Sparrow Peak Bamboo Vertical Grain 72-in x 25-in x 1.75-in Unfinished Natural Straight Bamboo Butcher Block Countertop

Really good stuff

This review is about the quality of the material rather than how I liked it as a countertop. I used this material to build an electronics equipment rack for our home theater because of this wood's inherent low mechanical-resonance properties. The old rack I used for over a decade had the typical commercially-available glass shelving; while aesthetically pleasing, it literally rang like a bell [see image 1]. Using bamboo eliminated all of this nasty source of interference plus it is very ecologi...

Great look, natural or stained!

I used this for a built in hutch and it came out great with a dark ebony stain. I did and recommend using the pre-stain. The biggest issue I had was after cutting to size there are some random voids of material inside the layering. They can be filled in with scrap slivers of material but make sure you look for them. I also had an issue with a couple spots taking stain as my cut line was in between layers exposing glue. This is solved by sanding down slightly until you get to the next layer of so...

8 Feet of Cupped Board

This thing is beautiful, it really is. The problem was that when it arrived I wasn't ready for it. I waited a few weeks, then opened it to discover it had been dropped on the corner at some point, delaminating a portion and worse, breaking the airtight plastic. That was the first time I saw the sign stating it needs to be sealed within 48 hours, too. I immediately grabbed mineral oil to liberally coat all six sides, not noticing until the following day that it had already begun cupping on on...

Beautiful but different to work with

I bought 2 8ft and 1 10ft counters for a kitchen refit. The raw product looks great. Solid, very little cupping or bowing. Unfortunately one of my counters was damaged on one side, so that’s the underside. No big deal. I would warn that Bamboo is quite hard to work with. The fibres tend to lift easily before they are fully finished. I used painter tape on my cut line to reduce tear-out which worked, but just peeling the tape back pulled up a chunk of fibres on my presentation side. I ended up in...

Had bugs in them

I ordered these online from Lowe’s. When I unwrapped them they had bugs crawling out of them. Lowes said they came straight from the manufacturer, but that doesn’t change the bugs. I had to send them back and get something different. And I promise you that headache in and of itself would have me rethink the whole counter replacement. Don’t buy these if you want to keep your sanity and time.

Crushes easily on edges

This countertop seems to be very fragile on the edges. Haven’t installed yet, but this arrived with one of the sides slightly crushed. Ordered a countertop width as well and that one was crushed in 3/4” and splintering. Had to return and re-order.

Beautiful countertop at a great price

Use caution when hand sanding a cut edge. Bamboo splinters are sharp, long and strong. They can also peel up requiring a drop of glue to hold it back down. I had to cut it slightly for length and width so used the cutoff as a back splash.

Shipment is a problem.

The product was a bamboo countertop. Outer damage to packaging was a concern. Response from Lowe’s staff was dismissive, “Yeah, this stuff gets banged up in transit a lot.” Inspection after opening showed a major gouge in the surface of one side. Fortunately, both sides are useable.

Quality Countertop

Well made, VERY HEAVY, sold wood thru & thru. Looks like a mahogony core. Expected MDF. Pleasant surprise. We coated it with several coats of clear polyurethane sanding with 220 grit in between. we could’ve used a food grade oil, too. A beautiful renovation of our laundry room/pantry.

Countertop

We purchased these countertops to use as craft desks. I put 5 coats of Polyurethane on them and added legs. They are beautiful, solid and great work spaces. I was surprised by how heavy and solid they were. They were a great solution to our need.