Does Bamboo Floor Shrink Or Expand More Than Wood Flooring

Engineered flooring which is attached to the subfloor.

Does bamboo floor shrink or expand more than wood flooring.

It is the top non engineered wood ish floor product for dimensional stability. Engineered bamboo floors are the same and can also be used below grade. Engineered hardwood floors can be used anywhere as they are built to withstand moisture and not swell on contact. This is a natural process for bamboo and wooden flooring and occurs seasonally with temperature and humidity changes.

Bamboo in general is slightly more resistant to both moisture and mold than hardwoods. Bamboo a native plant to tropical regions with heavy rainfalls grows much faster than hardwood and has a different cellular structure. Usually categorized with hardwood bamboo is different enough to make a difference in this area. If you re concerned about formaldehyde you should ask that about any building material especially engineered wood floors.

While bamboo flooring is more water resistant than traditional hardwood floors steam mops can destabilize wood and even bamboo cellular structures. In conditions of extremely high or extremely low humidity bamboo flooring is more likely to crack than is hardwood flooring. You might think this makes bamboo flooring impervious to water but that s not the case. As bamboo is a natural product it will absorb any humidity in the air and start to expand.

Although it is commonly grouped with hardwood flooring bamboo is not actually a wood but rather a woody grass. The softest bamboo floors are typically much harder than oak. Similarly as the humidity drops and the air dries out the planks of bamboo flooring will reduce in size again.