Cleaning and Maintaining a Bamboo Deck

Bamboo is a strong, woody type of grass that is ideal for making an extremely hard-wearing terrace and decking boards. A bamboo deck gives your garden a natural look and can take a real beating. However, an outdoor bamboo floor can become dirty and grayish over time. Proper maintenance and a solid installation are important for keeping your deck looking as beautiful as possible. But how do you do that?

Why is maintenance important?

Leaves, pollen, frost, rain, or plenty of sunlight: they are not the best friends of your bamboo floor. Different weather conditions have a major influence on the appearance of bamboo boards. As a result, decking boards weather, become dirty, and can develop splinters and cracks. There are, of course, ways to cover your deck to protect it from the elements, but with outdoor decking boards this is usually not a preferred option.

New bamboo decking board

A solid construction of your deck is important for keeping a terrace looking beautiful. In addition, it’s important to choose the right decking board. Bamboo Import’s NANO and THERMO decking boards are the ideal choice for building a terrace. The boards are made of compressed bamboo fibers using a special, patented treatment process. This makes them the strongest, hardest, and most durable decking material on the market.

Our bamboo decking boards are pre-oiled and extremely durable: 25 years in direct contact with the elements is no problem. Thanks to its patented treatment, the bamboo flooring is also not damaged by rot, mold, or insects. With both decking boards, you can choose the grooved or smooth side of the board. Do you prefer the smooth side? Then any potential deformation due to weather exposure may be more visible.

Maintenance of bamboo decking

As with tropical hardwood, bamboo decking boards will weather over time. That’s why it’s necessary to maintain outdoor bamboo decking boards with a special outdoor decking oil at least once a year. We developed our Outdoor Bamboo Shield oil specifically for this purpose.

Outdoor Bamboo Shield oil can be used both for maintenance and for the initial treatment of new and already-oiled bamboo boards. It provides a strong water- and dirt-resistant surface, UV protection, and delays the formation of fungus and algae. Does your outdoor bamboo decking need refreshing? Applying Outdoor Bamboo Shield oil will bring back the original color and bamboo grain on a weathered bamboo deck.

Cleaning your bamboo decking

In addition to applying maintenance products, cleaning your bamboo terrace or patio is always a good idea. Keep your bamboo deck clean by removing all leaves and other loose dirt with a broom. You can also reduce splintering and roughness on the decking boards by cleaning them with a special silicon carbide broom, or a machine with a silicon carbide disc.

It’s often recommended to clean your terrace to help preserve your deck. You can do this by rinsing the decking boards with warm water together with a mild detergent. This way, you can easily remove all dirt from the deck with a non-metallic, stiff brush. Rinse the deck again with plenty of water and let the boards dry completely. Apply a coat of Outdoor Bamboo Shield to restore the color to its natural state. Only do this once everything is dry: both the decking boards and the weather conditions need to be dry. After treatment with the oil, no rain should fall on it for at least 48 hours.