Purchasing a home is no easy task and requires a lot of investment. Even then, much must be done to ensure it looks exactly how you want it to. Additionally, every homeowner will want their house to look as beautiful and appealing as possible. This is because they want their home to reflect their investment price and emotional attachment to it. However, there is a range of factors that you need to consider to revamp your home. This includes a variety of repairs that EaseFix can take care of.

One thing in particular that people tend to worry about is their home's flooring. Flooring tends to go through a lot of wear and tear, especially if the house is small. So, what work can you get done on the floor to make your home look more appealing? This article will provide you with 5 interior flooring tips to make your home more appealing.

Let's dive in.

1. Use Wooden or Imitation wood flooring

Wooden flooring can make any home look classy because of its elegance and style. It is the closest thing to nature, ensuring it does not make your home look too monotonous. Therefore, adding a wooden floor can undoubtedly boost your home's appeal. However, maintaining wooden flooring can be an issue. This problem can be solved using high-quality wooden flooring from a trusted company or imitation wood flooring made from ceramic. Such flooring can bring the elegance of wood and functionality of ceramic.

2. Make rooms look bigger with light flooring

Larger rooms are more appealing because they give the impression of space. This makes a person inside a room feel more accessible and more tranquil. If you have small rooms or want to make your rooms look more extensive, you can use certain tricks. You can add light or white flooring options to make your room look bigger. Light colors reflect light more, making your house look more open and inviting. You can enhance this effect by having more open windows reflecting natural light in your rooms.

3. Align the interior and exterior flooring of your house

This trick will help your house look bigger and create continuity. This is due to the openness of the outside penetrating the inside. Typically, the boards or tiles installed on the patio and the house's interior from the front door are different. This is not an issue, although matching colors or materials can help the continuity. However, the most important thing is to align the boards or tiles inside the house the same as the patio. This will give the sense that the outside space is being transported inside the house, making it feel more open and airy. In this way, continuity can help your home look more appealing.

4. Install Classic Style Monochrome Tiles

Classic-style monochrome tiles are associated heavily with Victorian Era and luxurious European homes. This style has stood the test of time and is still relevant today. Therefore, adding such tiles to your home can give it a traditional classiness that the latest trends cannot do. These tiles are also available in a range of patterns and painted colors. This means you can choose from various options to ensure that your flooring is compatible with the theme of the rest of the house. For example, black-and-white monochrome tiles work well with black-and-white furniture.

5. Add Carpeting for Softness and Coziness

Another aspect that adds appeal to your home is how cozy and comfortable it makes you feel. Some people may dislike tiles because they are hard and slippery. Therefore, you can opt for soft carpeting as a flooring option that ensures that your every step is soft. Not only does it feel nice, but it also looks nice as it is available in various patterns and designs. These designs are also not restricted to being within a square like tiles tend to be, so you can have a more consistent design on your floor. The carpeting will also prevent loud squeaky noises and cover damage to the floor.

Conclusion

Everyone wants their home to look appealing due to the extensive investment required and the emotional attachment they may have to it. There are various ways to make your home look more attractive, which includes flooring. You can consider adding wood or imitation wood flooring, as it looks exquisite and natural. Light flooring can help your room look bigger and more appealing, as it helps reflect natural light. There is a trick you can use by having the boards of your interior and exterior line up, which creates continuity and makes the house look more prominent. Consider adding classic monochrome tiles, as these have stood the test of time and will give your home a traditional classiness. If tiles aren't your thing, consider adding carpeting, as it will make your floor softer and cozier while providing other benefits that will boost your home's appeal.

We hope this article proves insightful and gives you ideas that help improve your home's appeal. Thank you for reading, and good luck!

Homes can tell a lot about whom we are and what we value. From the small details to the big design elements, our home should be a reflection of who we are as individuals and as a family. So, it’s no surprise that many homeowners spend quite a bit of time thinking about the different flooring options they can use to give their home an updated look and feel. From traditional hardwood floors to trendy tile or even reclaimed barn wood, there are many flooring ideas out there. You can see multiple types of flooring in DHA Islamabad. The trick is finding the perfect one for your home!

To help you navigate this overwhelming process, we’ve created an ultimate guide on everything you need to know before choosing the perfect flooring for your home. Read on to discover practical advice, insider secrets, and pro tips from industry experts – all in one place!

How to Choose the Perfect Flooring for Your Home

Before you start your flooring hunt, it’s important to consider a few key factors that will help you narrow down your options. First, it’s important to know what type of flooring you currently have. Is it in good condition? If not, are you planning to replace the entire floor or just add a new layer on top of the current flooring? The answers to these questions will help you decide if you want to completely change your flooring or just add a new layer to your existing flooring. Next, you’ll need to know the style of your home and the rooms you want to update with a new flooring. Is your home modern, industrial, rustic, traditional, or something else entirely? Knowing the style of your home can help you narrow down your options and find the perfect flooring for your home.

What’s Currently Hot in Flooring?

In terms of the biggest trends in flooring, the first thing to note is the shift towards a more eco-friendly approach. In recent years, we’ve seen a rise in the popularity of eco-friendly flooring choices like cork tiles, bamboo, and hardwood. This is likely due to an increased awareness of the impact our flooring choices have on our environment and the desire to use eco-friendly materials that are better for our health and the planet.

Natural materials like cork, bamboo, jute, and sisal are being used more often as they have a softer, more natural aesthetic that’s easier on the eyes. Additionally, these materials are extremely durable and easy to clean, making them a great choice for busy homes with lots of foot traffic.

