How to Add Shade and Privacy to Your Home’s Exterior

How to Add Shade and Privacy to Your Home's Exterior

A backyard should be a comfortable oasis. You should be able to escape there after a long day without squinting through the sunshine or worrying about the wandering eyes of nosy neighbors. If you want to turn your backyard into a concealed haven, you need to know how to add shade and privacy to your home’s exterior.

When it comes to learning how to add privacy in an appealing way and creating shady areas in your yard, there’s a lot to consider. This guide includes things to think about as you design your perfect backyard and unique ways to add some quiet and shade.

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How to Install a Bamboo Fence

How to Install Bamboo Fence

Are you hoping for a way to personalize your yard with aesthetic or useful boundaries that provide a practical architectural use while also conveying a refreshing style? If you’re thinking about putting in a fence for your space, you probably have at least one idea of how it can better the grounds of your commercial property or residence, but fence installation will provide you with numerous benefits around your exterior, especially when it comes to building a bamboo fence.

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From bamboo basics to step-by-step instructions on installation, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about how to install a bamboo fence.

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Bamboo Poles: Stronger Than You Think

Bamboo is proven to be a reliable building material and is widely regarded as one of the most sustainable building materials in the world. It’s been used as an alternative to wood for thousands of years, and it has the durability to last many, many years while withstanding the elements — but just how strong is bamboo?

How Strong Is Bamboo?

Bamboo’s strength is often underestimated. When you first look at it, it is not as impressive in size as a tree, and it doesn’t seem like it could be as strong as steel. Additionally, you probably wouldn’t believe that bamboo could stack up against concrete or be comparable to a material like the futuristic and strong carbon fiber. However, one of the most impressive qualities of bamboo is its strength. Let’s look at some facts about bamboo durability compared to other common building materials.

Wood vs. Bamboo

Over the years, bamboo has emerged as a sustainable alternative to wood because it is strong, grows fast, is long-lasting and is fully recyclable. While bamboo is technically a type of grass, it is actually three times stronger than timber. It also has a higher tensile strength, so it can withstand more tension or stretching pressure before breaking.

Additionally, bamboo takes around three years to mature, which means it can regenerate quickly after being harvested. Trees, meanwhile, can take decades to reach maturity. Building with bamboo lessens environmental impact without compromising strength or longevity.

Bamboo vs. Other Building Materials

Bamboo has some impressive qualities that allow it to keep up with and even exceed the traits of other popular building materials like carbon fiber and concrete.

For example, some species of bamboo have a greater tensile strength than steel and can withstand compression better than concrete. Bamboo structures can also withstand harsh weather conditions like earthquakes, snowfall and hurricanes, making building with bamboo an appealing option.

If all of that wasn’t enough, bamboo accomplishes all of this while being far more flexible and malleable than any of the other materials we just mentioned, and it maintains the same strength as carbon fiber at a fraction of the cost! Bamboo is an amazing resource that provides spectacular durability benefits while being one of the most renewable building materials on the planet. As mentioned, bamboo grows much faster than trees and is most certainly easier to harvest than steel or concrete is to create.

The Amazing Benefits of Bamboo

Bamboo is one of Earth’s greatest resources and is a wonderful alternative to many of the building materials that most of us would think couldn’t be replaced! Furthermore, no resource that can boast the same reliability is nearly as renewable and eco-friendly as bamboo, and few materials are as beautiful. Let’s dive into some of the plant’s many benefits for building.

Durability

How durable is bamboo? Well, bamboo has proven itself to be a very strong and reliable building material throughout history, and there’s science to support this claim. Whenever bamboo faces off against other staples in the building material industry, it consistently outperforms them in strength and flexibility.

bamboo poles

Bamboo has a high strength-to-weight ratio, meaning it’s deceptively strong despite its light weight. Plus, when treated properly, bamboo becomes resistant to rot, decay and pests, adding to its durability.

Cost-Effectiveness

When thinking about the projects around your own home, there is simply no other material on earth that can offer the immense strength and durability of bamboo at the same cost-effective price. The plant’s affordability is primarily due to the rapid speed at which it grows. Since it reaches maturity in as little as three years, there is always an abundant supply ready for harvesting.

Eco-Friendliness

Bamboo is an incredibly sustainable material. It is renewable and recyclable, and cutting it actually stimulates growth. So, the more bamboo that gets harvested, the faster it grows.

Bamboo can also adapt to disturbed soils, reduce erosion and improve soil fertility. And we have to mention how bamboo stores and absorbs atmospheric carbon dioxide, making it an effective solution for mitigating the effects of climate change. Overall, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more sustainable building material!

