For high-traffic settings in businesses or homes, choose Teragren Synergy™ strand or Portfolio bamboo. Synergy™ and Portfolio strand flooring with Xcora™ technology is 154% harder than oak. Shown: Synergy™ strand Java.

 

Manufacturing process

Quality, from field to showroom floor

For Teragren bamboo products, the manufacturing process does not begin at the factory or in the fields. It begins with a business model that places responsibility for product development, manufacturing and sustainable practices squarely on our shoulders. We achieve our goals only by working with extremely qualified and highly committed distribution and retail partners.

We also believe in your peace of mind. All of our flooring products are FloorScore® certified, which means the floors and adhesives have both been rigorously tested for 78 VOCs and for compliance with indoor air quality emissions. All of our panels and select veneer are SCS Indoor Advantage™ Gold-certified, which means they comply with California Special Environmental Requirements Specification 01350, designed to ensure health through good indoor air quality. FloorScore® and IAG are two of the most stringent environmental standards in the world.

Optimum 5.5® Moso, a Teragren exclusive

Although there are more than 1,200 species of bamboo, Teragren specifies only Optimum 5.5 Moso (Phyllostachys pubescens) known for dense fibers that make beautiful, long-lived products. Our moso bamboo is grown in the Zhejiang and Jianxi provinces of China where the temperate climate nurtures particularly hard, strong bamboo. We insist that the bamboo we use is sustainably harvested at maturity, 5-1/2 to 6 years of age, to further ensure durability, color clarity and stability of our products.  FSC-certified bamboo products are now available - just ask!

Culling, cooking and caramelizing culms

At the factory, the bamboo is inspected for age, cracking, pests and general health with only the premium parts of the best culms selected for Teragren products. (The remainders are sold to other manufacturers so no bamboo culm is wasted.) Stalks are split into slats, planed to remove nodes (shavings are used later to fire our kilns), and boiled in a solution of water, hydrogen peroxide and borate to eliminate pests and mildew.

Moisture control, step 1

Bamboo is a natural material that, like other hardwoods, absorbs and loses moisture from the air around it. By fastidiously acclimating the slats at various points in the manufacturing process, we ensure optimal conditions for each phase of manufacturing which also ensures a more durable end product. Before manufacturing continues, slats are placed in the kiln drying room for several days, until they reach approximately 6 to 9 percent moisture content.

Grading and sorting

We inspect and sort slats by grain, quality, color consistency, thickness and length in order to bundle them for specific uses. For example, those with the most consistent grain and color are reserved for the visible top or "wear" layers of our flooring. Other slats—less beautiful, but no less durable—are slated for use as strong cores or substrates. Slats designated for use in Teragren Caramelized flooring are pressure-cooked in an autoclave. The longer the fibrous slats are heated, the darker the sugar compounds become, yielding a deep, rich caramel color in the finished flooring, panels, veneer, trim and butcher block countertops. After they are once again kiln-dried (moisture control, step 2) to approximately 6 to 9 percent moisture content, all the slats—natural and caramelized—are ready for lamination with environmentally safe adhesives.

Turning grass into hardwood

All bamboo stock is laminated before it is used to make flooring, trim, panels, veneer or butcher block. Teragren slats are laminated under mechanically controlled hydraulic pressure with environmentally safe adhesives, according to our stringent specifications. Depending upon how the slats are arranged before gluing, the resulting product "blanks" will be flat grain and others vertical grain.

To make Portfolio and Synergy™ strand bamboo flooring with Xcora™ technology, Teragren uses state-of-the-art hot press equipment and our proprietary formulas. Bamboo fibers are fused with an environmentally safe adhesive and compressed to form large sheets. As a result, Portfolio and Synergy™ strand with Xcora™ is 154 percent harder than red oak.

