Your TL;DR doesn't do the answer justice IMO, especially the "Lumber" section. It's not just that they're different, it's that lumber is more versatile because

Your TL;DR doesn't do the answer justice IMO, especially the "Lumber" section. It's not just that they're different, it's that lumber is more versatile because it's more easy to shape it to fit your design. I don't know anything about woodworking (or bamboo-working for that matter) but if I am to trust this Quora answer it seems that bamboo is only really good if you want bamboo-shaped elements. Otherwise you need highly processed bamboo to emulate the versatile lumber boards: >The process is fairly involved. Typically, bamboo is harvested, leached in water to remove starches (so it does not rot so quickly) or boiled in hydrogen peroxide (or both), dried, and baked at high temperature to darken its color. Sliced into thin strips, it is arranged in layers, usually with some degree of weaving to improve strength, mixed with resins, and then subject to high temperature and pressure to set the epoxy.[10] The resulting “board” is then stained and sealed, much like a regular hardwood floor.