Building service contractors (BSCs) who care for hard floors arrive at facilities expecting to see resilient flooring like luxury vinyl tile (LVT), hardwood, or other popular flooring types. Occasionally, they are surprised to come across less common flooring materials such as bamboo or cork.
“Bamboo had a run of popularity about 20years ago, but today it’s more of a niche product, much like cork,” said Christopher Capobianco, a technical and claims coordinator with Spartan Surfaces. “Neither bamboo nor cork sell as well as wood. That’s probably why these floors are misunderstood, and people don’t know what to do with them.”
The confusion can stem from the difficulty of categorizing both bamboo and cork. For example, bamboo is often put in the same category as wood.
“Technically, it’s a grass, not a wood, but it’s installed and maintained like a wood floor,” Capobianco said. “Cork is often classified as resilient flooring, in the same grouping as vinyl or linoleum, but it really is on the wood side as well.”
Learn bamboo’s green story
BSCs are most likely to encounter bamboo floors in spas, yoga studios, and other facilities that cater to wellness. “Bamboo has a green story, and it was really popular for 10 years,” explained Lisa
Wells, owner of Geneva Flooring in San Diego. “But with bamboo coming from China and all the trade tariffs associated with Chinese products, the industry changed. Sustainability is its biggest draw. When cut down a bamboo stalk it will regrow in four to six years, unlike cutting down a tree.”
“Aesthetics was also a big driver of bamboo’s popularity; it has a unique look,” said Jim Mannes, Shaw Floors national director. “If it’s manufactured well, it has a good density rating. When it’s manufactured poorly, it shreds like grass and gives bamboo a bad rap.”
Capobianco explained that bamboo can be made in two different ways. “Strand-woven is a highly compressed, very hard product,” he said. “Traditional bamboo, which looks more like a cutting board, is not as hard, and there are more indentation complaints about it. All bamboo is finished to a very smooth surface at the factory, so knicks and marks will be visible.”
Bounce back with cork
Cork is also a sustainable yet uncommon choice. “There’s a small market for it; it makes up about 5% of my sales, but it can be a good choice for anybody who wants the green story,” Wells said.
Cork flooring is made from the bark of cork trees. “You don’t have to cut down the tree to take the bark off , and the bark grows back,” Wells explained. “It often comes from Portugal, where
they follow sustainable practices and treat their workers well.”
In addition to sustainability, facilities also choose cork for its resiliency. “Just like a cork from a wine bottle bounces back, you’re not going to get dents in cork flooring like you would in a
traditional hardwood floor,” Wells said.
Cork flooring offers a unique look that varies depending on how it is cut, according to Mannes. “Cork is a good choice if a company wants to make a statement, especially if they have a Leadership
in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building,” he said. “Cork is soft underfoot, warmer than tile, aesthetically pleasing, and acoustically smart. It is sound insulating, so your neighbors
below won’t hear footsteps from above.”
Follow wood floor care instructions
As bamboo and cork are natural products, their care is more similar to that of a wood floor than resilient flooring like LVT. For bamboo, Capobianco and Mannes recommend using a
microfiber mop or a vacuum with a hard floor setting to sweep the floors and remove debris. “Practice dry soil removal; if your cleaner comes out of a bucket, it’s typically out,” Mannes said.
“Use only soft brushes, not hard brushes,” Capobianco added.
After sweeping, Capobianco recommends damp mopping the floors with a microfiber mop and using a neutral, properly diluted cleaner. “Never use large amounts of liquid,” he explained. “Don’t use any products that are solvent-based, no mineral spirits or alcohol; keep it neutral and mild. For light traffic areas, you can use neutral cleaning products that come in a spray bottle, applying a light spray and wiping the floor down.”
As bamboo is moisture sensitive, avoid installing bamboo floors in areas prone to wetness. “Don’t put it in restrooms or kitchens,” Wells advised. “Be careful not to overclean it, and
don’t use steam mops.”
For cork, Capobianco recommends damp mopping it, similar to bamboo. Wells said as long as you are careful not to get the floor too wet, you can use an autoscrubber. “You can agitate it with
the autoscrubber, then immediately vacuum it to remove the water,” she said. “Chemistry is important when cleaning cork, so make sure you follow the manufacturer’s recommendations.”
“With cork, less is more,” Mannes said. “The floor’s finish will resist soiling, so you don’t need anything beyond chemistry, agitation, and moisture removal. The tendency is to overuse the damp side of things. That’s where you need to tread lightly, pun intended.”
Capobianco said not to use bamboo or cork in an area with inconsistent temperatures, as they expand when the temperature changes. “And don’t use cork in direct sunlight; sunlight can be tough on cork flooring and cause it to change color,” he added.
Refinish for the long haul
Most bamboo and cork flooring is sealed with a protective polyurethane finish. With proper preventative maintenance—such as installing quality entrance mats and chair and furniture glides—you can prevent damage to your bamboo and cork floors, Capobianco said. But eventually, after years of heavy use, your floors will sustain damage, and you must determine if you can screen (sand) and refinish them.
“If the product is of a homogenous construction, which means the color and pattern go all the way through, you can probably refinish it,” Capobianco said, adding he once encountered a cork floor that was installed in 1910 and had been covered with carpet. As it was a homogenous product, the facility could refinish it. “But if it’s a veneer or engineered product, you may not be able to refinish it,” he warned.
To avoid having to refinish an entire floor, it is a good idea to keep an eye on heavily traveled areas of the floor and then call a professional to screen and recoat it when it shows signs of wear,
Capobianco said. “A professional can screen and recoat high-traffic areas of your floors in about five to six hours from start to finish, with a thin coat of polyurethane,” he explained.
According to Wells, most bamboo flooring is homogenous. “It has a nice, thick top wear and can be refinished up to three times to change the color and take out the scratches and embedded
dirt,” she said. “Usually, any damage can be sanded out before you refinish it.”
Mannes described the refinishing process as a light abrasion to remove the debris and fix the scratches, followed by the application of a new coat of polyurethane.
Whereas bamboo is generally solid throughout, cork is layered on a high-density pressed fiberboard. The thickness of the cork layer determines whether you can refinish it.
“I have refinished a pilates studio, so it can be done,” Wells said. “Usually, you get a solid quarter inch, and you can work with that.” She added the thickness of that layer is not enough to repair big
gouges and heavy foot damage. You would need to replace the flooring in those instances.
For minor scratches and light foot damage, you can screen and recoat the floor. “I would recoat the floor every five to 10 years, just replacing the boards that are heavily damaged,” Wells said. “If
you keep preserving it, it will last a long time.”
Check in with the experts
If you arrive at a job and can’t identify the flooring’s material or finish, it’s best to seek a floor care expert.
“You’ll sometimes see alternative finishes on cork floors,” Capobianco said. “In the old days, we used paste wax, which we would apply with steel wool. You’d never use steel wool on polyurethane.
If you run into wax, make sure you hire a worker who knows how to use it.”
Capobianco added that BSCs might also encounter oil finishes. If the floor is so worn that you can’t determine the finish, ask clients if they have any spare boards or tiles you can look at. “Take a pause, research what you need to use, and when in doubt, ask a professional,” he advised.
Mannes stressed that when you’re in doubt, the mandate is always the same: “Do your due diligence to find out what the floor is made of because you can’t always tell by looking at
it,” he said. “Have a relationship with flooring contractors, get to know the reps, use a 360-degree approach so you can adjust your prescriptives for your cleaning SOPs and your cleaners know what they’re walking into.”
