Many assume that laminate flooring is the best way to go for a basement. And laminate floors are great for basements, but they’re certainly not the only way to go. If budget is a concern and you’re installing a basement floor yourself, you might think it’s the least expensive option. However, you’d be amazed at the online flooring deals you can find on hardwood flooring, bamboo flooring and even vinyl planks.

If you want hardwood in the basement, look around. You can find engineered hardwood fl;oors, even click hardwood floors for considerably lower than you might expect. Solid hardwood floors aren’t recommended for basements, and though there are solid wood floors you can install in basements, today’s engineered wood floors are durable, beautiful and just plain better for hardwood installations on concrete slabs.

Another option is a new type of flooring that has a recycled HDF core and a veneer of real wood or bamboo. This click engineered HDF core flooring combines the impact resistance and ease to install of a laminate floor, but also gives you the natural material on the surface. Great for basements, these floors give you the best of both worlds.

In many basements, moisture is the enemy. This is also the case in many low-lying areas near the coast where the groundwater levels are higher. Whether it’s a basement or a living room in a Florida beach house, moisture is an issue that can wreak havoc on a floor.

While the above listed floors are basement approved floor covering or approved for hardwood installations over concrete subfloors, basements with excessive moisture or that are prone to flooding will need a moisture barrier. It’s wise to install one, anyway, as concrete contains water which it releases with climatic change. Installing a moisture barrier will catch that evaporation and keep the water from penetrating the floor.

If you love the look of wood, already know that moisture is an issue and are concerned about floor damage, you’re not without hope. Luxury vinyl planks or click vinyl planks might be the right flooring for you. These vinyl floors far exceed the toughness of conventional sheet vinyl floors and are considerably easier to install. In fact, it wouldn’t be recommended for the non-professional to install sheet vinyl, but almost anyone can install click vinyl planks in a basement or anywhere.  Furthermore, the wood patterns available look more like real hardwood than they ever have. In many cases, you can’t even tell the difference.

Many of these click vinyl floors are guaranteed against moisture damage and virtually impenetrable by water. They’re great for kitchens, bathrooms or anywhere moisture is a problem. They can be found in dozens of wood looks, species and colors. If you’re looking for waterproof flooring but still want the look of wood, check out click vinyl flooring. You’ll likely be very impressed with how far it’s come.

Long has ceramic tile or sheet vinyl been the choice for bathrooms and many even install laminate floors in the bath. However, laminate floors aren’t the best choice, especially in bathrooms with showers or bathtubs. It’s not just the moisture that can spill out of the tub, but the moisture that permeates the air when you take a hot shower or bath.

That’s why many choose ceramic tile for the bathroom, but these floors also leave a lot to be desired. They are cold, hard, not the easiest to clean and the grout can become discolored over time.

While the coldness issue can be addressed with radiant heating, it significantly increases the cost and if you ever have a problem with the heating underneath the floor, it’s not an easy fix and usually you can tell when a tile has been replaced. And replacing the tile is exactly what will have to be done.

Many choose sheet vinyl flooring because it’s not as cold as tile, easier to clean and not easily penetrated by moisture. However, vinyl is not easy to install, even for professional flooring installers, and if too much or too little adhesive is used, the vinyl can discolor or bubble. Also, the subfloor needs to be perfectly smooth and usually a lot of floor prep is required. Many times, this floor preparation can cost as much as the cost of installing the floor, and if you ever need to replace the floor, scraping vinyl that’s been glued to a subfloor is a difficult and laborious job.

The disadvantages of these floors will always be disadvantages, but there are now floors that have none of these issues. Today, you can install click vinyl planks or luxury vinyl planks in the bathroom and you won’t run into the same problems.

Click vinyl installs in a floating floor installation and requires no glue whatsoever. The planks lock together and they are virtually impervious to the effects of moisture. They don’t absorb water, therefore you’re not going to get the bubbling, buckling and swelling that moisture can cause in other floors. And the best part is, they look much more like the natural materials they intend to recreate.

Some manufacturers make click vinyl floors that look just like real hardwood flooring. They can be found in all kinds of wood-looks, from natural to exotic, and they look amazing. They’re easy to install, easy to clean and are much warmer to the touch than ceramic tile. No glue, no mess, no moisture worries, and you can install them yourself with few tools being needed. If you’re performing a diy floor installation, it doesn’t get any easier than click vinyl floors.

