Home Flooring Guide

If you have begun shopping for your new flooring installation, you may already know that bamboo flooring is rapidly becoming the flooring of choice.  That is because bamboo is just as beautiful and durable as real hardwood flooring.  But bamboo not only is far more environmentally conscious, it is a more economical flooring product.  But you can have these advantages without giving up any of the durability or beauty that makes hardwood flooring such a great way to redecorate your home.  With all advantages and no disadvantages, small wonder more people are turning to bamboo installations and away from hardwood these days.

The flooring you can install yourself.

If you have had some success with do it yourself projects in the past, bamboo flooring can be done without having to engage an expensive installation expert.  The panels locks together and are secured to the sub floor with adhesives.  With a little preparation and some reasonably detailed instructions from the supplier or manufacturer, you should be able to install your own bamboo floor in a day or two.  That means that bamboo flooring is economical both because it is lower in cost to hardwood floors and because you can do the installation without additional overhead.  That is a compelling reason to take a serious look at bamboo flooring as a viable flooring alternative.

Before the flooring arrives

Because so much of the "fuss" of flooring installation has been taken care of by the efficient design of bamboo flooring, the real work of the installation happens before the flooring arrives.  The obvious first step of a good installation is to do business with a flooring supplier who is responsible and honest.  Bamboo flooring is by nature a bargain so it might be a good idea to invest in one of the higher end brands of bamboo flooring.  If you cut corners on cost to continue to get the budget down, you could end up with inferior flooring which makes installation more difficult.  

In addition, a poorly made bamboo will give you problems continuously after it is installed.  Inferior flooring often squeaks when you walk on it and needs repair more often.  So making a little more of an investment up front is worth not having those kinds of headaches later on.

Preparing the old flooring

When your bamboo flooring arrives, you will be securing it to the sub floor with adhesive.  This process is not very difficult if you did some good preparation before the flooring arrives.  Simply clear the room where the flooring will be installed and thoroughly clean the sub floor.  That means sweeping and vacuuming the surface where that adhesive will be applied.  You should get every bit of dirt and dust up and allow the flooring to dry if you used soap and water to clean it.  That way when the flooring is on site and you begin to install it, it will lay down nicely because the adhesive won't have to deal with any dirt which reduces its ability to hold.

If you were particular about your preparations and you bought quality bamboo flooring from a reputable supplier, the installation itself should be pretty easy. You can lay down your new floor in a matter of hours.  The end result is a wonderful new floor that you can take pride in because you installed it yourself.  And you can enjoy that pride every day for years and years to come because well made bamboo flooring could easily serve you well for as long as you live in the home.