Vinyl Flooring: A Good Choice for Many Rooms

Vinyl flooring has been a common choice for homeowners for many years now, but it’s especially popular in the kitchen and bathroom. There are a few reasons that vinyl is a great choice for kitchens. First, it’s incredibly durable and can withstand lots of foot traffic and household spills with ease. Second, and perhaps most importantly, it’s easy to clean. Just a quick wipe down with a sponge and some cleaning solution will do the trick! For these reasons, vinyl is a great choice for kitchens and other high-traffic areas of your home.

It’s also easy to install and can come in a variety of different looks and styles to suit a variety of home decors. Vinyl flooring is also a great choice for bathrooms as it’s moisture resistant, easy to clean, and won’t rot or warp over time. Plus, it comes in a wide range of colors, styles, and price points, making it easy to find the perfect option for your home.

Laminate Flooring: Durable and Versatile

If you’re looking for a durable, long-lasting flooring choice, laminate might be the ideal option for you. Laminate flooring comes in a wide range of different styles and colors, making it easy to find a perfect match for your home. It’s also very durable and can withstand heavy foot traffic and household spills and messes with ease.

Plus, the designs and patterns used to create laminate flooring are often very modern and on-trend, making it a great choice for modern decors. Laminate is also extremely versatile, meaning it can be installed in a wide range of different rooms in your home. It’s a great choice for entryways, kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms, and more. It’s also easy to clean and very low maintenance, making it a great choice for busy households.

Tile Flooring: A Timeless Classic

Tile flooring is a timeless classic that has been popular for decades. In fact, it’s one of the oldest flooring materials used by humans. It’s also one of the most versatile and inexpensive flooring materials available, meaning it’s a great choice for both high-end and budget-friendly decors. Tile is also extremely durable and can withstand heavy foot traffic and household spills and messes with ease.

Plus, it comes in a wide range of different styles, colors, and finishes, making it easy to find a perfect match for your home. In terms of durability and design, few flooring materials can compete with the strength and style of tile. That said, the wide variety of styles and finishes available mean that it’s important to choose the perfect tile for your home. For 0example, ceramic tile is a great choice for traditional decors, while modern decors are often best suited to porcelain tile.

Hardwood Flooring: Rich, Luxurious, and Durable

If you’re looking for a classic, luxurious flooring choice that will stand the test of time, hardwood is the perfect option. It’s one of the most durable flooring materials available and comes in a wide range of different styles, finishes, and colors, meaning it’s easy to find the perfect match for any home. For example, a classic solid hardwood floor is an excellent choice for traditional decors.

Alternatively, a darkly stained hardwood floor is a perfect choice for modern decors. Hardwood is also extremely rich and luxurious, making it an excellent choice for any high-traffic areas of your home. It’s also extremely low-maintenance and easy to clean, making it an ideal choice for any busy household. Finally, hardwood flooring comes in a wide range of price points, making it an ideal choice for any budget.

Reclaimed Wood Floors: Bringing Nature Inside

If you’re looking for something unique and eco-friendly, reclaimed wood might be the perfect choice for you. Reclaimed wood is lumber that has been repurposed from old buildings, barns, and other structures. This means that every board is completely unique and completely eco-friendly.

It’s also very durable and can be sanded and refinished many times over the years, meaning it will last a lifetime. Reclaimed wood is not only eco-friendly, but it also adds a rustic charm to any home. This makes it a great choice for rustic decors, but it can be used in any home, really. It can be installed on the floor, walls, or even the ceiling in your home. But it’s best installed on a concrete subfloor for maximum durability.

Summary

Choosing the perfect flooring for your home can be a daunting process. It’s important to consider a few key factors before you begin your search. First, it’s important to know what type of flooring you currently have, and if it’s in good condition.

Second, it’s important to know the style of your home and the rooms you want to update with a new flooring. We've outlined the top five flooring materials currently trending in the market. From vinyl and laminate to tile and hardwood, each material has its own strengths and weaknesses that make it a good choice for certain decors.

Homes can tell a lot about whom we are and what we value. From the small details to the big design elements, our home should be a reflection of who we are as individuals and as a family. So, it’s no surprise that many homeowners spend quite a bit of time thinking about the different flooring options they can use to give their home an updated look and feel. From traditional hardwood floors to trendy tile or even reclaimed barn wood, there are many flooring ideas out there. You can see multiple types of flooring in DHA Islamabad. The trick is finding the perfect one for your home!

To help you navigate this overwhelming process, we’ve created an ultimate guide on everything you need to know before choosing the perfect flooring for your home. Read on to discover practical advice, insider secrets, and pro tips from industry experts – all in one place!

How to Choose the Perfect Flooring for Your Home

Before you start your flooring hunt, it’s important to consider a few key factors that will help you narrow down your options. First, it’s important to know what type of flooring you currently have. Is it in good condition? If not, are you planning to replace the entire floor or just add a new layer on top of the current flooring? The answers to these questions will help you decide if you want to completely change your flooring or just add a new layer to your existing flooring. Next, you’ll need to know the style of your home and the rooms you want to update with a new flooring. Is your home modern, industrial, rustic, traditional, or something else entirely? Knowing the style of your home can help you narrow down your options and find the perfect flooring for your home.

What’s Currently Hot in Flooring?

In terms of the biggest trends in flooring, the first thing to note is the shift towards a more eco-friendly approach. In recent years, we’ve seen a rise in the popularity of eco-friendly flooring choices like cork tiles, bamboo, and hardwood. This is likely due to an increased awareness of the impact our flooring choices have on our environment and the desire to use eco-friendly materials that are better for our health and the planet.

Natural materials like cork, bamboo, jute, and sisal are being used more often as they have a softer, more natural aesthetic that’s easier on the eyes. Additionally, these materials are extremely durable and easy to clean, making them a great choice for busy homes with lots of foot traffic.

