Dear Mark Tarmy and Mark Nichols,
I wanted to thank you so much for all you’ve done to help us with our flooring. Although I have not yet been able to talk to our contractors about the meeting that was held yesterday, we appreciate your extra effort in coming down and helping with that. I was able to stop by the new house on my way home, and the wood that was delivered looks absolutely gorgeous! I am very pleased with what I saw and will send photos as we begin to make progress.
Thanks again,
Jessica
Rhode Island Home Ready for Vermont Plank Flooring
Sustainable Wide Plank Solid Wood Floors
Wikipedia defines sustainability as “the capacity to endure. The term has its roots in ecology. Wikipedia continues, “The word describes how biological systems remain diverse and productive over (long periods of) time. Long-lived and healthy wetlands and forests are examples of sustainable biological systems. For humans, sustainability is the potential for long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions.”
Sustainability has become a very popular aspect of today’s lifestyles and has expanded to virtually every aspect of society…including flooring. Sustainability is also closely related to another popular trend, that of buying local…as buying local helps sustain out communities and our lifestyles and minimizes the amount of energy (embedded energy) it takes to make and deliver products to consumers. It also is closely tied to the “green trend” as local+sustainable (has been proven to) = green.
Another important aspect of your floor selection is how well it insulates your space and how comfortable it is. Does it allow the use of radiant heat? Can it be installed over existing concrete floors? Will it remain stable (and flat) for generations? Does it add value to your home? Interestingly enough, these questions also relate closely to sustainability.
Red Oak Wide Plank Solid Wood Floor
Most customers have a limited knowledge of the varieties of wood floors that are available to them. Many don’t know or consider the amount of energy it takes to make each type of floor and to get the floors to their homes or businesses. This energy and is something everyone will need to consider more and more in the coming years as the cost of energy continues to increase. But most importantly…it determines, in many cases, the difference between a floor that will last a generation or three (A.K.A “sustainable”)…and one that will be worn out as soon as the first time the walls need to be repainted.
From carpets, to laminates, to engineered, to solid wood (both strip and wide plank)…flooring options range from cheap to easily installed (and thrown away) to green to floors that will last several lifetimes and many more options in between. Depending on your needs…it’s important to consider them all before you buy.
Ash Wide Plank Solid Wood Flooring
American Modern Living
offers a helpful comparison between solid wood floors and laminates. “Natural hardwood floors enhance the overall value of your home. Real estate ads will always include mention if the house has natural hardwood floors, because the lasting value of these floors far surpasses the laminate wood flooring alternative. Keep in mind, too, that laminate flooring is not guaranteed to last the entire life of a home’s mortgage. This can be a pitfall if you’re trying to sell.”
The Green Building Floor Library offers a good overview of floors that we suggest you consider before you purchase. It helps dispel some of today’s more tradition viewpoints that aren’t necessarily true.
Cherry Wide Plank Solid Wood Flooring
For example, bamboo floors…considered very “green”, primarily due to the rapid regrowth of the bamboo tree, actually have a very high embedded energy due to where they grow (primarily Asia) and the amount of energy it takes to ship them. Stone and tile floors are also interesting studies. Most consider them very sustainable due to the seemingly endless supply of the earth’s resources needed to make them (e.g. sand). However, their weight alone adds greaty to the cost of shipping and a large majority of the floors come from Asia or Europe…again increasing the transportation costs.
Wide Plank Whte Oak Solid Wood Flooring
Solid wood floors continue to offer the best solution for sustainable flooring. By choosing a solid wood floor made by a local flooring manufacturer who adheres to strict FSC guidelines and who sources their wood from local, sustainable forests that are logged by equally sustainable logging practices consumers will get the most sustainable, green flooring money can buy. Plus you help sustain your local community.
The bottom line (or floor) is to buy locally made and sustainable products.
Vermont Plank Flooring Installed in New Wellsley Dream Home
The Bowers Family Dream Home Project update:
The dream home of James and Susannah Bowers is almost done. We reported earlier this Fall they had chosen Vermont Plank Flooring for their rift red oak wide plank floors. They’re pretty thrilled with their decision.
It’s a funny thing about floors. As much thought that goes into the millions of other design details of a new home…when you choose floors made by Vermont Plank Flooring…like Jim and Susannah have…when visitors enter…they will be immediately and completely captivated by the floor.
Some may even request a moment alone with the floor. Or maybe permission to lie on it. But we’ll let James and Susannah tell you their stories once their visitors arrive.
Here are some recent images of their Vermont Plank Flooring rift red oak wide plank floors being installed. Once the whole joint is complete well have more shots for you.
