Strand Woven Bamboo Flooring

Despite Bamboo being a variety of grass, it possesses many properties that hardwood trees lack.  Its broad root structure allows it to grow in mountainous regions and stabilise the topsoil.

Mao Bamboo can grow at a rate of 2-3 feet per day when it first sprouts.  We harvest our Bamboo when it reaches maturity at 6 years old.  Our plantations then replant these trees for future generations. Bamboo is an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional hardwood flooring that prevents erosion, is hypoallergenic and non-polluting. As a material it’s tough, durable and extremely stable.

At The Solid Wood Flooring Company, we use Mao Bamboo exclusively because of its structure, size, superior strength and incredible density. See the Janka Test Results.

Our experts have developed a special adhesive for our Strand Woven Bamboo flooring containing near zero formaldehyde emissions.

Why Bamboo?

Some hardwoods such as Oak can take 100 years to mature.  If Bamboo were used instead, we’d be able to produce 18 times more flooring.  Our hardwood forests would then naturally regenerate, benefitting the planet.

Some of the other benefits of using Bamboo include:

Young Bamboo produce more Oxygen than mature hardwood trees
Bamboo can be used as:
Fuel (for heating and processing)

Food (prepared Bamboo shoots are delicious to eat)
Bamboo resins (the grass contains a lot of sugars)
Charcoal, air cleaners, textiles and a wide range of art and craft items

How Strand Woven Bamboo Is Made:

The Bamboo is harvested and the stems are split and cut to size
Any outer and inner surface layers are removed (we only use the central part)
The filaments that are left are shredded to make a strong fibrous material
This is boiled to remove all the sugars (which are used in other processes)
It is then dried in a large oven
The carbonised Bamboo is heated under extreme pressure to harden it
The Bamboo filaments are then soaked in adhesive (any excess adhesive is allowed to drain back into the tank)
The Bamboo strands are loaded into a long drying chamber
It is then carefully dried for a second time in strips, ready for the next process
The filaments of dried Bamboo are placed in steel trays
These are compressed into large planks using a hot press

The Benefits of Hot Pressed Strand Woven Bamboo:

This method controls moisture content, spreading pressure more evenly on bigger boards
Hot pressed Strand Woven Bamboo planks can be much wider than cold pressed ones
This process means that you get one colour for natural Bamboo and one colour for carbonised
Any glue lines present during this process quickly disappear
All the strands of Bamboo are pressed together with the heat melting it into one
Produces consistently great looking floors with little colour variation

To an example of Strand Woven Mao Bamboo see our B445 carbonised flooring