Ecofriendly Kitchen: How to Choose Flooring

Beth We swear by linoleum and cork, and both allow a person to create a design that suits their style. Thank you so much for this article and excellent photos.

midmodfan Terrazzo has another shortcoming: its price. If pouring and polishing on site or laying XXL terrazzo slabs wasn't that outrageously expensive, I'd definitely have terrazzo floors throughout. So we chose solid hardwood instead, except for the bathrooms.

Becky Shankle Terrific comprehensive article on flooring! I did not know about the cork/rubber blend & am happy to add that option to the menu for future clients. cheers -Becky

ddelora Tile used to be the flooring of choice, now the designers (and all home buyers) are insisting on wood floors. We'll be replacing our floors within the next year, and wonder if wood floors will go the way of tile when another designer whim comes along.

I think we'll split the difference and go with tile that looks like wood. Reason? What happens if the refrigerator's icemaker goes haywire on a long weekend away? Or our older dog/cat have an accident or gets ill in the night? Our tile floors take a beating with liquids (coffee cup drips, toilet overflowed, etc.). I haven't found ANYONE who will say a wood floor can stand up to day-to-day situations that happen in life.

Our daughter installed tile floors thru-out her house, and with 3 kids, 5 dogs, 4 cats (rural living), pool activities, drinks that slopped and went unnoticed...I just don't believe wood floors can be suitable for anyone whose kitchen doesn't look like a designer's model home.

sailnmuffin We're going with concrete floors in our house-building project (pour happens tomorrow = large excitement). Radiant heating system embedded in concrete yields no duct work thus no dust in air when heat is on. Local folks who have the same type of system say that it heats more uniformly than forced air, thus you can feel warmer with using lower temps on the thermostat. Many chemical manufacturers produce low VOC acid stains (e.g., Kemiko, Concrete Solutions, etc.) - lots of colors to choose from, to make your new concrete floor look quite similar to stone. Concrete is also low maintenance re cleaning & maintaining the desired level of shine. Yes, concrete is hard -- but if softer surfaces is to your taste, you can always put down lots of area rugs & throw rugs. Finally, concrete's also competitively priced - here in NM, it's running about $110/cubic yard.

sarahsteering Did I miss something? What about bamboo?

departure: architecture planning interiors llc @sarahsteering - Good question. Bamboo is great as a renewable resource, but the vast majority of bamboo products come from China, where environmental regulations are weak. And the transportation to the U.S. consumes a lot of energy too. For these reasons, I prefer North American made products whenever possible.

Stephanie Duerden There is a lot of porcelain on the market these days that mimic wood. Just sayin'.

A Linnane Bamboo though beautiful scratches easily; not good with pets or scooting chairs.

sarahsteering Makes sense, thanks for the reply.

embracegrace We have cork floors and LOVE them! We had hardwood floors in our old house (not my choice) and we'll never go back to them. Cork floors are soft, warm, quiet, and they stay cleaner longer. My housekeeper was a little nervous about them at first, but now she says she wished all her clients had cork floors. They're beautiful and everyone who comes over says, "Wow! I had no idea that THIS is what cork floors look like!" You can see our floors here: http://dejongdreamhouse.blogspot.com/2012/01/our-cork-floors.html

woolylam No brainer for me- there is wood flooring under the old linoleum. Gotta love an old house with great materials. :)

nellesworth I haven't seen anyone here consider the COMFORT of their eco-flooring selection. Anyone who is an avid cook or baker knows how hard woods, tile, or concrete can be terrible on the knees and back. For me and my back, cork (or rubber/cork blend) is the way to go. Remember, good environmentally conscious design has to be functional as well as beautiful.

Manny's Interior Finishes We love our Saltillo tile in the new kitchen. It's especially kind to your feet.

ReTech Please explain how concrete is synonymous with eco? The carbon footprint alone nullifies everything else.

Beth Concrete floors, can conserve resources by functioning both as a foundation slab and finished floor as well as contributing to better energy efficiency and improving indoor air quality.

A LOT depends on how the flooring is made. As an example look for a concrete that is made primarily made with Ash crete, a concrete substitute made with over 97% high-volume fly ash.

And I like the new concrete floors because they are very easy to clean and do not harbor dust mites and other allergens typical of other flooring materials, And in a cold climate like here in the Sierras, come winter, radiant floor heating does well in concrete flooring.

Burton Architecture nellesworth brings up one of the most important issues when selecting a floor for your Kitchen - comfort. I love concrete or tile floors as much as the next architect, but they can be killers on your back and knees when standing for long periods in the Kitchen. We love the cork floors we used in the image above - great sustainable material and easy on your knees/back. We've also been doing a lot of wood floors in Kitchens lately; they allow us to emphasize continuity with other spaces, and they are also forgiving for your back/.

