natural flooring. ideas?

[MooNiNite]

the whole idea is to be connected to the earth.

 

i have a room on the ground floor with plastic tiles, underneath the plastic tiles is rough wood. basically i want to remove all of the tiles, but i'm not sure what to put on top of the wood instead.

 

 

I plan to atleast sand down the wood.

 

I was looking at "natural floor coatings" but none of them seem to be completely natural.

 

maybe a natural carpeting? but all those that iv seen have some type of polyester or plastic underneath them.

 

 

Anyone have any experience or opinions?

 

i might just nail a gaint cotton sheet to the ground.. lol. idk.

[soaring crane]

undyed and unbleached wool carpet would be a reasonably-priced and comfortable option. That's what we have. The backing is wool, too. There's no synthetic material in it at all.

 

Believe it or not, real Linoleum is a good, mostly natural product (it's chiefly made from Linseed oil and organic filler material) , and very warm and comfortable, and lasts centuries. It's not cheap, though. I like it

 

Avoid cork like the plague, unless it's 100% organic certified.

[BaguaKicksAss]

marble or slate tiles! You can get the marble ones really low cost at your local home depot or whatever it's called. Or you can get seconds from the large tile places....

 

Or perhaps hardwood, or softwood flooring.

 

The off the grid pages always have awesome natural ideas too.

[silent thunder]

I like the look, durability and renewability of bamboo.

[Nungali]

yeah, I was going to suggest that

 

 

 

there is a zillion different types and colours

 

 

 

Bottom left is rad

 

 

 

But can you afford it ? ... seeings as there is already wood there ... stripping it and sanding it is a good option (watch out for nails ... get that nail-punch going.

 

My chosen option in the cabin is to leave the bare floorboards ( SOOOO much easier to clean ) , in winter I put down a 'Persian' (probably Korean) Carpet I got , a reasonable size for $85 - all natural materials ... looks great. There were many sizes and price range, some are washable so you can take them outside, hose and scrub with a broom and hang up and rinse with the hose. Its a LOT cheaper than putting a new wood floor on top of one that is there.

[silent thunder]

Definitely check first what you've got under the carpet before deciding anything.

Often that ridiculous carpet has been protecting some nice hardwood all along.

Some hours with a sander, some boiled linseed oil can bring some awesome results.

[MooNiNite]

Definitely check first what you've got under the carpet before deciding anything.

Often that ridiculous carpet has been protecting some nice hardwood all along.

Some hours with a sander, some boiled linseed oil can bring some awesome results.

 

yeah i was gonna use a sander. what's the boiled linseed oil?

 

is that like a coating?

 

i just boil it and then pour it on top of the wood?

 

that sounds awesome.

 

Edit: i looked up a how to video...i might not be up for that much work. haha

Edited May 25, 2014 by MooNiNite

[MooNiNite]

undyed and unbleached wool carpet would be a reasonably-priced and comfortable option. That's what we have. The backing is wool, too. There's no synthetic material in it at all.

 

Believe it or not, real Linoleum is a good, mostly natural product (it's chiefly made from Linseed oil and organic filler material) , and very warm and comfortable, and lasts centuries. It's not cheap, though. I like it

 

Avoid cork like the plague, unless it's 100% organic certified.

 

sweet idea!

 

although i'm not sure if i can afford that right now. im still young and broke

Edited May 25, 2014 by MooNiNite

[silent thunder]

yeah i was gonna use a sander. what's the boiled linseed oil?

 

is that like a coating?

 

i just boil it and then pour it on top of the wood?

 

that sounds awesome.

 

I've been working with wood for 17 years or so now and I really like using boiled linseed oil.

It is one of the more natural sealants you can use and can be followed up with bee wax if you want to stay all natural.

 

Both have been used since the Egyptians/Sumerians. The refined oil seeps into the pores of the wood and then the bee wax seals it. I prefer linseed oil as sealing option over some of the synthetics around, though it's not quite as durable... depends if you want to trade all natural for more durability. Otherwise, after the oil you can seal it with Urethane, Varethane or Shellac, more durable, but chemical. But they'll dry with a harder coat.

 

I usually go 3 coats of linseed oil with a light sand in between then multiple wax and buffs or multiple coats of shellac, etc, with light sanding in between each coat. Either way, if you've sanded it smooth it'll come out nice and rich.

 

edit: you just buy cans of the oil or urethane or whatever you choose, brush it on or use a roller and wait for it to dry before light sanding between coats.

Edited May 25, 2014 by silent thunder

[deepforest]

undyed and unbleached wool carpet would be a reasonably-priced and comfortable option. That's what we have. The backing is wool, too. There's no synthetic material in it at all.

 

Believe it or not, real Linoleum is a good, mostly natural product (it's chiefly made from Linseed oil and organic filler material) , and very warm and comfortable, and lasts centuries. It's not cheap, though. I like it

 

Avoid cork like the plague, unless it's 100% organic certified.

What is the problem with cork?

[BaguaKicksAss]

shellac is natural, it's bug bits . The other 2 not so much.

[GrandmasterP]

All the hard wood floorings are good and pretty easy to lay working from one straight edge.

They just slot and click together.

We had bamboo in our bathroom at the last house.

