BT Bamboo by EcoFlooring
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 10. 7.05
Last month we ran a piece on bamboo, saying buyer beware, not all supplies are the best they could be. EcoFlooring in Australia could put up a case for their BT Bamboo addressing many of the issues that Lloyd raised. They suggest their goods are from a Chinese supplier, who has been in the laminated bamboo floor business for over 10 years, and is ISO 9002 accredited for quality. Furthermore only mature Chinese Mao bamboo is used, harvested from bamboo forests monitored by the Chinese Department of Forestry. Apparently the adhesives are Finnish based Dynea 8000, which does not contain urea-formaldehyde.
And water based coatings are free of "halogenated hydrocarbons, heavy metals, herbicides, insecticides, pesticides and formaldehyde." However, when they claim the glues and adhesives “meet international environmental standards – ISO 14000”, we do get a little cautious. (The 14000 series standards are normally applied to management practices, not directly to materials.) On the hardness issue, they must be aware of concerns because they remark, "Many new or less experienced companies may be buying bamboo stalks that are not mature and therefore not as hard and as durable." For their line however they offer a 10 year guarantee of structural integrity. And Ecoflooring do provide a line of non-carbonised bamboo and have had good feedback from high traffic department stores, who have endured many high heeled customers traipsing over their bamboo flooring. And indeed report many admiring enquries from the same customers. As always, it pays to ask for background on the product you’re purchasing. ::EcoFlooring Australia
