Eco-Remodelers

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 I also need to replace the outdated ceiling fan with a new energy-efficient light fixture as well as light colored window treatments to soften the darker brownish-red color.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.

Well, I found out what a Merv Rating is today. Turns out it’s pretty important when it comes to your indoor air quality.

I wanted to replace the filter in our furnace and start from scratch. It turns out our house has an electric furnace but it also has an air quality system installed next to it. It’s a system called Aprilaire and it adjusts the humidity levels in the home as well as the indoor air quality.

Most homes have a filter on their air return or in the furnace or heat pump. The system in our house is attached to the outside and it has a rather large filter on it. Another duct has been cut into the outgoing air to allow for moisture to be added during the dry winter months.

No matter what type of system you have in your home, it’s important to inspect and change your indoor air filters on a regular basis. If your filter is clean, it allows more air to travel through it. Your system won’t have to work quite so hard to push that air through, which means you’ll save on your electric or gas bill.

While purchasing the replacement filters for the house, I noticed they had individual “Merv Ratings” on them. I had no idea what a Merv rating was. So… I looked it up.

Turns out that the Merv rating refers to how effective the filter is at removing dust and microns from the air.  The higher the number, the more effective the filter is. They go from one to sixteen. When the rating is higher, the filter can help remove some or all of dust, pet dander, pollen, and even smoke if it’s rated high enough.

Most of the typical flat filters found in a house are rated from about 1 to 4. They have a thin membrane of filtration that barely stops larger pieces of dust or debris floating through your house.

If at all possible, see if you can find a larger filter that will still fit your system. The more filtration you have, and the larger and more pleats it has, the better the air and the longer it will last. That means less recycling and better air quality.

One side effect of using a furnace or air filter is that it also keeps dust off the appliances heating and cooling coils. When those coils are dirty, there is also a drop in efficiency as they have to work harder to keep the air warm or cool.

When to Change the Filters?

If you have the flat filters that are usually less than an inch thick, you should replace them every month. It depends on how many people live in your house and whether or not you have a pet. Check the filter on a regular basis to make sure it’s not clogged, damaged, or wet.

If the filter is hard to see through, looks very gray, or has any holes in it - replace it. Your air will improve and your system will run better (saving you money and allow you to use less energy.)

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.

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.

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

Green building. Sustainability. Water conservation. Solar energy.

Those words have been floating around for many years now. And they’re starting to make it into everyday conversations. People have decided to help protect the planet, help protect their families and homes, and to save money.

I’ve decided to do my part as well. My plan is to buy a home, here in Columbus Ohio, and turn it into a “green” home. This blog, EcoRemodelers, will cover the journey to make the house a safe home for family and to reduce my carbon footprint on our environment.

My goal is create a How-To guide as I learn how to do all these green renovations myself. I want to cover all aspects of the home - energy efficiency, indoor air quality, recycling, alternative power sources, and green home products to name a few. And I want to try out a few remodeling projects that are expensive as well as many that are absolutely free.

Whether you’re a professional renovation contractor or you’ve never picked up a hammer in your life, my hope is that you’ll get something out of my trials and (many) errors. Maybe you’ll try a few things in your own home. Maybe together we can make a difference and help our planet and our wallets at the same time!

Stick around. Come back often. Laugh at me. Laugh with me. Watch as I slide on these green-colored glasses and do my little part in my little corner of our big blue planet.

Email me at tim (at) ladaddy (dot) com if you have questions, comments, ideas or whatever.

Photo courtesy the Sierra Club