Bamboo Flooring and cork flooring are both made from natural, sustainable plants, so you might anticipate that they are similar in many other ways too, and to a large extent you would be correct. But there are some striking differences that are likely to tip the balance depending on your main priorities when choosing the best flooring for your home. As with many things in life, it’s the subtle differences that make all the difference.

Here we compare the main features of these two flooring options scoring each one out of 10 points. We provide the final scores at the end of the article.

KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BAMBOO FLOORING AND CORK FLOORING – A GUIDE

HARDNESS (Resistance to Denting)

Bamboo flooring

As you can see from many articles on this blog, bamboo is a particularly hard flooring material and highly resistant to denting. It is substantially harder than most hardwoods, and strand woven bamboo is the hardest natural flooring materials available. We rate the hardness of bamboo and wood on the Janka scale, and here is an article on our website that explains what the Janka scale is and how it works. Strand woven bamboo has a Janka rating of over 4,000 which is three times harder than solid oak. While we don’t recommend that you walk on it in high heels, even heavy furniture is unlikely to dent it. For hardness, it receives 10 out of 10.

Cork flooring

Cork is a naturally soft material, so you might anticipate it to have a low Janka rating. Of course, you are correct; its Janka hardness is around 200, so it’s only one-fortieth as hard as strand woven bamboo. However, things aren’t necessarily as bad as they might appear. Cork is also a highly elastic material. Consequently, it will bounce back into shape from dents. However, once it exceeds its elastic limit it is easily deformed, Walking on a cork floor in high heels will instantly destroy it and leaving heavy furniture on it for any length of time will almost certainly cause dents. So, for hardness and resistance to denting we give it just 2 points out of 10.

ECO-FRIENDLESS / DAMAGE TO THE ENVIRONMENT

Bamboo Flooring

Bamboo is probably the most sustainable building material on the planet. It grows very fast and has a significantly lower eco-cost than hardwoods. It is technically a grass, not a wood, and from planting can be ready for harvesting in under five years. Even harvesting bamboo is sustainable as it doesn’t erode the local environment or damage flora and fauna. It has a more significant impact on reducing global warming by taking in carbon dioxide than any other plant. For eco-friendliness, we give it maximum marks of 10 out of 10.

Cork flooring

Cork is also highly sustainable. It is a part of bark known as the phellem layer and can be harvested without cutting down the tree. We simply strip the bark from the tree and let the tree continue to grow. It takes a long time for the tree to mature; typically 25 years or more, but the bark and cork grow back and can be re-harvested after another 9 years or so. The process doesn’t harm the tree and it’s not unusual for the cork oak tree to live for 200 years. It doesn’t require pesticides or significantly deplete the water table. From an eco-friendly perspective, cork flooring scores 10 out of 10.

INDOOR AIR QUALITY, OFF-GASSING, & FORMALDEHYDE EMISSIONS

Many of the materials we have in our homes compromise the quality of the air we breathe as they emit organic chemicals known as VOCs (volatile organic chemicals). In the US, on average the amount of indoor pollutants exceeds outside pollution by five to ten times. For more information on indoor air pollution please view the video below. These pollutants impact health, so it is clearly better to minimize them when we can, for instance by choosing flooring that is free or nearly free of them. So how to bamboo and cork flooring compare?

Bamboo Flooring

The VOC content of bamboo is extremely low and well within the most stringent indoor air quality guidelines. This is one of the reasons many people prefer bamboo over alternative materials. Even though urea-formaldehyde adhesive is used in the manufacture of engineered bamboo flooring (as it is in other engineered hardwoods), and this can produce a small amount of VOCs, the quantity is minuscule and well below the level that might affect your health. It scores 9 out of 10 for indoor air quality.

Cork flooring

Cork isn’t as free from VOCs as many people think. Researchers have discovered recently that the characteristic smell you get from cork flooring contains a range of VOCs including:

• Acetic acid
• 2-ethyl-1-hexanol
• 2-furfuraldehyde
• Formaldehyde (occasionally)
• Phenol (occasionally)

While these VOC’s are within government guidelines and are (or at least should be) indicated on the labeling, they do add to the total VOC content of your living space. However, as their levels are low, we can give cork flooring a score of 8 out of 10.

COMFORT FOR WALKING / WARM UNDERFOOT

Bamboo Flooring

Stepping onto a bamboo floor in bare feet always feels good. It has the natural warmth of wood and even on a cold day doesn’t feel very cold. This is because heat flows slowly in wood due to its high thermal resistance, which is a little like electrical resistance; the higher its value, the lower the flux whether it is heat or electrical current. The reason is that bamboo has a cellular structure that includes a large amount of space filled only with air. You can see this from the below image of bamboo fibers taken with a scanning electron microscope. This picture looks a bit spooky too. We give bamboo 9 out of 10 for comfort for walking.