Vinyl Flooring: A Good Choice for Many Rooms

Vinyl flooring has been a common choice for homeowners for many years now, but it’s especially popular in the kitchen and bathroom. There are a few reasons that vinyl is a great choice for kitchens. First, it’s incredibly durable and can withstand lots of foot traffic and household spills with ease. Second, and perhaps most importantly, it’s easy to clean. Just a quick wipe down with a sponge and some cleaning solution will do the trick! For these reasons, vinyl is a great choice for kitchens and other high-traffic areas of your home.

It’s also easy to install and can come in a variety of different looks and styles to suit a variety of home decors. Vinyl flooring is also a great choice for bathrooms as it’s moisture resistant, easy to clean, and won’t rot or warp over time. Plus, it comes in a wide range of colors, styles, and price points, making it easy to find the perfect option for your home.

Laminate Flooring: Durable and Versatile

If you’re looking for a durable, long-lasting flooring choice, laminate might be the ideal option for you. Laminate flooring comes in a wide range of different styles and colors, making it easy to find a perfect match for your home. It’s also very durable and can withstand heavy foot traffic and household spills and messes with ease.

Plus, the designs and patterns used to create laminate flooring are often very modern and on-trend, making it a great choice for modern decors. Laminate is also extremely versatile, meaning it can be installed in a wide range of different rooms in your home. It’s a great choice for entryways, kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms, and more. It’s also easy to clean and very low maintenance, making it a great choice for busy households.

Tile Flooring: A Timeless Classic

Tile flooring is a timeless classic that has been popular for decades. In fact, it’s one of the oldest flooring materials used by humans. It’s also one of the most versatile and inexpensive flooring materials available, meaning it’s a great choice for both high-end and budget-friendly decors. Tile is also extremely durable and can withstand heavy foot traffic and household spills and messes with ease.

Plus, it comes in a wide range of different styles, colors, and finishes, making it easy to find a perfect match for your home. In terms of durability and design, few flooring materials can compete with the strength and style of tile. That said, the wide variety of styles and finishes available mean that it’s important to choose the perfect tile for your home. For 0example, ceramic tile is a great choice for traditional decors, while modern decors are often best suited to porcelain tile.

Hardwood Flooring: Rich, Luxurious, and Durable

If you’re looking for a classic, luxurious flooring choice that will stand the test of time, hardwood is the perfect option. It’s one of the most durable flooring materials available and comes in a wide range of different styles, finishes, and colors, meaning it’s easy to find the perfect match for any home. For example, a classic solid hardwood floor is an excellent choice for traditional decors.

Alternatively, a darkly stained hardwood floor is a perfect choice for modern decors. Hardwood is also extremely rich and luxurious, making it an excellent choice for any high-traffic areas of your home. It’s also extremely low-maintenance and easy to clean, making it an ideal choice for any busy household. Finally, hardwood flooring comes in a wide range of price points, making it an ideal choice for any budget.

Reclaimed Wood Floors: Bringing Nature Inside

If you’re looking for something unique and eco-friendly, reclaimed wood might be the perfect choice for you. Reclaimed wood is lumber that has been repurposed from old buildings, barns, and other structures. This means that every board is completely unique and completely eco-friendly.

It’s also very durable and can be sanded and refinished many times over the years, meaning it will last a lifetime. Reclaimed wood is not only eco-friendly, but it also adds a rustic charm to any home. This makes it a great choice for rustic decors, but it can be used in any home, really. It can be installed on the floor, walls, or even the ceiling in your home. But it’s best installed on a concrete subfloor for maximum durability.

Summary

Choosing the perfect flooring for your home can be a daunting process. It’s important to consider a few key factors before you begin your search. First, it’s important to know what type of flooring you currently have, and if it’s in good condition.

Second, it’s important to know the style of your home and the rooms you want to update with a new flooring. We've outlined the top five flooring materials currently trending in the market. From vinyl and laminate to tile and hardwood, each material has its own strengths and weaknesses that make it a good choice for certain decors.

How Does Vinyl Flooring Give A Luxurious Look To Your Home?

'Your home is where your heart lives,' said eloquently by the wise person. Making your home look beautiful and luxurious without spending tremendous money is a dream for every homemaker. Apart from splendidly decorating your home, there is a need to invest your time in the flooring of your home. You would go for many options, but it's vital to choose that type of flooring that is both cost-efficient and gives your home a magnificent look. Vinyl flooring made a dream come true. At very affordable rates, the floor of your home will seem as if made of hardwood or stones.

Vinyl Flooring has an aspect of versatility. It is the most desired flooring material due to its durability. While renovating your home, the experts advise installing vinyl flooring as it's long-lasting. Your home's renovation is not a backbreaker anymore. The advancement in technology has made home renovation just a piece of cake by introducing virtual home renovation. Many renovation apps provide you with unique ideas to renovate and remodel your home. You need not be an expert in renovating your home. All you need to do is to go through the aesthetically pleasing catalogs that will provide you with adequate solutions to remodel your home, along with exotic flooring ideas. Their goal is to create a kind of space where you can confidently gather your relatives, friends, and colleague and feel proud as your home tells a story of who you are and what is essential for you. These applications provide you with an opportunity for online purchasing. Whatever you buy, whether furniture, flooring material, or any other item, it will be delivered to your doorstep.

