April 2007 - Home Builders Association of Virginia

Floors(continued from page 21)year’s products identify these exotic products,like the handcrafted locking hardwoodflooring from Armstrong that comes inKona, Australian Wormy Chestnut, Ash,Bamboo and Birch.The good news for the remodeleris that many major manufacturers havedeveloped or adopted easier installationtechnologies and boast numerous speciesof wood. Armstrong uses NextGen patentpendingtechnology to eliminate the needfor glue, staples or nails, and substantiallyreduce installation time.Similarly, Edge flooring and Quick-Stephave adopted “Uniclic” locking laminates.Edge Flooring provides a genuine tile andnatural stone in its GTL line, and Quick-Step has exotic hardwood-looking laminatesin its Elegance line.Anyway, it turns out my taxi driverwas right about dirt floors. And uponfurther questioning, it turned out he hada medical practice back home but leftafter being persecuted for his faith. Oneof the drawbacks of dirt flooring, especiallyin tropical areas, is the blood-suckinginsect Triatoma dimidiate that leaves itshost a fecal deposit containing a parasitethat causes Chagas disease. I don’t haveroom in this column to describe it, buttake my word for it. It’s not a diseaseyou want to get.The groups that push the idea of earthenfloors use products to seal the surface,which certainly cuts down on parasites,but doesn’t really protect against otherforces of nature, say a 4-inch spike heel,when you’re having a dinner party.Now there is a story out on MSNBC,for what it’s worth, that makes the earthenfloor look like mainstream vinyl. I’m notmaking this up: researchers are producing“cow pie” floors. Granted, the materialis turned into fiberboard (“stronger thanwood”) by combining it with a chemicalresin, but it’s manure nonetheless. Theresearchers hope it could be part of thesolution to the nation’s 1.5-trillion- to 2-trillion-pound annual farm-waste disposalproblem. They say it smells just fine, butmaybe they’re just full of it.(J. Ray Gray is an engineer and writerliving in Northern Virginia.) VABBIGFOOT TUBE 8"BFT8Bigfoot Systems Inc. proudly introduces the“Bigfoot Tube 8” (BFT8) to our product line.It is an 8" tapered cone made of recycledHDPE. The innovative inter-lockingdesign uses 4 individual piecesto form a 4-foot long tube. Safetytop keeps dirt, rain, kids, pets,etc. from falling into the tubeprior to the pouring of theconcrete.The BFT8outperformscardboardtubes – andall others!4'The 4-pieces are alsonestable, making shippingeasy and affordable.1-800-934-0393 info@bigfootsystems.comwww.bigfootsystems.com8"12"