Botanically, bamboo is not a wood at all, but rather a grass. Unlike the
lawn variety, bamboo is strong, hard and dimensionally stable making it
a perfect candidate for flooring. And, because it matures in three
years, regenerates without need for replanting and requires minimal
fertilization or pesticides, it’s also a green building material. After
exploring traditional flooring options, the homeowners of This Old House TV’s Charlestown project took all these
factors into account and chose bamboo flooring for the the rental
unit’s kitchen and the house’s main staircase and entryway.
Most commercially available bamboo flooring is harvested from controlled
bamboo forests in the Guangzhou Zhujiang province on mainland China,
commonly called “The Bamboo Sea.” Already used extensively throughout
Asia, bamboo flooring is a competitive alternative to rainforest
hardwoods. In modern Asian cities, it’s not uncommon to see a large
concrete building being constructed over bamboo scaffolding.
To make it, hollow, round shoots are sliced into strips and boiled to
remove the starch. Then the strips are dried and boiled in a solution of
water and boric acid to remove sugars (a termite attractant) and to
inhibit fungus and mold growth. The bamboo is then laminated into solid
boards, which are milled into standard strip floorboards with tongue and
groove on all four sides, so no special installation techniques are
required. The flooring comes in two colors: natural blonde and
carbonized, an amber color achieved by pressure cooking the bamboo.
Because this is not a surface stain, the flooring retains its color even
after sanding.
Bamboo flooring installs like standard hardwood. However the strips are
not nailable with a standard flooring nailer, so use a pneumatic finish
nailer instead. If your flooring is not pre-finished, apply a
water-based urethane after sanding. The floor will be extremely
durable—about as hard as oak or maple—and because bamboo is so dense
refinishing will not be required as often. Finished bamboo floors have a
rich texture with thin strips of varying color interrupted by the bamboo
nodes.
There are only a few bamboo flooring suppliers in North America, but
several companies import it. Prices for bamboo flooring are competitive with
domestic hardwoods. But the grass is equally durable, attractive
and—as they say—greener, to boot.
