Bamboo Factory Tour

Bamboo Flooring Basics Overview
We’re different from other bamboo flooring manufacturers – let us tell you and more importantly show you why.
Bamboo Forest The bamboo flooring starts in the forest. The bamboo forest is located in China and is considered to be the highest quality bamboo for use in flooring or furniture. This is not the same kind of bamboo that panda’s eat therefore there is no conflict.

All of the bamboo is grown wild and is therefore organic. No chemicals or other additives are used to grow bamboo. The farmers harvest the bamboo throughout most of the year and they simply "cull" the forest. They do not clear cut the forest. When looking at a bamboo mountain you can not tell if it has been harvested or not because the harvesting is so subtle.

There is a virtually endless supply of bamboo because it grows so fast and regrows and regrows and regrows without replanting.

Bamboo At Factory Yard Once the farmers cut the poles they transport a short distance to the factory. The factory is located in the heart of bamboo country making the process of manufacturing bamboo efficient.

The cut poles are then organized by lengths and diameter and the mill prepares to process them.

Cut bamboo has a short lifespan before mold and mildew can start to grow on it, so the raw pole bamboo stock is generally only enough for 1 shift to complete, then another load for another shift and so on.

Until bamboo is processed it is susceptible to discoloration and other problems so urgency is critical.

Bamboo Poles The bamboo poles are then cut down to size. The size the poles are cut down to can vary based on what the factory line is running that shift. For example a 3’ horizontal carbonized bamboo would require a different pole size than 6’ strand bamboo.

One the production manager decides what is running that shift the team starts cutting the poles to prepare for immediate processing.

Bamboo Cut Planks The cut pieces are then split into individual pieces and squared for assembly into a plank. This process is dusty and appears to have a lot of waste. However all the saw dust is repurposed and used for heating or other processes to insure the most efficient and clean environmental operation as possible.

This sizing process is critical to the final bamboo plank dimensional stability.

Sorting Bamboo Pieces The individual pieces are then sorted, by hand, to get a tone of color that is based on the grade of material. A grade bamboo is the most consistent color tones, although all bamboo has natural variations. B grade is not sorted.

Many companies sell B grade and represent it as A grade. At bamboo importers we only sell A grade material.

As mentioned above, whether A grade or B grade bamboo has a lot of natural variation so unless it is coated with a stain color you should expect a lot of variation within the plank and between planks themselves as well.

The finest bamboo flooring will have some beautiful natural variations in color, like all hardwood flooring, which is what helps make a bamboo floor special.

Bamboo Treatment These bundles are being treated to become "carbonized" bamboo floors also known as fumed, cooked, spiced or even thermal treated. This process is used to make the color of the bamboo flooring go darker naturally – with no stain or VOCs.

This oven will heat up and add moisture to create a "caramelizing" effect on the bamboo. This softens the bamboo by about 5%, but that is not a factor that is noticeable compared to natural bamboo.

If you cook and caramelize onions this is the same process, albeit a different scale than the average kitchen.

Bamboo Natural Treatment The bundles are may also be treated to become "natural" where the tone is lightened without toxic chemicals.

Some companies use bleach or other caustic chemicals to lighten their bamboo, however, BambooImporters.com does not use any chemicals with VOCs or in anyway that would leave the floor with a chemical composition.

If we wouldn’t put in our home, then it shouldn’t be in your home.

Bamboo Drying In Kiln After the individual pieces have been treated there is phase 1 of kiln drying. There is often more than one phase to drying depending on the type of bamboo. Strand bamboo for example goes through multiple stages of stabilization and acclimation as well as at least 2 kiln drying processes. Our method of manufacturing bamboo flooring takes 2-3 times longer than some of the lower quality mills. So our process often takes 6-8 weeks from start to finish whereas other lower quality bamboo manufacturers can make a floor within days of harvest. Why does our process take longer? Experience has taught us to achieve the highest quality we must let the natural processes and moisture factors drive our process rather than taking short cuts which in the long run will not be good for the person having the floor or furniture in their home. Our advanced kiln dryers are just one example of quality that you can’t see when you compare to others.
Bamboo Heat Pressed The individual pieces are then pressed under incredible pressure and heat with a E1 rated high quality glue to hold the plank together. All bamboo importers bamboo beats both the highest federal standards in the United States for Formaldehyde emissions and even the highest CARB 2 standards which are for California and are even higher than the national US federal standards. We don’t want excess formaldehyde in our houses and we don’t want it in yours.

This pressing process cannot be rushed. The time, pressure, heat and adhesive must be set perfectly to achieve durable and stable flooring.

After pressing the boards must go and stabilize again for several days before entering the next process.

Every board is done by hand to insure top quality.

Bamboo Milling Every plank then is milled on ends and sides with precision engineering. The milling of flooring is one of the most important, yet often overlooked, aspects of quality.

Our equipment, which we have several lines of production, can mill standard tongue and groove milling in multiple thicknesses as well as precise locking mechanisms using the uniclic locking system or the valinge locking system.

Our equipment can also produce a locking end joint or a drop lock system.

You don’t have to worry about the details because we worry about precise engineered and have several quality check points in this area.

Bamboo Inspected By Hand Every plank is inspected by hand to check for quality controls. Plank sizing, visual blemishes and other factors are considered at every one of our 21 quality check points.

How can you compare quality online, in a flooring store or even looking at the planks in a carton of flooring? You can’t. Beyond the obvious visual aspects of flooring you can’t really tell how one piece of bamboo floor compares to another.

However, for over a decade manufacturing flooring and furniture has taught us that quality is a long term promise.

Something that stands up over time may not be easy for the end user to determine, but once again we worry about these sorts of issues so that you don’t have to.

Bamboo Being Stained After milling the flooring is finished and stain is applied if applicable.

The quality of flooring finish and the number of coats goes a long way to determine the durability of your bamboo floor.

At bambooimporters.com we only use KLUMPP and TREFFERT brand finishes. These European designed surface finishes are best for flooring. There are a number of cheaper alternatives, however, long term quality is not served by taking short cuts with stains or surface finishes.

All bambooimporters.com floors have a aluminum oxide wear layer which is highly resistant to abrasion wear. Will bamboo floors scratch? Sure they are a lot like other floors in that way – all flooring can scratch. However, resistance is a key quality factor and something that bambooimporters.com takes very seriously.

Strand bamboo flooring with a top notch flooring finish on it is one of the toughest floors on planet earth!

Final Inspection and Packaging Prep After the final inspection processes every plank is then prepared for packaging and final acclimation checks. A human touches every plank one last time for visual inspection and packaging.

The personal touch that goes into bamboo floor is hard to express, however, it is estimated that every plank of bamboo floor is touched by one of our factory floor team members at least 85 times by the time it goes into the box.

This personal and detailed attention to quality is unrivaled in other factories. We know that our quality stands on it's own.

Boxed Up Bamboo Flooring So when you order flooring from bamboo importers now you know there is more than meets the eye in terms of quality.

Even our box design is intended to keep high efficiency, low costs and environmentally friendly.

Other flooring manufacturers spend extra money paying for fancy full color boxes, but our simple box design communicates the contents clearly without added costs.

Additionally our white or brown boxes are more environmentally friendly because we do not waste extra ink and potentially toxic printing processes on something that should simply be recycled after installation anyway. In fact the lack of printing makes it easier to recycle than those fancy boxes that you will never see again after your installation anyway.

From beginning to end BambooImporters.com is a manufacturer that is set up for high efficiency, low cost operations with a focus on environmentally sound production and super high quality products. These differences are hard to see, but when you have your new flooring installed from BambooImporters.com you will believe.