A notice to all of
you Central
Floridians
Look for my column
"Function First", in
the Orlando
Sentinel. It will be
appearing monthly in
the Saturday Home
Fix-Up section, usually on the 4th Saturday of the month.
Better Bamboo Flooring
There’s a new type of bamboo flooring on the market, one that’s both beautiful and more durable.
To understand why, let’s take a quick look at the world of bamboo.
Did you know that bamboo is considered a grass? It belongs to over a hundred genera that includes
over 1,000 different species. Some bamboo is only a few feet tall; other species can grow to well
over 100 feet in height. It’s one of the most prolific living resources in the world, which is why
it’s considered a sustainable, green product. The majority of the bamboo flooring brought into the
U.S. and Canada is grown and manufactured in China. This long-distance shipping is the part of bamboo
that’s not considered green.
Bamboo is available in two main colors: natural and carbonized. Natural is the natural color of the
dried bamboo strips (pictured above in a floor of Strandwoven™ bamboo, a product discussed later in
this ezine). Carbonized is treated with heat, essentially smoking it to an amber color (shown on the
stairs in the picture below).
Although reasonably priced, bamboo is not a particularly hard product. The hardness of wood is measured
in pounds-force and rated on something called the Janka Scale—the pounds-force required to push a .444”
metal ball into a solid piece of wood to a depth of half the ball’s diameter. The higher the number, the
harder the wood.
Depending upon the color and manufacturing process, the pounds-force measurement on the Janka Scale for
bamboo ranges from about 1392 to 2175. Natural bamboo is approximately 10 percent harder than carbonized,
and horizontal lamination is about 15 percent harder than vertical. Ask your flooring representative
for the Janka score of the flooring you’re considering.
The Janka scale for over 60 different woods can be found at
Janka Ratings
 Introducing
Strandwoven™ Bamboo Flooring, the newest and most durable bamboo product.
Strandwoven bamboo is made by compressing "strands" of bamboo fibers under intense pressure, while using a
heat-sensitive adhesive to bond them together. The result is both rich-looking and durable. The appearance of
“knuckles,” a characteristic of traditional bamboo flooring, is not a factor with the Strandwoven product.
Strandwoven bamboo measures about 3200 on the Janka Scale. It is more than twice as hard as oak and about 13.5
percent harder than Brazilian cherry. It maintains a reasonable pricing structure, and it can be installed using
nailed, glued, or floating installation methods.
Look for Strandwoven bamboo that is offered by a reputable company and that is certified for low emission of
VOCs. (VOCs, or volatile organic compounds, are chemicals released into the air as gasses.)
Sustainable Flooring of Boulder, Colorado, offers a line of Strandwoven bamboo manufactured with low-VOC adhesives.
Their product, shown in both pictures above, meets strict European standards for product content. According to the
company, Europe is far ahead of North America in controlling both the content of products and their effect on the
environment. For more information, visit www.sustainableflooring.com
Is there a subject
you’d like me to
cover? Let me know
by sending an email
to
tracy@tracystips.net.
All past issues of
this ezine are in
the Ezine Archives
on our web site.
Click here for Ezine
Archives !
Copyright © 2008
Tracy DeCarlo - All
Right Reserved
WANT A CHECK LIST OF
HUNDREDS OF TIPS
AND IDEAS FOR
DESIGNING A
FUNCTIONAL HOME?
If you liked today’s
tips you’ll love the
book
“Don’t Forget the
Linen Closets!”
It’s packed with
over 240 ideas and
reminders to help
you incorporate
function,
organization, and
efficiency into your
home without
breaking the bank.
|
To us,
it
[“Don’t
Forget
the
Linen
Closets”]
is the
most
thorough
guide to
building
a house,
regardless
of size,
in the
industry.
Most
importantly,
it is
geared
toward
the
folks
who will
actually
live in
the
house.
By
following
your
guidelines,
we are
confident
that we
will
have a
far more
functional
home
than if
we had
been on
our own.
Also, we
know
that we
and the
builder
have
saved
thousands
of
dollars
by
avoiding
rework
and
non-functional
design
flaws.
In fact
we have
dubbed
the
book,
“The
Home
Buyers’
Essential
Handbook
for
Design
and
Construction
in Less
Than 50
Pages.”
Thank
you for
sharing
your
thoughts
and
experiences
in such
a
concise
and
useful
way.
Bill and
Yvonne
Dunbar
Homeowners
building
a custom
home
Orlando,
FL
–
February
2006
|
If you’d like more
personalized help,
Tracy’s plan-review
service will walk
you through the
process in detail.
In either case,
planning the details
in the beginning can
save thousands in
the end! To
see more
testimonials and/or
to place your order,
visit
Detailed Solutions
WEB site
now.
WANT TO USE THIS
ARTICLE IN YOUR
E-ZINE OR ON YOUR
WEB SITE?
You can, as long as
you include the
following blurb in
its entirety:
Tracy DeCarlo,
author of “Don’t
Forget the Linen
Closets!”
publishes the
idea-packed,
monthly e-zine
“Tips for
Designing a
Functional
Home.” If
you’re ready to
learn how to
incorporate
organization,
function, and
efficiency into
your new home or
remodeling
project without
breaking the
bank, get your
FR*EE tips now
at
www.BuildingTips.net.
|
