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Flooring
in general:
Timber flooring - fair trade
or rogue trade?
One professional tells
the tale of what's hidden under the floorboards
"Climate change"
or global warming is the world's greatest concern, with worrying
new findings and data emerging on an almost daily basis and global
scientific community urging governments and citizens to take
urgent steps to halt destruction. Large-scale deforestation -
whether legal or illegally felled - to feed the world's growing
hunger for wood, plays a major role in this hugely complex problem
scenario.
According to news reports areas of forests the size of 300 football
pitches were cut down every hour in Indonesia alone between 2000
and 2005 , while in Brazil more than 750,000 acres of the Amazon
were deforested in the second half of 2007 - which makes for
an alarming rate of global forest depletion, forests that are
commonly called "the lungs of the earth" and which
are vital to our climate as they sequester carbon through photosynthesis.
And yet, as is always the case
with such alarming news stories and statistics, they worry us,
but they seem so far removed from our lives, taking place on
the other side of the world, seem to be caused by local needs
or big, profit-hungry business, that we feel it has little to
do with us.
Noel James, a timber flooring
installer from Bristol with almost twenty years' experience in
the timber flooring industry, has learnt over the years that
nothing could be further from the truth. "The WWF has estimated
that the UK is the largest importer of illegally sourced timber
in the EU, which means that this timber is bought by private
consumers or business on the UK market in one form or other,
probably in the shape of furniture, flooring or construction
materials. Our lifestyle choices therefore have a direct impact
on what's going on elsewhere in the world."
Having fitted floors for almost
two decades up and down the country, including large pub chains
and some rather illustrious clients, such as Mohammad Al Fayed
(Harrods) or the Sultan of Brunei, Noel says he has installed
thousands of square metres of timber, but admits it has become
increasingly difficult for him to go along with what he terms
as unsustainable and inconsiderate practice that is costing the
earth - literally. "Over the years I have worked extensively
with designers who specify certain species of timber for flooring
without the slightest regard for its origin or its status on
the endangered list. Merbau, for instance, is the preferred choice
of large pub chains, because it offers them a dark, rich reddish
colour. No other consideration is given to the product selection.
It's by now a well-known fact that the species is illegally-sourced
from Papua New Guinea, where it is becoming very rare indeed.
The deforestation of entire primary forests in order to physically
get to this precious tree not only threatens the livelihood of
the indigenous people, but also their land rights and water supply.
Over there organisations are only interested in turning forests
into cash no matter what, over here the overriding concerns are
costs or simply look. At neither end does anyone act with a care
for the environment."
On its website the World Wildlife
Fund states that it is currently not illegal to import illegal
timber into the EU and as a result the vast majority of companies
do not properly check where their timber comes from. Noel confirms
this: "I recently asked all my timber flooring suppliers
to provide me with information on the origin of their timber
and found that very few of them had actually given it any thought.
The profit-driven attitude in the trade is quite often shocking,
I get answers like 'I think it's been illegally harvested
in Russia, but your client doesn't need to know that' or
'Yeah, it's not sustainable, but I buy hundreds of containers
of the stuff and it's cheap - what more do you want' !"
What makes matters worse is
the short-term planning and the pervading throw-away attitude.
"More often than not large commercial installations have
a life cycle of just 2 to 5 years, after that they are hacked
up and scrapped." Such disregard for a tree which has taken
hundreds of years to grow is very upsetting to Noel, but he says,
"things can be different, there is a way out: FSC accreditation."
FSC (Forest Stewardship Council)
is an international not-for-profit, multi-stakeholder organization
promoting responsible management of the world's forests. Its
main tools for achieving this are standard setting, independent
certification and labeling of forest products. This verifiable
audit trail assures customers around the world that the timber
products carrying the FSC logo are sourced from socially and
environmentally responsible forestry.
"This way cutting down
wood can actually do good," says Noel. "Wood is the
most renewable of all materials. Forests act as carbon storehouses.
So far, the Forest Stewardship Council has accredited 100 million
acres of forests across the world. These plantations must meet
a whole range of very stringent criteria in both social and environmental
terms, covering aspects such as the protection of local labour
and indigenous habitats, and the avoidance of monocultures, which
is generally bad news for soil and biodiversity," he explains.
"Most importantly, for every tree felled another one is
planted, keeping alive the carbon-absorbing cycle, while the
wood end-product, in form of your living room floor for instance,
locks away carbon for life. Personally, I feel much happier fitting
or supplying timber flooring that I know has not harmed the environment."