The urge to have a floor that gives a wooden look is the result of old times. Ages ago, people used to have pure hardwood flooring, which provided an aesthetic eye and were very appealing and unique in its way as hardwood and luxury come in a single basket. The interior designer and homeowners want the floor to have the same look. But the bad news is that installing solid hardwood flooring is onerous as it demands a lot of labor that would fit the planks with the hammer, flooring nails, and many other things. Besides being strenuous, it is not cost-friendly and receptive to scars, and it gets damaged easily. Hardwood flooring gets cracks and twisted. In short, it has poor sturdiness. Vinyl flooring gives a luxurious look similar to hardwood flooring but charges only the fractions of the amount required in hardwood fitting. It doesn't call for high-end labor. In addition, it is very resistant to scratches and damage caused by water. It does not have any cracks and is famous for being long-lasting and durable.

Luxurious vinyl flooring comes in a variety of beautiful designs. Having the floor of your home covered with vinyl make your visitors think that it might be a natural material, and you will find a need to clear their doubts. Vinyl flooring is unique, and it seems to be titles made of pure stone or strong hardwood plank. Another type of vinyl comes into the market that looks too lifelike. It is created when the vinyl tile is mixed with limestone.

Vinyl flooring looks luxurious due to its durability. Due to its long-lasting feature, it is thought to be very expensive, although it is not. Vinyl flooring is best used in busy homes where the kids are playing and roaming around with heavy feet, and the pets are scratching the floor with their pointed nails. Vinyl flooring is a durable floor that need not be changed for ages. It requires painless maintenance. Mopping and sweeping the floor daily can eradicate the dust, and floors seem as if it is new. In a nutshell, get vinyl flooring and give a luxurious look to your home.

Maybe you’ve decided it’s time to leave your condo in New York City for a more spacious house in Dallas now that you can work from home. Or, maybe your family is growing and you’re looking for a house with a larger yard or in a different school district. Whatever your reason is, you’ve decided it’s time to sell your current home. Whether this is your first time or you have experience, selling your home can be a big task. So, unless you’re in a major time-crunch or on a tight budget, it’s best to put a little work into your home before listing it for sale so you can sell your home quickly, and possibly for more money.

From installing new flooring to making eco-friendly upgrades, there’s a lot of home improvements you can – and should – do to make your home stand out when it hits the market. But with so many potential home upgrades, it may feel overwhelming to know where to start. Luckily, we’ve listed out the top 7 home projects to consider if you’re selling your home this year.

1) Update your flooring

If the floors in your home are worn out or outdated, it can be a huge turnoff to potential buyers. Even if you’ve grown used to the stains on the carpet or you no longer notice the divet in the kitchen floor, you’ll want to have your flooring updated before listing your home for sale.

There are many types of flooring and the right choice will depend on your home. However, you can never go wrong with hardwood. In fact, hardwood is the most popular and valuable type of flooring to potential homebuyers in the US. Laminate and ceramic are also great flooring options to consider. To be sure you’re choosing the right type and style for your home, it’s best to talk with a flooring professional in your area.

2) Freshen up your paint

Are your walls scuffed, scraped, or just an unappealing color? A fresh coat of paint is a simple yet effective home update, allowing you to maximize the look and feel of your space in next to no time. As people tour your home, online or virtually, they’ll notice the small details. You won’t want a poor paint job or an outdated, dark orange kitchen wall to be an influencing factor on their decision. Instead, opt for neutral paint colors to appeal to a wide range of buyers.

Keep in mind that painting isn’t just for the inside, either. A fresh coat of exterior paint can do wonders for your home’s appearance and curb appeal. If you’re crunched for time or this home project is too big of an undertaking, hire a professional painter so that your home is looking its best when it hits the housing market.

3) Give your kitchen a face-lift

The kitchen is the heart of the home and it’s often one of the top priorities for buyers. So a kitchen in need of a lot of work can be all it takes to turn a buyer off for good. With stylish, designer kitchens as one of the major home design trends this year, you’ll want to prioritize this home project to help your house stand out against the competition.

If a complete remodel doesn’t fit within your budget, don’t worry. Upgrading your kitchen doesn’t mean you need to go all out and buy brand new appliances – a few little cosmetic touches can go a long way. Things like new cabinet faces, drawer pulls or, if necessary, a new counter, can completely turn a kitchen around. Even adding a new backsplash or going bold with contrast cabinetry can make all the difference. If you’re not sure which upgrades are necessary, consider speaking with a contractor or real estate professional about current trends in your area.

4) Enhance your landscaping: curb appeal is key

Many homebuyers want the complete package – inside and out. A beautiful home is only made better by a beautiful yard, so if your property is a little bland on the outside, the right finishing touches can spark buyer interest. That’s why landscaping is one of the most important home projects to complete before you sell your house.

Landscaping can be comprehensive – things like koi ponds and expansive patios – but can also be straightforward and simple. Planting shrubs along a sidewalk, adding a small flower garden, or even putting fresh mulch around trees can be affordable and easy ways to create eye-catching curb appeal. Whether you want to completely upgrade your outdoor space with an intricate landscape design, or your front yard just needs a well-manicured lawn with some fresh flowers, a landscaper can help you tackle this home project.

5) Replace your windows

Depending on the age and condition of your home, it might be time to replace your windows. Even if you’ve only lived in your home for 5 years, you should ask yourself how long the previous owners were living there and if they ever had them replaced? If your windows have minor damages, then they may just need a simple repair. But if the frames are worn, there’s leaking when it rains, it’s difficult to open or close, or there’s just visible damage – you’ll want to hire a professional to replace them.

6) Repair your garage door

Does your garage door squeak and squeal, or is it full of dings and scrapes? Then this is one of the home projects you’ll want to stop pushing off. If your garage door no longer looks or acts up to par, then a replacement is probably necessary – especially if it’s seen years of use with little to no maintenance. Potential homebuyers will notice these issues and may request that you repair them as part of the purchase agreement. That’s why it’s a good idea to get ahead of home projects like this before listing your home. And even if your garage door is functioning as it should, this can be a great cosmetic update to freshen up your home’s exterior.

