A Sourcebook for Green and Sustainable Building

Wood Flooring

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WOOD FLOORING CONTENTS:

CSI NUMBERS
DEFINITION
CONSIDERATIONS
COMMERCIAL STATUS
IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES
GUIDELINES RESOURCES

CSI Numbers:

DEFINITION:

Wood flooring in this section refers to finish floors that can be in strips or parquet and nailed or glued to a subfloor.

CONSIDERATIONS:

Wood flooring is considered an aesthetic plus to homes. It also offers long life and fairly easy maintenance.

Most wood flooring is derived from hardwood trees. From an overall view, the growth/removal rate for hardwood trees in the U. S. is positive with growth easily exceeding removals.

The use of regional hardwoods such as mesquite stimulates the regional economy and uses a tree considered a nuisance by many. Mesquite trees are often subject to chemical eradication programs rather than used constructively. Mesquite hardwood is highly valued as a floor material. However, the tree does not produce large consistent-size logs, increasing the costs of processing it.

Reused wood flooring is often derived from remilled salvage timbers. It can also be salvaged from old flooring. From an environmental standpoint, this approach saves materials from the wastestream and does not impact living trees. Very often the reused wood flooring comes from trees that are no longer present to harvest, or in grain patterns only found in rare old large trees. This adds to the aesthetic quality of this type of flooring.

The finishes selected for wood flooring and any adhesives used should contain low VOC content.

Commercial
Status		 Implementation
Issues
technology suppliers cost financing public regulatory
Domestic green green green green green green
Regional green yellow red green green green
Reused green red red green green green

Legend
green Satisfactory
yellow Satisfactory in most conditions
red Satisfactory in Limited Conditions
black Unsatisfactory or Difficult

COMMERCIAL STATUS

TECHNOLOGY:

Well-developed.

SUPPLIERS:

Suppliers of regular domestic hardwood flooring are common. Mesquite suppliers are available but less mainstream. Reused flooring availability is limited locally. Least toxic adhesives for wood flooring are readily available.

COST:

Mesquite and reused wood flooring (such as remilled old wood) exceeds the cost of standard domestic hardwood flooring by up to 100%. Reused wood flooring (such as salvaged flooring) is seldom commercially viable, due to the time required to prepare it. Remilled old wood into flooring is available.

IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES

FINANCING:

Available.

PUBLIC ACCEPTANCE:

Wood flooring is highly valued.

REGULATORY:

None.

GUIDELINES

Standard installation techniques apply to wood flooring of all types.

Select least-toxic adhesives, such as low-VOC, for adhesive applied flooring (see Finishes and Adhesives section).

RESOURCES

PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE

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COMPONENTS / MATERIALS / SYSTEMS
Reused Flooring:
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Mesquite and other Southwest Woods:
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Bamboo Flooring:
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GENERAL ASSISTANCE

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This file last updated on Friday, August 4, 2006