Tiffaney Dex

Lexie Smith wrote:I had read somewhere last year about cutting new, tender pine boles and covering them in sugar. Over time the sugar becomes pine syrup which (according to the article) is very effective for a cough. Turns out that it is good for soothing a cough but spectacular at calming the suffering caused by the pine blooms. It worked for all our allergy sensitive family and friends, so well that I made a gallon this year.

This is interesting to me, but I have no idea what you mean by pine boxes. Google says it's the trunk, but that seems like something really difficult to cover in sugar, and then to be able to use the sugar. Could you please explain this to me?

Hi,
Sorry to hear you have hay-fever problems when gardening is something you love. My husband is in the same position. He puts sibérien pine essential oil on his mustache and that gives his him some relief.

Thanks for your knowledge and experience with Forbo, Kara. I'm really glad to hear it.

Jay, what rubber flooring are you referring to? In lookout on French sites, I see thin rubber mats, meant for garages
And I see rubber tatamis. But that's all. My husband thought that we could put fermacell underflooring below Forbo marmoleum. But fermacell is pretty hard and I'd prefer something softer.

What would you recommend around the entry, besides having a small rug, Jay?

I am considering my husband's reasons, plus everything here. Thank you all for the input.

So I always thought there would be tile at the entry, where everyone changes from outdoor shoes to indoor ones. (It rains a lot in Brittany, so people are often in wellies in rural areas, like here.) My husband is really arguing for tiling around the rocket, too. So light tiling with black grout that is sealed. Hugo, what product do you use to seal grout?

Jay, I did some research and Forbo makes natural linoleum. And we can order it online in France. So I'm going to talk to my husband about using that in the kitchen. Thanks for your post to get me looking.

Reading the Wikipedia history of linoleum was really interesting. I wish that they still made it the old way.

Je suis française, Hugo, comme vous !
English translation : I'm French, Hugo, like you!
I'm in Brittany. What region are you in?

My husband  works with wood and is competent in pretty much everything in building, so he does the work on the house and won't dream of me hiring someone else to do things. So I do have to convince him, instead of someone else just nodding at him and doing what I want.

Using silicone instead of grout is an interesting idea. But wouldn't dirt still settle between the tiles just the same?

I Don know that it would be risky to have chestnut in the kitchen, Anne. Especially as my children are older now

And bamboo laminate is definitely out. Especially for the kitchen.

Thanks to everyone for the replies!

So bamboo is out and bamboo laminate is even more so. I would like CVT in the kitchen, Scott, but I don't know that we can actually get them here in France. Everything is tile here with some laminate. In public spaces, everything is tiled.

The reason I dislike tile is because of the grout. It's impossible to keep it clean. In the spots with heavy foot traffic in public spaces, it's always so gross. And even worse in front of the toilet. Last week, I was at the music conservatory, which was remodeled and reopened in October. It's not like there are that many people in it but the grout in front of the toilets (I went into two different ones) was already heavily discolored. They have very, very thin grout lines in the entry area, but they're not fully filled up and, by the door, dirt is filling the spaces. The tiles are one square meter marble tiles and they look great. But the space between them...

Well, that's the main reason why I hate tile and why i spend time on my hands and knees scrubbing it. The other is because of their hardness. If you drop something on tile, either what you dropped is broken or the tile is broken.  And standing on them while working in the kitchen isn't the most comfortable. I'd really like cork in the kitchen for those tworeasons, but I think my cats would tear it up, incredibly fast

We lived for years in our yurt with chestnut flooring everywhere, even in the kitchen area. It was never damaged by water, even in the winter when I would do dishes inside. If I got water on the floor, I just dried it up immediately.
Is it really too much of a risk in the kitchen?