Eco-Remodelers

Your water heater uses almost 20% of your home energy budget each year. Depending on the size and style of your water heater, you might be throwing away a lot of cash. If you heater is more than 5 years old, it might be a good idea to replace it. Newer models are more efficient than older ones.

But, a great way to go green and save money - no matter how old your water heater - is to wrap it up. A water heater constantly heats up water to make sure you have what you need… when you need it. All day long. This is very wasteful.

Today, they make insulation for your water heater. This works just like your house insulation works - it’s a barrier than keeps the heat inside the water heater. If the heat stays, it won’t need to turn on and heat up quite as often. That saves you money.

I installed a water heater insulation blanket today and I’ll start seeing savings very soon - probably on my next electricity bill. The kit only cost $20. It should pay for itself in a few months. And I put it on in less than 20 minutes.

HOW TO INSTALL WATER HEATER INSULATION

You can pick up the kit at any home improvement store. They’re in the water heater section. There are several types and several R-values. The higher the R-value, the more protection (and thickness) you’ll get. I picked up an insulation kit that has an R-11 value.

My heater is an electric model with a 50 gallon capacity. The kit comes with the insulation blanket and tape to seal it up. I laid the blanket on the floor to inspect it and find the tab. There is a section of vinyl at the top that creates a tab. The tab will then be taped down to the top of the water heater.

Next, I wrapped the blanket around the heater to make sure it fit and to find the spots where I need to cut out sections that expose controls, valves, etc. Make sure you read the insulation kit instructions for your type of water heater and follow those. There are more restrictions for gas heaters, according to my kit.

I cut out some tape sections and used them to hold the blanket on the heater. All my cuts worked well and the water heater controls were properly in view. I used a long section of tape from top to bottom to create a tight seal. And next I taped the tab down to the top of the heater.

And that’s it. With insulation on my heater, I hope to cut my water heating bill by 5% to 10%. Not much, but it’s all part of the green renovation. Adding everything together and the money will add up.

The green renovation continues! I spent all day Sunday installing bamboo floors in our dining room. It’s the same bamboo I used in the 2nd floor bedroom/office. I had to run over to Lumber Liquidators to pick up 2 additional boxes to complete the work.

It turned out really well. One problem I had was the two additional boxes of bamboo. They were from a different batch - even though they were from the same company, there was a difference. The coloring was very similar but the new batch had a smoother and shinier surface.

I noticed right away and made two piles of bamboo planks. I would take a different plank from each pile and mixed them all together. I also adjusted the lengths of each row I would start so the entire floor has a completely random pattern of cuts to go along with the different looks on the planks.  I’m pretty happy with it.

I didn’t complete the baseboards or the transition pieces. I was too tired. I did the entire room, about 300 square feet, in 6 and a half hours. I made sure I completed anything I would need the pneumatic floor stapler for before I returned the rental to Home Depot.

Until I start on finishing our basement, that’s pretty much it for our flooring needs in the house. We’ve got recyclable carpeting and bamboo flooring (along with the new hardwood floors that came with the house.)

Next, I’m going to look into composting.

On to the dining room!

I’ve completed all the bamboo flooring in the office and I wanted to move on to add it to the dining room floor. But I also knew it was a good idea to paint before I put the floor down.

So, we shuffled off to Sherwin Williams again to pick out some more paint. Before, in the bedrooms, I had used the No-VOC Harmony brand. For the dining room, I wanted a darker, richer flat paint color. The color we chose was not available in the Harmony brand. It was the Duration brand. The good news was that it is a low VOC paint that has the “Green Sure” designation, which means it’s environmentally-friendly paint with the Good Housekeeping seal of approval.

We chose a reddish brown color. The bamboo is a very light and bright yellow-ish color and wanted to contrast that with a darker color. I managed to get very good coverage in only two coats - which is hard to do with a red color over a white wall… Sometimes you need a coat of primer or three coats or more.

I did it all in one night, too.

I also put down the underlayment on the subfloor to get it ready to put down our bamboo floor over the weekend. I also need to replace the outdated ceiling fan with a new energy-efficient light fixture as well as light colored window treatments to soften the darker brownish-red color.

Next… we need to shop for a dining room set.

So, we’re finally completely moved in to the new house. It’s been a crazy week and a half. But we’re completely out of our rented townhouse and into our new home. There is still so much to do. I’ve still got to finish the bedroom/office that has the bamboo floors. And, well, the list is long…

Being “green” was very difficult during the move. Some things got thrown away that should have been recycled. We had to use regular cleaning products instead of the more environmentally-friendly products. We even burned up a lot more fuel making multiple trips back and forth instead of a few big trips.

