Posted on 2016-5-29 16:09:33
Solid bamboo flooring will have your interior space looking as natural as possible. It boasts of the most interesting patterns. Over time dents and scratches may appear on your flooring, you need not worry because you can sand down and have the surface of the floor refinished periodically. This will definitely do the trick in making it look fresh and new again.
It can be used in living rooms, bedrooms and home offices. It is not advisable to have in the kitchen unless proper precautions are taken. It should also never be used in the bath room because of the water and moisture.
Let us take a look at how it is processed.
The manufacturing process
Bamboo is brittle and uneven when harvested and it is not often used raw in modern flooring applications. However it is processed in a manner that retains all the positive benefits of the bamboo as well as making it more versatile.
The first step when it comes to manufacturing solid bamboo flooring planks is slicing the plant stalks into very thin pieces. It is then followed by the removal of the skin from the material and then boiled in Boric acid. The acid is helpful in killing microorganisms or bacteria in the bamboo while also removing any starches that had remained.
The slices are then coated and bonded together into solid pieces using heat and pressure and the ultimate look of the flooring will depend on how the individual chips are lined up. Some of the common ways of pieces being lined up are;
Horizontal: Here the individual chips are laid flat one on top of the other. This leads to a floor with a more consistent look and few features. It also happen to bring out the closest appearance to natural bamboo materials.
Vertical: Here the chips are usually lined up straight up and down. They are also bonded using pressure which pushes them from either side. In as much as it has a natural bamboo look, these floors also tend to have busy and mottled features on their surface. This can be great for hiding dirt as well as making a plain room a sense of interest.
Once the adhesive dries up, the solid planks are usually planed and sanded so as to make them smooth and have even surfaces on every side. An application of UV lacquer also helps in the curing process. It is finally sanded one last time to complete the finish on the material.