Today, the global supply of hardwood is limited. Bamboo has been found to be a naturally beautiful and durable alternative. Actually bamboo is not a wood; it is a variety of grass. Having a bamboo counter top lends a tropical and exotic touch to your kitchen. It looks not only attractive, but is a very hard, strong and dimensionally stable material.

Strength of Bamboo

The main reason behind a bamboo's strength is that each strand of the grain is perfectly straight. It is the only tree which grows absolutely straight. It has no branches, and hence there are no knots. Though it is a light material, it is very stable and contracts and expands much less than wood.

It is possible to make a green bamboo counter top in the kitchen with bamboo structural planks or unfinished bamboo flooring planks. It is good fun making it and quite an accomplishable job.

An Easy Task

Make the bamboo counter top two inches thick. It gives a modern and long-lasting look in comparison to the bamboo planks with nosing edges which were used earlier. The colors available are natural and caramel. Make the bamboo counter top on site and then do the sanding and finishing, which are easy jobs. This can be done with regular urethane or epoxy resin, whatever you prefer.

Bamboo is clearly the best choice for durable countertop surfaces, because it is harder than maple. The thick stable sheets of bamboo are really beautiful and a green alternative to traditional wood counter tops. Do not use the bamboo counter top as a cutting surface. Bamboo cutting boards can be put on the countertops, which use special food-grade glues.

Various Styles

There are various styles available of the bamboo counter top. The sheets generally have a thickness of two inches. The sheets are constructed with cross-band laminates and several companies find that this is the best way to glue bamboo. Through this method the sheet is kept both flat and true and it reduces the tendency to twist or warp.

A bamboo counter top could then be constructed from vertical solid amber bamboo plywood, which is doubled up on the edges to make it one-and-a-half inch thick. For the top you can use a water based acrylic to coat the top. The vertical solid bamboo plywood is used here because it resembles solid wood and is an environment friendly choice for countertops.

The grain of the bamboo is important, and it can be traditional or parquet. The unfinished sheets are spliced together with non-toxic glue. The finishing could be done with mineral or walnut oil and the sealing is done with bee's wax in order to maintain the bamboo counter top. Both the flat grain and the vertical grain are available in the smaller sizes, whereas the caramelized parquet end grain is available in larger sizes.