Comments on: PHENOMENAL PLYBOO

By: akubotey

akubotey — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 04:24:37 +0000

great plyboo. can i know about processing the this plyboo??

By: treehuggie

treehuggie — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:33:24 +0000

As DIY’ers who have been living for nearly two years without flooring because we are renovating a nearly demo’d building without incurring debt (while I attend school no less) the prices for the product, though the quality may be superb, are absolutely out of range. We do splurge for the good of the earth when the costs are justified but this leaves us going back to the good ole standby, linoleum tiles. If it was good enough for grandma, it’s good enough for us.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 19:55:34 +0000

Well, I have been thinking of making my own countertops, and ran across a deal that I couldn’t refuse. I was planning on doing poured concrete, but ran across the plyboo 4′x8′ 3/4″ very, very, very cheap. And it isn’t anywhere near $210. It is marked down because it is not selling very well. I will let y’all know where it is once I secure me some for my project. :)

By: Ivan DeWolf

Ivan DeWolf — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 01:30:22 +0000

obviously, plyboo is currently more expensive than it might eventually be, costs generally go down not up on products. How low might it eventually get? Will it ever get down to the point where it’ll be able to compete with traditional plywood?

in the meantime, I just saw a kitchen counter made with plyboo, and it was worth the cost. I think I might pick up a sheet and make some display shelves.

By: Ramuj

Ramuj — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 08:01:15 +0000

wheewww….. i guess that (plyboo) is really expensive…. I am a student from the Philippines and it’s our new product for our feasibility study… I thougt that the price of this thing will differ in the raw materials that will be used and not with what is needed in the procedure like labor or machines used…. Will, as far as I know, bamboo is very abundant in the Philippines and i thought that it will help by making the Plyboo as a substitue to a common plywood….. Gosh!!! I stand corrected… Thanks……

By: Inhabitat » Blog Archive » ADAPT DESIGN’S SPRING CHAIR

Inhabitat » Blog Archive » ADAPT DESIGN’S SPRING CHAIR — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 04:02:57 +0000

[...] These sleek and sexy chairs are about as sustainable as you can get without sitting in the dirt. According to designer Anthony Marschak, the single curving piece of Plyboo minimizes the weight of the piece and minimizes waste of the materials. A good thing for the manufacturer given the expense of Plyboo. [...]

By: Inhabitat » Blog Archive » DESIGN A HOUSE OF BAMBOO!

Inhabitat » Blog Archive » DESIGN A HOUSE OF BAMBOO! — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 19:52:40 +0000

[...] The wonder material of bamboo continues to amaze us with its potential. From plywood, to salad bowls, to the ethereal structures of Kengo Kuma, this sustainable, structural grass seems to have endless possibilities. Now, Bamboo Living is sponsoring an international competition to design buildings out of bamboo. The competition is open to all students, architects, and designers, with the goal of raising awareness of the ecological benefits of using bamboo as both a material and a technology. [...]

By: Jill Fehrenbacher

Jill Fehrenbacher — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 14:17:00 +0000

Thanks Michael-

Point taken. I clearly didn’t research the cost of this product enough before I posted this, and I’m sorry you felt mislead. I’ve updated the post to reflect what I’ve learned from this debate, ie Plyboo is crazy expensive! Next time I’ll do better research!

By: michael

michael — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 12:24:00 +0000

Hey Jill,
It appears that most of the comments are generated by the fact that your readers, after getting really excited about this product found out that this stuff is through the roof expensive. I invested my time and excitement reading about plyboo because in your opening comments you told me it was “inexpensive”. I certainly felt cheated.
Instead of reacting to Kyle’s comments after the fact, why don’t you get proactive and just edit the copy so that those of us who aren’t interested in $200 a sheet plywood don’t waste our time.
Michael

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 18:43:00 +0000

You seem to be comparing apples and oranges. In addition to the cost of manufacturing, Bamboo plywood is a “lumber core” product. This means that it is all bamboo. If you were to price a similar product made from hardwood, you would soon find the price to be more in line. The majority of plywoods have only a thin veneer of the hardwood on the out side and less expensive woods or MDF in the interior. The fact is that you can get bamboo veneers over MDF for a fraction of the cost, if this satisfies your needs. I wish Porche sold their cars for the price of a Volkswagon, but they can’t.

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 03:39:00 +0000

This sounds like a good product. But, it has priced itself out of the market. Sorry, but I can’t afford this product.

By: ron

ron — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 22:42:00 +0000

I’d buy the stuff too but 200 bucks a sheet makes it yet another sustainable product that’s really just another luxury product for the rich.

By: Kyle

Kyle — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 21:30:00 +0000

Wow! Thanks for the explanation Sven!
I, like most people, don’t have the luxury of building shelves that are worthy of your quality product.
I hope that your product will soon be so successful that you can begin (environmentally friendly) mass production and bring the price down to Home Depotesque levels.
Thanks.

By: Sven Eberlein

Sven Eberlein — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 20:53:00 +0000

Hi folks,
Thanks for writing about our plyboo plywoods. Just wanted to chime in to hopefully explain why bamboo-ply (we try to not call it wood) sheet goods are more expensive than flooring. It’s certainly not because we are trying to rip anyone off. Making 4 & 8 sheets of bamboo ply is a lot more labor intensive than producing shorter flooring planks. It is all done by hand and you’re dealing with much longer strips and thus have to be much more precise in the layering process. Also, using this cold press process enables us to keep emission levels at zero, unlike most bamboo floors that are mass produced and often contain higher levels of formaldehyde. In short, bamboo-ply is more of a high quality product and you really get what you pay for. It certainly is higher quality than birch veneer plywood since you’re working with 100% solid bamboo rather than a plywood core with veneer.

I hope this helps.

Sven Eberlein,
Smith & Fong Plyboo

By: Jill Fehrenbacher

Jill Fehrenbacher — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 00:09:00 +0000

Hey Kyle-

I didn’t realize that sheets of this plywood cost most than birch veneer plywood. Thats unfortunate! I know the flooring stuff is pretty inexpensive. Lets hope as the demand increases the price will drop. There is no reason this stuff should be expensive. Bamboo is so easy to come by.