The Best Interior Designers

by Jan Gunn 

Bamboo – This Grass is Green


Bamboo is the fastest growing wood-like plant in the world (botanically, bamboo is a grass, not a tree). It grows one third faster than the fastest growing tree. Some species can grow up to a meter per day -- one can almost watch it grow.

Because it grows so quickly and is easy to regenerate -- either naturally or through replanting -- bamboo is considered the ultimate “rapidly renewable” resource.



Let the Bamboo Buyer Beware!

In the 1990’s, bamboo flooring was considered a novel environmental product and was offered by only a few pioneers. Today, it is a major commodity. There are literally millions of square feet of bamboo flooring flooding into North American ports every month from mills across Eastern and Southeastern Asia.

Some of these bamboo flooring mills are top-notch facilities with excellent quality control and responsible sourcing and labor practices, but others are fly-by night-operations that lack the resources and commitment to produce quality products and see to the safety and health of their workers.

The quality of bamboo flooring is only as good as the quality of the manufacturing and sourcing process. Northern species of bamboo are harder and denser than Southern species; timber bamboo that is harvested at six or seven years of age will perform much better than younger bamboo harvested on shorter rotations; how the bamboo is dried and processed affects product quality; the quality of the adhesives used to glue up the bamboo strips and the quality of the finish used in pre-finished products go a long way to determining whether the product wears well or poorly over time.

Designers who specify bamboo develop relationships with their suppliers. These days cheap bamboo flooring is easy to find, but it is unlikely to hold up in high-traffic applications or to satisfy discerning clients. There is no substitute for expert knowledge in the process of qualifying a supplier. That expertise comes through diligently auditing the quality of bamboo-suppliers' products as installed, especially after some real-world use.