Deforestation accounts for
20% of all current carbon emissions and scientific consensus
is clear: if we don't reduce deforestation we risk an environmental
catastrophe. Noel has therefore decided he can no longer do business
as usual, but instead intends to use his knowledge and experience
to advise suppliers and customers on a more ethical and sustainable
alternative to flooring. He has launched Greenwood Floors, believed
to be the first wood flooring supplier in the UK that sells solely
products carrying the FSC Chain of Custody seal of approval.
Effecting a change in consumer behaviour won't be easy at a time
of global credit crunch and tying of purse strings, but Noel
is confident that once people know the facts and are given the
right background information there can only be but one choice:
FSC.
"My most recent job was
to fit the restaurant area of Jurys Hotel in Bristol. I proposed
an alternative FSC timber solution instead of their original
choice and Jury's accepted that this more eco-friendly alternative
was the only way forward even if marginally more expensive."
The way Noel sees it, we all
play a part in the global threat of climate change, and it's
up to each and every one of us to make a difference. "The
choice is ours: to cherish or to destroy. As far as my line of
work is concerned, I shall do what I can to make a change. We
must make sure we can still see the trees for all that wood -
my clients can rest assured that there are no hidden skeletons
under my floorboards!"
- Healthy Flooring Network -alliance of individuals and organisations concerned
about health, asthma and allergies. The network aims to raise
awareness of the links between fitted carpets, PVC flooring and
health and to encourage and promote alternatives.
Timber
board and strip floors:
Hardwood
boarding and parquet, bamboo, plus stripped timber floors
- Chaunceys
-Bristol based suppliers of solid and engineered oak flooring
using both new and reclaimed timber.
- Ecoimpact -eco friendly bamboo flooring strips
and panels.
- Focus Floors
-professional floor sanding in London.
- Junckers -high quality hardwood floor finishes.
- Natural Floors UK
-floor sanding and renovation specialists in Edinburgh, Glasgow,
Dundee, Kilmarnock and Stirling.
- Osmo -solid and plank wood floors
- Pergo -laminate, wood, ceramic and tiled
floors.
- Richard Burbidge
-timber, stairs, DIY, decking, mouldings, flooring.
- Sanded Floors
-floor sanding service in South London with lots of guidance
on how to do it yourself.
- sandingwoodenfloors.co.uk -specialist in sanding floors in mainly Victorian/
Edwardian houses in the London area for 8 years.
- Stone River Hardwoods - supplies hiqh quality hardwood floors
in various
stains and widths, from standard to wide plank flooring.
- Urbane Living Natural & Wood Flooring - Supplier of sustainable wood and
natural flooring. solid and engineered floors in oak, walnut,
maple and bamboo. Also carpet and rugs available in sisal, coir,
jute, seagrass and wool.
- Victorian Wood Works -suppliers of old timber boards and parquet
Tiling and
tile manufacturers:
Ceramic, terracotta, stone,
marble, terrazzo
- Tile
Association -association
of tiling manufacturers and installers.
- Ariostea
-Italian marble and stone floor tiles, marble tiles, stone tile,
flooring tiles, porcelain stoneware tiles, stone wall covering,
marble floor slabs.
- Amabis -hand made tiles with an undulating
finish
- Ardex
UK -tiling and flooring
products.
- Ariostea
-Italian marble and stone floor tiles, porcelain stoneware tiles,
stone wall covering, marble floor slabs.
- Chantecler
-handmade tiles for the kitchen and bathroom.
- Carol
Sinclair Ceramics
-crafted handmade tiles.
- Citrus
Glaze
-exquisite handpainted tiles,
- Craven
Dunnill Jackfield
-make traditional Victorian, Art Nouveau and Art Deco ceramic
and encaustic wall and floor tiles.
- Country
Tile Design
-handpainted ceramic tiles with various designs including marine,
vegetables, farm animals, pond life.
- Dreamwall -formed in March 2003 by Hannah Coleman,
Dreamwall has a portfolio of unique and contemporary wall tiles.
- Elon -importers
of handmade terracotta floor tiles and handpainted wall tiles.
- Fired
Earth -marble,
limestone, slate and terracotta floor
and wall tiles, natural flooring and rugs from all over the world.
- Hand Painted
Tiles
-individually designed one-off commissions.
- Heritage
Tiling
-specialise in the cleaning and restoration of Victorian tiled
walls and floors.
- Iris
Ceramica: Italian ceramic
floor and wall tiles for indoor and outdoor use.