Cork flooring

Cork is an even better thermal insulator than bamboo, and it’s also soft and springy. Walking on a cork floor is even more comfortable than walking on a bamboo floor. The reason is the same as for bamboo; its structure includes a high degree of porosity with each tiny air pocket surrounded by impermeable cell walls. For comfort for walking it scores a full 10 out of 10.

WATER RESISTANCE

Bamboo Flooring

Bamboo flooring is reasonably water resistant, but it is far from being waterproof. However it is more water resistant than hardwoods, and good quality bamboo flooring will resist damage from a puddles for 24 hours, but leave it much longer, and it might swell and discolor like normal hardwood flooring. Thus, you can use it in most rooms, but not in places such as bathrooms with bathtubs where it might be subject to water pooling. For water resistance, we give bamboo 8 out of 10.

Cork flooring

Cork is naturally water-resistant, which is one of the reasons it is used to seal wine bottles. Its water resistance is due to a naturally hydrophobic waxy material it contains called suberin. The problem, however, is the flooring seams are susceptible to water damage if immersed in water, and the adhesive used to glue down the floor can also be damaged. That being said, manufacturers usually recommend that you seal cork floors with a waterproof sealant after installation. We give cork flooring 9 out of 10 for water resistance.

PRICING & AVAILABILITY

Bamboo Flooring

The price of bamboo flooring often surprises people. In many ways, bamboo is similar to hardwood, and in some ways, it is better, but it is only a fraction of the price. Perhaps you can work out why. As we say above, bamboo matures in just 5 years, while hardwood might take 25 years, so producing bamboo flooring is far more efficient. Since you can get premium wide plank bamboo floors at $3-$5 per square foot (delivered), we give it 9 out of 10 for pricing.

Cork flooring

As we indicated above, the cork oak takes 25 years to mature, about the same time as white oak, But, once it has matured, we can harvest cork from the trees every nine years. Most cork comes from Europe where there is an abundant supply of cork oak trees where they were originally used for the wine industry. The ample supply and renewable nature of cork mean it’s pricing is similar to that of bamboo, We give it 9 out of 10 for pricing.

ORGANIC, NATURAL MATERIALS VS SYNTHETIC

Both bamboo flooring and cork flooring are entirely natural materials. They both use a little adhesive in their manufacture, but the amount is relatively insignificant. Cutting a short story even shorter, both bamboo and cork flooring receive 10 points out of 10 in the “being natural” category.

NATURAL VARIATION IN THE GRAIN – LOOK AND FEEL

Bamboo Flooring

Bamboo flooring has a natural grain that is different from that of hardwood, yet can look surprisingly similar. The grain is due to the fibrous nature of the material. The result is that every bamboo flooring plank is individual. You will never find two the same. It looks and feels entirely natural. For natural variation, it gets 10 out of 10.

Cork flooring

Cork flooring doesn’t exhibit the same kind of grain structure grain variation that we see in bamboo; it looks like cork. But every cork flooring tile is unique; you will never find a repeating pattern. It has the look and feel of a natural material. It is a personal decision whether you prefer the look and feel of bamboo or cork, but for natural variation, we score it 10 points out of 10.

EASE OF INSTALLATION

Bamboo Flooring

As we point out in this blog, installing a bamboo floor is within the capacity of any skilled DIY enthusiast. As with any product, there are several potential pitfalls to avoid. But, as long as you stick to the manufacturer’s guidelines, you should be able to lay a floor you can be proud of and which will be the envy of your friends. If you would prefer a professionally installed bamboo floor, just about any handyman or carpenter can do it as long as they follow the installation guide. For ease of installation, we give bamboo flooring 8 out of 10.

Cork flooring

Depending on the subfloor, if your floor is anything other than concrete, cork flooring is usually installed by gluing the tiles to a plywood overlay. If the subfloor is concrete, dry and flat, you can just stick the tiles directly onto the subfloor. The final step is to sand and polish the floor. No installation method could be simpler, so cork flooring scores 10 out of 10 for ease of installation.

EASE OF MAINTENANCE

Bamboo flooring

Bamboo floors are easy to maintain and usually need no more than regular sweeping or vacuuming. It is essential to keep them free from dust and grit, as stepping on such debris can result in scratching the bamboo surface. Occasionally you should deep clean with a proprietary wood or bamboo floor cleaner. It’s just common sense. We give bamboo 8 out of 10 for ease of maintenance.

Cork flooring

Maintaining a bamboo floor is similar to maintaining a bamboo floor. It just requires sweeping and vacuuming along with an occasional deep clean. The only difference is every few years you might consider resealing your cork floor with a proprietary polyurethane sealant. It also scores 8 out of 10 for ease of maintenance.

THE FINAL ANALYSIS

If you have been adding up the scores as you have gone along, you will have realized it is a close call. While bamboo loses out on hardness, scoring just 2 to bamboo’s 10, and it has a lower air quality score, it claws back some points on ease of installation and water resistance. The final scores are:

Bamboo flooring: 91 points
Cork flooring: 86 points

The post Bamboo Flooring VS. Cork Flooring | Side By Side Comparison appeared first on The Greener Living Blog.