Eco-Remodelers

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.

One of the disadvantages of buying a “used” home is that someone else made quite a few choices about it before you came along.

I was hoping to buy a home with a two car garage that had not been “finished.” A finished garage means that there is drywall installed on the studs. Usually the walls have also been textured, primed, and painted.

In the case of our house, there are walls in our garage but they haven’t been done well. I can see the drywall tape that patches two sheets together. There are holes in the drywall. And the walls are very dirty (but covered with one coat of cheap, flat paint so they can’t be washed.)

One thing I also wanted was to insulate the garage walls before I put up drywall. This would allow the room to be comfortable in cold weather and would help act as an insulating barrier between the outside and the house during winter.

I’m torn. I don’t know what I should do. I’d hate to tear down the existing drywall just to make the garage more to my liking. I’m wasting drywall by removing it, buying more, and installing it. I know that drywall can be recycled - the gypsum has to be separated from the paper, with dust being kept to a minimum - but I don’t know if it’s possible here in Ohio.

I could spend a large amount of time patching the drywall, repairing holes and bad tape jobs, and painting it. But there are so many more projects needed to be done before we can move in.

I’ll have to do some checking to see what my options are.

Update - I called around to the City of Columbus, Solid Waste Management, and a few other sources and found there is no recycling program here for drywall. If I dump it, it will go into a landfill… Which I don’t like the idea of. I may have to repair and paint the existing drywall and not bother with insulating the garage at this time…

photo courtesy of drywallscrapping.com