Primavera Coffee Roasters

formaldehyde[free]

I think I can say across the board that all the wood sheet goods in your house or place of work are glued together with formaldehyde. The EPA says it well,

In homes, the most significant sources of formaldehyde are likely to be pressed wood products made using adhesives that contain urea-formaldehyde (UF) resins. Pressed wood products made for indoor use include: particleboard (used as sub-flooring and shelving and in cabinetry and furniture); hardwood plywood paneling (used for decorative wall covering and used in cabinets and furniture); and medium density fiberboard (used for drawer fronts, cabinets, and furniture tops). Medium density fiberboard contains a higher resin-to-wood ratio than any other UF pressed wood product and is generally recognized as being the highest formaldehyde-emitting pressed wood product.

If that isn’t enough, you will be happy to know that so does the paint on your walls and the carpet under your feet. If you have hardwoods, well, they were formaldehyde free until they were stained and clear coated.

I have been looking for some wood type products to build Primavera’s table tops and counters out of. Initially I was looking at bettencourtwood out of NYC and Environmental Home Center in Seattle. Shipping heavy things that are 4’x8’ is a bummer for a number of reasons, so I dug a little deeper.

Columbia Forest Products, along with Oregon State University, put some R&D into soy based adhesives. As of late they switched over their hardwood plywood line. I checked out their distributor list and Hardwoods, Inc. in Thorsby, AL, 205.646.4160, has a full line of the formaldehyde free “PureBond” plywood.

I especially like that Columbia didn’t offer a formaldehyde laden line and another that is formaldehyde free. They just switched. I don’t think a wood dealer in Thorsby would carry it any other way.

Columbia’s formaldehyde-free decorative panels are also compliant with the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards.

A 3/4 sheet of B2 Maple is only $57, to boot. The last time I checked on the made in china maple 3/4 at Home Depot, it was running $40.