It wasn't as durable as the regular wood flooring, that said it got wetter.

Underneath the bathroom scales it just wore away the coating and once that was compromised the bamboo sorta crumbled a bit.

We ended up putting hard wood on top of it.

Edited May 25, 2014 by GrandmasterP

[silent thunder]

shellac is natural, it's bug bits . The other 2 not so much.

Sweet! I did not know that!

[Nungali]

All the hard wood floorings are good and pretty easy to lay working from one straight edge.

They just slot and click together.

We had bamboo in our bathroom at the last house.

It wasn't as durable as the regular wood flooring, that said it got wetter.

Underneath the bathroom scales it just wore away the coating and once that was compromised the bamboo sorta crumbled a bit.

We ended up putting hard wood on top of it.

I wondered about its durability ... a bit like certain aussie cedar ... beautiful old flooring ... dont move a piano over it though !

 

Old aussie white mahogany or tallow wood (which you cant even hammer a nail into without drilling the hole first) lasts forever - my cabin poles are tallow wood ... 35 years on - no termites. (its a demon to split though ... very twisted grain.

Edited May 26, 2014 by Nungali

[MooNiNite]

I've been working with wood for 17 years or so now and I really like using boiled linseed oil.

It is one of the more natural sealants you can use and can be followed up with bee wax if you want to stay all natural.

 

Both have been used since the Egyptians/Sumerians. The refined oil seeps into the pores of the wood and then the bee wax seals it. I prefer linseed oil as sealing option over some of the synthetics around, though it's not quite as durable... depends if you want to trade all natural for more durability. Otherwise, after the oil you can seal it with Urethane, Varethane or Shellac, more durable, but chemical. But they'll dry with a harder coat.

 

I usually go 3 coats of linseed oil with a light sand in between then multiple wax and buffs or multiple coats of shellac, etc, with light sanding in between each coat. Either way, if you've sanded it smooth it'll come out nice and rich.

 

edit: you just buy cans of the oil or urethane or whatever you choose, brush it on or use a roller and wait for it to dry before light sanding between coats.

 

THanks. this sounds like the cheapest route.

 

i wonder if the concrete underneath the wood will make the natural grounding worthless though..

 

people say concrete doesn't ground.

[Brian]

 

THanks. this sounds like the cheapest route.

 

i wonder if the concrete underneath the wood will make the natural grounding worthless though..

 

people say concrete doesn't ground.

People are often mistaken, you know.

 

[Nungali]

Its a wood floor on top of concrete ? If so the concrete would have a waterproof plastic barrier as well.

 

You never know what 'Dodgy and Son, Builders' actually did do down there.

 

Ex-wife rang the other day ... she just got back from Germany to find that in her new (to her) house she just bought, the pipe under the kitchen tap had broken and flooded the house, pulled up the carpets and lino to find many of the floor boards were joined NOT over a joist (imagine how much they saved on off cuts

 

Now she has to get parts of the wooden flooring redone as well. Thats after finding out one wall on a an extension intruded into the no go zone (too close to the house next door) by about 70O mm and had to be re-set back into the framework so a % of the wall was not over the limit !

[MooNiNite]

Its a wood floor on top of concrete ? If so the concrete would have a waterproof plastic barrier as well.

 

hmmm , good point, im not sure though. this house is quite old. i will have to investigate

[soaring crane]

What is the problem with cork?

 

in and of itself, nothing; it's great stuff. But it's availability is pretty limited and lower-priced commercial products today can be heavily processed and full of chemicals - formaldehyde, heavy metals, dyes, flame-retardents, fuming adhesives, etc. It's because they use cork from a bunch of different sources and then process it to make it uniform. There are various industry certifications out there, though. Just be sure to look carefully into the product before buying.

 

Same is true for wood-flooring, by the way. It's not so easy to avoid the chemical shitstorm these days.

[soaring crane]

Ex-wife rang the other day ... she just got back from Germany to find that in her new (to her) house she just bought, the pipe under the kitchen tap had broken and flooded the house, pulled up the carpets and lino to find many of the floor boards were joined NOT over a joist (imagine how much they saved on off cuts

 

Is that a house in Germany? That kind of thing used to be (and not long ago) completely unthinkable here. But, alas, times are changing quickly!

[Spotless]

You can take chipboard and it can be stained. Look into it, the staining can make a beautiful array of colors. It does not take (absorb) stain in the same way a piece of regular sheet will. You want the type that is large particle (which is also the cheapest).

 

http://www.dezeen.com/tag/oriented-strand-board/

 

I could not find pages with the almost watercolor trippy look that I have seen (you will know it when you see it and the colors change as you move) but check this stuff out - very inexpensive, warm and a good amount of play.

Edited May 26, 2014 by Spotless

[deepforest]

in and of itself, nothing; it's great stuff. But it's availability is pretty limited and lower-priced commercial products today can be heavily processed and full of chemicals - formaldehyde, heavy metals, dyes, flame-retardents, fuming adhesives, etc. It's because they use cork from a bunch of different sources and then process it to make it uniform. There are various industry certifications out there, though. Just be sure to look carefully into the product before buying.

 

Same is true for wood-flooring, by the way. It's not so easy to avoid the chemical shitstorm these days.

I understand now.

Thanks for the info.