Add Bamboo For Tropical-Themed Walls

Bamboo wall covering is essential if you really want to ramp up the authenticity of your tiki-themed basement or rec room, or if you just want an attractive, "natural" look for the walls in your house (or outside your house, for that matter). That is because bamboo is perhaps the quintessential construction material of the Pacific islands.

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Why Bamboo?

As a construction material, Bamboo has been renowned in East and South Asia, and the Pacific Islands, for millennia. It is relatively light, durable, and--most importantly of all--it grows at a super-fast rate of as much as 3-4 feet per day. That kind of growth is is almost visible to the naked eye. Bamboo is also extremely hardy. It can also grow virtually anywhere, whether high in the freezing Himalayan mountains, or in the heat of sub-Saharan Africa. It can grow as far north as Sakhalin (latitude 50 degrees N) or as far south as Chile (latitude 47 degrees S). What that means in practice is that residents of the warm Pacific Islands could (and still can) afford to make basically every building out of bamboo.

Outside of the Pacific Islands covering your walls with bamboo will give your interior that subtle but unmistakable look that is associated with the South Pacific. Visitors entering an interior with bamboo-covered walls may find themselves calmed and thinking of the tropics without quite knowing why.

Bamboo Wall Covering Options

Bamboo is an extremely versatile building material, and bamboo wall coverings come in several forms. First, you can purchase flat slats or bricks that are made of bamboo. These can be up to 9 feet in length, and are usually supposed to adhere to your wall with glue. You can also attach them to the wall with molding going along the wall's top and bottom. Covering your wall with bamboo slats is similar to having a brick facade, except, of course, the facade is made out of bamboo.

Second, you can buy actual half-sections of bamboo trunk. The insides of these half-sections is filled with foam. These pieces of bamboo trunk are then nailed, glued, or screwed to the wall.

However, all the above options take a long time to install, and may look too "formal" for a fun, tiki bar setting. For a tiki bar, the best wall covering option is to buy woven bamboo mats by the foot. Mats? Yes. Bamboo can be cut into flexible strips that are then woven to make a sturdy, flexible, yet basically impenetrable barrier. After the mat is woven, the bamboo strips are treated with a variety of chemicals to make them water and fire-resistant. Bamboo mats are economic and versatile. They can be ordered in any size, and be made to cover your wall in a matter of hours. They also look truly casual, yet authentic--perfect for a tiki bar. Thus, for tiki bars, woven bamboo mats are the best kind of bamboo wall covering.