August 2008
Flooring
Green gets better
Even if you don’t want bamboo—a voracious spreader—in your backyard, our latest flooring Ratings (available to subscribers) tests provide some compelling reasons to put it in your kitchen.
Teragren’s Synergy and Armstrong’s Locking Hardwood bamboo floors are the first we’ve tested to beat oak and other wood for toughness. Earlier bamboo floors were quick to dent, stain, and sun-darken in our tests. Manufacturers heavily promote bamboo as a renewable resource because they can reap this fast-growing grass in as little as four years.
Teragren touts the hardness of its moso bamboo, which did well in our tough tests. The brand’s solid bamboo and Armstrong’s engineered version, a bamboo veneer over plywood, also resist color change—the Armstrong using a predarkening carbonization process. Both cost more than $7 per square foot, but that’s less than Brazilian cherry and some other lower-scoring choices. As with all bamboo, be sure you like its unique graining before you buy.
You’ll also hear about other options—some exotic—such as merbau (a Pacific hardwood), cork, and linoleum. But our simulated foot traffic, dropped objects, spilled coffee, and other typical abuse applied for these flooring Ratings (available to subscribers) show that some are likely to age quickly in busy kitchens. We also found one green option that isn’t as eco-friendly as it seems. Here are the details:
A less-than-stellar substitute. Real merbau wood flooring is known for being hard, durable, and attractive. But environmentalists say that illegal logging of this tony wood threatens to render the species extinct. DuPont’s Real Touch Elite mimics the look and texture of merbau with a photo beneath a top layer of plastic, like other plastic laminates. But unlike the best of them, it wore and dented easily in our tests for these flooring Ratings (available to subscribers).
Cork under plastic. Cork is considered renewable because it’s cut from the bark without killing the tree. Montado Cork and the Wicanders Series laminates replace a photo of cork with the real stuff beneath a plastic top layer. Both scored well overall. But as natural as this cork might be, it’s still encased beneath plastic. And at about $9 per square foot, these flooring options are pricey.
This linoleum disappoints. Linoleum is made of linseed oil and wood products. Nova’s pricey Linoleum Klick snaps together without glue. Yet the samples used for our flooring Ratings (available to subscribers) marred easily and absorbed damaging moisture.
Teragren’s Synergy and Armstrong’s Locking Hardwood bamboo floors are the first we’ve tested to beat oak and other wood for toughness. Earlier bamboo floors were quick to dent, stain, and sun-darken in our tests. Manufacturers heavily promote bamboo as a renewable resource because they can reap this fast-growing grass in as little as four years.
Teragren touts the hardness of its moso bamboo, which did well in our tough tests. The brand’s solid bamboo and Armstrong’s engineered version, a bamboo veneer over plywood, also resist color change—the Armstrong using a predarkening carbonization process. Both cost more than $7 per square foot, but that’s less than Brazilian cherry and some other lower-scoring choices. As with all bamboo, be sure you like its unique graining before you buy.
You’ll also hear about other options—some exotic—such as merbau (a Pacific hardwood), cork, and linoleum. But our simulated foot traffic, dropped objects, spilled coffee, and other typical abuse applied for these flooring Ratings (available to subscribers) show that some are likely to age quickly in busy kitchens. We also found one green option that isn’t as eco-friendly as it seems. Here are the details:
A less-than-stellar substitute. Real merbau wood flooring is known for being hard, durable, and attractive. But environmentalists say that illegal logging of this tony wood threatens to render the species extinct. DuPont’s Real Touch Elite mimics the look and texture of merbau with a photo beneath a top layer of plastic, like other plastic laminates. But unlike the best of them, it wore and dented easily in our tests for these flooring Ratings (available to subscribers).
Cork under plastic. Cork is considered renewable because it’s cut from the bark without killing the tree. Montado Cork and the Wicanders Series laminates replace a photo of cork with the real stuff beneath a plastic top layer. Both scored well overall. But as natural as this cork might be, it’s still encased beneath plastic. And at about $9 per square foot, these flooring options are pricey.
This linoleum disappoints. Linoleum is made of linseed oil and wood products. Nova’s pricey Linoleum Klick snaps together without glue. Yet the samples used for our flooring Ratings (available to subscribers) marred easily and absorbed damaging moisture.