Guilt can set in very fast.

Being tired, running out of time and energy, and money can get in the way of regular green activities. The good news from our lapses in green practices? We don’t move all the time. In fact, I hope to never have to move again. Ever. That was the 2nd time we moved in just 5 months. And I’m done. Stick a fork in me…

But moving did not bring out the best in me. This got me thinking - what other anti-green habits do I have?

One bad habit I finally overcame was the need to run the sink water while I brush my teeth. I can’t figure out why I need to do this, but the temptation is still there. I still want to reach for the faucet handle and turn water on while I brush. It drives me crazy.

Where I’m still bad, however, is with paper towels and paper napkins. I love paper towels. I love those napkins. And it’s such a huge waste of materials. It’s horrible to think of all the energy used to make them, the raw materials destroyed to manufacture them, the wasted oil used to ship them, even the materials used up to package them…

But it is so easy to just rip off a paper towel and clean up a quick mess. And it seems so much more sanitary than to re-use a cloth towel.

I need to cut out this habit. I need to start using cloth for spills and for dinner napkins. I know I do. And it’s going to be a very hard habit to break. But I will work on it.

What anti-green bad habits do you still have?

I’ve got some seriously squeaky floors…

Many of the rooms in my house have them. I decided to take care of it when I prepped our dining room for the installation of bamboo flooring I just bought. I removed the old royal blue carpeting and took it out for recycling. The pad underneath, I was forced to throw away. Those carpeting pad generally cannot be recycled.

If you have a squeak under your carpeting, linoleum, vinyl or wood floors, there’s a good chance it’s in your subfloor. The subfloor is the plywood that is nailed to the floor joists. The problem with using nails is that wood tends to expand and contract when the weather changes. Those pesky nails loosen up and when you walk on your floor, the subfloor goes up and down on those nails. That causes the squeak.

And if you happen to be removing your flooring (to install an eco-friendly cork or bamboo floor!) it is the perfect time to fix the squeaking.

I removed the carpet, pad, carpet tack strips, and all those staples that held down the padding. After that, I vacuumed the floor to get up all the small pieces of junk that I had created. Next, I pulled out my drill and some floor screws. I used inch and a half screws and followed along where I saw nails.

The subfloor nails usually go in a straight line, along the same path as the floor joist underneath. I put in screws close to the nails to really help hold down the plywood. After screwing in about 40 nails across the dining room, I was done.

I walked back and forth on all those same squeaky spots and there was no sound. I went down into the basement and looked up at the floor joists to make sure I didn’t have any screws that missed or that had caught onto anything dangerous (like electrical wiring) or expensive (like HVAC ducts.)

Had the squeaks persisted, I would probably have gone back down to the basement and put 2 x 6 boards up in between floor joists and nailed them together. Floor joists are usually 12 to 16 inches apart. I could have cut several 2 x 6 boards to that length, inserted them perpendicular to the joists, and attached them with nails. That gives longer joists added strength and can prevent those squeaks.

Next, I have to install the bamboo floors. I bought several cases from Lumber Liquidators yesterday. Once I pick them up, I’ll leave them in the dining room for 5 to 7 days. This allows the bamboo to acclimate to the temperature and humidity of the room and I’ll get a better fit (and less squeaks!) once they’re installed.

My wife and I decided to start our painting projects in our new house.  Painting is never fun… it’s a boatload of work. And we knew we’d be blowing our whole weekend on it. But, when we bought the house, every single room was painted white. This had to be done before we moved all our furniture in.

Plus, we knew that more than likely all the rooms had been painted with regular paint that emits what are called Volatile Organic Compounds, or VOCs for short.

Why are VOCs, found in regular paint, so dangerous? These chemicals in liquid, solid, or gaseous form are found and paint and are part of your house where you live and breathe. And where your family lives and breathes. Chemicals, such as formaldehyde and benzene are added to help the performance of the paint. These dangerous additives continue to “off-gas” into a room for up to five years! But technological advances have allowed companies to create low-VOC or Zero VOC paints and stains.

After some research, I went with the Harmony paint line available at Sherwin-Williams. We painted our daughters’ rooms pink and purple and this paint, with no odors and no VOCs, worked perfectly. It’s a bit thicker than normal paint, but worked fine with a roller as well as a brush. We knew our girls could sleep in rooms with no gases that can lead to respiratory problems, cancer, or other problems causes by chemicals found in normal paint. And… we would sleep well knowing they are safe.

The paint was slightly more expensive than regular brands I’d find at Home Depot or Lowe’s. I paid $34.99 per gallon and I saw regular Behr paint at Home Depot selling for $28.99. It was definitely worth it.

