Bamboo is a type of grass. It may be hard to believe that what you normally would think of as a soft and brittle typical lawn grass can be used for a demanding use as flooring material. But bamboo has long been used for a variety of practical ways and in recent years, it has become the material of choice for making both decorative and everyday items that are aesthetically pleasing as well as environmentally friendly flooring.

Bamboo is the fastest growing plant in the world. Depending on the soil and climate conditions, bamboo can grow up to three feet in a single day. There are over 1,000 species of bamboos found in a variety of climates and habitats. But most bamboo products are made from the moso bamboo, which is cultivated in China and most of Asia.

The moso bamboo can grow up to 47 inches in 24 hours and can reach 75 feet high and seven inches across when fully mature.

The average cost of bamboo flooring is between $2 and $4 for every square foot, which is comparable to the price of oak flooring. This is a competitive price considering the many benefits bamboo offers over oak.

Installing bamboo flooring does not require any special and specific technique. In fact, there are several ways you can lay them on: You can float them, nail them down or glue them on to a sub floor. Bamboo is also relatively more renewable than oak since it can be harvested every 3 to 5 years, as opposed to oak which can take up to 10 to 20 years to grow to useful sized trees.

Unlike tree logs, the hollow, tubular stalks of bamboo can’t just be sawed and finished into planks. To make a flat, solid floor, the bamboo tubes are first cut into narrow strips, planed flat, and boiled to remove the starch. The boiled strips are then dry in a kiln and   glued and pressed together in flat bundles, and then milled to become strip floor boards. This is the same process that hardwoods like maple or oak undergo to become flooring. Finally, the strips are treated using a preservative to slow down decay.

Bamboo flooring is sturdy and durability, with a hardness that rivals, and in many cases exceeds, the hardness of many traditional hardwood floorings used in the average homes.

However, the hardness of bamboo flooring depends on the species or types of bamboos, the maturity of the plant when it was harvested, and the process used during manufacturing. While bamboo is not wood, and cannot be considered hardwood, it is harder and most stable that hardwood, oak being the standard with which other woods and material are compared.

Some people appreciate the beauty and eco friendly aspect of bamboo. Bamboo is proving to be a hardy and attractive alternative to hardwoods. It’s attractive, available in solid, woven and engineered versions, bamboo flooring come in a variety of colors and grains. Because hardwoods like oak are rather dark and, thus, look too rich and heavy, using bamboo as your flooring makes your space appear lighter, airier, and less contrived.

But perhaps the best thing about bamboo floors is that they are easy to get hold of and install. Bamboo floor strips are sold at all building materials stores. You don’t have to search far and wide to get your hands on them.