Selected physical properties of commercial bamboo flooring

Bamboo, an extensively used material in Asia, is becoming an increasingly available flooring material in the United States. The objective of this study was to evaluate some important properties of commercial bamboo flooring, such as specific gravity (SG), moisture content (MC), water absorption, dimensional stability, and hardness, and to compare bamboo flooring with commercial red oak flooring and laboratory-made laminated bamboo lumber (LBL). Based on the results of this study, bamboo flooring had a lower SG than red oak flooring but similar MC under standard test conditions. When submersed in water for 24 hours, the three commercial flooring products showed comparable water absorption performance. Exposure to 90 percent relative humidity (RH) for 3 weeks produced more dimensional changes than submersion in water for 24 hours. In general, bamboo flooring was more dimensionally stable than red oak flooring and LBL. The mean hardness of bamboo flooring was significantly greater than those of red oak flooring and LBL at 65 percent RH and a temperature of 21°C, but exposure to 90 percent RH and water submersion caused more hardness reduction in bamboo flooring than in red oak flooring and LBL.