A view of the bamboo flooring factory

Today I wanted to share some pics of a somewhat recent trip to the Premium Green Bamboo Forest and Factory. Premium Green is harvested in eastern China from a continuously renewed forest. Harvesting is restricted to a few months each year to allow new shoots to grow uninterrupted for a long period.

Bamboo Harvest - Bamboo forests quickly renew and are managed to ensure future supply of material. Bamboo for flooring is harvested at 5-6 years of age.

Heading to the splitter. Many times you see these trucks coasting down the mountain

Splitting - The bamboo is cut to a prescribed length then pushed against knives to produce slats.

Four Sided Milling - The first step in making flooring planks is to feed the splits into a 4 sided mill. Any unacceptable splits are removed at this step. After this step the bamboo is treated to remove pests and mildew.

Carbonizing - The carbonized (or chocolate brown) color of bamboo is from a reaction of the natural sugars in the material. This reaction takes place in a pressure vessel filled with stream.

Moisture Removal - All of the bamboo strips are then kiln dried to remove any moisture.

Glue and Assembly - The kiln dried strips then have glue applied and are bound together to make planks. Defective strips are identified at this step and are discarded.

Hot Pressing - At this step the strips are placed in a heated press for several minutes to form planks.

Plane and Tongue Groove - Here the planks are fed into a planer that also cuts the tongue and groove on the long edges.

Length Cut and Tongue and Groove - This machine cuts planks to the required length and cuts the tongue and groove in the ends.

Sanding - Planks are sanded multiple times to ensure a smooth surface before coating. Inspection takes place at this step including thickness measurement.

Coating Line - The photo shows the entry to the coating line. Several successive layers of Klummp coatings are applied including two top coats containing aluminum oxide. Each layer of coating is individually cured with UV light.

Packaging - The planks are packaged with a layer of poly between each plank to prevent any damage during shipment. This is the last inspection point for planks.

Finished Product Staging- The boxed up Bamboo ready for shipment. If you are ever in China, you are welcome to visit the Premium Green Bamboo facilities.

Bamboo Floors. The design side Part II

In the first post I covered bamboo floor styles in horizontal grain in the natural and carbonized colors. These were the first two styles introduced. The desire for a version that would fit into more design themes and with a bit less of the oriental theme was growing. The concept of bamboo flooring from an Conscious perspective is excellent. That being said, nobody should have to settle for a eco friendly floor that does not fit their design or color intentions.

The Introduction Vertical
As I remember, the first manufacturer to introduce Vertical grain was Premium Green Bamboo. I was pretty impressed at seeing this version and preferred it myself over the original without much thought. Vertical was made of the same material, the wide slats were simply turned on the side. This makes for a surface filled with thinner more lineal slats. The growth ring could be detected still but it is more of a node or spot. The vertical lacks the overwhelming feel of an oriental theme. At first available in only 3' long planks, it eventually was made into a longer 6' plank version which due to its linear make up, looks much more impressive when installed. Vertical grains work well in most applications including ultra contemporary. We use it less in ultra traditional settings because there are many other options that work in most cases better, it can be done.

I am always ready to hear any simplefloors reviews, simplefloors feedback and simplefloors complaints or raves.

Bamboo Flooring -The design side Part I

Bamboo
In the next few posts (this is my first one ever) I will chat about the design side of bamboo floors, what styles are the newest, which ones are most desired as well as which are in decline. I wont go into quality differences, the sustainable element, the comparison of brands. I will touch slightly on construction of the product from time to time but only as it in some way relates to the appearance. We purchase things like wood or bamboo floors to improve the atmosphere, overall design and feeling of our homes. You may find the information I share useful as you are looking around.

Horizontal Grain Selections
Bamboo Flooring has been available for about 7 years now in North America. Just like anything styles come and go. The original floor that was imported to the U.S was Horizontal Grain in the Natural tone (the light blonde color). Next came the Horizontal Grain in the Carbonized tone (a darker brown version). As you are shopping around the Internet you will see these options. Horizontal refers to the placement of the grain within the floor plank. It is easy to spot the horizontal variety as the growth ring is very evident. Horizontal bamboo has its place but as of late it has begun to take on the stigma of an oriental theme as it so closely resembles the bamboo cane. While it is still selling everywhere, popularity of this version on the West Coast and parts of the east coast is in decline. I am still seeing alot of shipments heading to the Midwest and Southeast parts of the country. Horizontal grains in the natural colors do not lend themselves well to contemporary settings nor ultra traditional settings. They do work in eclectic, oriental theme and semi-traditional interiors. In terms of available plank sizes in the solid, there are wide versions (approx 6") as well as the standard 3 3/4" inch wide version. Plank lengths of 6' provide a higher quality appearance than those of 3' as the plank end joints are able to be more randomly staggered from plank to adjacent plank. Fortunately there are better looking options now. I will cover this some more in the next post.
In closing, I am always ready to hear any simplefloors reviews, simplefloors feedback and simplefloors complaints or raves.