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.