Homestead Green Building: Interior Floors

This week starts a bit more of the fun and flexible side of building your own homestead.  Well, in all honesty, this whole process is fun, in my opinion.  We are now entering the final few weeks of this series.  We've looked at temporary housing, alternative energy, and green building styles.  Those are the basics, the building blocks upon which everything else is based.  They are the foundation necessities that come inherently with building a homestead.  Now we get into the more ornamental aspects.  Necessity becomes a relative term.  So let's get going with a look at types of flooring.

A normal floor in a traditional home would generally include a concrete slab, a plywood substrate, and then either carpet, tile, linoleum, wood, or some mix of the above.  Well, green alternatives aren't that much different.  Now, if you are going so far as to build in a green manner, utilize alternative energy, and for all intents and purposes are building a homestead with a desire to be simple, healthy, and green, it only makes sense that you would want the interior of your home to also be created with those same intentions.  After all, why build a healthy green home only to fill it with materials containing synthetics, chemicals, petroleum, or who knows what else?  So what are your options for remaining simple and green?

By far, the simplest, and least costly option would be adobe floors.  If you can build a cob home, you can lay an adobe floor.  The ingredients are the same: sand, clay, water, and straw.  The amounts of each will change as you put down layers.  It will have to be done in sections, and then in layers (generally 2 - 3).  A good substrate is important.  While you will need some sort of moisture barrier and insulation, you won't have to have concrete or even plywood laying beneath your floors.  I will include links at the bottom of this post with detailed instructions of how to go about laying an adobe floor.  This is definitely a great option, especially if you are on a tight budget.  And please, don't for one second think that you are going to be living with dingy, dirty floors.  Adobe floors can be quite beautiful, and they are very strong and durable.

Your next option is, believe it or not, carpet.  Yes, you can have comfy, soft, warm carpet in a green home.  And you can have it without chemicals and synthetic dyes.  And, yes, you can have wall to wall carpeting, or throw rugs.  The most common forms of natural carpeting are wool and hemp.  Both are extremely durable and readily available.  You can also find natural carpets and rugs made from sea grass, jute or coir (coconut hull).  The trick here is to do your research.  Just because the carpet is made from a natural material, that doesn't automatically mean that it's green.  Double check with your supplier to ensure that there have been no chemicals added, whether it be dyes, stain retardants, fire retardants, or whatever else.  And don't forget the backing.  A really good supplier will also offer a natural, non-toxic backing/padding for your carpet.

Next up is wood.  I'm not talking about your typical hardwood floors, although those are beautiful, and if made from sustainable timber, are an option.  No, what I'm referring to here is cork, bamboo, cordwood, pallet wood, and so on.  Pallets are a great way to create your own hardwood floors from wood that might otherwise be scrapped.  So long as it contains no chemicals in it, you are good to go with your green flooring.  Cordwood floors generally are the random butt ends of logs.  They can be varying sizes, varying types of wood.  It makes for an interesting and lovely alternative.  Cork is the bark of a tree known as the cork oak.  The wonderful thing about cork is that while it is wood,  it is soft and gives slightly underfoot, making an excellent option for anyone who might want or need a little extra padding or give as they stand.  The downside is that it can be on the expensive side.  Finally, I'm including bamboo here, because although it is a grass, it is as hard as wood.  It's attractive and durable.  You can even grow your own, just as you could if building a bamboo home, so long as you take the same time, care, and precautions for it that you would for the walls of your home.  Maintenance on any of these will likely be similar, depending on how you choose to seal it.

Now if you like the look and ease of linoleum, you can even get that in the form of "marmoleum".  According to this site, marmoleum is "a compound of linseed oil, rosins, cork flour, limestone, and wood flour that's adhered to a nontoxic jute backing".  Quite frankly, I've read from several sources that "real" linoleum is actually that exact same recipe.  Sadly, most linoleum on the market is synthetic or vinyl.  So, if you can find real linoleum, you are getting the benefits of linoleum and still being green.  Who knew?

Finally, there are resin floors.  Yes, I know: resin?  Believe it or not, yes.  While most resins are petroleum based products, there are natural resins available that are just as good and durable.  They are generally mixed and poured the same way as petroleum based resins, but are, obviously, much better for the environment.  If you choose resin, it can be poured over wood, stone, gravel, glass, tile, or whatever else your creative mind may desire to use.  If it's a breathable resin, it can even be poured over adobe.  If you are feeling really creative, you can even do an adobe floor, use a natural paint (which I'll cover next week), and then seal it with a natural resin.

So there you have some amazing green flooring ideas.  You can easily keep your home green and healthy while also having gorgeous floors at a minimal price.  And bonus, you can get marvelously creative in the process.  Above all, have fun and enjoy the process.

Adobe Floors

http://buildnaturally.blogspot.com/2014/01/adobe-floor-basics-how-to-build-dirt.html

http://greenbuildingelements.com/2008/11/06/natural-building-101-how-to-make-an-earthen-or-adobe-floor/

http://greenbuildingelements.com/2008/11/06/natural-building-101-how-to-make-an-earthen-or-adobe-floor/

http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/QandA/adobe/floors.htm

http://www.dancingrabbit.org/about-dancing-rabbit-ecovillage/eco-living/building/natural-building/earthen-floor/

Natural Carpet

https://www.organicandhealthy.com/naturescarpet.html

http://www.greenbuildingsupply.com/All-Products/Flooring-Wool-Carpet

http://www.earthweave.com/

http://www.treehugger.com/green-architecture/earth-weave-craft-carpets-of-wool-and-hemp.html

Wood

http://abuildingweshallgo.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-art-of-pallet-wood-flooring.html

http://awesomejelly.com/a-diy-step-by-step-process-to-making-your-own-gorgeous-natural-cordwood-floor/

http://www.handimania.com/diy/natural-cordwood-floor.html

https://www.profloortips.com/hardwood/pallet-wood-flooring-guide/

http://www.1001pallets.com/pallet-building/pallet-flooring/

https://www.thisoldhouse.com/ideas/all-about-bamboo-flooring

http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/rooms-and-spaces/floors/how-to-install-bamboo-plank-flooring

http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/1293102/list/cork-flooring-101-warm-up-to-a-natural-wonder

Marmoleum

https://dengarden.com/home-improvement/Pros-and-Cons-of-Marmoleum-Flooring

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2694880/marmoleum-who-has-it-who-loves-it-and-would-you-do-it-again

http://ask.metafilter.com/131023/Should-I-get-a-Marmoleum-kitchen-floor

Natural Resin

https://www.quora.com/What-is-an-ecological-alternative-to-epoxy-resin

http://www.ecopoxy.com/

https://www.glen-l.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=13149

https://entropyresins.com/question/natural-fiber-epoxy-vs-carbon-fiber-vs-plastic-3/

http://craftingagreenworld.com/2010/09/10/finally-an-eco-friendly-epoxyresin/

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090908212123AAngsWE

http://www.thomasnet.com/articles/plastics-rubber/bioresin-plastics