The Lowdown on Bamboo Flooring

(Page 3 of 3)

October/November 2006
Charles Higginson, Mother Earth News Associate Editor 
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4. Social concerns. Most bamboo factories are in China or Vietnam, and justifiable concerns have been raised about workplace conditions. It's impossible to verify in every case. Look for manufacturers whose facilities have been certified by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which ensures environmentally sustainable operation and employee welfare, safety and minimum age. Bamboo Mountain, Teragren and Yanchi are just some of the ISO-certified manufacturers.

5. Transportation costs. No species of flooring-grade bamboo grows in the United States, so there is no alternative to importing. 'Despite the long-distance transport of the product to the United States, the durability, hardness and short regeneration time of bamboo provide justification for using it for flooring instead of wood,' according to Green Building Products: The GreenSpec Guide to Residential Building Materials, a products guide compiled by BuildingGreen.com, the publisher of Environmental Building News.
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  • Robert Daniels 12/12/2008 1:11:54 PM

    Having lived with a bamboo floor for three years, although we are overall pleased with stability and appearance, we consider the surface more fragile that expected. If you drop anything angular and moderately weighty, there will be damage. The object will, if your lucky, bounce off the surface. If luck is not with you, the object will crunch through the fibers, and once through the surface, descend quite deeply into the interior.
    Wood filler matched to color provides a cover-up, but the tendency of bamboo to darken becomes an issue over the passage of time.

  • STEPHEN vance 2/11/2007 12:00:00 AM

    I'm interested in the sizes of paneling bamboo comes in..Also
    where I could get some(I live in the northeast)I previously didn't
    know there was such a type of flooring as bamboo

  • MATHEW davydiuk 1/8/2007 12:00:00 AM

    im interested but concerned about high costs, and wonder if
    thier is canadian producers I have heard it grows good here as
    well, at least west coast way

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