Bamboo flooring is arguably one of the most popular alternatives to traditional timber flooring in Australia today. This is largely due to the fact that bamboo is attractive, elegant, and highly sustainable.
Of course, there’s much more to buying bamboo flooring than just figuring out what style you want. You need to calculate the cost per square metre or square foot (if you are from abroad), whether you need help with installation or not, and what kind of prep work will be involved. In this article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know to get started.
What is bamboo flooring?
First of all, let’s give you a bit more background on bamboo flooring. Technically speaking, bamboo is grass (which may come as a surprise, but explains why it grows so quickly). Unlike timber, bamboo can’t easily be sawn into lengths. This is why for a long time it was practically impossible to split bamboo flooring and create wide planks. Today, with modern production techniques, creating bamboo flooring is a reality and one that we would highly recommend exploring. Ranges such as Genisis, Vendura and ARC offer a wide variety of styles and colourways, think Natural, Coffee and even White.
Bamboo is a fast-growing plant, it’s durable and resilient, and again, it looks easy on the eye. Here are a few of the manufacturing techniques used to make bamboo flooring, for your reference:
- The hollow bamboo stems are sliced into lengths and then joined together with its hard outer shell facing upward. This is called “horizontal structure” and exposes the very distinctive nodes that make bamboo easily identifiable.
- The next manufacturing method for bamboo flooring is called “vertically structured”; this refers to the technique which has the bamboo’s inner layers exposed upward giving it a more uniform appearance.
- And finally, we have “strand-woven” bamboo flooring. This is manufactured under extreme amounts of pressure and the finished product subsequently comes out looking more like traditional timber flooring with attractive variations in the grain appearance.
What is the biggest benefit of having bamboo flooring installed in your home?
The biggest benefit of bamboo flooring is its toughness, with some varieties being stronger than others. If you have the budget available, we’d suggest exploring strand woven bamboo flooring which is known for being more durable than both vertically and horizontally structured bamboo flooring.
You’ll find that bamboo flooring is made available in a variety of styles including tongue and grooved lengths, similarly to traditional timber, or as shorter “click lock” floating floor systems – it all comes down to personal preference and practicality. Bamboo flooring must always be installed as a floating floor on underlay.
Some of the DIY Floorboard team’s favourite styles is the Genisis Bamboo in Java for a rustic and natural look, the Vedura Bamboo in Coffee for warm tones and the ARC Bamboo in Australiana for the native timber look we love.
Cost of bamboo flooring per square metre
Now to the important question: how much does bamboo flooring cost per square metre in Australia?
Although prices can certainly vary throughout Australia, professional installers of bamboo flooring tend to charge somewhere in the region of between $80 and $90 per square metre. These bamboo flooring costs, however, tend to include both the laying of the new material and preparing the surface for installation, etc.
The cost of installing bamboo flooring can vary depending on the quality of the flooring material as well. If you opt for “click lock” the type of underlay you choose can increase the cost.
In addition to that, as bamboo flooring comes stained and finished as standard, you can avoid any extra costs in that regard.
You may also wish to consider the fact that most suppliers of bamboo flooring may offer you discounts on bulk orders. Let’s look at some examples:
- Up to 30 square metres of a standard grade bamboo flooring could cost approximately $55m2
- 85 – 175 square metres of the same style may cost approximately $50m2
- And up to 250 square metres can cost as little as $45m2 if you find the right deals.
Of course, those three examples given above are for the cost of bamboo flooring per square metre only and does not include installation.
Cost of Bamboo flooring per square foot
So, if you live in Australia but from a country that uses the metric system, you must be wondering, how much does bamboo flooring cost per square foot in Australia? Going off the averages above, you can expect to pay on average:
- $5.50 per square foot (for 30m2 of standard grade bamboo flooring)
- $5.00 per square foot (for 85 – 175m2 of standard grade bamboo flooring)
- $4.50 per square foot (for 250m2 of standard grade bamboo flooring).
Please remember that these are merely averages and that not every company will offer discounts on bulk ordering.
How much does bamboo flooring installation cost?
As mentioned above, the cost of having bamboo flooring installed can cost approximately $80 to $90 per square metre in Australia. This typically covers preparation of the ground surface, installing an underlay layer, and indeed removing/replacing skirting boards and then laying the new bamboo flooring itself.
$80 to $90 per square metre is an average and these numbers can vary widely depending on a variety of factors such as:
- Your chosen contractor
- The amount of work involved
- The size and complexity of the job
- Your geographical location
- Installation style (floating floors, etc)
- Time of year
Of course, as with any investment in your home, you should always try and secure a few quotes from different professional bamboo flooring installers. Take your time to compare products, services, and warranties – including the costs involved – before settling on one.
Conclusion
All in all, bamboo flooring is among some of the finest options you can choose for wood flooring in your home and is well worth the investment. Take your time, do plenty of research, and then decide whether it’s better for you to pay the extra for a professional installation or if you’d like to crack on and give the DIY option a try!
If you are interested in exploring our bamboo flooring options further, or if you need some additional information, please do not hesitate to contact us today.
