Sales of bamboo floors are on the rise. But how do they stack up against oak floors when it comes to replacing floors in your home?

CTV Consumer Reporter Chris Olsen found out how bamboo--which is supposed to be the greener choice for flooring--stacks up against traditional hardwood.

Olsen spoke to Adam Levine, who sells flooring. Levine said more of his customers are picking bamboo instead of traditional wood.

"Bamboo floors definitely have more of a selection now than they ever have. They come in all sorts of colors, all different sizes, all different grain patterns," he said.

Consumer Reports tested 21 different types of hardwood flooring, including seven bamboo floors, with prices ranging from $4 to $9 a square foot.

The floors were put through a battery of tests. They included an abrasion test that simulates years of foot traffic, one that tests how easily a floor scratches, and one that shows how well a floor can withstand denting.

Another test is designed to analyze the stain resistance of flooring. Consumer Reports' John Galeotafiore said that everything from ketchup to crayons was put on the floors and the Anderson Pacific Cumberland oak floor got the worst rating.

"Interestingly, two bamboo floors outperformed all the hardwoods," he said.

Galeotafiore said that bamboo flooring has gotten much tougher and a new manufacturing technique -- which shreds the bamboo into strands and later glues them together with an adhesive -- creates fewer emissions over traditional bamboo flooring.

Consumer Reports found the top-rated floor was the Ecotimber Strand Woven Honey bamboo. It's also a consumer best buy at $7.25 per square foot.

The best oak floor was the Bruce Dundee Plank which cost $7.65 per square foot, plus installation.

However many people put in hardwood floors themselves.

It's important to remember that wood expands or shrinks based on humidity, so it must be acclimatized to the moisture level in your home before it is installed.

Brownie Dove, from wood specialists Goodfellow, said ""take [the flooring] out of the box, and spread it around. It's not going to change moisture content by being in the box. Basically you should lay out the floor three days before you actually install it to allow it to adapt to your home."

Double check with a store before going too far into the planning of a new wood floor, as it's not possible to throw down a wood floor over any type of surface.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen.