There are different types of bamboo flooring that are manufactured in slightly different ways. They are all made using the same type of bamboo, but our strand woven flooring has been designed and manufactured to give it additional strength and stability.
What is bamboo?
Bamboo is a grass that is native to many warm climates. The bamboo used for all our flooring is grown in china. Bamboo has a hard outer shell with a notched appearance, and a hollow centre. It grows extremely quickly (compared to hardwood trees) and is very sustainable. A bamboo plant can reach maturity in around five years, making it a popular and eco-friendly alternative to wood. The bamboo plant has the added bonus of being self-regenerating too. This means that after the bamboo has been harvested it will continue to grow. This eliminates the need for replanting the bamboo forest.
How is bamboo harvested and prepared?
The bamboo forests are divided into sections and colour coded depending upon how old the bamboo is. Once a particular section of the forest has reached maturity (around five years old), it is then harvested. The rest of the bamboo forest is left to continue to grow until it is mature. The harvesting takes place by hand. This helps to keep the bamboo root in tact so that it can continue to grow and mature for another harvest in years to come. Once the bamboo has been harvested, it will need to be prepared ready for the flooring. The outer green layer of the bamboo is stripped off to reveal a softer golden part of the grass. This is then either cut into thin flat strips or shredded into strands, depending upon the type of flooring that is being made. The bamboo strips and strands are then boiled and dried thoroughly to remove any moisture. Now that the bamboo strips or strands have been dried, they are ready to be used to make the flooring. If they are being used to make carbonised bamboo flooring they are now smoked to give the rich brown colour. If they are being used to make natural bamboo flooring, they are left with their original colour. The raw bamboo is now finally checked for any defects or imperfections. It is then stored and acclimatised before the manufacturing process begins.
How is horizontal and vertical bamboo flooring manufactured?
For horizontal and vertical bamboo flooring the thin, flat strips of dried bamboo are used. They are glued together either horizontally or vertically to form the planks of flooring. The planks are then machined into shape and sanded.
How is strand woven bamboo flooring manufactured?
For strand woven bamboo flooring, the individual fibre strands are used. These are tightly compressed together with a resin to form a solid block of strand woven bamboo. It can now be machined into planks of flooring and sanded.
How is the bamboo flooring finished?
All three types of bamboo flooring need to be finished with lacquer and a fitting profile. If the bamboo flooring is going to be brushed, distressed, hand scrapped or stained, this is done now. Then a layer of lacquer is added to protect the surface. Next, the fitting profile needs to be machined into the planks. Ether a tongue and groove or a click fitting system will be added to the edges of the bamboo flooring. A final layer of protective lacquer is now applied. Finally, the bamboo flooring is checked and inspected for any imperfections and then packaged and distributed.