We painted our youngest daughter’s room a bright pink on Saturday and painted our oldest’s room on Sunday with a color called “Potentially Purple”. We used an Eggshell finish to give the room a bit of a gloss that wasn’t too shiny but would allow easy cleanup from all the crap that kids get into (and ON walls…)

We’ll probably use the same paint in our master bedroom. I might try a few other low- or zero VOC paints in other rooms, just to test them out. The Harmony brand meets or exceeds the GS-11 criteria for any paint used in an LEED-certified homes.

Painting any room is all about preparation. Painting an interior room is very easy, if you do the correct things before you start. You should remove all the plates that cover electrical outlets and light switches. Use the blue painters tape to mask off areas you can’t remove. Put down plastic or a canvas drop cloth to protect your carpeting. I always use a primer on tough stains, or to cover up a dark paint color. After all this prep work, you’re ready to start painting.

Need to remodel a room? Use the zero VOC paint. It’s a great way to revive any room and a great way to protect you and your family.

Okay. I’m ready to start turning my new (new to me!) house into a green home…

Where do I start? Oh, man, this is going to be tough.

I think it’s so much easier to have a specific project in mind and not have to deal with getting an entire house ready to live in. I’m one of those people who will pick a project and as I’m walking past another problem… I will stop and work on that new problem. I need to force myself to look at the larger picture.

We closed on our house on Tuesday (yesterday) and we had a brief window of time to take a few things over before we picked up the kids. I’ve got two daughters (4 and 9 months) and so the house is not something we can spend all day, every day, working on.

I managed to take over a lot of tools as well as a few working lights so that we could see in the dark and for safety purposes when we’re not there. I put CFL bulbs and timmers on the lights so they would turn on and off on their own and not use much energy.

Our first steps, I believe, will be to get the house ready to be painted. We’ll also need to remove the day-glow bright blue carpeting. Our plan is to recycle the carpeting at the Re-Store. It’s a store run by Habitat for Humanity where they sell items from previous remodels or use the items in the houses they build. They only take recent or new products (to make sure they are efficient products or materials.) The carpt is fairly new, but extremely ugly and not something we want to live with.

I also need to address a few problems around the house to make sure things are sealed up tighter. Many people have a high heating and/or cooling bill and it can really help to cut down on any major holes, gaps, or cracks in windows, door frames, siding, flooring, etc.

I’ll be taking a lot more tools and supplies that I’ve brought with me from L.A. over to our new house over the next day or so. I’m sure I’ll have to purchase a few things that I don’t already have.

Lots to do. Lots to do.

I’ve been shopping for a lot of eco-friendly products to check availability and pricing. I’ve noticed that it’s not very easy to find a green alternative to regular products. When I ask salespeople about it, I’ve been getting a lot of the same reactions…  that look (or even the comment) that says, “Oh, you’re one of those hippie liberals.” As noted, it happened when I was carpet shopping and it happened again at Sears, Home Depot, Lowes, and a few others this past week.

The thing I’m not sure how it ever happened, but wanting to protect your family and wanting to save money became a political issue.

When we lived in our house back in Los Angeles, it was a sixty year old home that had been built very well. Plaster on the walls, a good sturdy foundation, and great wood floors. Sure it had drafty single-pane windows and very little insulation, but it was made by people who cared.

In the past twenty or thirty years, homes were made on the cheap. Cheap counters, cheap cabinets, construction grade products throughout. And whatever was the code at the time, the houses usually just met those minimum requirements (which are never enough.) People stopped caring and started worrying about their quarterly profits.

Now that I want to conserve (energy, money, time) that makes me a liberal. A conservative liberal? Hmm. I wish we could get people away from the belief that only a hippy wants a greener home. That only a hippy wants to save money on electricity. Or prevent toxic gases from poisoning their children from cabinets, paint, adhesives, etc. that are all through homes today.

Perhaps there’s another word we can use in place of “green”? Like smart. I want to remodel my home to make it a smart home. Or safe. Or thrifty. But I think we’re stuck with green and we’re going to have a lot of ignorant, close-minded people who will refuse to help themselves and their families because it doesn’t seem to align with their political beliefs…

It’s a real shame.

Well, we’re almost ready to start work on our new smart/green/thrifty/safe home. We close today. Soon, I’ll be able to post on how to do a lot of these green projects in your own home.

Okay, so we’re only a few days away from closing on our new house. We’ve been terribly busy and it’s only going to get crazier!