Rift red oak being installed in the Bowers home
Rift red oak being stickered (to better acclimate the wood to the home's environment) prior to being installed
More wide plank flooring installation shots
Vermont Plank Flooring Chosen for Earth Friendly Maine Home
Marc Hovde is a builder of earth friendly homes. They are both grand and comfortable. Spacious and sustainable. Beautiful and efficient. So it’s not surprising when people in the York Maine area are looking for a builder they call Mark. And, it’s not surprising when Marc needed flooring he called Mark Nichols at Vermont Plank Flooring (VPF).
The sustainable house Marc built uses what he calls “old style practices” that have been all but forgotten by today’s builders. From its solar panels (supplying hot water and heat), the massive Russian Stove in the kitchen (more heat), double felt in place of Tyvek (heat, moisture protection), full rain walls surrounding the exteriors walls of the home (more heat and moisture protection) and a massive passive solar collection system (even more heat)…every aspect of the home’s heating efficiency has been well thought out. Including the radiant heated floors.
Wide plank hickory flooring surrounds the polished concrete top of the passive solar collection system that collects and transports heat to the portions of the home that face away from the sun.
The house design called for a solid wide plank wood floor that would not only fit the desired look of the home, but also be an active contributor to the house’s totally green ecosystem. Marc also wanted a floor that was “easy to install, would bring value to the home and last a life time”. The exact fundamentals Vermont Plank Flooring has built their business on for more than 20 years.
“Since the home included a radiant heating system integrated into its floors, it was important to carefully choose the right wood flooring to optimize the heating system,” states builder Marc Hovde. “Along with being beautiful, the flooring had to be fully dried and stable. This seems simple, but not all wood is created equal.”
“The stability and durability of wood flooring is heavily influenced by where its cut from the tree, how it’s milled and how well it’s dried before it’s installed,” states VPF sales manager Mark Nichols. “The closer it’s cut to the center of the tree the more stable the boards will be…especially with wide plank flooring…and especially over radiant heat. In addition, the slower the wood is dried the more stable it will be. This is how we make floors at Vermont Plank Flooring.”
Working together with Mark Nichols, Marc Hovde chose hickory, one VPF’s most stable and durable floors…and one of their most dramatic looking floors. Their experience told them that Hickory fit all the needs. It’s one of the hardest species, the local sawyers VPF uses for its hickory cut it from the center of the trees producing a stable, durable grain structure and VPF dries it very slowly. “This is exactly why I chose VPF for the floors here,” States Marc Hovde. “Plus, Mark Nichols has a ton of experience with floors and that makes my job easier.”
Mark Tarmy (yes there does seem to be way too many Marks and Marcs in this story!!!!) owns Vermont Plank Flooring and has been running it for over 20 years. His Dad Jack started the business over 50 years ago so Mark has been “into wood” for his entire life. It is this experience that makes his wood the right choice for builders in general and earth friendly builders in particular. “There’s not much Mark Tarmy hasn’t seen, figured out or doesn’t know,” continues Marc Hovde. “And that’s a comfort to builders like me.”
“My experience dealing with VPF was great from start to finish,” concludes Marc Hovde.” “They’re straight to deal with, the quality of their floors is great, the price was the best around, the service was tops and my clients love the floors!”
Marc Hovde can be contacted at mhovde@maine.rr.com or 207.361.7115
Her are some photos of the finished home. It. Is. A. BEAUTY!!!
The exterior of the earth friendly home Marc Hovde created in York, ME
A Russian Stove used to heat the home surrounded by gorgeous Hickory wide plank flooring
Another view of the spacious yet efficient kitchen area
Getting to the second floor is equally beautiful. The first floor has radiant heating beneath the hickory floor.
A dramatic view from the top of the stairs. Warm, comfortable and sustainable living.
The stair treads were also supplied by Vermont Plank Flooring
Hickory wide plank flooring in the master bedroom
Vermont Wood Has Character
Hi Mark!
Jim and Susannah Bowers stopped by the showroom the other day shopping for tile for their new home in Wellesley, Mass. We got talking about their choice of floor and they told me that they had fallen in love with the rift red oak wide plank solid wood floor from Vermont Plank Flooring. They said most of the wide plank wood they found on the market was grossly over priced. The wood from Vermont was not only the most beautiful of any they saw…Susannah said, “it had the most character by far of any other suppler we visited”…but “it was cheaper as well.” Most importantly, it met their tight budget. A PLUS was that it is also well within the LEED certification mileage qualifying it for being local.
Congratulations Mark…a plus on all accounts indeed.
BTW..they’ve also have purchased Trikeenan tile for their bathroom walls and floors, mud room floor, and kitchen walls…for the very same reasons they bought your wood. “Great values!”
These folks indeed have good taste.
Dave
