Bamboo and Cork Flooring Options

Bamboo

Technically a grass, not wood, bamboo is nearly as hard as maple or oak and grows much more quickly. Bamboo plants mature in three years, making it an excellent choice for the environmentally conscious. It's available prefinished and as an engineered plank and installs in the same variety of ways as wood floors.

Cork

Old-fashioned cork flooring is also making a comeback -- it is comfortable underfoot, environmentally friendly, and easy to care for. Because cork is a natural product (it comes from the bark of a cork tree), each tile displays a unique color, pattern, and texture. The cork can also be mixed with dye to create tiles in a variety of colors.

The comfort of cork comes from the millions of tiny air cells in the surface, an attribute that also makes cork an excellent choice when sound deadening is important. It recovers quickly from denting and its air-insulating cells help keep the floor warm in winter and cool in the summer.