And you don't have to wipe your feet anymore...

I'm not a greenie.  I recycle.  That's about the extent of my environmentally conscious behavior.  So when I read stories like this, I'm befuddled...perplexed...weirded out...sarcastic: 

Rowell and Farnsworth, 26, were working with a dozen friends to install a dirt floor — an "earthen floor," as it is known — in their 50-year-old home in this Oakland suburb.

Labor costs included, earthen floors can run as little as $5 a square foot, compared with $15 or more for hardwood. But because so much of the work on their floor was volunteered by friends, the cost was lower.

The floor — which, in addition to the basic ingredient, included lime and sand, two classic components of concrete — would take a few weeks to dry, a period when the couple would camp out in their living room. But once sealed with a mixture of linseed oil and beeswax, the floor theoretically would be firm and repel water.

Theoretically?  This may sound strange coming from an economist, but I'd like my floors to have proven properties...not theoretical. 

Apparently, the dirt floors* have nice thermal properties.  They retain heat and lower heating bills.  But there are some undesirables:

"It’s great for a sitting room, a library or a hearth around the fireplace, but I don’t recommend them for wet areas like bathrooms or kitchens," he said. "They are vulnerable. If you ever have a flood in your house, it will saturate it, and you’ll have a big mess."

Yeah, it's called MUD and it's the reason hard surface floors were invented!

And although earthen floors are durable when well-installed, "There are things they don’t tolerate well, such as point loads," Steen said. "Twenty women in high-heeled shoes would not be good."

How often do people with earthen floors have 20 women in high-heeled shoes in their house at the same time?  Wouldn't they all be in Birkenstocks**?

Even chair legs can be problematic. When Jenny and Chris Altenbach moved into their earthen-floored house in Albuquerque, N.M., in 2006, they left tiny craters in the floor whenever they sat in a chair.

How about tree stumps?  They make nice chairs around the campfire and spread the load more evenly.

"It hadn’t developed the proper hardness, and we got a lot of dents and scratches," Jenny Altenbach said.

The floors were subjected to other punishment. Jenny Altenbach said their dogs weren’t house-trained and occasionally left stains, and their daughter, Eliza, enjoyed drawing on the floor with markers.

On the upside, the family room baseball games have a surprising new sense of realism to them. 

But like most believers, they were not easily discouraged.

"The imperfections just add to the character of the floors," Jenny Altenbach said. "We’ve had every kind of mess you can imagine. Some of the stains show, but it only makes these floors more beautiful, like an aging leather jacket."

Pee stains, mud and markers are now just character traits of floors?  Alright, it's official...I'm a snob.

*I know there's more to it than dirt, but trust me, most people will think this is a dirt floor.

**I'm kidding!...please send all complaints about jokes in bad taste to our customer service representatives and they will issue a full refund.

Comments

[Scott Peterson]

Something tells me property values in that neighborhood are on the decline....

[DaveW]

I see a bunch of costs here that should make people think twice about that $5 square foot price tag:

-Maintenance costs (it's got to be a pain to smooth out big divots in the floor)

-Reduced value of the home (the vast majority of people are going to have a lower WTP for this house compared to the exact same house with typical flooring)

-Potential health costs (in dry conditions, I imagine there will be quite a bit of dust--all that particulate matter can't be good for the lungs)

-Higher water bill from increased need to wash clothes/sheets/body (the dirt gets on the feet and clothes which soils beds, furniture, etc., increasing the frequency of clothes/feet/furniture/etc washing... Then again, maybe those who would install a dirt floor don't value bathing/cleanliness)

-"All the kids at school make fun of me" cost (imagine all the third graders making fun of how little Johnny lives in a pig pen with his dirty, mud-floor-loving parents)

I'm sure there are many more costs, but I'll stop here. Sure, there are some benefits (and they'll be highly dependent upon the preferences of the owner), but I bet a good cost benefit analysis would show this isn't such a wise investment.

[joshua corning]

Theoretically? This may sound strange coming from an economist, but I'd like my floors to have proven properties...not theoretical.

Um Tim...I hate to brake it to you but at one time in the not so distant past the hard wood floors of your luxury home were nothing more then air and water...

[Dano]

These are the same people who took 'leave no trace' backpacking to the extreme in the 80's and packed out bear poop to replicate the 'city beautiful' movement in the wilderness areas.

IOW, fringe folk not worth shaking your head about. If they're not bright enough to figger out dirt floors are a bad idea for entertaining, they're not worth discuss...

Best,

D

[Jenny]

Hey there,
Jenny here, the "fringe folk" who supposedly doesn't bathe. Just want to set the record straight--earthen floors are SEALED with several layers of hardened oil and do not leave dirt on the body nor in the air. They really are beautiful. And I was misquoted in that article--my point about the dog pee was that it was able to be mopped up, but the interviewer was in NYC and didn't actually see the floors himself. For some nice photos of earthen floors, look here:

http://tinyurl.com/2oyugh

I'd give you the link to my blog but you people kind of scare me. Be nice!

Jenny

[Jenny]

Hey there,
Jenny here, the "fringe folk" who supposedly doesn't bathe. Just want to set the record straight--earthen floors are SEALED with several layers of hardened oil and do not leave dirt on the body nor in the air. They really are beautiful. And I was misquoted in that article--my point about the dog pee was that it was able to be mopped up, but the interviewer was in NYC and didn't actually see the floors himself. For some nice photos of earthen floors, look here:

http://tinyurl.com/2oyugh

I'd give you the link to my blog but you people kind of scare me. Be nice!

Jenny