Patchwork kitchen floor made from Marmoleum ends

The Vermont Eco Builder blog documents its project to make a kitchen floor from a patchwork of Marmoleum ends, rescuing them from a landfill. The effect is just lovely. Link (via Neatorama)

[#1 posted by Pipenta , May 12, 2008 3:44 AM]

Marmoleum? WTF is that. a cross between Marmite and linoleum?

[#2 posted by bollocks , May 12, 2008 4:05 AM]

no, between marmalade and petroleum ;)

[#3 posted by soupisgoodfood , May 12, 2008 4:36 AM]

Perhaps they were in the landfill for a very good reason.

[#4 posted by huntsu , May 12, 2008 4:47 AM]

It looks really dangerous with all the ends lifting up. Maybe its ecological because it will kill all the humans using the kitchen, reducing their consumption and providing food for local rats and bacteria.

[#5 posted by DoppelFrog , May 12, 2008 5:47 AM]

The effect is just an accident waiting to happen.

I'll admit that the colours/pattern is nice, but otherwise it looks a bit shabby (and dangerous).

[#6 posted by Falken , May 12, 2008 6:22 AM]

The picture is of an unfinished version. Here's the completed work:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2067/2476618724_8a25182c2c.jpg?v=0

[#7 posted by franko , May 12, 2008 6:34 AM]

for you kiddies out there, marmoleum is the greener version of linoleum:

http://www.greenbuildingsupply.com/Public/NaturalFlooring/Marmoleum/index.cfm

[#8 posted by Moon , May 12, 2008 6:38 AM]

I like the finished work.

Why would you post that picture of the unfinished work?

I suspect a conspiracy to get a lot of "That's ugly and dangerous" posts!!!!!

{8^[

/that's a smiley with a tin-foil hat on!

[#9 posted by npw , May 12, 2008 6:39 AM]

If you check out the link it includes a photo of the finished product. It lays flat just like any old floor except for the fact that it isn't your nana's version of mauve and blue flowered Armstrong stick-on vinyl tiles.

Also, if you searched "marmoleum" you'd see that it is just another name for linoleum which is an organic material, btw.

[#10 posted by claud9999 , May 12, 2008 6:42 AM]

Greener and MORE EXPENSIVE (like $80/sq ft) version of linoleum (which is far greener than the usual vinyl floor coverings.) We wanted to do Marmoleum until the price hit us in the face (and we spent over $100k on a master bathroom.) Glad to see someone could find a less expensive source. ;)

[#11 posted by TheFool , May 12, 2008 8:18 AM]

Nice. Look at the older entries on that blog for 2 other examples of reuse of scrap or older material, some windows and other flooring.

I've been thinking about various ways to reuse old materials-- not only do you not have to buy new materials, but you get an interesting and unique look to whatever it is you're making.

A resource for information about materials reuse in general is
http://www.buildingreuse.org/ .

This blog also has interesting stuff sometimes: http://www.superuse.com

Also, http://del.icio.us/reedhedges/materials

[#12 posted by Piper , May 12, 2008 8:43 AM]

@ #10 --Marmoleum is just a brand mane for linoleum, and if you google it you will find that even their brand starts at $4.91 per sq. ft.
If you don't have a landfill that's brimming with cool pristine linoleum tile, try Armstrong's very vintage-styled linoleum composition tile selection that you can get at home depot --did my 50's kitchen in it years ago and it's in great shape. Fabulous colors available. The product has changed very little in the past 50 years.
Also, that guy's crazy to suggest wasting maple veneer plywood as underlayment. How GREEN is it to use cabinet-grade plywood to glue floor tiles to? Cheaper, greener and more appropriate composite materials are readily available!

[#13 posted by madmoose , May 12, 2008 8:45 AM]

My wife and I got creative with Marmoleum too: http://www.alteredsky.net/tetrisfloor/

It was my wife's idea. I love her :-)

[#14 posted by karrock , May 12, 2008 9:48 AM]

The finished effect is visually striking and looks lovely, both the "reclaimed" version and the Tetris pattern. Perfect for anyone trying to mate floor space with a contemporary or modern decor.

But MadMoose, why did you Marmoleum directly over that gorgeous hardwood floor? O.o

[#15 posted by TheFool , May 12, 2008 9:53 AM]

Oops, I meant http://www.superuse.org

[#16 posted by lava , May 12, 2008 11:31 AM]

That flickr link above is to my flickr account, where I post photos that are going into my posts at materialico.us, which by the way is where neatorama found this:

http://www.materialicio.us/2008/05/08/linoleum-remnant-kitchen-floor/#more-1209

[#17 posted by vespabelle , May 12, 2008 11:35 AM]

We have marmoleum in our bathroom. We have a border around the outside which was a MISTAKE! well, joining two sheets + eco friendly water-based glue + wet environment = curled flooring!

I love the look and eco-friendlyness of the product, but if we use it again (possibly in the kitchen, we're going to tile in the bath), I'm going to use the toxic non-waterbased glue.

[#18 posted by Albo , May 12, 2008 12:51 PM]

What the heck is my kitchen floor doing on Boing Boing???!!! :-)

Thanks for all the comments - positive and negative.

It's a new house construction, so all the pieces in the kitchen floor come from leftover scraps from other areas we used the material - master/guest bathroom floor, countertop surfaces in both bathrooms as well as kitchen counters.

@#10 CLAUD9999
We were lucky in that ALL the pieces we purchased were actually remnants from previous jobs. We scoured all the local businesses that sold marmo and managed to find an amazing selection of colors for 1/3 of the normal list price.

@#12 PIPER
Using that type of maple plywood is extravagant, and you're right, there are cheaper options. It's very green however compared to most composite materials out there - less glues used, less embedded chemicals etc. We're just lucky that we have access to a great cabinet maker, my dad!

@13 MADMOOSE
That looks awesome! Can't wait to read through, thanks for posting.

@#17 VESPABELLE
Marmo is great stuff but can be a real pain in the butt to work with. Since we've used so much, we're learning it's limitations - edge work being one of them. Glue is very important, though for the countertops we used a different glue to what the manufacturer recommended. It's this cool spiderweb-type spray glue that you apply to both surfaces and then attach. Once they connect they're never moving again so you have to be accurate.

[#19 posted by Venarain , May 12, 2008 3:31 PM]

My dad did a similar thing to the kitchen cabinets in his house.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/venarain/12592566/

[#20 posted by Rosemary , May 13, 2008 3:26 PM]

This is a great idea if you can get the tiles cheap. Floor looks great.

[#21 posted by Antinous , May 13, 2008 3:49 PM]

Rosemary,

Please don't include a signature line or your website in your comments. That goes in your profile.

Thanks

[#22 posted by MaximusNYC , June 25, 2008 1:24 PM]

It is neither a cross between marmite and
linoleum, nor a cross between marmalade and petroleum.

As everyone knows, it is a cross between marble and oleomargarine.