The knowledge you need to make an informed buying decision.
On this page we examine the main types of construction that bamboo floors are made in, including click-lock "floating" bamboo flooring, engineered bamboo flooring, and solid tongue and groove bamboo flooring. Familiarizing yourself with the different types of bamboo floor construction ensures that you'll choose the right style for every project, and that you won't experience problems with your installation. We hope the guide below helps you determine what bamboo flooring style is best for you.
1. Solid Strand Bamboo - Tongue and Groove
- Many times harder than traditional wood floors (3 times harder than oak)
- Also available in eucalyptus (same characteristics)
- Ambient® brand is Floorscore® Certified for indoor air quality
- Available in handscraped, brushed, flat, and other unique surface styles
- Rapidly renewable bamboo that regrows in 5 years
- Solid wood all the way through
- Can be refinished up to 5 times
- Can be nailed down to wood sub-floors and glued down to wood and concrete
2. Solid Strand Bamboo - Click Lock
- Many times harder than traditional wood floors (3 times harder than oak)
- Available in a variety of surface styles
- Rapidly renewable bamboo that regrows in 5 years
- Ambient® brand is Floorscore® Certified for indoor air quality
- Solid wood all the way through
- Can be refinished up to 5 times
- Easy installation
- Only suitable for indoor environments with very stable year-around humidity. Low-to-average dimensional stability leads to excessive shrinkage when humidity levels drop below 35%
- Maximum recommended runs* if interior humidity varies more than 20% throughout the **year: 15 ft across widths (tangentially) and 25 ft lengthwise (longitudinally)
*A "run" refers to the consecutive distance the floor extends in any given direction
**Opening the windows in your home for a full day is okay.
3. Engineered Strand Bamboo - Click Lock
- Wear layer is up to 3 times harder than comparable wood floors
- Wear layer is rapidly renewable bamboo that regrows in 5 years, HDF core is made from recycled paper pulp
- Ambient® brand is Floorscore® Certified for indoor air quality
- Higher dimensional stability
- Uses less wood material than solid wood floors, reducing environmental impact
- Can be refinished up to 2 times if the wear layer is at least 2mm
- Easy installation
- Maximum recommended runs* if interior humidity varies more than 20% throughout the **year: 25 ft across widths (tangentially) and 45 ft lengthwise (longitudinally)
*A "run" refers to the consecutive distance the floor extends in any given direction.
**Opening the windows in your home for a full day is okay.
4. Engineered Strand Bamboo - Tongue & Groove
- Wear layer is up to 3 times harder than comparable wood floors
- Wear layer is rapidly renewable bamboo that regrows in 5 years
- Higher dimensional stability
- Can be refinished up to 2 times if the wear layer is at least 2mm
- Easy installation
- Requires manually applying a bead of glue on the inside groove of every plank - can be tedious and expensive
- Multi-layer core is composed of non-renewable wood sources
- Maximum recommended runs* if interior humidity varies more than 20% throughout the **year: 25 ft across widths (tangentially) and 45 ft lengthwise (longitudinally)
*A "run" refers to the consecutive distance the floor extends in any given direction
**Opening the windows in your home for a full day is okay.
5. Classic Bamboo - Tongue & Groove
- Eco-friendly bamboo flooring
- Available in many colors and surface styles
- Can be refinished up to 3 times
- No limits on continuous runs* when nailed or glued down
- Much softer than strand woven bamboo floors (1/3rd the hardness)
- Dents and scratches much more easily than strand bamboo floors
