- Raw material: We use top-quality 4-6 years old bamboo harvested from controlled bamboo plantation. Younger bamboos aren`t structurally strong enough to be made into flooring and contains too much water, while the older bamboos are hard to process and easy to crack.
- Getting rid of Knots: The knots, tabasheer and the green surface of the raw bamboo materials have to be removed in this procedure, as these components will affect the bonding of glues.
- Boiling, Bleaching/Carbonizing: Bamboo sticks must undergo the process of anticorrosion treatment, such as boiling, bleaching and steaming, so as to eliminate all the insects inside and remove the protein and sugar inside which may lead to corrosion in future use. The colors can be changed in carbonizing procedure. The carbonizing procedure usually requires about 3.5 hours. It could be longer or shorter depending on the weather. And Under the condition of same pressure and temperature, the color will get darkened if the carbonizing time is longer.
- Shredding bamboo strips into filaments with fixed length. Shorter ones will be selected out in case of uneven density of the raw plank when they are compressed together.
- Drying. The shredded bamboo filaments will be dried for the first time. The natural bamboo filaments will be dried for 6 hours under temperature of 130-140 Celsius degree, while the carbonized bamboo filaments require 48 straight hours under same temperature.
- Sizing treatment, The filaments will be soaked in a tank containing the High-quality environmental-friendly adhesives mainly composed of phenol and formaldehyde, an alkali chemical additive will be added to reduce the formaldehyde emission to minimum in future use.(we reach the E0 standard which is less than0.5mg/L) The density of the glue vary according to the season. The density is higher when the weather is hotter. The natural filaments will be soaked for 30 minutes while the carbonized ones 20 minutes.
- Drying. The sized filaments will be put into a tunnel that is almost 100 meters long to be dried gradually. This process lasts about 50 minutes. After the filaments come out from another end. Then they will be properly laid aside for one day and get totally dried. The moisture level at this stage is very critical for future performance, if it is too low, the surface of the boards will suffer tiny splits and cracks, on the opposite, the boards will easily get warped or cupped. After numerous experiments, we find out the ideal moisture level at this stage is 18-22%
- Hot pressing. After the filaments are properly dried, they will be proportionally put into a square vessel for weighing, the density can be controlled in this way, as the volume of the vessel is fixed. The density of our strandwoven board is 1.3 kg/m3, which is 20% high than cold pressed boards. Harder density will ensure higher performance of the flooring. Then the vessel will be put into a large scale compressing machine that is 14 meters in height. It has 15 layers that can hold 15 vessels, It means we can compress 15 boards each time. The compressing machine will exert pressure weighing about 20MPA (2000 Metric Ton/m2) while the temperature will be gradually raised from normal to 135 Celsius degree.
- Quenching, tempering and Conditioning. After the raw planks come out of the compressing machine, they will be put aside in a cool place for 15 days. This is also a crucial stage, without conditoning, the pressure accumulated inside cannot be exerted and released, which will result to future structure defects.
- Size cutting. The ends will be cut first, then the boards will be cut widewise according to orders, finally the boards will be cut into two layers in the middle part.
- Drying and warehousing: Bamboo boards are dried to industry standards in kiln, carefully checked before processing and stored in a warehouse featuring controlled temperature and relative humidity. (Standard moisture range: 8%-12%) (Ultimate Flooring specifies a moisture range between 10-12%)
- Palletizing, conditioning, the boards will be palletized and put aside for another 15 days for conditioning.
- Precision milling: The planks are manufactured perfectly with a constant thickness and width. Perfect tongue and groove fit: Tongue-and-Groove on all four edges.
- Apply putty and sanding.
- Coating. All of our boards are coated with the high quality Treffert paint. Aluminum Oxide enhanced for abrasion resistance - 9 layers of primer coating and 2 layers of top coating and 2 layers coating at the back of the board - No solvents or formaldehyde. UV-cured.
- Integrated quality assurance: Every step of the manufacturing process is subjected to strict quality controls. Defect boards will be selected out before packing.
Ultimate Flooring
|
About Bamboo Floors
|
Bamboo Flooring
|
Bamboo Timber
|
Bamboo Floors
|
Bamboo Wood Floors
|
Bamboo Hardwood
|
Ultimate Flooring
|
|