Nowadays, you can have everything you want. You can get the look you want, the performance you want and an insurance policy against flooring’s worst enemy; moisture. Do a little internet shopping, have some samples shipped to your home and see for yourself what all the buzz is about.

You might just be looking for a durable, yet fashionable floor that you don’t have to replace, is easy to maintain and provides as much function as it does decorator appeal. Or, you could be looking for all of the above, but you also want a conversation piece and something that will make a statement about your company. If this sounds like you, then strand woven bamboo flooring is the optimal choice.

First, bamboo is one of the greenest floors out there, and that can be important to prospective customers. In fact, no one will condemn your choice for choosing a green floor like stranded bamboo, regardless of whether or not they take active steps to promote environmental friendliness. A strand woven bamboo floor gives you a story to tell and not just something on which you walk.

Strand woven bamboo is made when the natural bamboo is shredded into strips and then bonded back together with intense heat and resins. The construction types can vary just like hardwood floors. There are solid strand woven bamboo floors, engineered strand woven bamboo floors.  When made correctly, strand woven bamboo can be three times harder than red oak making it perfect for commercial flooring applications.

Engineered stranded bamboo is a tough veneer attached to a multi-ply construction of a common wood material. Solid strand woven bamboo floors are bamboo from top to bottom.  Either of these choices is great for commercial floors and perfect for areas that got a lot of foot traffic.

Like hardwood floors, the quality of the finish has a lot to do with how well the floor will perform over its lifetime.  It’s usually a combination of polyurethane and aluminum oxide, and the factors that affect this are both the quality of the chemicals used and how many finish coats are used.  

Inferior chemicals can create toxic emissions and companies who use them likely aren’t concerned about the effect the manufacturing of their products is having on the environment. What you see is a floor, but as you travel down the rabbit hole, you might find that the claims of “green flooring” are largely overstated.

When shopping for strand woven bamboo flooring, you want to be sure you’re buying from a reputable manufacturer with a sound track record of doing the right thing by the environment, because those who take the time to do just that are more likely concerned about quality. They’ll also be the ones that are still around to honor any warranties.

There are a lot of commercial floors out there on the market and several different directions you can go. From commercial vinyl to commercial carpet and even commercial hardwood, all can be practical choices and provide the function you need, but strand woven bamboo floors standout in a crowd for a multitude of reasons. And when choosing anything for your business, making an effort to standout is always a good idea, whether you’re choosing flooring or having business cards printed. 

Stranded bamboo flooring says your company is different, and that every detail is considered before action is taken.

Whether it’s Brazilian Cherry flooring, Tigerwood flooring or any of the various types of exotic wood flooring, the wood is rarer, harder to come by and comes at an additional cost than more common, domestic hardwoods. The very word “exotic” tells us that it’s a luxury and that we will likely have to pay more. And while it does come at a premium, you can use less of it, keeping the cost lower.

Exotic engineered hardwood floors use a veneer of exotic wood over a multi-ply construction of wood. Think of plywood, but the top layer being stained and finished.

There are many advantages to this, from having to use less of the premium, more expensive wood to it allowing you to install it in more areas for your home.

Because hardwood flooring is porous, it absorbs moisture from the air or the subfloor underneath. Since a main component of concrete is water, it releases moisture up and if there’s a hardwood floor there, it will absorb and release that moisture.

This is what causes seasonal expansion and contraction, the reason planks will separate and gaps appear. It can also cause warping, buckling and a host of other concerns. But with engineered hardwood flooring, the construction absorbs less moisture and doesn’t allow for the same kind of expansion and contraction.

While there are solid hardwood floors you can install over concrete, they are few and far between. With the options available in engineered wood flooring, especially exotic engineered wood floors, you can’t have to compromise to get exactly what you want.

You can find exotic engineered floors in all species, styles and that are seemingly no different from their solid hardwood floor counterparts. They look the same, they perform in a similar way and when made correctly, can last a very, very long time.

Many of these exotic hardwood floors are also very easy to install. These are called “click hardwood floors” and have a locking mechanism that attaches the planks together. They require no glue and even the most casual of handymen can usually handle the installation of a click hardwood floor in an afternoon. If budget’s a concern, consider doing it yourself and get the exact floor you want.