7) “Green” home projects for an eco-friendly home

These days many buyers are looking for homes with eco-friendly features so taking the time to add some “green” upgrades to your home can be well worth it. And, luckily, there’s a handful of ways you can make your home more green. If your budget allows, then installing solar panels is the ultimate eco-friendly upgrade you could make. Solar panels can reduce the overall cost of electricity and energy bills, are a more environmentally-friendly energy solution, and can even increase the value of your home. And if you live in a city like San Diego or Honolulu where it’s become a popular home feature, you’ll want to invest in this eco-friendly upgrade.

If you’re unable to take on a larger home project like this, consider investing in other eco-friendly and energy-saving features like a smart thermostat, an ENERGY STAR certified washer and dryer, or installing a high-efficiency faucet aerator in your shower and on your taps.

Originally published by Redfin

TREES ARE THE ANSWER

By Patrick Moore, Ph. D.

Why Using More Wood is the Answer to Saving Our Forests

I believe that trees are the answer to a lot of questions about our future. These include: How can we advance to a more sustainable economy based on renewable fuels and materials? How can we improve literacy and sanitation in developing countries while reversing deforestation and protecting wildlife at the same time? How can we pull carbon out of the atmosphere and reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, carbon dioxide in particular? How can we increase the amount of land that will support a greater diversity of species? How can we help prevent soil erosion and provide clean air and water? How can we make this world more beautiful and green? The answer is, by growing more trees and then using more wood, both as a substitute for non-renewable fossil fuels and materials such as steel, concrete and plastic, and as paper products for printing, packaging and sanitation. The forest industry stands accused of some very serious crimes against the environment. It is charged with the extinction of tens of thousands of species, the deforestation of vast areas of the Earth, and the total and irreversible destruction of the ecosystem. If I were one of the urban majority and thought the forest industry was causing the irreversible destruction of the environment, I wouldn’t care how many jobs it created or how many communities depended on it; I would be against it.

I have spent the last 15 years trying to understand the relationship between forestry and the environment, to separate fact from fiction, myth from reality. Since 1991, I have chaired the Sustainable Forestry Committee of the Forest Alliance of British Columbia. This has provided me with an ideal opportunity to explore all aspects of the subject. This article is the synthesis of what I have learned. But first, let me give you a little background.

I was born and raised in the tiny fishing and logging village of Winter Harbour on the northwest tip of Vancouver Island, in the rainforest by the Pacific. I eventually attended the University of British Columbia studying life sciences. It was when I discovered ecology that I realized that through science I could gain an insight into the mystery of the rainforest I had known as a child. I became a born-again ecologist, and in the late 1960s, was soon transformed into a radical environmental activist. I found myself in a church basement in Vancouver with a like-minded group of people, planning a protest campaign against U.S. hydrogen bomb testing in Alaska. We proved that a somewhat rag-tag looking group of activists could sail a leaky old halibut boat across the northern Pacific Ocean and change the course of history. By creating a focal point for opposition to the tests, we got on national TV news in Canada and the United States, building a ground swell of opposition to nuclear testing in both countries. When that bomb went off in November 1971, it was the last hydrogen bomb ever detonated on planet Earth. Even though there were four more tests planned in the series, President Nixon canceled them due to the public opposition. This was the birth of Greenpeace.

I spent 15 years on the front lines of the eco-movement as we evolved from that church basement into the world’s largest environmental activist organization, taking on French atmospheric nuclear testing in the South Pacific, Soviet factory whaling, baby seal slaughter, and the dumping of nuclear waste into the Atlantic Ocean. By the mid-1980s Greenpeace had grown into an organization with an income of more than $100 million per year, offices in 21 countries and more than 100 campaigns around the world, tackling toxic waste, acid rain, uranium mining and drift net fishing, as well as the original issues. We had won over a majority of the public in the industrialized democracies. Presidents and prime ministers were talking about the environment on a daily basis.

For me, it was time to make a change. I had been against at least three or four things every day of my life for 15 years; I decided I’d like to be in favor of something for a change. I made the transition from the politics of confrontation to the politics of building consensus.

All social movements evolve from an earlier period of polarization and confrontation during which a minority struggles to convince society that its cause it is true and just, eventually followed by a time of reconciliation if a majority of the population accepts the values of the new movement. For the environmental movement, this transition began to occur in the mid-1980s. The term sustainable development was adopted to describe the challenge of taking the new environmental values we had popularized and incorporating them into the traditional social and economic values. We cannot simply switch to basing all our actions on purely environmental values. Every day, 6 billion people wake up with real needs for food, energy and materials. The challenge for sustainability is to provide for those needs in ways that reduce the negative impact on the environment. Compromise and cooperation, with the involvement of government, industry, academia and the environmental movement, is required to achieve sustainability. It is this effort to find consensus that has occupied my time for the past 15 years

The Challenge of Sustainable Forestry

Coming from British Columbia, born into a third generation forest industry family, and educated in forestry and ecology, it made sense that I would focus on the challenge of defining sustainable forestry. After all, forests are by far the most important environment in British Columbia, and they are also by far the most important basis of economic wealth for families and communities there.

I soon discovered that trees are just large plants that have evolved the ability to grow long wooden stems. They didn’t do that so we could cut them up into lumber and grind them into pulp; they actually had only one purpose in mind, and that was to get their needles or leaves higher up above the other plants where the tree could then monopolize the sun’s energy for photosynthesis.

Forests are home to the majority of living species; not the oceans, nor the grasslands, nor the alpine areas, but ecosystems that are dominated by trees. There is a fairly simple reason for this. The living bodies of the trees create a new environment that would not be there in their absence. The canopy is home to millions of birds and insects, and beneath the canopy, the environment is protected from frost, sun and wind. This, in combination with the food provided by the trees, creates thousands of new habitats.

