Healthiest wood floor finish and healthy carpet recs?

[Marni]

One of my best friends just bought a house and wants to redo the woodfloors that are hiding under the old carpet. What is the HEALTHIEST way to do that?

Also == she would like to put in eco friendly wall to wall carpet in the bedrooms. Any recommendations for companies or brands (we happen to be in LA, if that matters)

Thanks@@@!!!!

[mgilleran@earth-co]

Some people use linseed oil to finish wood floors. It is very eco-friendly & very safe for pets/kids. You would need to sand down the floor, clean it well & apply the linseed oil. It has been used for centuries. There are also recipes using part linseed oil, part turpentine. I don't know mych about it, but I saw a recipe like that in a Green Homes book from the library, so it must be fairly safe. I install wood floors, so I don't know much about carpet. I'm sure there are organic options, but I bet they are very expensive.

[momto l&a]

I used linseed oil on pine floors. They came out wonderful.

I didnt sand just cleaned and apllied the oil. Let it soak in and applied more.

Best to do during summer when its nice and warm as heat helps the oil soak in better and the windows open for fresh air.

Turpentine makes the oil soak in better.

The oil stands up really well to water

[mgilleran@earth-co]

I'm glad you mentioned that you didn't sand. I guess I was assuming that the poster's friend's floors had some sort of polyurethan finish on it already, so you would want to sand that finish off first. But you are right, if the floors don't have a waterproof finish on them now, you could just clean them well & re-finish. We are installing an unfinished oak floor in our new house. I am goign to sand it well & finish it with linseed oil. Glad to hear you are happy with yours. Most of the floors we install for customers are mainstream, so they all want the polyurethane.

[momto l&a]

Originally Posted by mgilleran@earth-co

I'm glad you mentioned that you didn't sand. I guess I was assuming that the poster's friend's floors had some sort of polyurethan finish on it already, so you would want to sand that finish off first. But you are right, if the floors don't have a waterproof finish on them now, you could just clean them well & re-finish. We are installing an unfinished oak floor in our new house. I am goign to sand it well & finish it with linseed oil. Glad to hear you are happy with yours. Most of the floors we install for customers are mainstream, so they all want the polyurethane.

I wasnt think about the floors already having some finish already on them

I had raw wood and that why I didn't sand. It was pine sub flooring in an old house that I tore off some 1/4 inch something off of.