It’s certainly possible to have a beautiful exotic floor throughout your home and for not nearly as much as you think. And that’s especially the case if you know where to shop for flooring.

What you’ll find when you’re looking for the right exotic wood floor for your home is that you can have the best of both worlds.

Typically, this time of year is the busiest for the flooring industry, as many are thinking the exact same thing you’re thinking right now. And at this stage, it might be difficult to have your floor professionally installed.

It’s not impossible, but many flooring retailers are booked through the holidays and you might find yourself having to perform the work yourself. Fortunately, today’s floors are very easy to install and many require no glue or nails for installation. These floors are typically known as “click floors” or “click flooring” and can now be found in every type of floor you can imagine.

For example, let’s say you’re looking for a hardwood floor for a formal dining room. Even if you’re not the handiest person on the block and have no experience installing floors, you shouldn’t be afraid to tackle this project. A floating floor installation is easy and doesn’t require many tools to get the job done. Also, no one will ever know the floor wasn’t professionally installed.

Do-it-yourself floors like this can save you hundreds or more on installation costs and are now available in click bamboo floors, click cork flooring, click laminate flooring and even click vinyl flooring that’s very durable and far more advanced than to what we’ve become accustomed.

For the best selection of these floors and the most competitive prices, the internet is usually the place to shop.  It’s now true for most things and certainly true for flooring. The items are usually in stock and shipping, depending on the company, is typically very efficient and will allow you time to have your flooring installed by the holidays.

Shopping on the internet for floors also allows you to compare items side-by-side, along with specifications, warranties, pricing, etc.  And there’s a vault of information on floors and performing a diy flooring installation that will be very helpful. In many cases, associate assistance is readily available and access to qualified help is easy.

Between the time your floor is being shipped and arrives to your home, you can spend that time prepping the area to be installed. Remember to allow time for the floor to be acclimated to the temperature of your home, which typically takes 48 hours.

And maybe most importantly, everyone would like to save as much money as possible.  There’s still time to do that, but not much.  Some companies can fulfill the order in time without your having to pay expedited floor shipping prices, but the longer you wait, the more difficult it will be to complete a flooring project before the holidays.

Many of us have chilly basements or rooms that experience a lot of heat loss through the floor. This is especially the case in older homes with crawlspaces or even those who live in mobile homes. This is often why cork flooring can be a sensible choice for any of these scenarios.

Cork flooring has a lot of benefits, but perhaps what most notice, at least when compared to other floors, that cork floors feel warmer to the touch than hardwood floors, laminate floors, tile floors and even vinyl floors.  Plus, cork is just a little softer feeling underfoot.

The reason that it feels warmer is because of the air trapped inside. This more porous flooring material traps more air and helps act as a barrier for heat loss and even cooling loss in the warmer season.

If you think about house insulation, it’s mostly air. Whether it’s the pink fiberglass you’re associated to seeing to foam insulation and even those made from bubble wrap, the one quality they all have is that they’re loaded with air. And if you’re installing a floor over a cold area, cork flooring can help substantially.

As it’s getting colder, this may be a greater concern. And if you’re shopping for new floors and the area you’re installing your new floor has inferior insulation, cork flooring can help insulate a room and will help limit heat loss in a home.

Also, many cork floors are made using a wear layer of cork attached to an HDF core, usually made from recycled materials. On the underside is a layer of cork underlayment that adds additional impact resistance. Ultimately what you have is two layers of one of the eco-friendliest natural flooring materials sandwiching a core made of 100% recycled materials. All of this combines to give you better thermal insulation and acoustics.

The same properties that make cork floors great insulators is also what makes them great acoustical barriers. They won’t only help a room retain heat, but they’ll also help with the annoying echoes that ping from room to room. This is especially true for rooms with high ceilings where echoes are more prominent and a larger issue. Cork flooring can reduce the noise associated with these areas.

When at one time cork floors were offered in largely natural cork looks and were mostly used in glue down floor installations, many of today’s cork floors are click cork floors. They are primarily used in floating floor installations and can be installed over most types of subfloors. Many choose cork for their basements to warm a naturally chilly room, while others install cork flooring in a bedroom to make that first step in the morning a warmer, more comfortable one.

