The saga: Choosing Healthy Hardwood.

Selecting a hardwood floor

preferably one that doesn’t cause cancer.

NOTE: this post was originally created in May ’16, but was not posted. Posting it now because I think it’s got some good information

We are hopefully over halfway through the remodel process, but I’m not placing my bets. We’ve given up identifying a date of project completion (avoid doing this at work), but it’s working well for us. Previously, we were all stressed about meeting imaginary deadlines we had set for ourselves. Cue stress.

But we have made some serious progress since identifying a floor. To recap last episode (we’re doing this reality tv style), Zach and I just couldn’t agree on a floor. To make matters worse, the criteria we created for the perfect floor didn’t exist (flashback to the “perfect boyfriend” checklist you and your friends made in middle school). We finally agreed on a floor and it meets very few of the criteria we outlined. Alas, I bring you the Chene Lambrusco floor.

**nope, those are not photos from our house.

It’s manufactured in Cambodia and adheres to FloorScore regulations. Our biggest issue is that the floor is still manufactured using formaldehyde, which is carcinogenic (which I discuss more about in this post). Knowing that indoor air can be anywhere from 2 – 5 times more polluted than the air outside (source here), we want to make sure that above all else, our choice in flooring does not have a harmful impact on our indoor air quality (IAQ), that it’s safe, and that it will continue to be as it ages.

While it wasn’t the cheapest, it also wasn’t the most expensive. If I ever needed further evidence that I had champagne tastes (which I don’t), I insisted that we get a European White Oak floor, which generally costs around $12-$22 per square foot, a price range we cannot afford. While I don’t remember the exact cost of this flooring, it was not that, so were were able to settle and finally choose a floor.

We did agree to get an air quality monitor or filter, but we haven’t yet crossed that bridge because they are generally HUGE and invasive. And so the sage continues.