not get into the structure of the material.
• Lack of deformation . The flooring does not form cracks, is not subject to deformation and drying out.
• Affordable price. For all its attractiveness, bamboo flooring is much cheaper than similar products made from natural wood.
• Rich color scheme . The material is easy to stain, so choosing parquet in the color of the interior is very easy.
• Antistatic . Bamboo flooring does not attract dust, therefore it does not require special care.
• The possibility of restoration . Over time, the parquet can be re-sanded and varnished.
disadvantages
The abundance of positive characteristics attracts many buyers, however, to avoid unpleasant surprises, you should pay attention to the negative qualities that bamboo flooring has. Customer reviews speak of the following facts:
- the floor lined with bamboo flooring is very easily scratched;
- under the influence of ultraviolet rays, parquet loses its original appearance;
- products of dark tones are much softer than coatings of a natural shade;
- legs of heavy furniture over time form dents on the surface of the board.
Self-installation of flooring
Laying bamboo flooring can be done in two ways:
The most preferred is a dry laying method. In this case, the flooring can be compressed and expanded in all directions. The load at the joints of the boards decreases, and as a result, the service life of the parquet increases.
If you decide to do the floor cladding yourself, make sure that you have at hand all the necessary tools and material.
Namely:
- Chipboard or plywood for leveling the base;
- Sander;
- screwdriver;
- jigsaw;
- roulette;
- special hammer for parquet;
- building level;
- trowel with teeth;
- self-tapping screws;
- parquet glue (depending on the chosen fixing method).
Preparatory work
Before starting laying the purchased material, it must be freed from packaging and left at least 48 hours in the room. This must be done so that, due to temperature and humidity differences, the material does not deform after installation.
At this time, you can start preparing the foundation. The concrete screed should be as even as possible, without cracks, depressions, bumps and voids. Remember that the life of a parquet largely depends on the quality of the surface on which it is laid.
The process of alignment includes the following steps:
1. The base is treated with a deep penetration primer.
2. On top of the dried concrete, pour a small layer of self-leveling cement screed. This work is carried out in strict accordance with the recommendations of the solution manufacturer. The uniformity of the layer is controlled by the construction level.
3. After screeding, hydro and vapor barrier materials can be laid (optional).
4. Next, a substrate of any wood-particle material is laid. Sheet thickness should be at least 12 mm.
5. For reliability, the material is fixed with screws or dowels.
6. For better adhesion of the surfaces, the resulting base is carefully ground.
Styling technology
Getting started, pay attention to the level of humidity in the room and the dryness of the base. It is strongly discouraged to lay the material on a newly cast screed!
1. Installation of boards should begin from the wall opposite the door.
2. Between the walls and the material to be laid, it is necessary to leave a technical gap of 1-1.5 cm. This distance will preserve the appearance of the floor covering in case of its expansion.
3. The planks are connected to each other by a tenon-groove system (at an angle of 45 degrees) and are knocked out with a parquet hammer.
4. All necessary openings (for heating pipes and other utilities) are cut with a jigsaw.
5. If completely natural products (without paints and varnishes) were used for flooring, after its laying, grinding of bamboo flooring is carried out. After it, you can apply a protective layer of a special varnish.
6. At the end of the work, plinths are installed, which are fixed with self-tapping screws.
The finished coating can be operated after four days.
Bamboo Flooring Care
As mentioned earlier, bamboo flooring does not require any special care. However, it is worth listening to some recommendations on its operation.
• When cleaning the apartment, do not allow the parquet to come in contact with a lot of moisture and use aggressive detergents. To clean this flooring, it is enough to simply vacuum it. Wet cleaning is done with a well-wrung rag.
• If water has spilled onto the floor, wipe it off quickly.
• Try to avoid any mechanical damage to the parquet. Particular care should be taken when moving furniture. To prevent scratching the floors, felt pads can be glued to the legs of solid furniture.
• Do not walk around the apartment wearing high-heeled shoes or hard soles.
• Do not allow excess humidity in the room where this finishing material is installed (not more than 55%).
Bamboo flooring: types, price
Summing up, I would like to touch on the cost of bamboo flooring. This question depends on the manufacturing technology of the material and the manufacturer. The price of quality material will be about 2000-3000 rubles per m².
If during its manufacture plasticizers and resins were used to facilitate this process, the products will have a lower price tag (about 1,500 rubles), but there is no need to talk about the environmental friendliness of the product.
High-end materials made from solid wood (such as Amigo bamboo flooring) will cost an order of magnitude more. But their service life is much longer.
Overall, bamboo flooring is a great alternative to wood flooring, linoleum and laminate. Reasonable cost and high esthetic indicators allow to recommend it for all types of rooms.