Originally Posted by
canopy
Just noticed this thread. I think using those trees for posts will look great and natural and is something that is extremely rare this day in age. It's a real shame though they ruined the bottom level by making it that low. Even if one can clear it or duck it will at best be claustrophobic even sitting down. Think MBK where they sell the phones. Probably best way to salvage it is to close it up and make it a storage room.
I have some experience with bamboo rebar so peaked my interest to see what they are doing there. Sadly, many mistakes were made in this regard and this is the kind of thing that gives bamboo a bad name unnecessarily:
-For many reasons, bamboo should never be less than 2" (5cm) from the bottom. In this case laying it flat on the ground is simply ridiculous. It won't do much of anything there and will quickly rot and disappear.
-Bamboo can achieve the same reinforcement strength as steel. But to get sufficient strength there needs to be a lot more of it. In this case the bamboo spacing is too wide and thus too weak for this slab.
-Except under special circumstances bamboo rebar needs a coating. When concrete is poured over it, bamboo will absorb water and slowly expand as the concrete sets. This can damage and crack concrete. Then it will slowly dry and shrink back leaving loose, weak joints in weakened concrete.
-I can't tell for sure from the photos but it appears the slab is too thin for bamboo usage which has a minimum depth where it becomes effective.
One thing they did get right is using splints of that size. Well overall since they just laid bamboo on the floor it probably is about the same as doing nothing at all so no harm I suppose, just a waste of time and false sense that it is doing something.