Which is Better Strand Woven Bamboo Flooring or Cork Flooring?

21stCenturyHippy | Aug 23, 2010 |

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This is a difficult question because both strand woven bamboo flooring and cork flooring are made from renewable resources, make beautiful, natural looking flooring and are anti allergenic. There are, however, a number of differences between these two types of flooring which might help you decide which one you want to buy.

Strand woven bamboo flooring is mostly made in China. Moso bamboo is cut after 5 years growth and shredded. It is then boiled to remove sugars and then compacted under heat with a low VOC adhesive. The resulting block of strand woven bamboo can be taken to a mill and then made into strand woven bamboo flooring planks.

Cork flooring is made by peeling the bark off cork oak trees. If done correctly, the peeling doesn't harm the tree which can thus continue to be a carbon recycler and animal habitat. The peeled bark is allowed to dry before it is boiled to remove the outer layer of bark and then it is ground up and low VOC adhesive is added and the mix is compressed. Afterwards, the cork is cut into flooring tiles.

You can see the two types of flooring come from a renewable resources – bamboo reaches maturity in 5 to 7 years and cork trees re-grow their bark in 9 years – but the bamboo is cut down to make the flooring whereas, the cork oak tree isn't. This makes cork perhaps more environmentally friendly because nothing is cut down and killed. Also cork grows mainly in the Mediterranean area with Portugal producing 50% of the world's cork. The chances of environmentally friendly monitoring and accreditation helping nature are much more likely to succeed in Europe than in China. So far the FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council) has managed to accredit some bamboo forests but still one fears that China's reluctance to allow international oversight of much of its agriculture and agri-business surely indicates massive abuse of natural resources and worker exploitation.

In terms of performance of the two types of flooring, they both perform well as flooring in terms of look and function. Strand woven bamboo flooring is very hard and strong. It looks like hardwood and feels like hardwood. Cork flooring can be stained to suit any décor, it also has a type of grain, but it doesn't look as similar to hardwood as strand woven bamboo. Furthermore, cork is soft underfoot. It has a natural springy quality because of its honeycomb structure. Cork can withstand heavy furniture and lots of people walking around, but it will probably need repairing before strand woven bamboo flooring in the same situation.

Finally, if your main concern is for buying healthy flooring then both strand woven bamboo flooring and cork flooring are excellent choices. Bamboo contains 'kun' and cork 'suberin'. These two substances make bamboo and cork flooring mold and fungus resistant and gives bamboo and cork flooring the ability to fight off pathogens. Suberin also gives cork flooring a fire retardant quality and makes it water resistant. The only health concerns lie with the finish coatings applied to the flooring and if the low VOC adhesive used to make the flooring off-gases.

So both strand woven bamboo flooring and cork flooring make excellent environmentally friendly flooring that is excellent for people with allergies and asthma. Cork flooring is probably more eco-friendly but strand woven bamboo flooring will probably last longer.