Flooring - first it's cut into strips, then boiled in a solution to remove the starchy compounds, then dried and pressed, then planed down for a lamination process, laminated (using typically more epoxy than other lumber-based laminates), then cut into the final form for the end user. Bamboo is a grass, and it's hollow - it neither looks nor handles like real lumber. It's often touted as a "greener" alternative to lumber - given the amount of energy and additives I'm not so sure this is the case: I would love to see someone actually do an analysis of this.