Great overview of flooring options for the Kitchen!

martin pennels i simply do not understand why concrete consistently makes into many of these "green" ideabooks. it is a very high embodied energy product with additional process related emissions and cement is single handedly responsible for a huge amount of CO2 emissions on a global scale. also the two most commonly used cementitious additives ( fly ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag) are themselves both produced as by-products ( as now defined in europe instead of waste products) of hugely energy intensive industries (iron ore processing and electricity generation)
promoting the use of "green" concrete based upon use of these additives still does not make it a low -embodied energy product. it only becomes, at best, the construction equivalent of lower-tar cigarettes and nobody considers those to be good for us anymore.
glass should be recycled into (drum roll) ......glass and not used in place of aggregate , mostly because aggregate is the lowest embodied energy element within concrete, so using one high energy product to "save" on low energy materials does not make sense from a energy/sustainable perspective
martin pennels
MSc architecture AEES (advanced environmental and energy studies)

hopefore I love the cork, not only is it insulating, hypoallergenic,and a very renewable source- it's just great. I'm torn between the reclaimed wood because that is just beautiful too

Evoke Creations Ltd I'll be biased as we are in the process of launching our Evocork range to modernize how cork is seen and as we all know Cork has to be the most sustainable. Also carried fantastic insulative properties and acoustic benefits. Although may i add a new contender please =0) Evotile. This is our very unique innovative flooring system created out of stainless steel. Again stainless steel carries massive eco benefits over conventional flooring systems. Our dry laid version adds and extra twist and greater eco benefits. This is the only system like this worldwide. Cost would be a negative to some but remember ''the bitter taste of poor quality remains long after the sweet taste of a cheap price is forgotten''

alicedaryl Has anyone tried brown paper floors? We are designing our home, and are trying to save money (and minimize env. impact wherever possible). We've considered staining and finishing OSB or plywood as well. If we're lucky, we may also be able to source local wood from surrounding mills (cedar, fir, hemlock).
brown paper floor links: http://lovelycraftyhome.com/2011/11/09/the-ultimate-brown-paper-flooring-guide/
http://voices.yahoo.com/how-install-brown-paper-floor-5833884.html?cat=6

thanks

Burton Architecture alicedaryl - interesting idea, the brown paper floor. I would only look at that for a room that doesn't get high traffic, or that has rugs protecting the areas of higher traffic. I have used brown paper as a wall covering and it looks great. You could also try painted canvas; I've seen that used in lieu of area rugs and it can be a very fun alternative.

FlexDeck, LLC FlexDeck, Premium Brazilian Hardwood Decking Tiles. Visit our page on the Houzz..

http://www.houzz.com/pro/renaud-adorno/flexdeck-llc

martin pennels R.E. Flexdeck flooring
The title of this blog is Ecofriendly Kitchen: How to Choose Flooring.
I've looked through the Flexdeck page on Houzz and checked online and I can find no mention anywhere if this product has any FSC or equivalent certification demonstrating this product comes from a verifiable sustainable source. If it does have FSC certification I would suggest it be prominently displayed.
If it does not have such certification and can not be proven to come from sustainable sources can I respectfully suggest that it is not marketed in a blog such as this.
Martin Pennels
MSc ARCH AEES LEED AP

FlexDeck, LLC R.E. Martin Pennels

Our wood is 100% certificated by IBAMA.
We don't have FSC certification, but I can assure that our wooden product is sustainable, because there's a verifiable sustainable source by IBAMA. (Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resource). FSC is only one of the possible certificates, between the TFT for example.

martin pennels Thank you
Do you have any links to the IBAMA website ? I know there are issues between FSC and IBAMA and I'd like to have a look at the working practices of IBAMA. Out of interest LEED projects are currently prohibited from using any non-FSC Tropical hardwoods in projects so it might be work seeking out FSC suppliers, if you are targeting the North American market.

martin pennels Thankyou
And I do hope you understand my concerns.
I'd love to know more so if you have any information.
Also can I suggest that because North America and Europe appears to mainly concentrate on FSC as its standard for sustainable forestry, it would be really food to have some resources on IBAMA , who they are, how they certify and protect forestry and what certificates they produce, so that clients here and in Europe are more confident in what they are buying.
Thanks

FlexDeck, LLC http://www.ibama.gov.br/

But the official website is only in Portuguese. I'd like to inform you that IBAMA is the most important government agency on sustainable management local and worldwide, it also has law enforcement mecanism, including itens related to Brazilian criminal law. So, we really care about sustainable management. The wood is acquired from source management projects sustainable. The company is certified by the Regularity Authority Environmental Institute (IBAMA). However, if you want any more information about this agency and the company, please feel free to contact us.

wtfruta ANYWAY, I grew up in a house with concrete floors, and they are killers on the back, legs, and feet. We had an 8 room ranch built on a slab, no subfloor, just asbestos (yes, asbestos)thin tile over concrete. It looked much like the elementary school I went to. Those floors gave my poor mother such problems. Standing in the kitchen cooking for a couple hours produced swollen, sore feet and an aching back. My parents lived there for 35 years. They had foot, knee, back problems they could not get over! Not to mention, the bumps and bruises we children had from just playing and being children. Everyone in our tract house neighborhood put wall to wall carpeting down, but in a family of asthmatics, that was not sensible. I will never, ever, have concrete floors again.

Ellessebee We initially chose cork flooring for our new kitchen because of its resilience - easier on the body and the dishes. We are putting it over radiant heat in the floor and I'm not sure how the cork will affect the heat. I'd love to get input on this. Also, I chose a click plank floor because we don't want to glue down to the radiant heat panels. I was told that a glue-down floor would require a layer of plywood or luan that would be nailed (carefully) into the subfloor with the heat tubing and then the flooring would be glued to that. I didn't want to add yet another layer of subfloor to further insulate against the heat so the floating floor seemed like a good option. I found click panels both with rectified edges that I liked but when I went to order I was told they are not only available with beveled edges. In general, I don't like beveled edges on any floor because they trap dirt and are harder to clean. They also break up the smooth continuous look of the floor by emphasizing each plank or tile. But I'm wondering if with cork it means a better seal and moisture resistance or easier installation. Why would a manufacturer switch from rectified to beveled edges? Any information on this would be appreciated. Thanks.