Building with Bamboo

This is Northern Thailand, Li, Lamphun, also known as longan land. The bamboo here is not used as construction material although it should. The bamboo is primarily used to support longan trees. I intend to change that. The most difficult part about using bamboo, is bamboo preservation. There are many methods to proof or preserve:

• Cover burn proofing
  • Pros
    • Highly effective.
    • Protects against bugs, mold, fire etc.
  • Cons
    • Usage of gas or other compounds to create fire.
    • Creates bad air qualtiy.
    • The bamboo will smell for a while.

Cover burned bathroom door constructed in November 2018 and still in perfect condition:

Example of cover burning hardwood.

• Using salts to preserve bamboo (Article on salt water preservation). Harvest and penetration of bamboo with metal rod so the salts can enter the bamboo from the inside (Guadua Bamboo Harvest and Treatment Process).
  • Pros
    • There is very little pollution from the process if the salts are handled correctly.
  • Cons
    • Salts are chemicals and we don't know how they might contaminate the environment if not handled correctly.
    • Might not penetrate the bamboo to be as effective as burn proofing

Pressurized salt preservation:

• Wash out starches (sugars) from the bamboo in a river
  • Pros
    • Easy process not harmful to the environment.
  • Cons
    • Unknown efficacy.

Check out my videos about bamboo.

Great bamboo instructions: 

And a bit fun at the end. Check out this guy using a single piece of bamboo as a boat. :-O