Monday 24 May 2010

Tiger Strand

Tiger strand woven bamboo flooring is made by combining natural strand woven bamboo with carbonized strand woven bamboo. Natural strand woven bamboo is a light honey colour and carbonized is a rich brown colour. The blend and the finish can produce a variety of looks for strand woven bamboo flooring. The right mix and finish can make a perfect a compliment to the decor and feel of your room.

Below are two examples of tiger strand. The carbonized bamboo is kept to a minimum which produces a striking effect. Sometimes less is more. And as far as flooring strength goes this is definitely true because the darker carbonized strand woven bamboo is 30% weaker than natural strand woven bamboo. These floors are available at Hilo Bamboo Flooring


Tuesday 18 May 2010

The Other Eco-Alternative

Perhaps the main premise of this blog could be stated baldly as:

Although hardwood floors are elegant and allergen free our use of hardwoods for flooring is wreaking havoc with our efforts to preserve the forests of the world.

That the forests of the world are being reduced every day is not in doubt and that man's consumption of wood products is one of the main reasons for this destruction is also beyond doubt.

So, the logic of the argument goes if we can find an alternative flooring that fulfills the purpose of being elegant and allergen free then that must be the best flooring.

In strand woven bamboo flooring we have such a commodity. It comes from a renewable resource; it has the hardness, strength and durability of hardwood and it also is an allergen free flooring material.

However, there is another alternative and that is reclaimed hardwood flooring. It is hardwood that has been taken from buildings slated for demolition. It is also wood from condemned barns, schools and hospitals. It is cut wood from city parks. It is wood recovered from the bottom of a lake or river. It is wood found in landfill sites and industrial skips. In short, reclaimed hardwood is man's trash being recycled. Sometimes it is an old hardwood floor that has been taken out of a gutted room - this is called antique hardwood flooring.

The reclaimed hardwood is kiln dried and milled into new flooring.

This is brilliant because the wood has been sourced nationally, if not locally. And the process of processing the reclaimed hardwood into a flooring material is much lower in carbon input than growing bamboo, turning it into strand woven bamboo planks and then shipping those planks to the USA and the UK.

Reclaimed hardwood floors are more stable dimensionally than new growth hardwood floors and look incredible AND they are even more environmentally friendly than strand woven bamboo flooring because it is recycling and locally sourced. That is food for thought.

Tuesday 4 May 2010

Can You Install Strand Woven Bamboo Flooring Over Under Floor Heating Systems?

The short answer to this question is yes you can have both underfloor heating systems and strand woven bamboo flooring. However, you should first consult the dealer who sold you your strand woven bamboo flooring to find out the best way to combine the bamboo flooring with underfloor heating. The main issue is that strand woven bamboo flooring like hardwood flooring can dry out and crack if it is subjected to continual direct heat.

Panda Flooring has one solution. They have a cross-ply high density strand woven bamboo flooring range that is tough enough to withstand underfloor heating.

It is important to not use a floating installation over UFH (under floor heating) systems. It is necessary to first lay a plywood subfloor with certain modifications to make it suitable to deal with the heat rising up from the UFH system.

American flooring companies have more experience in this area because underfloor heating has been more popular there for longer than in the UK.