Just to let you know, we’ve moved the posts of this blog to blog.builddirect.com. And this is also where future posts will be published. Really, it’s like we’ve moved next door - not too far away.

So, if you’re a subscriber to this blog, please subscribe to our new feed to get the latest posts to your Google, Yahoo, MSN, or other homepage or the RSS reader of your choice.

Thanks a lot, and I hope to hear from you in our comments section!

Cheers,

Rob.

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Just to let you know, we’ve moved the posts of this blog to blog.builddirect.com. And this is also where future posts will be published. Really, it’s like we’ve moved next door - not too far away.

So, if you’re a subscriber to this blog, please subscribe to our new feed to get the latest posts to your Google, Yahoo, MSN, or other homepage or the RSS reader of your choice.

Thanks a lot, and I hope to hear from you in our comments section!

Cheers,

Rob.

Share this article

Just to let you know, we’ve moved the posts of this blog to blog.builddirect.com. And this is also where future posts will be published. Really, it’s like we’ve moved next door - not too far away.

So, if you’re a subscriber to this blog, please subscribe to our new feed to get the latest posts to your Google, Yahoo, MSN, or other homepage or the RSS reader of your choice.

Thanks a lot, and I hope to hear from you in our comments section!

Cheers,

Rob.

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Check out this article on HGTV.com about how people are using vintage furniture. Notice the extensive use of vessel sinks to sit atop that old chest of drawers.

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What I have discovered is that there are several standards to which bamboo floors are held, all of which with an eye to make improvements to the minimization of potentially harmful emissions.

Here’s a site that talks about the issue of emissions in greater detail.  Basically, off-gassing in nearly every type of flooring has been a given, from carpeting to laminate.  And in the state of California, there was a standard put in place to measure and restrict emissions for the health and safety of those living and working in the interiors in which the flooring is installed.

The California (CARB) parameters for this are currently in flux, with the goal of trying to reduce the tolerance for emmissions starting this month and projected into 2012.   The Californian standard is at 0.20 parts per million, to be improved to 0.18  ppm starting this year.

E1 is a European standard, which accounts for an allowance of 0.14 ppm, has been what our Yanchi brand has been held to.  But, more recently the new standard of E0 has been put in place too. According to Teregren, that standard is 0.07 ppm, second only to the Japanese standard of 0.05.

Obviously, the ideal is to have a bamboo floor, or any type of flooring, with zero formaldehyde emissions and have that as a standard. The balance to be struck is a glue and laminate material which is both durable in the long-term and healthy too.   And new products are coming out all of the time which are getting us closer to that goal.

Cheers,

Rob.

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Check out this ARTICLE by Andrew Hunt for more information about backerboard and how it is used.

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Not too long ago, I wrote a post about bamboo laptops which at the time I thought was an unusual product.  Yet, since then I’ve seen quite a few examples of this example of old-world technology meeting with new.  And it seems that the use of bamboo for laptop frames have a few more practical uses than I thought.

Here’s an article about bamboo laptops which talks a bit more about how bamboo laptops are making a fashion statement, but also seeing to certain safety issues too.  According to the article, a lot of laptops, when discarded and replaced by this year’s model, are sent to the Third World where they are often stripped for parts.

The laptops are burned, and the metals left over are sold.  But, burning a plastic laptop frame  of course has a number of environmental and health concerns attached.

In addition to looking stylish then, many of these bamboo frame laptops are designed to be easy to disassemble, and use less materials which are likely to cause issues when the laptops are harvested for parts, or reused by recycling the materials.  Once again, bamboo is a tool for innovation, not just because of how it looks, but for all kinds of practical considerations too.

Does anyone out there own one of these?  If so, how does it differ from the standard laptop?  Are you menaced by pandas at all?  Tell me all about it!

Cheers,

Rob.

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OK, not the same thing at all.

But, I found this article about traditional bamboo dance from the Li people who live in Hainan Province, China.

The Li people number in the millions, with their own distinct identity which includes religion, language, and artistic traditions too.  Their culture is a based on a folk-tradition, meaning that until recently, their language was not notated, just spoken.  They live in a sub-tropical region of China, an agrarian culture with a great deal of emphasis on the arts.  They are known for their skills as weavers, a tradition which is thousands of years old.  And of course, their use of bamboo in traditional dance is famous.

In reading about the Li people, I found out that bamboo dance is not an isolated thing.  There are other cultures in India (the Lushai people), as well as in the Philippines (the Sabah people - watch the video) that incorporate bamboo into their artistic traditions, specifically in dance.  The dances are meant to be tests of athletic ability, and more specifically flexibility and coordination.  In this sense, the use of bamboo in the dance makes it somewhat of a symbol of this, as well as a symbol of how central bamboo as a material is to their ways of life.

