What is the Best Bamboo Species for Making Floors?

I am considering bamboo as a flooring material. Are some species better than others for bamboo flooring? Love your site. So informative. So readable. Keep up the good work!

Comments

Wayne

What's the best species of bamboo for flooring? It's probably a lot like coffee in that many differing opinions are out there as to where the best coffee grows, but bottom line, all coffee beans can be roasted wrong. They can all be brewed wrong.
My guess is, it's more critical how bamboo is handled and/or processed than where it comes from, i.e. fair trade practices, manufacturing environmental compliance, efficient and stable distribution. Am I right? Anybody else has a thought?

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Maureen Heffner

Bamboo hardwood flooring is quickly becoming the most popular exotic hardwood flooring option on the market. Many bamboo species like Guadua and Bambusa are popular. Appearance wise, bamboo's light color and soft sheen is considered very trendy. It is important that when creating a structure made from bamboo, as well as a hardwood floor, that the wood is treated with certain solutions, so it does not crack from moisture.

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Stéphane Schröder

Choosing the right species for bamboo floor making is very important because the strength of bamboo fibers varies greatly from species to species. Generally speaking, the best timber species are found in the genus: Guadua, Dendrocalamus, Bambusa, and Phyllostachys.

Moso (Phyllostachys edulis) from Asia is most often used for flooring purposes. The preferred species in the Americas is Guadua angustifolia. A comparison of both species can be found here.

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