181–190 of 207 posts
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I think you're confusing terminology here. Laminate is generally the cheapest option with some sort of plastic over some sort of MDF type material. Definitely no option to refinish. You're describing engineered hardwood, which ironically often cost more than regular hardwood.
I think you're right laminates probably cannot be refinished. But they are definitely much more expensive/premium than vinyl. I think we paid ~$3.50/square foot just in material cost. I think it's a kind of pressed fiberboard on top of a plastic core and a rubber'ish bottom.
Vinyl luxury plank can be very nice, durable, flexible, thin but with backing to make it quiet and gives it a good feel to walk on, waterproof etc.
I installed much myself and choose based on quality not price and went with VLP for our needs. I think it really just comes down to where you are installing and its characteristics and what materials you have around you.
Also laminates can’t be refinished, nor vinyl. There are some interesting bamboo options out there but frankly VLP these days doesn’t gas off tons of toxic fumes for years, lasts long enough, and is cheap and easy to install and looks real enough these days you’d have to really study it to notice a pattern that unless you really need real it’s good nuff.
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As if we millennials had yards
Go plant where you can. No excuses. Do it today.
I think I've seen it done locally, in the USA... "Forest Preserves" cutting down old growth maple/oaks, and piling the massive logs in parking lots until hauled away... I think I've also seen significant "over-pruning" for the sake of the construction of various pathways and "theme parks" for humans.
Pulling down sick trees is sometimes the best thing you can do to help the rest.
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Don’t wear outdoor shoes inside. We asians figured this out generations ago.
Are there cultures where people actually wear shoes throughout their homes? Taking your shoes off is absolutely not a uniquely asian thing.
American culture? Way too many movies I've watched feature americans wearing shoes while lying down on their beds. Always weirded me out.
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Don’t wear outdoor shoes inside. We asians figured this out generations ago.
Are there cultures where people actually wear shoes throughout their homes? Taking your shoes off is absolutely not a uniquely asian thing.
I'm sure you can guess by the way I say it which end I'm at.
I wear shoes around my house because if I don't, as a home-worker, I don't wear shoes very often, and then my feet and ankles start to get painful. I try to segregate indoor and outdoor shoes, but am not very successful at this, and have yet to find slippers which are supportive enough.
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The formula seems pretty straightforward. Take the area of land we're willing to give over to lumber farming, divide by how long it takes to grow a tree to harvest and that's how much lumber demand can be met. Adjust price to make demand meet that limit.
> Take the area of land we're willing to give over to lumber farming, divide by how long it takes to grow a tree to harvest and that's how much lumber demand can be met. Adjust price to make demand meet that limit. Much more complicated Trees grow in an ecosystem They are not widgets
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> Take the area of land we're willing to give over to lumber farming, divide by how long it takes to grow a tree to harvest and that's how much lumber demand can be met. Adjust price to make demand meet that limit. Much more complicated Trees grow in an ecosystem They are not widgets
Look at how Christmas trees work. It's exactly this simple.
> [as a consumer, ask] Where exactly does the wood come from? Is there documentation of the origin of the wood and its path through the production chain? Realistically no-one will tell you that the thing you want to buy is illegally harvested wood. Most sales people won't know, won't understand the question to begin with, and won't care enough to provide the information. And if they do know, incentives go against bei…
> Realistically no-one will tell you that the thing you want to buy is illegally harvested wood. They might tell you if it has been harvested legally though, as that is often a selling point. And if they don't know and can't find out then you could move on to a different supplier.
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Another side of this is you really want to put economic value on sustainably harvesting these trees and preserving the forest, because if you say "no harvesting at all" then it's more profitable for someone to burn the forest down and replace it with cattle. Years ago tracking lumber from harvesting through the supply chain was one of the few convincing cases I heard for blockchain applications, where you have a sequ…
The problem is that in many cases tropical hardwoods are so slow growing and so intertwined with other species (both physically and metaphorically) that there isn't a way to harvest them sustainably. As a planet, we need to decide how much of these forests we are going to save, and then actually protect them. That may sound idealistic, but as someone who has spent a significant portion of my adult life working and st…