For us, bamboo is connected with how we view our environment too.  Bamboo flooring sustainable, strong, and of course looks great.  It’s looked upon as a green solution, and something of a symbol of responsibility when choosing flooring, or other building products.  But for these cultures, there is an even greater connection, arguably.  For them, bamboo provides shelter and materials for all manner of household items.  But in incorporating bamboo into their traditions, it also ties their identity to their region. Culturally speaking, they are their environment.  And for them it’s something to literally dance about.

Cheers!

Rob.

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In this picture, you can see my friend Mehmet pulling out a handful of what looks to be white mud. This white mud is in fact calcium carbonate that over extreme amounts of time, as the water evaporates and pools again,  start to build up in layers to form stone.  Now I took, and did ok at, my high school science classes, but until seeing this it was all just words. Pretty cool.

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Here’s a great blog entry by Bruce Schena on the Pope Street Modern blog.  Bruce is an electromechanical engineering & product design consultant located in the San Francisco Bay Area who takes his flooring purchase pretty seriously.  Basically, when sceptical about how bamboo flooring would stand up to stress, he decided to conduct his own series of scientific tests bases on the Janka Hardness test.

Basically, Bruce set up a variation of the test where he specified a certain force and measured how deeply a steel ball would sink into his range of wood flooring samples, which included strand-woven bamboo, which is widely known for being an extremely hard floor, even when compared to traditional hardwoods.  Here were his findings, using his old floor (white oak) as a baseline:

Based on my data, our Teragren Synergy Strand (Wheat) Bamboo looks like a great choice - nearly twice as hard as our original floor and pretty far out on the end of the hardness scale. Our second choice - the Plyboo Strand - was the hardest of all, but only slightly more than the Teragren.

And both were harder than the white oak, a popular choice in wood flooring, the hardness of which is not usually questioned.

A choice in flooring is an investment in time, money, and in the long term value of a property.  But, you’ve got to hand it to someone who is not willing to buy what it says in the sales brochure and is willing to see what the laws of physics has to say about what he’s buying.  So, flooring sellers beware - be sure your product does what you say it does, lest your next customer be a product design consultant who blogs!

Cheers!

Rob.

Take a look at Bruce Schena’s site for more information about him and his work.

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Bamboo knocks it out of the park again (there it is), showing its versatility in yet another field (there’s another) of human activity; the American national pastime of baseball.

Traditionally, sports equipment makers have turned to white ash hardwood for making baseball bats.  Yet, in the interests of extra strength, and in looking for sustainabilty too, a balance is being struck by using composite bats.  And what do is being used more and more commonly as a core?  You bet - bamboo.

Here’s an article about bamboo bats featuring an interview with former Kansas City Royals third baseman George Brett.  Brett and his brothers own a bat manufacturing company, Brett Brothers,  stating that bats with bamboo cores are more stable, and break less than standard bats.  The bats are made with real hardwood too, and are coated with kevlar, making for a very stable bat.  But the bamboo is what supplies that stability at its core under stress.

How many other examples of the robust nature of bamboo are there out there? . Stay tuned!

Cheers!

Rob.

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The point is (that pun was not intended - honest!) that bamboo pens are making writing green in more ways than one.  Here’s an article about bamboo pens that explains that even the smallest change in buying habits are making a cultural impact.  And where buying a bamboo pen may not save the world, it certainly changes perceptions about our choices as consumers, and the prevalence of plastic in manufactured items.  Yet, there are efforts into making an even more direct impact on our world.

The pen in question is the new Bamboo Tornado(TM) by Retro 51 which retails for about $40.  That’s kind of steep for a pen, maybe.   Or maybe not for some.  I tend to get the ones in the pack, so that when I chew on them (which I will do),  I get the most out of my investment.  In any case, when you buy the bamboo tornado pen from the Retro 51 site, you’re making a donation to the Arbor Day Foundation.  The organization is dedicated to saving 250 square feet of rainforest through this campaign.

If only they made chewable green pens, I could give up my plastic habit.

Cheers,

Rob.

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Sustainability is becoming a cultural mindset for a lot of homeowners, and approaching a building project is not as it once was.  There are now all kinds of considerations about how carbon footprints must be minimized being thrown into the decision-making mix.  Global awareness, for many, has changed everything.

Yet not for everyone, according to some sources.  From what I’m reading, it seems like the green building movement is currently championed by high level industry parties - organizations like USGBC, architects, big time builders - but not so much for the independent contractor who generally sticks to more traditional choices.

