Why Hardwood Flooring in Kansas City is More Eco-Friendly Than You Realize!

Homeowners have more options for hardwood flooring in a Kansas City home than ever before, including the choice of timber-look laminate flooring. While engineered and solid hardwood floors are valued for their luxurious look and durability, you might wonder if installing wood floors in your home is an eco-friendly choice, and if you’re potentially contributing to deforestation by choosing a residential wood floors installation.

Residential hardwood flooring in Kansas City is a very eco-friendly option for homeowners, as hardwood forests set aside for wood floors and other building materials often grow faster than they are harvested!

If you’re a homeowner who is hesitant about choosing wood floors for your Kansas City area home because of concern for the environment, you might note some vital information about engineered and solid hardwood floors versus carpeting, stone flooring, floor tiles, and other such options. You can then make the best decision of eco-friendly flooring materials for your home, and even choose a wood floor installation in Kansas City without worry!

What Is Engineered Hardwood Versus Solid Hardwood Flooring?

To understand the differences between flooring materials, it’s good to first review what is meant by engineered wood floors versus solid hardwood. Solid wood slats are just that; a solid piece of wood. Engineered wood floors are a thin layer of a particular species glued or otherwise adhered to a layer of cheaper wood or plywood underneath.

Engineered wood floors offer the same look at feel as solid hardwood flooring but for far less money. However, you can only sand down a thin strip of engineered flooring so many times before it needs replacing! Solid hardwood then lasts longer than engineered wood floors.

Floating engineered hardwood floors also come in slats that snap into place, whereas solid hardwood flooring needs to be nailed or glued to a home’s subfloor one slat at a time. In most cases, only a hardwood flooring contractor is qualified to install solid hardwood slats, which also adds to their overall cost.

Residential Flooring Materials Not So Eco-Friendly!

When considering if hardwood flooring is eco-friendly, you might first consider how other flooring options are not so eco-friendly! Carpet and tile each have their advantages but consider how these materials impact the environment over the years:

• Synthetic carpet fibers, like other synthetic materials, don’t break down easily over time. Carpet also usually has a rubber or foam backing that also takes years if not decades to degrade. Discarded carpeting can then remain in a landfill for many years before it deteriorates.
• Manufacturing residential carpeting involves chemical emissions that are hurtful to the environment.
• The chemicals used to manufacture residential carpeting are also released into the air as carpet degrades. Many of those chemicals are considered toxic and unhealthy!
• Carpet fibers tend to trap and lock dirt, dust, pollen, and other irritants, creating an unhealthy environment inside the home.
• If left damp, carpet padding can develop mold and mildew, also creating an unhealthy home environment.
• Shampoos and detergents used for carpet cleaning often contain bothersome chemicals.
• Harvesting the materials used for stone flooring involves blasting and other processes that damage the environment.
• Many artificial materials used for tile flooring also take decades to degrade, so that discarded tile might clog landfills for years.

For homeowners looking to make an eco-friendly choice for residential flooring, it’s good to remember these considerations when it comes to stone flooring and residential carpet installation versus hardwood floors!

Why Sustainable Hardwood is an Eco-Friendly Flooring Option

Sustainable wood strip flooring refers to wood taken from trees grown specifically for use in the home building industry or that are set aside to make paper and other wood products. Sustainable forests are planted and tended specifically to ensure the trees grow quickly and are replaced quickly as well.

Any wood product take from sustainable sources, including wood floor slats, do not contribute to deforestation and are an eco-friendly choice for your home. Most hardwood floor contractors in Kansas City today choose to install flooring brands that use sustainable wood for their products only!

In addition to sustainable wood, many wood floor manufacturers use reclaimed wood, meaning discarded wood or wood found at the bottom of rivers and lakes. Discarded wood refers to wood that might otherwise end up in a landfill, including wood floors removed from a home, wood scraps left over from new home construction, and other such pieces.

Wood Flooring is the Most Eco-Friendly Choice!

Wood flooring and other wood products, no matter their source, are actually very good for the environment! How so?

• Residential wood flooring doesn’t trap and lock dirt, dust, and other irritants. Dust settles onto the surface of wood floors and is easily swept away without the use of harsh detergents and shampoos.
• Reclaimed wood can be used for new hardwood floors as well as other projects, as said. If you were to choose a new wood floor installation for a Kansas City area home and then needed to replace the floors in a decade or so, that wood can be reused and kept out of landfills.
• If you were to replace your home’s wood flooring and discard that wood, note that timber floor slats don’t release harmful chemicals as they break down in landfills.
• Wood also degrades and decomposes somewhat easily, so that discarded timber flooring materials don’t take up space in a landfill for very long.
• Since wood floors are so durable, a homeowner typically doesn’t need to replace that flooring material as often as carpeting and many types of floor tiles. In turn, you’ll use fewer materials for your home’s flooring over the lifetime of home ownership!
• If you want to change the look of your home’s wood flooring, you can use eco-friendly paints and stains for a completely different color and tone. Applying an eco-friendly coating is much safer for the environment than discarding wall-to-wall carpeting or floor tiles simply so you can change the look of your home’s interior.

For homeowners who want to preserve the environment while enjoying a beautiful space inside their home, talk to a hardwood flooring contractor about your options for wood flooring. Hardwood flooring is often more eco-friendly as well as more affordable and durable than you realize, making it an excellent option for your home!