We finally had a chance to take a look at our flooring options. We stopped by a local carpet store to look at what is available. The first thing we did was explain our situation - we moved to Columbus, Ohio from Los Angeles and we’re buying a house. We told the salesman that we’re going to be making it a “green” remodeling project. At one point, acknowledging that we were from California (which is almost a bad word here in Ohio), he called us “those kinda people” when we told him we wanted more green carpeting options. It was funny. He backpedaled but we think it was a Freudian slip…

Now. I know carpet isn’t the most eco-friendly flooring choice for our new house. Many truly want a green home without all the baggage that carpeting has. But you can only put so much cord and bamboo flooring in your house (and, yes, those two will be going into the house) before you say, “enough!” But we’re only going to be putting it in our living room and in the bedrooms upstairs. There is already a nice hardwood floor throughout most of the 1st floor and there is tile in the kitchen. I’m going to put in cork planks in one bedroom upstairs (my office) and I’m going to put bamboo in the dining room.

At the store, we asked if there were any green carpet lines. It turns out there is. And it was in the waaaaay ass-backend of the store. Behind a curtain. Down a flight of steps. Under a hanging bare bulb. Where only Californians would dare venture. Just kidding…

There are many types of carpet. Wool, nylon, polyester, and more.  Many claim to be stain-resistant but our last carpet in our house in L.A. was made from polyester and it was too dirty to be cleaned after 2 years. We decided we go with nylon because it wears longer, has better stain fighting treatment, and can be recycled.

Nylon comes in two types - Type 6.6 and Type 6.  Both can be recycled back into carpeting. This means that it can be considered “cradle to cradle.” This is the ultimate in green options. Anything that can come from a recycled product and then turned back in to be recycled to create that product again is designated cradle to cradle. Nylon is made from oil, which is non-recyclable, but one the carpet is made it can stay carpet for a long time.

Shaw is a company that makes Anso Premier carpeting. The Anso nylon comes with a great wear and stain 15-year warranty, a great color selection, and lots of texture choices. And, I discovered that it comes with a green “thank you” rebate of $1.50 per yard (40 yard min.) on your next carpet purchase (good for 5 years and it’s transferable to friends & family.) Their carpeting contains recycled content and the nylon 6.6 fiber can be recycled and turned back into carpet again.

So, we’re going to try it in our new house once we move in. If you’re shopping for carpeting, ask a lot of questions and see if there are any green options available where you live. The prices are reasonable and in line with standard carpeting. And most of the carpet lines now are low in Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) that can affect indoor air quality. Make sure there is a CRI Indoor Air Quality Carpet Testing Green label available on your choices.

Our house purchase is moving forward. We had a few issues with water leakage in the basement and around the chimney which were discovered at the home inspection. Those issues are being remedied by the seller before closing, so… hopefully we’re on track to begin moving in by the end of the month.

Now, our green remodeling plans can begin.

There are a few immediate concerns that we’ll have to take care of before we even start to move things into the house. We’ll need to take care of some flooring installations. We’ll need to paint. And we’ll need to purchase a few appliances.

Once those are taken care of, we can begin adding new systems to the house that will help us save energy, conserve water, recycle, and improve our air quality. I’m not going to try to do everything at once. It will be a slow process that, over time, will move the house in the direction of more sustainability and a smaller carbon footprint.

I need to make out a complete list that covers everything I want to do. I have a good idea of a lot of things I’d like to do, but no real plan to implement everything. And I want to do it as efficiently as possible - for example, I’m going to install Solatubes in the roof, would it make sense to also replace the roof with a more eco-friendly material? And while I’m up there, maybe install a roof garden? And then insulate the entire roof and attic area?

Or would it make more sense to update the roof, replace the windows, and install bamboo flooring in the kitchen? I’ll have to work out a plan to make sure I don’t spend or waste more than I have to.

For our immediate concerns, I do have some ideas. We’ll be painting the interior rooms (which are all white) as our first project. My goal is to use 100% zero VOC paints. VOC stands for Volatile Organic Compounds. Paints, glues, stains and other similar products can contain these compounds which emit a breathable gas while they are appied and after they are applied.

Today, there are high quality products on the market that do not release these potentially dangerous toxins into the air. There are a variety of low-VOC and no-VOC paints out there. We plan to use them in all the rooms we paint.

As far as appliances go — we’ll be looking for highly energy-efficient products. We will need a dishwasher and an electric stove. I’ve got a list, from the Energy Star website, for high efficiency dishwashers and stoves that I’ll use as a guide to make my purchases.

One thing I’ve been considering is the induction cooking systems. The use less energy, heat up faster, are easier to clean, and save more time than gas and conventional electric cooktops. It’s also safer - the surface of the stove does not get as hot. There are some drawbacks but I’ll have to continue my research. I do know they are more expensive, so that could be a dealbreaker.