Monday, January 17, 2011

Did you Know?


I never knew how they cut logs before but this gives me a birds eye view of what part of a log I am buying next time I shop for wood. They make like 14 different cuts from one log.
Before they ship a log it has to be cut to a certain length so all the logs are the same length when they are loaded onto a truck for shipping.

cork flooring planksCork has a multitude of green characteristics. The material is acquired by stripping most of the outer bark from the cork oak tree. This regular harvesting does the tree no harm, and the bark grows back, to be stripped again every nine years.

The trees live for 200 years or so, and the forests, called Montados, are highly prized and passed down through generations of families in the cork-producing business.

Even cork processing is relatively straightforward: The cork sheets or pieces are cured, boiled and pressed. Scraps are collected for reuse, so almost nothing is wasted.

http://newvisionfloors.com/flooring/cork/


Cork flooring seems to be very attractive since it doesn't seem to hurt the tree.

Cork Flooring at Home Depot

Like bamboo, cork is environmentally friendly, since no trees are cut down when it's harvested—cork is actually bark, and is harvested from "living" trees, and the bark re-grows in roughly 8 to 9 years.

Cork flooring comes in tiles or interlocking planks to make a floating floor. It also comes in a variety of colours—not just brown— and in patterned designs.

The benefits of cork flooring are numerous: an insulating floor that is soft and cushiony, it's as durable as wood, doesn't hold indentations, and is never cold like tile. It's easy to clean and won't trap mildew or rot — making it suitable for bathrooms and kitchens.

It's something I am going to look into.

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Joke:

A panda walks into a restaurant, sits down, and orders a sandwich. He eats the sandwich, pulls out a gun, and shoots the waiter dead. As the panda stands up to go, the manager shouts, "Hey! Where are you going? You just shot my waiter, and you didn't even pay for your sandwich!""Hey, man, I'm a PANDA!" the panda shouts back. "Look it up!"The manager opens his dictionary and reads: "Panda: a tree-dwellingmammal of Asian origin, characterized by distinct black and whitecoloring. Eats shoots and leaves."





14 comments:

Jen said...

I saw someone using wine bottle corks as mulch in San Francisco.

It doesn't look like they waste much of that tree. I had no idea they got so many different cuts from one log.

George said...

Although I had a fairly good idea about the way trees were cut for lumber (lumber is fairly big around here), I didn't know much about cork. So thanks for the education, and thanks, too, for the panda joke.

Maude Lynn said...

It's really amazing how they cut the log.

A Lady's Life said...

Jen - I am surprised the cork is soft and cheap to buy. Must be excellent for childrens' bedrooms

A Lady's Life said...

Mama zen - I would never think to cut a log like this. I always thought they just cut it in lengths but here they show exactly how much wood a log can have. Amazing. That's why logs are expensive.

A Lady's Life said...

George - I never knew Oak trees had cork but I found out our trees are not suitable. They are too hard.
The cork trees are found around the Meditteranean and Spain.

Gattina said...

I didn't know that ! I always thought they just cut and that's it.

Gaz is very expensive in Europe at least the double of what you pay in the States. Has always been more expensive.

Akelamalu said...

Eats shoots and leaves - LOL

Baron's Life said...

what a great post...I learned about cork...I think, I;m gonna use cork flooring soon in one of my rooms at home, just to try it out.
Loved your Panda joke,,,loll...good one indeed

Zuzana said...

What an informative post, I had no idea about all these parts of a tree trunk.;) I knew a bit about what cork was, but I still find the information valuable. I love to learn new things every day.
The joke in the end was priceless.;)
xoxo

A Lady's Life said...

Gattina I know and the torque on your cars is bigger so this must consume even more gas.
Our cars have gone smaller and use less gas but it is still expensive enough to say ouch! lol

A Lady's Life said...

Akelamalu I laughed too at that one I never heard it before lol

A Lady's Life said...

Baron Thanks :)

A Lady's Life said...

Zuzana Thanks It was also news for me.
I thought they just cut them into planks but there is a whole process.