Worried About Durability?

Bamboo decking may not have been something you would have considered as a viable material for your deck.  But exterior grade bamboo is now available - and with a 20 year limited warranty.  More on that later.  But first...

You have probably looked closely at other more common products like composites, or pressure treated, cedar and exotics.  So what makes bamboo different? Let's take  a closer look.

The first thoughts people have are often:

What is it?
How durable will it be?
How does it do in different climates?

All great questions and exactly what I set out to try to find some answers on and get a better idea of the future of bamboo decking in the residential deck world. 

Things Have Changed Over The Last Five Years

As little as five years ago, there was not really any proven bamboo decking material for outdoor applications.

Early products from other manufacturers that were around five years ago have long since disappeared because of the demanding outdoor conditions. 

What was needed was a re-think on how to manufacture bamboo decking so as maximize all its great attributes - and minimize it's weaknesses.

A Few Things You Probably Never Knew

• Denser than Ipe
  
• Consistently clear grain
• Sealed and stained easily
• High insect and decay resistance
• Class A fire rating ASTM E-84
  
• Highly stable when manufactured properly
• Harvested every 3-5 years vs 15-50 years for most other wood
• Absorbs 4 times as much carbon dioxide as hardwood.

Install It Like Indoor Flooring

Strong enough to end match grooved boards between joists.  This means less waste, less cutting, and faster installations similar to regular flooring.

Two Types Of Bamboo You May Have Heard Of For Decking And Outdoors

There are solid laminated lengths or strand woven pieces. They are very different and it's very important to know the differences before you buy.

Solid bamboo

This is the preferred material for outdoor decks. The boards are made from solid long lengths of bamboo.

They are then laminated together with glue under high pressure. These are proprietary and usually patented processes. They are more stable. They don't split or break apart.

Strand Woven

This is the kind of bamboo you will most commonly see in the indoor flooring market. 

It is made of smaller individual chips of bamboo and is not designed to be able to endure the demands of extreme heat, moisture or cold.

        Photo courtesy of J&L Bamboo Products

So you should just try to avoid this kind of material for a deck application.  There aren't any like this on the market in North America but if you ever did see some, stay away.

And now Composite Bamboo

Yes, composite bamboo decking is here and doing well.  Read about the very latest product advances in this category.

Environmental Effects Of Harvesting Bamboo

Bamboo is actually a member of the grass family and grows incredibly fast - one to four inches a day!  And it is ready for harvest within five years.

If you buy from a manufacturer that either owns its own land and farms its own bamboo, you can then be assured you are supporting an industry that is operating in a environmentally sustainable manner. 

A manufacturer like Dasso XTR has its own bamboo farms allowing it to control and maintain the land. On the other hand, Southern Pine is harvestable at the earliest around fifteen to twenty years. Cedar or Spruce takes fifty to seventy years.  

Maintenance

Bamboo decking and siding boards are a manufactured product which gives them amazing consistency but they are still a natural material. 

As such, they will age and fade to a grey patina and perform similar to other exotic hardwoods.

This means to keep warranties valid the boards must be end sealed at the time of installation with something like Anchorseal and stained and finished with a penetrating oil like Penofin or Messmers. 

So like other hardwoods, there will be some maintenance required but nothing compared to cedar or treated pine. 

Shorter Six Foot Lengths

Bamboo that comes in consistent 6' lengths and with grooves on the ends of boards means its very easy to manoeuvre on the job site. 

You can quickly lay down boards and just keep installing them end to end because the wood is so strong the ends can match between joists. You waste far less material.  You spend less time planning board layout and cutting.

No Random Lengths For Less Wasted Material And Money

Hardwoods come in a variety of lengths.  You have to sort them out.  They are very heavy and cumbersome to work with.  Composite boards are consistent lengths but very heavy also.

With hardwood and composite decking you will consistently lose ten to fifteen percent in waste.  Your cost of material per foot goes up. Remember this.

Cost Comparison

Good quality exterior bamboo will be similar but usually a bit less than 5/4" grooved Ipe in cost which can range from about $4.40 to $4.90 a lineal foot.  So bamboo in small quantity might cost about $4.50 or as low as $3.99 a foot in larger quantities.

Actual Cost Can Climb Depending On Wasted Material

There is a lot of planning that goes into designing the dimensions of a deck to maximize the efficiency of the materials used so as to match it up with the random hardwood lengths or the standard lengths of composites.

All perfectly do-able but more time and planning required in order to keep waste as low as possible.

But when you can lay down bamboo boards one after the other regardless of where joists are, your waste is minimized because the end of one board that is cut can be used on the end of the next run of boards keeping wasted material as low as possible.