Christian Osgood proposes growing plants beneath your subfloor to create a natural hardwood surface as roots mature and provide oxygen. The constant moisture risks mold, but he says the benefits outweigh it and recommends buying materials at Lowe's and Home Depot.
Chapters
A lot of landlords don't know about this, but the benefits of indoor plants are huge, which is why we're rolling this out now. We're installing plants underneath all of our floors. See, if you just leave enough water underneath your subfloor so that it's always wet and there's plenty of moisture, not only will you attract mold, but you can even get roots to come in right underneath your floors. Now, on top of trees giving oxygen and all the other great things, uh, if you leave these long enough, you end up with natural hardwood floors. Look at ours grow in right there. Absolutely fantastic. Highly recommend. In Lowe's and Home Depot near you.