Wooden/Laminate Flooring

Pythagorous

Hi guys,

I have a son with bad asthma and a wife with sinus problems, so have decided to get rid of our carpets.

Laminate flooring seems the obvious choice (looks good and reasonably priced), but I'm concerned about toxic off gassing (eg formaldehyde). The guy I spoke to in the shop tells me that the Egger brand - http://www.egger.com/UK_en/laminate-flooring.htm - is a good option and the European certification (E0 or E1 I believe) means the off gassing levels are very low. Their website also mentions:

BLUE ANGEL – FOR HEALTH PROTECTION
Blue Angel
Commitment to our environment. EGGER products have also earned the oldest and most well-known ecological seal of approval in the world. The Blue Angel confirms our commitment to an intact environment.

Any thoughts anyone? I know natural cork would be much better, but very pricey! TIA

zeupater

Hi

Before you start laying out serious money on flooring, have you looked into hepa air purifiers to see if they improve things? ....

HTH
Z

Pythagorous

thanks, we are set on changing the carpets anyway as they are so bad for health.

Ben84

To replace the carpets, I ended up just sanding and painting the old floor boards. Depends on the look of your house, but I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. Laminates often have a strong smell that makes me wheeze - although it does reduce with age.

Anyway, since we're on the green and ethical board, it's probably worth mentioning that a can of paint is likely to have much lower environmental impact than lots of laminate boards or wall to wall carpet. Much cheaper too.

[Deleted User]

The problem with smooth surfaces and hard floors is that unless you wet wipe daily, the dust is disturbed into the air by normal activities much more easily and then inhaled. I have asthma too and the advice about changing to hard floors changed back to carpets because of this. Whilst carpets hold dust, it does not get disturbed in the same way for inhalation.

Zeupater's advice is spot on. Hepa air filters, especially ones with ionisers are brilliant for allergy sufferers and especially at night. I got mine a few years ago from Argos for £50 and it literally changed everything for the better.

Pythagorous

That's interesting. Thanks for posting