Environmentally friendly adhesives

Teragren's proprietary manufacturing adhesives emit 0.03 ppm or less of formaldehyde, less than allowed by U.S. OSHA, German E0, CARB Phase 1 and Phase 2, and Japanese JIS/JAP (F☆☆☆☆) emissions standards. Select products are also available formaldehyde-free.  The manufacturing adhesive used in Portfolio and Synergy™ solid-strip strand bamboo flooring qualifies for LEED® v3 IEQ Credit 4.4: Low-Emitting Materials—Flooring Systems. All of our floors have been tested for 78 VOCs and have achieved FloorScore® certification, one of the most stringent environmental standards worldwide. All of our panels and select veneer are SCS Indoor Advantage™ Gold certified, a standard than ensures that individual VOCs in the bamboo and adhesive do not exceed one-half the defined CREL threshold.

By special order, we can make most other non-qualifying Teragren products with an adhesive that also qualifies for the same LEED® credit. For more information, please contact us by phone at 800.929.6333 or via email.

From blank to plank

All blanks are stored in a humidity-controlled warehouse for two weeks to return to ideal moisture content (moisture control, step 3) before milling. Next, the bamboo blanks are cut into shapes, sizes and lengths, depending on the product line. For flooring, it is cut into lengths and milled to the proper profile (tongue-and-groove, Välinge-patented, self-locking system, etc.).

Performance panels

While manufactured in much the same way as bamboo flooring, bamboo panels present more of a challenge, and it is in panel production that Teragren's more than 15 years of experience comes into play. Through trial and error—and constant upgrading of high-quality equipment and proprietary adhesives—we now produce exceptional, sanded-four-sides panels for cabinetry, furniture, countertops and other millwork.

The colors of bamboo

Teragren bamboo products acquire their colorations by nature, by caramelization or by applied stain. Signature Naturals, Craftsman II and Studio bamboo flooring, as well as panels, veneer and our countertops/table tops, are made in Natural and Caramelized colors. Nothing else is done to achieve the subtle colors of Teragren Natural or Caramelized bamboo products.

Stains are applied to achieve the rich tones of Teragren Signature Colors bamboo flooring, stair parts and trim. Espresso, Cherry, Walnut and Charcoal flooring stains are applied mechanically for consistency of color and to allow us to manufacture high volumes of high-quality products.

Portfolio strand bamboo flooring with Xcora™ is available in ten designer colors and textures, including hand-scraped options.

Synergy™ strand bamboo flooring with Xcora™ is available in Wheat, the natural color of strand bamboo; Chestnut, the caramelized color; Java, an intriguing combination of light and dark caramelized fibers with a more exotic look; and Brindle, natural and caramelized fibers with more contrast than Java.

Finish, the first line of defense

Teragren manufactures prefinished and site-finished bamboo products. On our prefinished products, we use a water-based, solvent-free factory finish from Klumpp Coatings of Germany. There are seven layers of finish sitting atop every plank of prefinished Teragren flooring, including a UV sealer coat, the aluminum oxide coat to resist abrasion, and two layers of high-quality, scratch-resistant polyurethane. With polyurethane used as the two topcoats, future re-coating will be easier and will maintain the integrity of the aluminum oxide-treated base hardwood bamboo. Most Teragren prefinished flooring carries a 25-year residential/10-year heavy-use commercial finish warranty.

Moisture management pays off in performance

Why all the fuss about moisture? As with all hardwood, moisture content at delivery is key to avoiding problems such as warping and cupping after installation. Teragren's multiple moisture-control measures are designed so that our products arrive at your home or job site with a delivered moisture content of approximately 6 to 9 percent. The final moisture control step is taken at the installation site—the flooring should be allowed to acclimate where it will be installed.*
*Does not apply to Studio or Synergy™ floating floors.

High standards of quality assurance and environmental management

After our products are finished, we prepare them for shipping to our distributors. Every piece of Teragren bamboo flooring, stair parts, trim, panel, veneer and countertop/table top is inspected to avoid defects that might cause tear-outs or voids that result in delamination and other failures often encountered with lower-priced bamboo products. We rely on our stringent specifications, modern manufacturing processes and multiple quality control checks to ensure uniform quality and color of our products. We regularly have our products tested in independent U.S. laboratories so you can be confident that you will enjoy Teragren products for years to come.