Green remodel follow-up

I've been enjoying the bamboo floors for 6 months now, and stumbled upon an article on Slate.com today that had me revisit the decision.

If I'm remembering properly, this is the flooring that we bought.
I have searched and searched but I can't find anything about this company on the internet. Next time I'm at HD, I'm going to look for the company's number on the box... although it's possible i'll have to call HD instead.

I'm still pretty happy with the floors. They're easy to clean and haven't undergone any real damage since I've been using them daily. I wonder, though, about the points cited in the Slate article.
What kind of sealant is on there? what kind of growing practices were used on that bamboo?

In the end, i guess, there's only so much we can do. There are only so many hours in the day. I hope that, like my Prius purchase, my buy will spur others to also buy bamboo products and make them more popular and prevalent. But I can't spend all day, every day researching the minutae of different companies. It feels exhausting.

I'm doing the best I can, I guess, and ultimately I'm happy with those floors b/c they were the best decision I felt I could make.

And they are just so pretty...

Green Remodel phase 4: on the market!

Well, folks - the two-week (unplanned) hiatus has come to an end - after much effort, sweat, sawdust, paint and adrenaline, my Graybar unit is on the market!

You can check out the official photos here.

Notice all the cool enviro-friendly stuff - those toilets are dual flow (according to Dad, you don't need the second flow - the small one is enough... thanks for the TMI, dad), the floors are solid bamboo, the a/c control is digital. We left in the original cabinets but repainted and re-hardwared them, and we left in the kitchen countertops and matched the rest of the countertops to them (reuse is one of those three Rs!).

Also, I took a video of the place while it was still in progress (with all intentions being to post it last week - ::sigh:: this remodel really got the better of me!)



As for me, I'm camping out in Murfreesboro with the dogs and my very gracious, very patient brother. I'll keep you updated - my next post, I think, will be about Nashville's Lipscomb U, which is one of a handful of universities that has been chosen for a green-test pilot program.

Green Remodel phase 2: bathrooms & painting

Obviously this remodel is getting to me - three days late on posting! Last week we tore up the carpeting in the back bedrooms. It was only 2 years old, and with the exception of about 5x11 feet in one room, was clean and totally usable. I put in on Freecycle and within 4 hours, found someone to come get it that same night! Freecycle is AWESOME.

Anyway, we are now laying the bamboo flooring, so my mind is of course looking forward to the next project: bath fixtures, toilets, countertops + sinks, and painting!

First of all, i did not know it, but you can replace the face of a shower fixture without actually having to install a completely new set-up. I was looking at something like this, but then decided that, since the plumbing is perfectly fine, it would be better to look to replace the rusty facing on the shower fixtures. We're still looking for a place to buy them.

As for the toilets, I think this might be my favorite 'green' item of the moment - a dual-flush (or "dual flow" or "european") toilet. These toilets let you use only a little bit of water if a big flush isn't necessary. This is so much better than letting something "mellow"! This should really be a visible 'green' upgrade, so I'm anxious to see if people like it. (if you search eBay for "dual flush toilet", bunches will come up - I think we're going to buy this one)

On to the countertops... we're still not sure what we're going to be replacing the bathroom sink countertops with. There are three options: silestone (what's in the kitchen), granite (a piece from the salvage yard), or "vetrazzo". Vetrazzo is the brand name (like Kleenex) for a concrete + glass slab. We are in the process of getting an estimate from 3D Concrete Design down in Murfreesboro. The concept is really cool - use recycled glass and concrete to make a really stunning, unique countertop. Check out their site for an idea of what i'm talking about.

On top of the countertops, we're going to have vessel sinks, the kind that sit on top of the countertop like a bowl. They have perfect ones at Southeastern Salvage, but they didn't come with the fixtures (which are insanely expensive at Home Depot), so we bought them off eBay instead.

Lots of 'green' stuff is about being healthy, and the paint we're going to use is more on the 'healthy' side than the truly green side. Dubbed "low VOC" (VOC meaning "volatile organic compounds"), it will smell less and release fewer harmful chemical compounds. Low-VOC paint is new - not recycled (which you can get but isn't good for interior surfaces) - but it is specifically formulated to not have that "off-gassing" effect that a lot of products have. Check out this article for more information.

So, that wraps up today's remodeling post - I'm sure there's more to come, as we are neck-deep in jazzing this place up. Next post, I'll talk about keeping your body healthy while doing a remodel - not an easy feat in many places, where demolition can be quite a rough ride!

Green Remodel phase 1: floors, tiling & lighting

So, we're getting pretty gung-ho about this green remodel!

Admittedly, some of the stuff we have done thus far has not been very green - we did buy standard lumber to finish out the header in the kitchen/living room (to create a bar pass-through from the kitchen to the living room, creating an actual dining area), and we have used standard sheetrock to finish it out. The door we put in to replace the window in one of the bedrooms was just a normal ole door - nothing really special except that it should be MUCH more insulative than that old drafty window that was there.

Still, we're working on some really big projects that ARE green, including flooring, tiling and lighting.

The flooring is what i have been most excited about for the longest time - we have 100% bamboo sitting in boxes ready to be laid. We looked for a long time for a product that was not veneer - I do love the look of bamboo, but what really flips my skirt up is the fact that bamboo is so very sustainable. Yes, taking out the old flooring to put in new isn't exactly 'no impact', but the idea here is to do a remodel, which buyers want, while also being as low-impact as possible. We are planning to 'freecycle' the old floors if possible, so ultimately i hope that someone will get some use out of the old wood floors.

The bathroom tile we're using is standard ceramic tile, which is made out of mud and then baked in ovens. There are tiles that are sun-baked, but they break easily; one of the perks of using ceramic tiling is that, if you get a quality product, it should last for a really long time (scroll down for the meaty part). We were able to buy this at the closest Home Depot, rather than have something specially shipped (I'm going for the least of any evils here while being on a tight budget, so I grudgingly went to HD for the purchase). We will install this ourselves in a few days, over the existing, broken/gross tiles. Sadly, Home Depot does not offer any overtly 'sustainable' tiling (they have this promo going called "Eco Options," so I thought they might, but the store associate we talked to didn't have ANY clue about this. If you're going to shop big-box, you've definitely got to come prepared and know exactly what to ask for. Sure, our tile is made of mud, but what about the grout compound? and what about the manufacturing process?)

We have already had the new lighting installed; we purchased 'Radium' track lighting from ikea - this replaces the old tracklighting, and it's only mildly green. First of all, they're halogen lights, which are the gluttons of the lighting world. However, these halogen bulbs have a lower-wattage than those used in the Home Depot version of the fixture. So, you get the same pretty lights without as much of an energy sink. We will also be reusing an old tracklight set for above the bar area, and reusing some old pendant lights. The rest of the house will be outfitted, where possible, with CFL bulbs (there are already a few).

So, that's it for the biggest projects - next up, I'll talk about the bathroom counters & sinks, dual flow toilets, and re-painting. Also,

If you're still hungry for more info, check out this site... I am finding it incredibly useful!