Here’s an article from sustainablebusiness.com which talks about this observation from the floor of the GreenBuild Conference this year.  From that article:

There were plenty of green architects, green designers and larger corporate customers, but I didn’t notice many people from small constructions firms or representing the trades. From what I heard people talking about, one of the problems for the green building industry is there’s still a hole at “Main Street.” Although there’s strong demand from the public for green features in home renovation, the average tradesperson doesn’t have the knowledge, skill and access to green products and green construction techniques. Either tradespeople aren’t getting the green message or they’re still resistant to change. Customers seem to still have to drag their contractors to the altar of green.

I wonder if attendance at one of these types of conferences is indicative of the home renovation and construction population as a whole.  It could be that it isn’t, and there are more independent contractors promoting green building and materials like bamboo flooring than this article indicates.

But, if the cross-section of attendees is representative of the whole, it will be an interesting to see how the architects and other parties who have bought into green will convince the people on the ground actually doing the renovations.

Cheers,

Rob.

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When you’re around building materials, talk about them a lot, and are generally proud of the company you work for, when your stuff gets on TV show you respect it’s like watching your kid in a school pageant!  Well, not completely like that, but you get the idea.

We donated a few products to the “Holmes on Homes” HGTV program - some slate tile, some porcelain tile for the bathroom, and some decking too. But, we also donated some natural bamboo flooring, which was installed on the ground floor, and on the stairs too.

Here’s a video of Rob Banks our co-founder speaking to Mike Holmes about our Yanchi bamboo flooring on the program.  The full episode is called “Pasadena 911″.:

Mike Holmes is a major figure in Do-It-Yourself circles here in Canada.  He’s known for being something of a home reno superhero, coming in with his guys ‘n’ girls to fix the disasters caused by disreputable contractors.  The reason he does it is really to protect his industry, and let people know that getting ripped off by someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing is not characteristic of the industry itself.  And more importantly, that dishonesty and shoddy work shouldn’t be tolerated by homeowners.

He also genuinely cares about helping people out of desperate situations, including the staggering costs and financial uncertainty that they bring. As such, we here at BuildDirect are big fans, which is why we wanted to get involved in this program.  This was Mike’s first job in the United States, and we were really stoked about helping him as best we could, and the family who needed his help.

Thanks to Mike and his production team for having us on his show. It was kind of a rush for us to be a part of what he’s doing for the contractor industry in our own small way. And nice to be on TV too, who are we kidding!

Cheers,
Rob

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When he returned, he was confronted with a problem; the new bamboo floor planks didn’t match the rest of the installation.  This is of course a pretty common problem.  After all, bamboo is a natural material.  And natural materials all have slight color variations.  What to do, then?

Well, Tim decided that instead of trying to hide the difference, he’d use it to his advantage.  In laying the planks, he chose ones from the new batch and the older batch alternatively.  The result was a varied, and ultimately more interesting look.  Smart.  And good advice for the rest of us.

Cheers!

Rob.

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http://www.deckmagazine.com/article/164.html#IPE

 While not defininitive, it certainly suggests a great resistance as compared to other organic and most composites on the market.

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Hello Everyone,

My name is Sukru Goren and I am working in the Stone Flooring Department at BuildDirect. Before joining BuildDirect I worked in Denizli, Turkey in our travertine factory.

Today is November 11, and my friend Marc and I just came back from a Remembrance Day ceremony and celebration at the Cenotaph in Victory Square, in Downtown Vancouver, BC. Today I heard, for the first time, the poem, In Flanders Fields, by John McCrae (see the previous post for the whole poem).

On the walk back to the office we discussed world history. So I thought it might be interesting to add a bit of Turkish history as well.

Yesterday, there were commemorative ceremonies in Turkey as well, for the 70th anniversary of the passing of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish Republic. For more information about Ataturk please see Marc’s previous post while he was in Turkey.

Ceremonies were held throughout the country, cars honked, and civil defense sirens blared for two minutes starting at 9:05am, the time Ataturk passed away 70 years ago at the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul. More information about the ceremonies can be found HERE.

Below is a photograph from the ceremony at the Memorial Tomb (Anitkabir) in Ankara.

When my friend Marc was in Turkey he learnt some about Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder and first president of Turkey. Today’s Remembrance Day ceremony reminded us that we should never forget people who died for our freedom and the peace of the world.

“Peace at home, peace in the world” - Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1881-1938)

- Sukru

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Photo Courtesy of Veteran Affairs Canada

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.

