What is Stranded Bamboo Flooring?
Strand woven bamboo is made by compressing strands of raw moso bamboo under extreme heat and pressure, resulting in flooring planks that are much harder than conventional hardwoods. The manufacturing process creates flooring that is extremely dense. In fact, bamboo flooring in general has a much higher Janka Hardness Rating than all other types of flooring.
Why Choose Strand Woven Bamboo?
Strand woven bamboo flooring is perfect for homeowners who seek a sustainable and affordable upgrade in their living space. Have kids? Pets? Wear shoes in the house? This is the protective flooring you need in your home. The installation process is similar to hardwood flooring. It can be an excellent DIY project for yourself or completed by a professional. Discover flooring with incredible versatility, making it a top choice for any space without the expense of necessary refinishing.
Refinish With Ease
Strand bamboo can be sanded down and refinished just like any other wood floor, but here's the thing: this rarely needs to be done in residential settings. Thanks to the density of the planks and the force required to damage them, solid strand woven bamboo flooring lasts much longer and doesn't get dented like other hardwood options do.
An Elegant Marbled Grain
Stranded bamboo flooring is more than just a great solution for high-traffic areas; it has a beautiful marbled grain that resembles luxury warm hardwood. At Ambient®, we provide various colors and surface finishes, giving you endless design possibilities. Whether your tastes lean more traditional or contemporary, you're sure to find a color and surface texture that perfectly complements your decor.
Easy to Install and Maintain
With our strand woven bamboo flooring, installation is fast and simple — perfect for amateur handypersons and other weekend warriors! Our exclusive Accuseal Ultra® Finish System protects against daily wear and tear. Strong enough to protect against most scuffs and scratches, it rarely takes more than a damp towel to bring your floor back to life. We're so confident in the quality of our floors that we back them up with a lifetime structural and finish warranty!
If you're looking for flooring that is both durable and low-maintenance, strand bamboo is the way to go. With its exceptional longevity and easy upkeep, it's an excellent value that will look great in your home for years.
What is the Difference Between Classic, Engineered, and Strand Woven Bamboo Floors?
Similar to traditional hardwood floors, bamboo options have a few different variations. Engineered and solid strand woven bamboo flooring are the most common variants in the market today, but you can learn more about the differences between the types of bamboo flooring with our guide.
Strand Woven Bamboo Planks
One of the bamboo plant’s initial uses by the ancient Chinese was for weaving. From baskets and boxes to mats and curtains, strands of bamboo were woven together to produce a variety of wares. Flooring manufacturers had the great idea of adapting this same weaving technique to the production of stranded bamboo flooring. Instead of stacking the strips one after the other, they weave them together, adhere the woven bamboo in layers, and compress them to form a tougher, denser flooring material.
Today, ‘strand woven’ is the primary type of bamboo you’ll find in flooring. Its incredible durability and strength not only reaches but exceeds the hardness rankings of most other hardwoods in the industry. Pair that exceptional hardness with bamboo’s sustainability, beauty, and eco-friendliness, and you’ve got the ideal flooring for your home.
Where Can You Install Strand Woven Hardwood?
Most residential homes can use stranded bamboo flooring — and even commercial — spaces as long as you acclimate and install them correctly to protect against damage caused by temperature and humidity (same requirements as for all hardwoods).
Some manufacturers advise against installing strand woven bamboo flooring in a below-grade room (i.e., where the floor is lower than ground level) or in areas with excessive water, so you should always check their instructions before installation. However, for the vast majority of rooms, you can use this flooring without a problem, including kitchens, half bathrooms, and utility rooms.
More Information About Bamboo Wood Flooring
- When nailing down, always use an 18-gauge nailer. Dense hardwoods like Brazilian Teak and strand woven bamboo flooring are much harder (which is why they last so much longer) than traditional hardwoods. Due to their density, you’ll need an 18 gauge cleat nailer to nail down strand woven flooring. At Ambient®, we also offer nail gun rentals!
- Although bamboo can be refinished and clear-coated, it cannot be stained on-site due to its density. It accepts polyurethane well, but trying to apply a stain to change the color before the polyurethane can be difficult to impossible.
Engineered Solid Strand Woven Bamboo Flooring
Unlike solid floors, engineered bamboo flooring has a few different layers of materials – not just bamboo alone. Most engineered floors contain a wear layer of strand woven bamboo on top, with a high-density fiberboard or multi-ply wood core beneath.
Where Can They Be Installed?
You can use engineered stranded bamboo flooring in almost any room, including below-grade spaces. This means they're great for basements, but it's important to always install these and any floors according to the manufacturer’s instructions for the best possible results. Having a crawl space or garage below your flooring installation may require additional preparation before you put the floors in.
More Information About Engineered Strand Woven Bamboo Flooring
- Engineered strand bamboo is slightly more expensive than the other types of bamboo flooring. This is because core layers and longer manufacturing time can increase manufacturing costs. However, they still offer a very high bang for the buck at an average of $4-$9 per square foot.
- Areas with fluctuating humidity may require run limits. Do you live in a geographic area where the humidity varies by more than 20% throughout the year? If you float hardwood or bamboo floor, you’ll need to keep your run limits down to 25 ft across x 45 ft long.