Cork flooring addresses many issues that bother us about our current floors, from the way they feel, to the way they sound and even how they perform. And now that they’re available in several types of looks, we’re no longer limited to a natural cork or even stained cork look. Many cork floors now look more like other floors, from cork flooring that looks like hardwood to cork that has a bamboo floor feel.

The flooring consumer now has a lot more choices and can find the perfect cork floor that adds comfort, function, style and performance to any space.

The fact is that the flooring industry has changed a lot in the last twenty years. It seems there was a flooring store on every corner, but today they are harder to find.

There are a lot of reasons for this, from the housing market crash to the home centers making a concerted effort to grow the flooring side of their businesses. However, they weren’t necessarily offering the best prices on flooring.

In 1996, Pergo would introduce laminate flooring to the U.S. market and all of the sudden, more consumers were willing to buy the material and perform a diy floor installation. It was now much easier to do, and as time went on, a click laminate would be offered that required no glue. The boards connected at an angle then snapped down into place over a flooring underlayment. No nails, no adhesives, and as you can imagine, this made installation possible for most anyone.

Because of these new easy to install floors, this paved the way for internet flooring retailers to offer diy floors at a significant discount. The advantage was their not having the massive overhead associated with a retail location. The customer had to pay shipping costs, but the savings were still substantial.

The next several years would bring about even more changes with the flooring industry and the types of floors available. Not only were there more options, but you could now get almost every type of floor with a click locking system. Bamboo flooring, cork flooring, hardwood flooring and even vinyl flooring could now be purchased and easily installed by the customer.

Even if the consumer wasn’t performing a diy flooring installation, the floors were still easy enough to install where the customer could have a handyman or someone with little experience do the work and still get a professional looking installation without having to look for a professional flooring installer.

All this would eventually lead to the internet flooring retailer becoming a major force to be reckoned with. Like everything else, consumers were finding that shopping on the internet for flooring was proving to be a viable way to get big discounts. Floor buyers were saving hundreds, even thousands of dollars on new flooring for their homes.

Today, the concept has more than caught-on, as almost everyone is at least researching the internet before making a decision. Those who don’t might not care and would just prefer to have everyone do everything for them and are willing to pay the additional cost to just have it handled. But those willing to take an extra step or two could get big discounts on flooring.

Today’s hardwood floors are vastly superior to those made in years past, so that’s one thing to consider before you take on a hardwood floor refinishing project.  Is the old floor worth it? Are you doing this to save time, money, or do you just love your old wood floor?

If it’s an issue of wanting to save money and you’re planning to have your hardwood flooring professionally refinished, the cost might be similar dependent on who performs the work. And you’ll want someone reputable, because the mess created by sanding and refinishing hardwood floors can remain in a home forever.

Tiny sawdust particles, finish chemicals and dirt permeate the air and if not properly removed can coat everything in your home. It’s nearly impossible to remove all of it, but there are companies who do a better job than others and the better ones will be higher on the price scale.

If you’re refinishing hardwood yourself, consider the above paragraph and get ready to encase the entire space in plastic, in addition to having a tedious project that could last days to weeks.

If you have the time, patience, tools and know-how, this could be a project that doesn’t concern you. But if you’re a casual weekend warrior, think carefully before you tackle this project and plan even more carefully.

If you’re planning to do the work yourself or even if you’re not, while a new hardwood floor will likely cost you more, it might not cost you that much more. You also get a better floor with a brand new warranty, superior manufacturer finish and if you like, one that will never have to be sanded and refinished.

The combination of floor manufacturing technology and the internet have made it so these floors are less expensive to produce, easier to install and less expensive. While at one time it could cost thousands upon thousands to replace a wood floor (and it still can), you can now install a new hardwood floor in an average sized room for under one thousand dollars. It’s an option to consider before beginning as large a project as hardwood floor refinishing.

Try not only to compare the actual costs, but also the amount of time it will take, if that time has a value to you, the benefits of having a new floor vs. an old floor, and whether or not it’s worth an extra minimal investment to have a manufacturer backed warranty and superior manufacturer applied surface protectant.

Will it cost more to get a new floor? Perhaps, but perhaps not. If you’re willing to install it yourself (which is much easier than sanding and refinishing a hardwood floor), then it might cost you about the same. You can buy new hardwood on the internet for a fraction of what it used to cost, so if it ends up costing around the same, the decision should be a pretty simple one.

