Go Green With Bamboo Countertops

The recent trend in homebuilding, which encourages eco-friendly designs, paved the way for green products like bamboo to be integrated in various home fixtures and furniture.

You can find finished bamboo in the walls, floorings and cabinets in today’s homes. People are now using bamboo beddings, place mats, and fabrics. It is also now gaining popularity as countertops. If you are a homeowner who likes to go green and is tired of the traditional look of a stone or laminated countertop, you might want to use bamboo as your environment-friendly alternative.

Although not as hard as the traditional granite, bamboo is equally tough. It is also durable like other hardwoods and is even harder than some of them. This is one reason why you can use it for countertops and not worry about their durability. One advantage of bamboo countertops is that you can re-sand and re-seal it if it looks worn out, and it’s as if you installed a brand new countertop. Its grain is very attractive and it blends well with other woods, stones and tiles. It will make your countertop stand out because of its unique look.

On top of all of this, bamboo costs only around $30 to $40 per square foot. It is a very affordable resource because of its rapid growth, making it a very good alternative to traditional wood products. We all know that trees grow slowly, but bamboo can grow up to 60 feet in just three to five years. In addition, it doesn’t need replanting because it has extensive root system that send up new shoots to replenish itself.

For bamboo countertops, there are two styles that you can choose from. Your preference will determine the type of countertop that you will install. One type is actually in the form of laminate. These are bamboo planks made of strips of bamboo that are glued together. The planks are then glued together with non-toxic adhesive. These planks are cut into shape according to the countertop design. You need to seal the countertop after its installation to protect its finish.

Another method of manufacturing bamboo countertops is the end-grain style. Like the plank method, the tops of the rectangular pieces of the end-grain are glued together. After the desired measurement is achieved, all of these pieces are glued together and the whole surface is sealed. The resulting countertop will have a very unique look that is only possible because of the way bamboo looks.

You can easily maintain the striking appearance of the bamboo countertop by just using warm water and a mild soap to clean it. Or you can mix one quart of vinegar and the same amount of warm water. Put the mixture into a small sprayer and you can spray it daily to keep the bamboo surface clean. Like any surface made of wood, bamboo can get scratched, burned and soaked by water. Therefore you need to be careful in setting hot pans on top of them, so that the surface won’t get scorched. If you find scratches on the surface, just have it re-sanded and re-sealed to restore its shiny finish.