Nuts and Bolts: Fab Floors

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Removing nails from and refinishing salvaged wood yourself is cheaper, but requires more time. If you’d rather pay a professional to do the work, try buying prefinished flooring from a company that specializes in refurbishing old wood.

If you’re going for new wood flooring, make sure it’s certified by the FSC, a third-party agency that ensures eco-friendly standards are met (www.FSCUS.org). FSC flooring often costs a bit more per square foot, but you can find it for prices comparable to conventional.

Put a cork on it

Cork flooring is warm, soft and resilient underfoot, and it holds heat and dampens sound better than wood, bamboo or linoleum. Cork resists mold and mildew growth and is fire retardant.

It takes the Mediterranean cork oak tree about 25 years to mature enough for its first cork bark harvest; a mature cork oak regenerates its bark in about 10 years. Because cork oak takes time to grow and cork trees are becoming scarce, demand recently has begun to outstrip supply. Some cork flooring is made from wine cork remnants.

Chemical treatments are necessary to create a hard surface, but green options are available. Avoid formaldehyde binders, PVC laminates and cork blended with synthetic rubber, and opt for low-VOC polyurethane or beeswax-base finishes.

Love linoleum

Most resilient flooring, mistakenly called “linoleum,” is actually toxic, environmentally disastrous vinyl flooring. True natural linoleum—made with linseed oil, tree resin and a combination of ingredients such as cork, sawdust and limestone with a jute or hemp backing—is a durable, biodegradable, antimicrobial, low-cost flooring alternative.

Linoleum’s linoleic acid (from the linseed oil) outgases some VOCs, which may exacerbate health problems if you’re chemically sensitive.

To install, choose an adhesive that’s low in VOCs, water based and formaldehyde free. Heating linoleum tiles so the seams adhere to one another is also an option; however, outgasing from this procedure could create skin and eye irritants.

Easy Refinishing for Hardwood Floors

Sealants and other toxic chemicals emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that poison indoor air.

Sanding old, oil-based varnishes releases toxins into the air. If you’re sanding the floor yourself, rent a dust-free sander such as the BonaKemi atomic dust containment system (www.BonaKemi.com). Or hire a professional who uses dust-free equipment that vents to an outdoor collection unit.

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