Re: [GBlist] flooring options

[Gloria <cybergams@mindspring.com>]

At 10:34 PM 8/29/01 -0500, The Gros family wrote:
>we are searching for inexpensive/appealing/non-toxic wood-board/panel 
>options (as the finish floor) for the second floor of our home.  the floor 
>structure will be trusses 16" on center.  we first thought of having a 
>hard-wood floor but we are looking at ways to cut our budget down.  a 
>friend has used some form of birch plywood with aluminum joints and it 
>looks fine but do all plywoods contain toxic elements?

Have you considered using PINE flooring? It is not nearly as expensive as 
hardwood, but it looks nice and wears well. If somehow it gets dinged, just 
sand it lightly and/or buff. It won't off-gas nasty chemicals into your 
home, it comes from trees that grow pretty fast, and it is a lot more 
environmentally friendly than using aluminum (mining and producing aluminum 
is much harder on the environment than growing and harvesting pine trees) 
and plywood. Yes, tree farms use up soil minerals, but short of killing 
ourselves we will all have *some* environmental impact in our lives (and 
even body disposal has environmental consequences <EG>). I used to live in 
a farm house built in the 1800s. It had pine floors in several rooms and 
they looked great. Our next house will definitely include pine floors, as 
my previous experience with them was very good.

HTH,


Gloria -- Organically Gardening in Illinois, USDA Zone 5B
Visit Our NEW Farm Website: http://hiddenoaksfarm.mybravenet.com/

Ingrid Newkirk, Founder, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA) :
"Six million Jews died in concentration camps, but six billion broiler 
chickens will die this year in slaughterhouses." (Washington Post, 1983)
(Interestingly, given her disgusting willingness to minimize the deaths of 
so many people, Hiltler's Nazi's were also pro-animal rights.)


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