This gives rise to the obvious concern that if the trees are cut down, the habitats will be lost and the species that live in them will die. But, there is a reason why forestry seldom, if ever, causes species to become extinct. We tend to think that forests need our help to recover after destruction, whether by fire or logging. Of course, this is not the case. Forests have been recovering by themselves from fires, volcanoes, landslides, floods and ice ages ever since forests began more than 350 million years ago.

It follows from this that every species that lives in the forest must be capable of recolonizing areas of land that are recovering from destruction. In ecology, this is known as dispersal, the ability to move from where you are and to inhabit new territory as it becomes available. Dispersal is an absolute requirement for natural selection and the survival of species. No species could exist if it were not capable of dispersal. Therefore, so long as the land is left alone after the forest is destroyed, the forest will recover and all the species that were in it will return.

Fire has always been the main cause of forest destruction, , or disturbance, as ecologists like to call it. But fire is natural, we are told, and does not destroy the forest ecosystem like logging, which is unnatural. Nature never comes with logging trucks and takes the trees away. All kinds of rhetoric is used to give the impression that logging is somehow fundamentally different from other forms of forest disturbance. There is no truth to this. Forests are just as capable of recovering from destruction by logging as they are from any other form of disturbance. All that is necessary for renewal is that the disturbance ends, that the fire goes out, that the volcano stops erupting, that the ice retreats, or that the loggers go back down the road and allow the forest to begin growing back, which it will begin to do almost immediately.

The Eye of the Beholder

We all have been taught since we were children that you should not judge a book by its cover- in other words that beauty is only skin deep. Yet, we are still easily tricked into thinking that if we like what we see with our eyes, it must be good, and if we don’t like what we see with our eyes, it must be bad. We tend to link our visual impression with our moral judgment of what is right and wrong.

“Deforestation” is a difficult subject for the forest industry because an area certainly looks deforested when all the trees are cut down. But cutting the trees down is not sufficient in itself to cause deforestation. What really matters is whether the forest is removed permanently, or is reforested with new trees. But the unsightly nature of a recently harvested forest, even if it is going to grow back eventually, can easily give the impression of environmental destruction.

On the other hand, a rural scene of farmlands and pasture looks pleasant to the eye and is neat and tidy compared with the jumble of woody debris in a clearcut. Yet, it is the farm and pasture land that truly represents deforestation. It has been cleared of forest long ago, and the forest has been permanently replaced by food crops and fodder. More important, if we stopped plowing the farmland for just 5 years in a row, seeds from the surrounding trees would blow in and the whole area would be blanketed in new tree seedlings. Within 80 years you would never know there had been a farm there. The entire area would be reforested again, just by leaving it alone. That’s because deforestation is not an event that just happens and then is over forever. Deforestation is actually an ongoing process of human interference. That’s why deforestation is seldom caused by forestry, the whole intention of which is to cause reforestation. Deforestation is nearly always caused by friendly farmers growing our food and by our nice carpenters building our houses. Deforestation is not an evil plot, it is something we do on purpose in order to feed and house the 6-billion-and-growing human population.

How to Save the Forest

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against farming. We all have to eat. But it is interesting to note that the three things we can do to prevent further loss of the world’s forests have nothing to do with forestry. These three things are:

Population management. The more people there are in this world, the more forest we must clear to feed and house them. This is a simple fact of arithmetic.
Intensive agricultural production. Over the last 50 years in North America, due to advances in genetics, technology and pest control, we have learned to grow five times as much food on the same area of land. If we had not made these advances, we would either have to clear away five times as much forest, which is not available anyway or, more likely, we simply could not grow as much food.
Urban densification. There is actually only one significant cause of continuing forest loss in the United States: 200 cities sprawling out over the landscape and permanently converting forest and farm to pavement. If we would design our cities for a higher density, more livable environment, we would not only save forests, we also would use less energy and materials.
Wood is Good

You would think that since forestry is the most sustainable of all the primary industries, and that wood is without a doubt the most renewable material used to build and maintain our civilization, to build and maintain our civilization, that this would give wood a lot of green eco-points in the environmental movement’s ledger. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to be the case. Greenpeace has gone before the United Nations Inter-Governmental Panel on Forests, calling on countries to reduce the amount of wood they use and to adopt “environmentally appropriate substitutes” instead. No list of substitutes is provided. The Sierra Club is calling for “zero cut” and an end to all commercial forestry on federal public lands in the United States. The Rainforest Action Network wants a 75 percent reduction in wood use in North America by the year 2015. I think it is fair to summarize this approach as “cut fewer trees, use less wood.” It is my firm belief, as a lifelong environmentalist and ecologist, that this is an anti-environmental policy. Putting aside, for a moment, the importance of forestry for our economy and communities; on purely environmental grounds the policy of “use less wood” is anti-environmental. In particular, it is logically inconsistent with, and diametrically opposed to, policies that would bring about positive results for both climate change and biodiversity conservation. I will explain my reasoning for this belief:

First, it is important to recognize that we do use a tremendous amount of wood. On a daily basis, on average, each of the 6 billion people on Earth uses 3.5 pounds or 1.6 kilos of wood every day, for a total of 3.5 billion tons per year. So, why don’t we just cut that in half and save vast areas of forest from harvesting? In order to demonstrate the superficial nature of this apparent logic, it is necessary to look at what we are doing with all this wood.

