| | Regardless of its botanical classification, what makes bamboo unique and why it's becoming more prevalent is the fact that it's highly renewable and sustainable.
Bamboo has the ability to grow and mature within about 7 years, sometimes sooner. Compare that to hardwood trees that take decades to reach the age when they can be harvested for lumber.
The bamboo plant also remains intact when the bamboo "culms" (the bamboo stalks) are harvested, allowing the regeneration of new culms for future harvests. Hardwood trees on the other hand are consumed at harvest.
Under proper management, bamboo plants provide a valuable building material quickly and sustainably, making bamboo a good choice for green cabinets.
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| Photo Courtesy of BambooCabinets.com |
Another benefit of bamboo is its hardness. While this attribute it certainly beneficial for flooring, it has its advantages with cabinets too. Cabinet doors and frames get banged around over time and the harder materials do better than softer ones.
Different Grain Orientation Provides Different Looks
Bamboo products come with three distinct appearances based on the bamboo's grain orientation. But describing bamboo's grain requires a little explanation of how bamboo 'boards' are made.
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| Photo Courtesy of BambooCabinets.com |
The hollow and relatively narrow stalks that characterize bamboo prevent it from being milled into wide planks like lumber from large trees. Rather, the bamboo stalks are sliced into strips and then laminated (glued) together to form boards and planks. The way tho...
