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green homes |
So
you are finally ready to join the green flooring products
realm. What took you so long? You
probably just realized that installing green flooring
in your home or office is less expensive than you thought. This article will
guide you with a few simple recommendations for flooring. Without telling you
what to buy, this article shares a few interesting tidbits about the eco-minded
flooring products you may not even know exist.
Well, just like any other product you put in your home, you
get what you pay for. Yes, eco-friendly flooring products, especially bamboo
flooring can be inexpensive, but it is manufacturing that counts. Honestly,
price is the absolute first consideration most consumers take into
consideration. So let’s address that topic first.
First, take the eco-friendly aspect out of the picture. You
can honestly compare green flooring products such as bamboo to traditional
hardwoods. However, this only comes into play when you are buying quality bamboo
and green flooring materials. Quality of the actual material used is the factor
that allows you to compare say bamboo to maple. There’s cheap maple out there
too folks.
So, why go with green flooring products and materials? It
is ethical and promotes the health of our rainforests and over-forestation that
takes place so heavily in places like
South America.
You are also probably finally considering eco-friendly
flooring products because new strict guidelines are starting to take shape that
create the highest quality bamboo and other sustainable materials to be
manufactured. Bamboo is indeed evolving into an amazing, high quality flooring
option, even if you were not aware of the eco-friendly background of this
product. Bamboo, however des mature the fastest. While it does mature rapidly
with a couple of years or so, a 5 year or more maturity is recommended for the
best quality. Now, let’s consider more than bamboo.
There are several choices out there for green flooring and
eco-home materials, but you should have a priority. You should want your new
floor to promote the planet’s health at the highest level possible. You want to
use a product that is eco-friendly and that comes from a sustainable source. But
you also want to have something natural, beautiful, and stylish. This is what we
are talking about.
Fortunately there are several other species of exotic woods
(other than bamboo) used for hardwood flooring that is harvested and
manufactured by trustworthy companies that have the environment’s health at core
of their business.
Whether you go with Bamboo or even Brazilian Cherry, be
absolutely certain the exact product and company has a LEED rating. This rating
standard assures you that the hardwood is harvested in a responsible,
sustainable manner. If you do not go with bamboo (which is the most sustainable
flooring product on the market today) cherry (only LEED rated) is also a great
choice for flooring.
Cork is also a green flooring
product that regenerates very rapidly. The eco-friendly thing about cork is that
the trees do not have to be cut down to harvest the material. Cork is actually
the bark of the cork tree. Skillfully trained wood workers remove just about all
the entire covering of bark from the tree, and in about nine years, it's ready
to be harvested again.
A couple of other choices that are not necessarily in the
earth-friendly spotlight (yet that is) you might want to research are Coconut
and Lyptus (which is a cross mixture of two different eucalyptus species). While
not as fast growing as bamboo Lyptus is ready for harvest after 15 years.
Remember traditional hardwood trees take 30 to 40 years. Lyptus is
cost-effective and durable as hardwood flooring goes and takes well to dye.
Coconut is also an option, but it comes with higher premium baggage. Though the
Coconut tree can be harvested similarly to bamboo (in just 6 short year), most
trees are used for the actual edible coconut they produce and not for flooring.
Coconut tress produce fruit for up to 80 years, hence the premium.
Well, when buying green flooring materials there is much to
consider as far as product is concerned. Please do not forget that glue, stain,
dye and other constructing and finishing materials should also be green minded.
Another factor in the final cost regarding installation of an eco-friendly
flooring product must consider non-toxic finishing materials. Again, you get
what you pay for. Material is inexpensive but many times you could possibly
spend more on the eco-friendly finishes. Our recommendation is find a green
flooring material that is eco-friendly from harvest to installation. Check out
the companies we recommend below…
Not a
completely green flooring company, but trustworthy as far as their standards go
on existing eco-minded flooring products. Competitive pricing and FREE SAMPLES
at
Build Direct.
Author: Amy
Wermuth
TIPS for a GREEN HOME
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