- John McCrae

Remembrance Day 2008

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So, after spending Saturday night walking the very busy pedestrian street Istikal Ave full of shops, restaurants, cafes and down the side streets pubs, bars and night clubs, my friend Murat hired me a driver for the day on Sunday. The driver was great! Very friendly, very insightful and good English made for a great tour guide. We visited the Aya Sofya which had some amazing gold mosaic work inside.

From there we visited the Sultan Ahmed Mosque. This is one of the most famous mosques in the world and is also known as the Blue Mosque for the amazing display of blue tiles used on the interior walls. It is a really amazing display from the outside.

As you would imagine, the interior was no slouch either. The tile work was quite impressive, albeit difficult to photograph!

One of the other really amazing sights of Istanbul is the Bosporus Strait. For those of you that do not know, it is the body of water that joins the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara. It is also the division between what is known as European part of Turkey and the Asian part of Turkey. Check out the view of the Bosporus from my hotel room!

And again from the a hill top cafe in Istanbul. Pretty breathtaking really.

I took a few pictures here and there, and a couple hundred of them are now on Flikr so you can see a wide variety of sights. Some are in Denizli, some are in Istanbul. Most of them have titles and descriptions now, but not all. I am still working on that. To check out the full pictorial version of my trip visit MarcMacon Flikr.com.

Overall the trip was a great experience. I want to thank BuildDirect for sending me, my friends Murat and Fatih for their hospitality and company and  my friend Mehmet for being an amazing host and guide.

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Rob here.

Marc McPherson, our head of natural stone here at BuildDirect had so many adventures in Turkey that I’m here to help to tell the story - and with movin’ pictures! So, we’re going to take a look at some footage of how your tile is made, taken live by Marc at our factory.

Here’s Marc’s explanation of each stage in  travertine tile manufacturing.

The Splitting Machine

The ’splitting machine’ literally splits the stone into specified thicknesses.  The raw materials come from the quarries in rough cut tile sizes in 3cm thickness.

This machine splits them in half to create 2 tiles from the one 3cm piece. This is basically the starting point in production from the factory’s stand point.

The Honing Machine

This is the honing machine. The filled tile is put on the line and goes through here. You can see along the top there are a number of motors. Take a look:

Each one of these has an attachment within the machine that has finer and finer grit abrasives attached to it. as it passes over each, the surface becomes smoother and smoother. for polished material it is run through the machine again with even finer and finer grit abrasives.

The Fill Machine

The tile is put through the machine at one end. Then there are 5 vats full of cement. It is a mixture of cement and cut tile dust for color. it passes under each of the 5 vats to ensure all surface holes are completely filled. Watch the video:

And this is the second half of the fill process.  This is the same machine but placement of machines didn’t allow me to do it all at once.  Take a look.

These are the last two vats. At the end you see that a worker removes the excess cement with his hand from the surface and with a chisel type instrument almost like a putty knife to remove from edges.

Cutting Travertine Tile To Size

After all the other stuff has happened, this machine cuts the travertine tile to size. A guy on one end feeds it through to cut it square. On the other side, it goes into another machine to cut to size.  Take a look:

Notice the 2 blades for accurate dimensions. He then takes and crates it to be taken to finishing line,  where they run the honed, filled and cut tiles through this machine.

At the beginning of the finishing process, a water nozzle and brushes to loosen dirt.  They then go in the tunnel for more washing.  Once they come out, they are vacuumed of excess water. The guy at the end then does the selection process for coloration and quality. They do this job in 2 hour stints to help avoid the eyes getting tired. At the end you will see the pallets being filled with like tiles as the selections are set aside.

Shrink Wrapping

Some travertine products are shrink wrapped before they’re shipped. Here’s how they do it:

Tumbling Machine

For some products which are known as ‘tumbled travertine’, a tumbling machine is used.  Basically they put the raw cut tiles into this vat with a load of other stones in it. They turn it on and it vibrates like crazy, basically softening all the edges as they are bouncing off the other stones.  Take a look:

When the tumbling process is done, the effect on the stone is that slightly aged look that a lot of people really like.

And there you have it - a brief tour of the travertine tile factory with a look-in to how your tile is made.

Cheers!

Rob.

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http://decksummer08.shutterfly.com/

If tou have feedback or projects of your own, let me know.

It’s good to get a sense that even great products (Quadra is our highest rated deck product) can still have challenges during installation.  The finished results speak for themselves.

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I found another video clip which goes over how to go about installing laminate flooring.  Take a look at it here:

Cheers!

Rob.

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Take a look at this official floor inspection video from Youtube which shows this test in action.

Cheers!

Rob.

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