Engineered bamboo flooring is very flexible and stable and it is easy to install. It will save a great deal of money and time when it comes down to the fitting. Bamboo is very strong and has a tensile strength equivalent to steel and it can take fifty thousand pounds per square inch of pressure without cracking or splitting, which means that it can stand up to very heavy commercial and domestic wear in the form of bamboo engineered flooring.
Engineered bamboo flooring does not have the same expansion and shrinkage problems that are often found with hardwood floors so it is not so difficult to fit. Engineered bamboo floors consist of a plywood base with a bamboo veneer on top. The plywood base should have a least three layers set across each other for minimum strength, but if you really want your floating bamboo flooring to last it needs to have five plywood layers.
Engineered bamboo flooring is ideal for laying over concrete because it is much more resistant to water than solid wood floors, although it should be remembered that if the plywood base gets wet it will warp, twist and come apart. If there is a real water problem deal with it before laying the new bamboo floors. However, engineered bamboo floating flooring can be laid over radiant heat floors without problems because the bamboo does not expand and contract much. Natural bamboo flooring can be used as fixed flooring which is glued or stapled to the floor below, or it works just as well as a floating floor.
Fitting engineered bamboo flooring will give a beautiful looking and hard wearing floor that looks just like the real thing at far lower cost and it is relatively easy to fit if you want to do it yourself. The tools you will need are very simple and include a rubber mallet, your bamboo pieces, adhesive, a trowel and a saw, a tape measure and a dustpan and brush. The chances are that you already have all those things, so there are no specialist tools to buy. Before you buy your solid bamboo flooring measure the room and work out how much you need, or ask advice from a professional, then read the manufacturers floating bamboo flooring fitting instructions carefully and go from them. Compared with fitting a conventional hardwood floor with all that difficult hard work sawing, this really is easy.
Walmart stocks a cheap engineered bamboo flooring type, which would be suitable for a basement floor, or for an area with very light traffic. The surface of this bamboo engineered flooring is quite tough and resists scratches well but it may get stained and scuffed. It is vital to get proper cleaning instructions for the engineered bamboo flooring that you buy because if you do not clean it in the recommended way you will negate the guarantee.
There are recommended cleaning products for different brands of engineered bamboo flooring so do not assume that a generic cleaner available in a large store is right for your engineered bamboo floor. Read the instructions and clean accordingly for best results.