- H
& R Johnson -manufacturer
of a huge range of ceramic floor and wall tiles
- Life
Enhancing Tile Company
-interesting range of encaustic tiles.
- Metal
Tiles
-unique tiles made using stainless steel and other metallic finishes.
- Moher Flagstone -a unique
stone flag from Ireland with a textured surface charaterised
by fossilised worm tracks.
- Mosaic
Workshop
-supply all the materials and tools to make your own mosaic floor,
and run courses in London.
- Mosaici -make high quality marble mosaic kits,
which can be used in kitchens, bathrooms, conservatories and
gardens.
- Natural
Tile
-tiles in terracotta, aluminium, Mexican-style, mosaic plus an
unusual contemporary range.
- Pilkingtons
tiles -browse their
range of ceramic floor and wall tiling online.
- Photo
Tile Company
-print your photographs onto ceramic tiles, use your own or search
their image libraries.
- PopArtPlastic -features
interior plastic wall tiles in the pop art style of 60's and
70's with bright colours contemporary shapes,styles and images.
- Rupert
Scott
specialise in the design and production of kiln-fused glass,
which we have developed into a unique range of hand-made wall
tiles.
- Smoke
and Fire
-specialists in natural stone flooring , wooden floors and handmade
wall tiles.
- Stone
Deals
-St Albans based supplier of marble, travertine, limestone, slate
and other natural stone floor finishes -good illustrations of
various types of finish.
- Stone
Direct
-natural stone floor and wall coverings.
- Stonehouse Tiles -suppliers
of natural stone tiling from around the world along with natural
stone bowls and other accessories.
- Stonell -natural stone tiles.
- TACTtiles snap-together flooring system.
- The
Tile Doctor -specialist
service for cleaning and sealing tile grout and old stone floors
-useful guide to maintaining various floor types.
- Tile Heaven -Victorian
and Edwardian Art Nouveau, Minton, majolica and, printed tiles.
- Tylers
Tiles Wall,
floor, natural stone and handmade tiles and mosaics from their
showroom in Perth.
- Welbeck
Tiles
-another unique collection of decorated metallic tiles.
Carpets:
Carpets and rugs in wool, sisal,
coir, jute, seagrass and man made fibres
- Alternative flooring company -supplier and specialist in natural
flooring.
- Axminster
-world famous carpets from Devon.
- Bonarfloors -manufacture three flooring products
-Flotex, Chocflex & Tessera carpet tiles -plus two types
of entrance systems -Nuway & Coral.
- Brintons -fine Axminster carpets.
- Carpet
information Centre
-free advice on carpets.
- Cavalier Carpets
-produce quality carpets for residential and contract use in
Axminster, Wilton and Tufted constructions.
- Crucial trading
-floors in Sisal, Coir, Jute, Bamboo, Sea Grass and Wool.
- Desso -manufacture a complete range of textile
floor products.
- Ege -Danish carpet manufacturer.
- Gaskell -manufacture and distribution of carpets,
underlay and other non-woven textiles.
- Gaskell Carpet Tiles -high performance carpet tiles to the commercial
market.
- Gradus -started life specialising in stair
edging and trims, now manufactures commercial and industrial
carpet, fabrics and carpet accessories.
- Heuga -inventors of the carpet tile -large
range of commercial and domestic carpets.
- Hilary Harrison
creates and supplies individual hand made designer rugs, area
rugs,
contemporary rugs, and modern design carpets.
- Milliken -US manufacturer of modular, broadloom and rugs.
- Natural Carpets
-coir, jute, seagrass, sisal, and wool rugs and carpets.
- Ryalux -specialise in wool carpets of any
width and to match any dye colour.
- Weston Carpets
-budget to high quality carpet in natural or made made fibres.
- Wilton -finest bespoke carpets from Wiltshire.
- Woolly
Rug Co -contemporary
herdwick rugs and runners designed by Jane Exley
Sheet flooring:
Included in this section are
rubber, vinyl.
- Altro -specialist high performance sheet
flooring in vinyl and rubber.
- Amtico -huge range of designer vinyl flooring.
- Armstrong-Rhino cushion floor.
- Dalsouple -rubber sheet flooring.
- Forbo
Nairn -Marmoleum and
linoleum sheet floors.
- Marley
Floors -sheet vinyl
and vinyl tiles.
- Nora -rubber flooring by Freudenberg.
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Real Oak Floors
- Featured
books:
- Tiling 1-2-3 : Floors, Walls,
Countertops, Fireplaces, Decorating Ideas, Custom Design
Meredith Books
- Hardcover
- Price in UK pounds
in association
with
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