While hard, bamboo can scratch like wood and needs a protective finishing system. Usually this consists of polyurethane and aluminum oxide, a similar process to the finishing system that hardwood floors receive at the factory.

When at one time solid bamboo floors were the only available to us, consumer demand for this green floor has spurred manufacturers to create a whole new generation of bamboo floors in different colors, styles and finishes. The consumer shopping for bamboo floors today will find a plethora of options and is almost certain to find one that appeals to his/her tastes.

Because bamboo is so eco-friendly, residents and businesses alike want to install these floors everywhere they can. And while a traditional bamboo floor isn’t necessarily suited to stand up to commercial traffic, there are types of bamboo flooring that can handle the job.

Strand Woven bamboo floors (also known as “stranded bamboo floors”) are part of the evolution of environmentally friendly flooring.

How strand woven bamboo is made is when bamboo is shredded into strips before being bonded back together using intense heat and resins. This creates a very hard surface that’s three times harder than red oak flooring and very, very durable.

Strand woven bamboo floors are often rated for use in commercial applications and are very easy to maintain. They can be found in malls, restaurants and anywhere large groups of people congregate on a regular basis. And while suitable for commercial use, they’re affordable enough for use in your home, too.

Imagine a floor that’s built to withstand airport traffic installed in your own home. For many of us, durability is paramount when shopping for floors, so why not stranded bamboo flooring?

Like all other bamboo styles, this style of bamboo is available in a wide variety of looks and constructions. From natural bamboo to stained bamboo and even carbonized bamboo, strand bamboo has covered the wide spectrum of consumer taste. Many even have a click locking system for a simple diy floor installation.

Stranded bamboo floors can be found in constructions such as solid strand woven bamboo flooring, engineered strand woven bamboo flooring and the latest is click engineered HDF core flooring, a layer of strand woven bamboo attached to a recycled HDF core. This amazing innovation combines the best qualities of bamboo flooring and laminate flooring, giving you a real layer of bamboo with the comfort and impact resistance of a floating floor with underlayment.

When shopping for flooring, most of us want, more than anything, to not have to do it again anytime in the near future. We want an easy to maintain and inexpensive floor, but most importantly, one that will stay looking new for as long as it can. If this sounds like you, take a hard look at stranded bamboo for your own home. You won’t be disappointed.

Most wouldn’t have dared try to install a traditional nail down wood floor or even try a glue-down hardwood installation. It’s understandable, as mistakes can be costly when working with glue or nails, and usually it’s a good idea to have some experience or at least be pretty handy before attempting a nail down wood floor installation or a glue down hardwood installation. That’s why most choose to have these types of wood floors professionally installed.

Those with the full intention of installing their own wood floors, but have little experience, will be happy to know that many of today’s hardwood floors are available with click locking systems. These click wood floors install with a click locking mechanism, much like today’s laminate floors. These easy to install wood floors are now the clear choice of do-it-yourselfers all over the country.

If you have chosen to install your own wood flooring, it can potentially save you hundreds, maybe thousands depending on the area you’re covering. With a little extra work on your part, you can significantly increase the quality of the wood floor you receive and still save substantially.

Today’s selection of click hardwood floors is pretty expansive. You can find them in just about any species, including exotic click wood floors. They are available in engineered hardwood styles, solid hardwood styles, and even click HDF core engineered wood flooring. The finishes available are also nearly limitless. Hand scraped hardwood, hand distressed hardwood, antique hardwood looks, exotic hardwood, beveled edge hardwood and more are all within your reach when it comes to easy to install click hardwood flooring.

These floors are also available in click solid hardwood styles or click engineered wood styles. If you’re installing wood over concrete and doing it yourself, a click engineered wood floor would be your best option. When made correctly, these floors don’t absorb as much moisture from the air as do solid wood floors, therefore are not as prone to seasonal expansion and contraction that can cause gaps between wood planks. If installing over a wood subfloor, you can choose either type and find each in click wood flooring styles.

The fact is that it’s never been easier for someone with little or no experience to install his or her own wood flooring, and the hard wood floors of today are better quality, longer lasting, require less maintenance and even cost less. That’s a pretty great combination, and why it just makes more sense to do a diy wood installation.