Bamboo Dimensional Lumber? "Lumboo" Is Here

Dimensional lumber has defined the “stick-built” home for decades, but bamboo stalks were used for centuries before 2x4s came along. Now a trendy green material, bamboo is angling in on its old turf.

Cali Bamboo, a maker of bamboo flooring and other products since 2004, launched Lumboo, a product line of dimensional bamboo lumber, in March 2010, four years after beginning development of the product. Like other bamboo wood products currently sold, Lumboo is manufactured by gluing strips of bamboo together into a block (see EBN Mar. 2006). According to Jeff Goldberg, Cali Bamboo CEO, although Lumboo is in production, the company has not firmly settled on a binder, but he said it will probably be phenol-formaldehyde based and urea-formaldehyde-free.

This block of strips is mechanically compressed under hundreds of thousands of pounds of pressure in a process that makes the product denser. The blocks are milled into 1x4, 2x4, 2x6, and 4x4 products, although due to the strength of the product, the actual sizes are much smaller than their nominal sizes (see table). Lumboo is made in China and distributed from several points in the U.S. directly by Cali Bamboo.

Lumboo has not undergone formal testing for code listing from the International Code Council (ICC), and is currently being sold by Cali Bamboo for fencing, said Goldberg. He told EBN that decking and even framing lumber in homes are on the horizon, however, especially if the company can bring the price down. Due to its density, Lumboo won’t take nails and should be pre-drilled. It can be cut with a normal miter saw but a sharp blade is recommended.

Cali Bamboo claims that Lumboo is termite-resistant, noting on its website that “The high silica content of bamboo cannot be digested by termites.” Goldberg said that Cali Bamboo does not have testing data to support that claim (or any testing on overall decay resistance), noting that it is a well-known attribute of bamboo. The possible decay resistance of Lumboo is intriguing, and EBN looks forward to data from Cali Bamboo on both structural properties and decay resistance.

– Tristan Roberts

For more information:

Cali Bamboo
www.calibamboo.com

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Bamboo in Construction: Is the Grass Always Greener? EBN: Feature - March 2006

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IMAGE CREDITS:
1. Photo: Cali Bamboo
2. (no credit)

DISCUSSIONS There are no comments for this page yet. Log in to add comments RELATED ARTICLES Bamboo in Construction: Is the Grass Always Greener? EBN: Feature - March 2006 RELATED CSI LISTINGS Engineered Wood Framing Products CSI Section 06 11 13

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