bamboo poles for building with

hey guys hows it going? i am looking for a place that sells bamboo poles for building with. over the winter time im gonna be building a patio over hang in my back yard and would like to use bamboo poles for the main supports. any help would be greatly appreciated.

thanks
trevor

ps im located in So Ca

Take a look at Benson's Imports

and Oceanic Arts (of course),

as well as Frank's Cane and Rush Supply.

All three here in Southern California.

I'm no expert on the structural strength of bamboo, there are people on this forum like Bamboo Ben who make a living with it, I would ask an expert.

That said most of load bearing supports that I have seen that look like bamboo are not. They have steel inside them or they are something else made to look like bamboo.

There was a posting in the constructing tiki section on how to make metal pipes and tubular metal support structures look like bamboo. Someone even did it to a mountain bike and made it look like bamboo. I looks very good, people think it is real until they touch it.

Make a ridge every foot or so on the pipe using Bondo putty like for repairing cars. Sculpt the ridges with a putty knife and score it across the middle with dental floss to make like it look authentic. Paint the entire pole bamboo tan, and lightly air brush or spray paint the ridges with a darker shade. You could even bring real bamboo sample you like into the paint store and have them color match it for you.

[ Edited by: captnkirk 2009-11-16 11:20 ]

Others:

http://www.islandthatch.com

http://www.calibamboo.com/

Check out this Faux Bamboo ("Shamboo") site. It could be used to cover structural steel.

Go to this site http://www.bamboocraft.net/forums/index.php
They deal with bamboo only.
How to grow it, where to buy it, how to work with it, ECT...
If you join and ask this question there you should get some good answers.

It seams like large bamboo is lashed with rope in many spots
to keep the spilting down, and it looks good this way as well.

Good thing you are in Cali.
Try getting large bamboo in Ohio!!

Good luck!
Show pics.