Simple Growing Process

One of the best things about bamboo plants is they’re fairly easygoing and can grow very quickly. Like other plants, they can thrive with the right amount of sunlight and water. However, because of their regenerative nature after harvest, it’s important to remember that some bamboo species can overtake a landscape and become challenging to remove.

Versatility

Outside of the construction industry, bamboo is incredibly versatile and used to produce many of today’s popular products, from bedsheets and towels to toothbrushes, rugs and phone cases. It is widely loved for its strength, softness and antifungal properties. The bamboo pulp is also used in its raw form to make paper-based products.

Take Advantage of the Strength of Bamboo

bamboo poles

For your next DIY project, take advantage of the fantastic benefits of bamboo and experience strength, cost-effectiveness, durability and eco-friendliness that you won’t find in any other material. Check out our:

Forever Bamboo provides great prices on a wide variety of high-quality bamboo materials you need to complete your project, and we will also provide support for any installation questions. Contact us today to get started!

 

5 Easy Ways To Decorate With Bamboo Poles

Bamboo is a versatile material that can be used for a variety of applications other than commercial building. Many home remodeling television shows and interior designers are choosing bamboo as the go-to decorative piece when achieving a minimalist look.

Bamboo poles are a great material to use for all your outdoor or indoor projects. Simply beautiful, they are versatile and perfect for many functions. Bamboo is also very eco-friendly and durable! Their durability also means that you’ll be using the bamboo poles for a long time and don’t need to replace it as often.

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Why Bamboo Fencing is Great for Small Spaces

Designing for small spaces can be tricky. Too many decor pieces makes the space look smaller and cluttered. On the other hand, too little decor makes the space look sparse and does not make it seem any more spacious. Bamboo fencing is a great design piece that barely takes up any space yet adds a huge impact to any area. The fencing can be used outdoors for small backyards or balconies. We’ll also show you how to use it inside as well! Bamboo fencing comes in many different heights and colors which makes it very versatile for any styles. This beautiful resource is also eco-friendly as well if you’re looking into environmentally conscious designs.

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How to Care for Bamboo Products

While we primarily think of bamboo’s uses outdoors, as in fencing and construction, oftentimes we forget that bamboo can just as easily transform the indoors into a tropical paradise as well.  However, as with anything else, bamboo products must be cared for and maintained.  Here are some simple tips to care for just about anything made of bamboo:

**Note: The word “furniture” is used to denote any bamboo construction.  This can include bamboo rugsbamboo signs and tiki masks.**

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Quickly Create a Tropical Backyard Paradise

Not only is bamboo an environmentally friendly building material and sustainable resource, but it can also be used to quickly, easily and economically decorate your yard into an endless tropical vacation. This can be done by adding fences, rugs, walls or even a festive “Aloha” sign. Whatever you may choose to do, Forever Bamboo has a plethora of ideas to transform your backyard into a tropical paradise.

 

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How To Install a Bamboo Border

Bamboo is very versatile and can be used for both indoor and outdoor purposes. If you need to add an extra something to your yard, garden, or bottom of your wall in replace of a baseboard, bamboo functions as a great alternative.

Bamboo is one of the earth’s most renewable resources. When harvested properly, bamboo does little or no environmental damage.

A bamboo border fence is the logical choice for separating the grassy area of a yard from the tilled soil of a flower or vegetable garden, but you don’t have to be limited to a run-of-the-mill square or rectangular gardening plot. Instead of fending off a corner of your yard, why not create a few different circular sections throughout the area? Because border fencing is assembled using wire made from galvanized steel, it is flexible and can encircle garden spots of practically any shape. Plant red and pink flora in a heart-shaped plot, and put lush, green foliage inside a four-leafed clover, both edged with an attractive bamboo border. Make diamonds, stars, or abstract shapes–whatever you desire to liven up an otherwise common yard.

It is easy to find pre-assembled bamboo border sections.

An example of a ready-made panel thanks to www.foreverbamboo.com:

1” diameter bamboo poles that have been capped and connected with heavy gauge stainless steel wire. Each panel preassembled in 1’ tall by 8’ long sections and staggered. There are uneven or staggered options or even (the height is the same all the way across) styles. Continue reading How To Install a Bamboo Border

Bamboo Borders

Bamboo is one of the earth’s most renewable resources. When harvested properly, bamboo does little or no environmental damage. Varieties; from bush-like cattle fodder to towering stems (culms), offer many advantages when it comes to setting a tone for your landscape.

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