It comes as a surprise to many people that over half the wood used every year is not for building things but for burning as energy. More than 60 percent of all wood use is for energy, mainly for cooking and heating in the tropical developing countries where 2.5 billion people depend on wood as their primary source of energy. They cannot afford substitutes because most of them make less than $1,000 per year. But, even if they could afford substitute fuels, they would nearly always have to turn to coal, oil or natural gas; in other words, non-renewable fossil fuels. How are we going to stabilize carbon dioxide emissions from excessive use of fossil fuels under the Climate Change Convention if 2.5 billion people switch from a renewable wood energy to non-renewable fossil fuels? Even in cases where fuelwood supplies are not sustainable at present levels of consumption, the answer is not to use less wood and switch to non-renewables. The answer is to grow more trees.

About 20 percent of the wood used in the world is for building things such as houses and furniture. Every available substitute is non-renewable and requires a great deal more energy consumption to produce. That is because wood is produced in a factory called the forest by renewable solar energy. Wood is essentially the material embodiment of solar energy. Non-renewable building materials such as steel, cement and plastic must be produced in real factories such as steel mills, cement works and oil refineries. This usually requires large inputs of fossil fuels, which inevitably results in high carbon dioxide emissions. So, for 70 percent of the wood used each year for energy and building, switching to substitutes nearly always results in increased carbon dioxide emissions, contrary to climate change policy.

Twenty percent of the wood harvested is used to manufacture pulp and paper, mainly for printing, packaging, and sanitary purposes. Half of this wood is derived from the wastes from the sawmills that produce the solid wood products for building. Most of the remaining supply is from tree plantations, many of which are established on land that previously was cleared for agriculture. So, even if we did stop using wood to make pulp and paper, it would not have the effect of “saving” many forests.

Saving the Trees Through Wood Use

It is therefore clear to me that the policy of “use less wood” is anti-environmental because it would result in increased carbon dioxide emissions and a reduction in forested land. I believe the correct policy is a positive rather than a negative one. From an environmental perspective, the correct policy is “grow more trees, and use more wood.” This can be accomplished in a number of ways.

First, it is important to place some of the world’s forest into permanently protected parks and wilderness reserves where no industrial development occurs. The World Wildlife Fund recommends that 10 percent of the world’s forests should be set aside for this purpose. Perhaps it should even be 15 percent. Then the question becomes how we should manage the remaining 85-90 percent of the forest. I believe we should manage it more intensively for higher timber production, keeping in mind the needs of other species in the landscape. Through the better management of our existing forests, we could dramatically increase the world’s supply of wood. In addition, we should expand the geographic extent of our forests, largely by reforesting areas of land that previously were cleared for agriculture. In particular, huge areas of forest have been cleared for domestic animal production. A modest reduction in meat consumption would open up large areas of land for reforestation. This would be good for our health as well as for the health of the environment.

In tropical developing countries, there is a pressing need for sustainable fuelwood plantations, as well as for forest plantations to provide timber. We should direct more of our international aid programs toward this end. Relatively modest changes in fiscal and taxation policy could bring about a doubling of global wood supply within 40 years. All that is required is the political will to put these policies in place. The general public and our political leaders, however, have been confused by the misguided approach towards forestry taken by much of the environmental movement. So long as people think it is inherently wrong to cut down trees, we will continue to behave in a logically inconsistent and dysfunctional manner.

I believe that trees are the answer to many questions about our future on this earth. These include:

How can we advance to a more sustainable economy based on renewable fuels and materials?
How can we improve literacy and sanitation in developing countries while reversing deforestation and protecting wildlife?
How can we reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere, carbon dioxide in particular?
How can we increase the amount of land that will support a greater diversity of species?
How can we help prevent soil erosion and provide clean air and water? How can we make this world more beautiful and green?
The answer is, by growing more trees and using more wood both as a substitute for non-renewable fossil fuels and materials such as steel, concrete and plastic, and as paper products for printing, packaging and sanitation.

By far the most powerful tool at our disposal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel consumption is the growing of trees and the use of wood. Most environmentalists recognize the positive benefits of growing trees to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But, then they say, “Don’t cut them down, or you will undo the good that’s been done.” This would be true if you simply piled the trees in a heap and lit them on fire. If, however, the wood is used as a substitute for fossil fuels and for building materials that require fossil fuel consumption, we can dramatically reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and carbon dioxide emissions. For example, consider a large coal-burning power plant. If we grow trees and use the wood as a substitute for the coal, we are able to offset nearly 100 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions from the power plant. That is because sustainable use of wood results in a zero net release of carbon dioxide, whereas coal combustion counts for the full 100 percent. If environmentalists recognized this fact, it would inevitably lead them to believe that the answer is in growing more trees and using more wood rather than in reducing our use of this most renewable resource.

A Final Example

To conclude, let me take you back to the rainforest of the West Coast of North America. About 300 feet from my house in downtown Vancouver is Pacific Spirit Park, 2,000 acres of beautiful native forest, right in the heart of the city. It is not a botanical garden where people come and prune the bushes and plant tulip bulbs, it is the real thing, a wild West Coast rainforest full of Douglas fir, western red cedar, hemlock, maple, alder and cherry. But people who come by the hundreds each day to walk on the many trails in Pacific Spirit Park would find it hard to believe that all 2,000 acres were completely clearcut logged around the turn of the century to feed the sawmills that helped build Vancouver.

The loggers who clearcut Pacific Spirit Park with double-bitted axes and crosscut saws didn’t know the words ecology or biodiversity any more than my grandfather did on the north end of Vancouver Island. They just cut the timber and moved on to cut more somewhere else. Nothing was done to help restore the land, but it was left alone. It became part of the University of British Columbia Endowment Lands, and it was not developed into housing like the rest of Vancouver. It all grew back into a beautiful new forest and in 1989 was declared a regional park.

