Grass flooring is really becoming popular these days. No mowing or watering and it can go into any room in your house.

Bamboo is not a wood but a grass and has been used for thousands of years. It is an attractive building material because it is very hard, strong and dimensionally stable.

Environmentally it’s an excellent wood substitute that matures in three years, regenerates without replanting, fertilization, or pesticides. To make the flooring the hollow shoots are sliced into stripes and then boiled removing the starch. The strips are dried and laminated into solid boards. The boards are then milled into the standard flooring strips. The bamboo is treated with a preservative either before or after lamination.

Some manufactures use Boric acid as a preservative for those into non-toxic. Most suppliers offer light or a darker amber color. The darker color is achieved by pressure steaming the Bamboo to achieve a carbonization. All Bamboo floorings use Urea Formaldehyde for a resin to bond the strips. This type of formaldehyde is water resistant and off gases less than Phenol. The amount of Formaldehyde concentration in one test was 60 Micrograms/m (very low).

It is installed like a standard wood floor and sanded and sealed on sight. A water base sealer will raise the grain and require extra sanding between coats but is not a major problem. Stair nosing, reducer strips, thresholds, and beautiful grilles are available as well. So next time your at a party tell them your grass never needs mowing and looks great.

(Editor’s Note: Rick Courson is the owner of Cedar Bay Homes and specializes in custom, Built Green homes. A nationally recognized Green Building pioneer who speaks nationwide on the subject, he is also the current president of the Homebuilders Association of Kitsap County. He may be reached at (360) 698-8242 or R_Courson@msn.com.).