Archive for the ‘hardwood floor choices’ Category

FSC versus true sustainability

Friday, June 18th, 2010

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification is a hot ticket item right now. It’s a pretty sweet concept regarding what it has done for educating countries globally about proper forestry. The essence of FSC relies in “chain of custody”, which in flooring basically means the people have are able to know exactly what tree in a specific forest created the boards in the floor. They can track where the wood was warehoused, etc… The process provides a real accountability for the logging industry in countries that used to clear cut and sell cheap flooring.

Let’s look closer at this though and look at the flipside.

1) The record keeping and data load from such a process is quite intense. It creates a demand for electronics and e-waste is  one of our biggest global threats.

2) Warehouses that distribute FSC certified material have to house the material in a separate location from non-certified material, thus increasing the footprint of commercial spaces in our community. Yet, we’re all complaining America is running out of farmland.

3) The FSC does regular site audits (by third parties) of all points within a chain of custody, thus requiring fossil fuels to be burned in order to get an auditor to and from the site.

Wanna read more about the other side of FSC then go here.

Sustainability is truly independent of standards set by a well marketed non-profit. It relies more on the measure of local economics, carbon footprint, and life-cycle analysis of a product or process. Flooring products from foreign countries that abide by arbitrarily governed associations don’t put money into the pockets of our domestic population and they require additional fossil fuel expenditure to transport. That’s why LEED gets it right because they give scores to building projects based a series of qualifications, some of which factor the origination point of building materials to the project location.

Ask any scientist and they will tell you that the proving or dis-proving of a hypothesis is given significant weight when you bring together multiple lines of evidence in the experimental data. I am not suggesting FSC is an evil entity by any means. On  the contrary they have done great things for education of forest management for countries with little to no understanding of these principles. I am suggesting that  granting the term “green” or “sustainable” to a product because it carries  the FSC label is simply a politically correct form of greenwashing that adds additional cost to products if you do not consider other factors, particularly life cycle analysis and local economic benefits.

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Beware of the boutique

Saturday, January 30th, 2010

Recently our shop was approached by a  “boutique” wholesaler to subcontract installations and sanding. It sounded like an interesting way to grow our business possibly. I had my reservations based on conversations with other remodeling colleagues who previously used this group. Specifically I was concerned that they were unwilling to pay a fair market rate for top notch contracting because of the types of installers they typically use. A brief conversation with the outfit quickly verified that my intuition was correct. The rates that they were willing to pay to installers were about 60% of the going rate for the best full service hardwood flooring contractors in town.

Normally I don’t want to discuss price, but it is valid in this case. I know that quality service requires time and very careful effort. The mathematics of a service business require that to lower price you must lower service unless material costs are lowered.

What I urge consumers to do and always will is to specifically work with reputable small retailers with great experience. Flashy “high-end” boutique retailers pay considerable overhead in rent for facilities and staffing. To stay competitive they must create downward pricing pressure on subcontracted labor, which invariably results in mediocre work.

In these days of the internet research I advise consumers to really investigate service providing retailers before making an “impulse” buy with your hardwood floor. Stay informed with resources such as the NWFA.

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The price isn’t right

Sunday, November 8th, 2009

One of the things I have been startled about lately is how the hardwood floor refinishing market in Portland has been subject to really large variances in price. At our company we try to deliver a service with considerable value that includes very personable customer service in addition to a quality product. We make a very disciplined effort to hide no element of what is included, which are the questions that consumers should ask in order to make an apples to apples comparison:

1) How many finish coats will be applied? This determines longevity to a great degree

2)What type of finish will be used? Home Depot polyurethane versus GlitsaMax 2 component waterborne urethane isn’t really a contest, the latter will start to outperform after 2-3 years easily. Just look at my floors, which are the test subject of 2year old and 4year old boys dragging toys and dropping everything. They look brand new one and a half years later.

3)How is the floor being filled? Is the floor being trowel filled across the whole area to alleviate gaps or simply spot filled in the large areas? This has a considerable impact on labor in the process.

4)How clean is the contractor? I think most people who want a refinish might care about a clean house. Does the contractor vacuum the house and vents after sanding and before coating the floor? Do they use dust collection? These are questions to ask when you want to know how MUCH service you are paying for.

5) Is the contractor licensed and CURRENTLY bonded? Do they pay their taxes? These may seem like simple questions but I assure you they are essential because if the contractor does not have a current bond, then any damage they are liable for upon entering your home comes from your pocket in most cases if there is no bond. Paying taxes is essential for supporting our parks, schools, etc… so it goes without saying that it is important for a community.

6) Do they contribute to any organizations or have ANY credentials beyond a license?
Our memberships and certifications alone cost us close to $2000 per year alone not counting any time for involvement with committees or helping educate other members. This may seem like a minor element, but I say that it is the fundamental building block for a quality contractor for two reasons. The esteem of being known for quality work goes with being in an organization and secondly the access to the latest information ensures better quality in your business.

I hope that these questions stay current amongst the consumers of Portland so that during the trying times we can all maintain or hopefully elevate the state of this industry rather than take the path of least resistance by lowering quality and price simultaneously.

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Posted in Dustless Hardwood Refinishing, Hardwood floor durability, hardwood floor choices, hardwood floor finish, hardwood floor refinishing prices, portland hardwood professional | 1 Comment »

Understanding Flooring Choices

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

This will serve as a quick refresher on bamboo as a flooring alternative. The material has taken place in many people’s minds as being the most green and renewable resource. I would urge everyone to take a closer look at the bigger picture for this material. The NWFA recently released a simple article about the basics of this material. For a copy of this article in PDF format, please click here. While bamboo seems to be a miracle flooring option, there are some unknowns you need to investigate when choosing a flooring company. Most bamboo used for flooring is produced in China and other countries where labor practices are questionable. Many overseas farms and factories have no guidelines for fair labor practices. There are no regulations in the United States as to where the bamboo originates. Also, in China there are no set government standards for bamboo flooring production and construction or for air quality standards. For these reasons, it’s possible that production of bamboo flooring produces toxic byproducts and expends large amounts of energy. Many bamboo floors exported from China contain high levels of urea formaldehyde that do not meet safety standards in other countries.

The U.S. forestry system has been sustainable long before the word caught fire with the recent trends of the green building movement. The reason is simply that the clear cutting of our forests without replanting would devastate the forestry industry as a whole because the jobs would have been lost long ago without sustainability in mind. In addition to being sustainable, domestic wood species have a distinct advantage for two reasons. The first reason is that buying flooring produced within the United States supports the nationwide economy rather than a competing economy. The second reason is that wood flooring produced locally has a lesser impact in terms of carbon footprint because the material requires less fuel to transport.

The point of my blog is to encourage those of you to look at the bigger picture when selecting a flooring material with regards to sustainability. If you are working with a retailer, then please make sure that they are a reputable retailer that cares for your floor well beyond when you leave the store with your new flooring material. In the next blog, I will address the properties that go into the quality and durability of your floor.

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