In Pacific Spirit Park, there are Douglas firs more than 4 feet in diameter and more than 120 feet tall. All of the beauty has returned to Pacific Spirit Park. The fertility has returned to the soil. And the biodiversity has recovered- the mosses, ferns, fungi, liverworts, and all the other small things that are part of a natural forest. There are pileated woodpeckers, barred owls, ravens, hawks, eagles, coyotes and a colony of great blue herons nesting in the second-growth cedar trees. It is a forest reborn from what is routinely described in the media as the “total and irreversible destruction of the environment.” I don’t buy that. I believe that if forests can recover by themselves from total and complete destruction, we can-with our growing knowledge of forest science in silviculture, biodiversity conservation, soils and genetics- ensure that the forests of this world continue to provide an abundant, and hopefully growing, supply of renewable wood to help build and maintain our civilization, while at the same time providing an abundant, and hopefully growing supply of habitat for the thousands of other species that depend on the forest for their survival every day. The fact is, a world without forests is as unthinkable as a day without wood. And it’s time that politicians, environmentalists, foresters, teachers, journalists and the general public got that balance right. We must get it right if we are going to achieve sustainability in the 21st century.

*Patrick Moore, Ph.D., is chairman of Greenspirit, an environmental consulting firm based in Vancouver, B.C. This article was adapted from Moore’s general session address at the 2004 NWFA Convention in Charlotte, N.C., last April. For more information, visit www.greenspirit.com

GENERAL WOOD FLOORING INFORMATION

Wood flooring is beautiful, timeless and natural. When buying a floor from Floor Variety, you can rest assured that your floor was processed in an environmentally conscientious and efficient manner. NMH performs the entire process from the forest to your home (harvesting, milling, kiln drying, flooring manufacturing), ensuring you the best Quality control

FACTS ABOUT YOUR FLOOR SOLUTION HARDWOODS FLOORING

Wood flooring is very sensitive to its environment, expanding or contracting according to the relative humidity of the room it is in. Narrow width floors show the least amount of movement, whereas wider width flooring will show the most movement. In order to keep your wood floor as stable as possible, the relative humidity of the house should ideally stay at 50%. If the relative humidity drops below 50%, the floor will shrink, causing cracks between each board in the floor. This is not a milling defect, but rather the result of low relative humidity. Over a period of time the wood floor will correct itself and expand to fit together tightly again if the relative humidity returns to and stays constant at 50%.

Cupping, or "washboard," is another problem that can occur from unregulated humidity. The cause of this is moisture imbalance throughout the thickness of the wood. Cupping occurs only if the moisture is greater underneath the flooring than on top. To correct cupping, find the source of the moisture and eliminate it. Given time, the floor should correct itself once the relative humidity is stabilized. If the damage done was extensive, the floor might need to be re-sanded and refinished after the relative humidity is stabilized. Expansion, or buckling, is also a result of high humidity and may cause the flooring to push tight against vertical surfaces. To relieve, allow up to 3/4" expansion space along walls.

To get the best wear out of your flooring finish, sweep and vacuum the floor regularly. Do not use strong soaps when mopping. Other preventative measures to keep from excessive wear is to put felt pads on the bottom of all furniture and make sure dog toenails are clipped. Vacuum all area rugs and the floor space underneath the rugs frequently.

All woods will darken during the six to twelve months after installation. Flooring under area rugs and furniture will not change at the same rate as the exposed flooring as long as it is covered. Moving rugs and furniture will correct any variations. All wood dents. High heels, dropped heavy objects, pointed furniture legs and the unprotected rolling of appliances can dent or gouge your floor.

SUGGESTIONS FOR INSTALLATION

1. Flooring should be installed on grade or above. Do not install below grade.
2. To avoid damage, make sure the floor is installed after all other construction is completed.
3. Before installation, check the moisture content of the sub-floor. The moisture of the sub-floor should be within 2% of the moisture content of the flooring to be installed.
4. A moisture barrier should be applied between concrete and the sub-floor.
5. Make sure the sub-floor is clean, flat and dry. Sand all areas that are not smooth and nail any loose boards. It is recommended that flooring acclimate to the environment of where it will be installed for approximately two weeks prior to installation.

CARPET AS ONE OF THE MOST ALLERGY CAUSE

Subtle shades

The difference between the two categories of bamboo flooring colors exists on a spectrum. Within the natural and carbonized subsets, there are further shade variances that might make one batch of bamboo lighter or darker than another. When seeking to color match your bamboo flooring, talk with your sales rep about how variance is managed. Distributors often arrange batches of bamboo according to color in this respect, depending on the grade of bamboo flooring. However, some people like to have such variance available to them as an option for their design sensibilities. It really depends on the effect you want to achieve with your bamboo flooring. Once again, your sales rep is a good resource for you to address the issue of color variance.

Strand-Woven Bamboo Flooring

In the continuing spirit of“green” flooring option for which bamboo has come to be associated, strand-woven bamboo flooring is the product of a process that leaves very little waste. The excess material left over from the filleting process which goes into making natural and carbonized bamboo flooring are intertwined, compressed, and bound. The binding agent is a safe, UV resistant and scratch-resistant resin which also makes the bamboo even more resistant to moisture. The process of compression results in a very hard, very durable type of bamboo flooring typified by grain patterns that are more like those of a hardwood floor. The strand-woven bamboo is then cut into planks and is ready to be shipped – no further compression is needed in this case, unlike regularly manufactured bamboo flooring.
Bamboo flooring can in turn renew any interior for attractiveness as well as practicality. As such, you will gain both the time it would take to maintain many other types of flooring, as well as the many compliments you’ll receive from visitors!

by: Rob Jones