Types of Bamboo and Why Not All Bamboo Is Created Equal

Types of Bamboo: Not All Bamboo Is Created Equal

Exceptionally durable, bamboo can produce flooring that is often harder and more resilient than even popular oak or maple hardwoods. But be aware: not all bamboo flooring is alike, and not all bamboo makes a quality floor.

Basically, there are three categories of bamboo flooring sold in the United States today.

Traditional Bamboo

The first category is often referred to as Traditional bamboo, since it is the first generation of bamboo flooring marketed in this country. Traditional bamboo planks are made by cutting harvested bamboo stalks into thin strips and then gluing them together in one of two directions:  Vertical Grain, which offers a narrow, linear appearance; or Horizontal Gran, which produces a wider-looking plank that reveals more of bamboo’s unique cross-knuckles.

While Traditional bamboo flooring is generally “good” in terms of durability, it can be difficult to know if the particular flooring you are buying will hold up. That’s because Traditional bamboo products are all over the map when it comes to quality. Some manufacturers use inferior bamboo (often cut before its peak harvest), while others try to keep production costs down by using cheap, urea-formaldehyde glues to bind the bamboo pieces together.

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  Horizontal Bamboo Construction
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  Horizontal Bamboo Grain Close-Up
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  Horizontal Bamboo Construction
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  Horizontal Bamboo Grain Close-Up

Strand-Woven Bamboo

The second category is Strand Woven bamboo. In this second-generation bamboo construction, thousands of sawn bamboo strips are partially shredded to open up and expose bamboo’s highly resilient stringy fiber. Resins are added to these strips, which are then pressed together under tremendous pressure. This produces a densified bamboo and resin composite product that is harder and far more durable than Traditional bamboo flooring.

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  Strand Woven Bamboo Construction
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  Strand Woven Bamboo Grain Close-Up

Unfurled Bamboo

The third generation of bamboo construction is dasso’s proprietary Unfurled bamboo format,  in which a  single slit is run along the round bamboo stalk, and the stalk is then carefully “unfurled” and pressed flat into a ¼ “ thick sheet. This technique leaves bamboo’s natural outer skin on the face of the board. Given that the outer skin of the bamboo is by far the hardest and most impact-resistant part of the bamboo stalk, Unfurled bamboo’s thick wear layer offers amazing durability – yet it’s surprisingly lightweight. In impact testing that replicates walking on flooring in high heels, the Unfurled format shows less denting than even highly dent-resistant densified Strand Woven bamboo. In fact, Unfurled bamboo is so durable that it doesn’t even require a factory finish!  However, finishes can be applied to achieve various aesthetics.

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  Unfurled Bamboo Construction
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  Unfurled Bamboo Grain Close-Up

Devoted to Sustainability

When it comes to environmentally-friendly flooring, dasso’s Unfurled bamboo is just about as “Green” as you can get. Products are made from sustainably sourced bamboo from EcoTimber’s own bamboo forests, with no added urea-formaldehyde used in the manufacturing process. Many dasso bamboo products are also certified by third parties, including FSC, FloorScore & Green Guard, further ensuring they meet the highest environmental and quality standards.

Learn More

To learn more about the dasso difference and see a sampling of our beautiful bamboo flooring collections, visit EcoTimber’s Bamboo Flooring page. Have a question about bamboo flooring? Ask our experts.