Bamboo is a beautiful hard-wood flooring and is the choice floor for homeowners. Bamboo has different types and designs, but the general color is dark, medium to light brown tones.
What paint color goes with bamboo floors?
Blue, green, yellow, brown, and pink go well with bamboo floors. These colors are great contrasts and matches, no matter the shade; dark, medium, or light.
What color you use will depend on your style and your home’s aesthetics. I will highlight each color to guide your choice of paint color to use on your bamboo floors.
Blue
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Teal, turquoise, and viridian are the best blue hues for bamboo floors. Blue has an aura of calmness which is an added advantage to its suitability with bamboo floors. For blue, go with caramel or deep honey-colored bamboo floors.
Green
Green is always the first choice of color to match with bamboo floors. It is the original bamboo shoot color – so why not? Yellow-green hues work best with dark-shaded bamboo floors, while deep tones like avocado green pair well with light, almost blonde-colored floors.
Yellow
Soft yellow tones are a good match for light-shaded bamboo floors. It is a harmonious blend that does not look neutral but somewhat contrasts two light shades—yellow teams well with textured bamboo floors.
Brown
Brown represents the color of the earth, the earth that grows bamboo. Color brown and bamboo are naturally complementary. Depending on the shade, you can achieve a neutral look matching the bamboo shade with your shade of brown.
You can also contrast bamboo shades with dramatic red-brown for a summer feel. Dark brown colors against light bamboo floors create a visual appeal.
Pink
Coral pink, also known as salmon pink, is a cozy and intimate color that uplifts any room. Paired with bamboo floors, it creates a serene yet modern feel. Pink hues go well with natural or caramel-colored bamboo floors.
What are the Types of Bamboo Floors?
There are three main types of bamboo flooring; strand-woven, vertical and horizontal. Preference depends on the kind of look you want to achieve in your home.
Strand-woven
This floor is made from bamboo planks woven from stalk strands trimmed away from long bamboo fillets. The planks undergo compression with an adhesive, pressurized, and then finished. It is the most rigid type of bamboo floor.
Horizontal
These bamboo planks are placed next to each other in a horizontal fashion. After this placement, they are pressurized and finished. For design purposes, the growth rings from the stalks appear on the planks.
Vertical
These bamboo planks are placed next to each other in a vertical fashion. Similar to strand-woven and horizontal, the bamboo is pressurized and finished for a smooth look.
What are the Bamboo Floor Colors?
Bamboo flooring comes in three shades; dark, medium, and light. However, within these shades are different colors. The primary bamboo floor colors are natural, tiger, carbonized, direct print, and stained.
Natural
Natural bamboo has no added colors and is a very light, almost blonde shade. It is not stained and has no added colorants. This color is easy to find and matches well with most home or office decor.
Tiger
As the name suggests, this bamboo floor color consists of light and dark striped like the animal.
Carbonized
The carbonization process allows the bamboo plant to caramelize its natural sugars. As the bamboo boils for a while, the caramelized sugar darkens the natural bamboo color. The time bamboo takes to boil determines the darkness of shade.
Carbonized bamboo is soft compared to others.
Direct Print
The direct print allows different hard-wood designs to appear on the bamboo floor. If you want oak or maple wood appearance on your bamboo floor, copy the hard-wood pattern onto the bamboo, pressurize and seal it for a complete look.
Stained
This type of floor is stained with colorant or wood stains to change the natural color of bamboo wood. The stains come in multiple shades from dark to light and are an excellent choice to diversify decor choices.
How do I Choose the Best Bamboo Flooring Texture?
There are three choices of bamboo floor textures to choose from; hand-scraped, hand-sculpted and smooth. They all have unique looks, and the texture types have various advantages for homeowners.
Hand-scraped
As the name suggests, these floors are scraped by hand. This floor has an antique look, gives bamboo a unique texture, and is a preference in both homes and businesses that favor aged aesthetics.
This flooring is expensive because of the manual labor involved in achieving it.
Hand-sculpted
Hand-sculpted floors are similar to hand-scraped but are less distressed in design. It is also costly because of the manual labor involved in designing it.
Smooth
Smooth floors are machine-made compared to the other two textures. You use the machines to smoothen the surface and coat it with several layers of sealant to protect it from coming apart.
It is designed to keep dust off surfaces and is suitable for those who have dust allergies.
How are Bamboo Floors Installed?
There are different bamboo floor installation processes. Some are more costly than others, so it is a significant factor for homeowners who choose to have bamboo flooring. The three primary installation methods are nail or glue down, glue-seam floating, and glueless-click.
Nail or Glue Down
Bamboo is considered a hard-wood floor, and its installation is challenging. A standard hammer cannot stamp down the nails, so special tools are used for this process. These include electric hammers and staplers.
While you can install your bamboo floor at home following instructions, it is best to get a professional to handle the installation.
Glue-seam Floating
This installation employs the use of underlayment to protect the bamboo from sub-layering of the floor. Lay down the flooring according to your liking before adding glue adhesive. The adhesive is quick-dry, so if you are mistaken in your layout, the chances of rectification are slim.
Lay your planks according to your floor design and add the adhesive ins sections for a perfect outcome. You can do this yourself, but if the design is complex, seek assistance from a professional.
Glueless Click
Glueless click is the simplest installation method. It does not require nails or glue and is suitable for first-timers. The plank sizes and designs are in a way that the pieces click together and fall into place.
You do not have to worry about the pieces coming apart after installation. The pieces fit closely together, and the finished product is just like in any other installation process.
Are Bamboo Floors Durable?
Bamboo floors are generally durable. The type of bamboo you choose for your floor will determine its durability. The main factor to consider is whether the bamboo is carbonized or uncarbonized.
As seen before, carbonization is the process of exposing the bamboo to high levels of pressure of temperature to achieve caramelization and a dark shade. This process makes the bamboo softer hence weakening durability.
Uncarbonized bamboo maintains durability as they do not undergo extreme temperature. Some types of horizontal or vertical bamboo floors are as hard as oak. Strand-woven floors are considered twice as hard as oak.
