Zero limits carpet cleaning11/6/2022 Epoxy is a two-part sealer, where each part, in theory, comes to a complete chemical reaction with the other. You can do acid stains, add natural pigments, use white cement, or add white sand to Portland Cement to get many different unique and modern looks.Ĭoncrete can also be sealed with topical acrylic or polyurethane sealers, penetrating sealers or epoxies.Ī lot of people want to know if epoxy sealers are non-toxic. Polished concrete is vapor breathable which makes it one of the best flooring types, alongside tile and natural linoleum, over a concrete slab. Most polished concrete systems use sodium silicate or potassium silicate which are very safe and benign. This option is available across Canada and the US. The Retroplate system uses “liquid glass” (a modified sodium silicate) and is completely non-toxic and zero-VOC. If polished concrete flooring makes you think IKEA warehouse, think again, polished concrete can look beautiful and be green and healthy. Consider the width of the planks at the planning stage. You may need a small amount of glue on some pieces, or you may be able to face nail.īest practice for wide planks is to glue and nail. Nail-down installation is less toxic than glue-down. My post on non-toxic underlayments includes silicone backed paper (for the most sensitive) or Rosin paper. Use solid wood baseboards – they come in both primed and unfinished ( don’t use MDF or PVC). You will find that almost every brand has a UV-cured water-based polyurethane finish (with aluminum oxide). It would likely send you in circles if I mention brands – you want to start with what’s available in your area. This finish has two main benefits, not having to finish it in house and the finish partially blocks the wood odor.Īlmost all brands of prefinished hardwood are of the same composition. I consider this to be a safe product even for the chemically sensitive. Usually finished with aluminum oxide infused polyurethane and cured under UV lights, these are typically very well tolerated once cured. These big-box stores have networks of installers. Lumber Liquidators is usually going to have the lowest price. You can buy solid unfinished hardwood flooring from specialty flooring stores, as well as Home Depot, Lowes and Lumber Liquidators. I find the standard Minwax wood putty to be too potent. There are no VOC/HAPs wood fillers by Mohawk and ECOS for the nail holes. Wood Floor Gluesįor subfloor glues, my top pick is definitely AFM Almighty Adhesive which is safe and highly tolerable. I go into detail on more options for wood sealers and stains in my post on sealers. (I would use a more durable natural oil like Tung if I did it again!)ĪFM Poly BP is another great non-toxic finish. I used Hemp Oil on my floors, a purest option. There are many green zero-VOC options for finishing wood. In normal conditions, this is not an issue. To prevent mold you should make sure your wood has been kiln-dried and kept dry at the store and onsite. Wood also has a higher possibility of harboring mold than less porous materials. Aromatic woods like pine have higher natural volatile compounds than maple, as an example.įlooring can contain anti-sapstain chemicals, which could explain why a few people react to wood used in building and not wood in the forest. Wood contains natural terpenes that are safe (and even beneficial) for healthy folks, but do bother some extremely sensitive people. A few caveats for those extremely sensitive: It’s one of the purest and safest options. Natural wood flooring is usually my number one choice. Naturally finished floors by flooring & photography
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