Hi All, I haven been struggling with a concern and thought that Gardenweb members might be able to help guide me. I have been pursuing the chance to purchase a store that is an overall great fit for my interests and lifestyle. The only sticking point is that the store has pre-selected build-out materials for each location, and my husband and I tend to be chemically sensitive when it comes to flooring. I can adjust the paint in the store by going with a zero-VOC version, but the flooring seems to be non-negotiable. The options are a wood-style plank vinyl or a carpet. (I would get to choose the adhesive for both types of flooring.) The wood plank vinyl uses low-VOC glues, but it is not phthalate-free. I don't yet have the specs on the carpet, but I worry that any carpet in a high traffic area (with lots of foot traffic from outside) will absorb toxins and allergens that will be hard to remove...and that might bother me with time. The parent company for the store seems only minimally open to looking at a substitute plank flooring: look-alikes to the plank vinyl. Here is a link to how the pre-selected plank vinyl looks: http://www.karndean.com/en/commercial-flooring/products/wp311-grano?link=shf#next I am wondering if maybe a low-emissions laminate or a wood-style plank linoleum might work. Does anyone have experience with these sorts of product? Do you think a phthalate-free vinyl would be safer or is the jury out on that (kind of like BPA-free products?) Or can you think of ways to make a new, industrial carpet tolerable for someone who tends to react to allergens? I would love some input from others who understand chemical sensitivities. I really want this career opportunity to work out, so this has been a challenging time. I am pretty sure that the company just won't budge. Thanks so much in advance, Sara

Hello! I've not bought something from that company yet, but I'm going to renovate my old flooring, and now I'm looking for a place to buy a new one. And the information on their websites says that the flooring is quality and safe for the health. By the way, which flooring do you prefer, wooden or laminate? I prefer laminate because it makes me pretty said to imagine trees being cut down to be turned into wooden flooring. I'm a graduate student, and we often talk about the environment, so I can't ignore things like this. When I was looking for some info related to it, I came across this page https://envrexperts.com/free-essays/essay-about-are-you-environmentalist-or where I read pretty interesting information. There I read the next thing " there really isn't a spot left on earth that hasn't been influenced by human development". And it's so true. For now, I've not found any statistical info about the impact of floor production on the environment, but buying alternative flooring is my decision.

Non Toxic and eco friendly is pretty limiting. In addition to getting a safe, eco friendly material, they will have to talk to the installer and make sure any installation products (glues, caulk, stains, finishes . . . ) are VOC free/ safe. Hard wood is not eco friendly. (deforestation) May be able to find reclaimed wood flooring. Cork/Bamboo can be both non toxic and eco friendly, but they will need to research which brands are formaldehyde free. Processing of cork/bamboo can add toxins. Ceramic/Porcelain tiles - glaze may contain lead. Stone - depends on what stone and where it is mined and how it is sealed. Lots of issues with child/slave labor/human rights violations with mining of stone outside of the US. Mined in the US should be okay. I can't think of any issues with poured, polished concrete. And the one that is often overlooked. . . Linoleum. . . Marmoleum is a company that makes an eco friendly, non toxic Linoleum and safe installation materials/sealers. There may be other "safe" linoleums, but I specifically remember reading about the Marmoleum company's focus on being green and healthy.

My neighbor just redid all their downstairs floors and they went with porcelain tile. It's a beautiful very light "sand" color. They used to have wood downstairs, but a bad flood ruined their entire downstairs. It's beautiful and they have lovely area rugs on top to frame and ground the rooms and furniture placements. Their upstairs was not ruined, but they did recently replace the carpet up there. To "off-gas" the VOCs, they left town for a few days and left all the upstairs windows open with fans running. Of course that approach would be weather-dependent. Refinishing wood floors is a big VOC event which I've only had to endure once. It was horrible and I had all the windows open with fans running. I sent my kids to my Dad's house for a few days.