building

Anyone here like puzzles? 'Cause we're gonna be putting together 5,000 square feet o' VMI basketball court soon... think of it: The Challenge! The Fun! This is better than the crossword in Sunday's Herald Tribune!

Or not.

"I got up at 6 am, made coffee and hit the road to approve the foundation preparation and receive the VMI Basketball Floor delivery.

As I was emptying out the shed for the floor the plumbers pulled up and I handed them the PEX tubing I had ordered. I began bush-hogging but Ron, the general contractor, soon arrived and we approved prep work.

(Radiant Heat And Off Grid Foundation Video:)

I returned to the tractor for an hour and the flooring arrived. We have a 20x20 shed and the fork lift was too tall/big so we ended up getting the plumbing crew, which had just finished installing the radiant heat loops, to help and were done within an hour.

(VMI Floorboards Unloading Video 1 of 3)

(VMI Recycled Boards Video 2 of 3)

(VMI Wood Reused In Prefab-ulous House Video 3 of 3) (Copeland's note: Oh. My. Gosh... can you believe we were actually thinking we could just rent a U-Haul and drive to Lexington, load the wood *JUST THE TWO OF US*, drive to the land, and then UNLOAD it?!?!? Soooooooooooo grateful to Bill Miller of ZellerMiller Companies, a VMI alumni who heard of our plight and used his construction connections to help, Bill Miller SAVED US by putting us together with these people to deliver the wood.)

I invited everyone to lunch, and as we left I noticed a flat tyre on my car - upon return to the site the delivery guys hadn't left yet and raised the car with their forklift so that the tire was changed quickly.

When I finally made it to lunch we spoke about alternative energy and it turns out that the plumbing company has done several geo-thermal projects."

Foam Again, Foam Again, Jiggety Jig!
Insulating your home is not just about the SIPs panels that come with our Green Modern Kits SIPs house kit.

As the weather turns cooler, think of being outside on a frosty day:
Bundled up with a hat, scarf, nice warm coat... and...
no shoes?
Think of the exposed skin losing heat as it gets sucked away in the wind and cold.

Your house is like that too- despite the SIP insulating properties to ensure your home is tight, don't forget to add insulating foam underneath the foundation!

So, our house kit construction begins:

My handsome husband took the morning off of work to drive out and receive our foam as it was delivered by truck from the factory. And when he returned, I asked anxiously, homesick, "Was the land beautiful?" "It was."

To save costs and be more "green"/not using a delivery for a single purpose, we asked the factory to use "Piggybacking."

Think of Piggybacking as carpooling for freight products! Instead of truck one (and we're talking eighteen wheeler trucks!) driving Cargo1 to North Carolina, it can make stops along it's way and drop off packages 1, 2, 3... that reduce its wasted space during a drive, making delivery more efficient.

Piggybacking is more efficient and less wasteful for the company, while usually decreasing the cost for the consumer! (And that ain't no pork I'm tellin' ya!) 

Keep yer eyes peeled, because yes, finally, it all begins.

This week, our national financial disarray touched our family: Guess we're paying for all the people that made irresponsible loans possible.

USAA just called to say that because of the housing market crisis they're reducing our home equity line by 20k. We now have to build the casa ti with 20k less. And even then it was on a shoestring.

What that means is that we will have a shell.

Unlike some other prototypes, nothing has been donated on this project. So we now evaluate what we can do now (radiant heat) and what we must do later (rainwater collection?).

Secretly, I'm excited: Bring it ON. See how far we can go with what we have, and make it wonderful.

(As I mentioned in an earlier post, anyone that wants glossy can just head on over to XYZ Mags, 'K?)

Part 15 of our 15-part Q&A series on all aspects of green building from the publishers of HealthyHouseInstitute.com. Click here for the introductory post and furthur details.

Question: I can’t tolerate the artificial fragrances in laundry products. Are there any healthier options?

Answer: There are a number of fragrance-free products, and they’re also often available at health-food stores or co-op groceries.

If you live in or near a large city, look in the telephone directory under Chemical Suppliers. There should be companies listed that sell all kinds of nasty industrial chemicals. However, they also often sell unscented borax, or unscented washing soda (sometimes called sal soda, or sodium sesquicarbonate)—both of which can be used in the laundry. You may need to purchase 50-100# bags, but buying in bulk is considerably cheaper per pound than buying in small quantities. Sometimes, adding a cup of white vinegar to the wash water can help remove odors.

You may run into another problem with artificial fragrances if you’re shopping for a new washer or dryer. That’s because many manufacturers put scented samples of detergent or fabric softener inside new machines at the factory. If you can’t get a company to ship an appliance without free samples, your best solution is to remove the offending products from the washer or dryer immediately. Then, run the washer (without clothes) several times with unscented borax, baking soda, or white vinegar until the odor dissipates. Likewise, run the empty dryer on its highest temperature setting until all the perfume odors are gone. If your utility room has a window, keep it open during the entire “decontamination” period.

Question: How important is it to use unscented cleaning products and cosmetics, and natural-fiber clothing?

Answer: Scents and perfumes very often trigger reactions in chemically sensitive people and they bother many individuals with conventional allergies. We feel it’s very important to use unscented products throughout your home. Because fragrances are formulated to spread and cling, they can quickly saturate an entire house and be difficult to remove.

Scented cosmetics can be especially problematic for sensitive people because they’re applied directly to the skin. Your clothing is also in direct contact with your skin. We’ve found that untreated natural-fiber clothing (cotton, wool, linen, ramie, hemp, etc.) is a good option because it outgases no synthetic odors. And, we choose only those items that can be easily cleaned at home with unscented laundry products.

Question: The house we just moved into smells perfumy. What can I do to remove the odor?

Part 14 of our 15-part Q&A series on all aspects of green building from the publishers of HealthyHouseInstitute.com. Click here for the introductory post and furthur details.

Question: We’re getting ready to move into our new healthy house. Do you have any additional advice?

Answer: Congratulations! By using healthy building materials and installing a ventilation system, you now have a healthy structure. However, you must realize that what you put inside your house is just as important as how you built it. We’ve heard of cases where healthy houses were filled with unhealthy furnishings and maintained with unhealthy cleaning products. The result was poor indoor air quality. Fortunately, there are plenty of healthy products out there that can be substituted for all the unhealthy ones. Lynn Bower's book, The Healthy Household, goes into interiors in considerable depth, but the following questions and answers cover the highlights.

Question: Antique furniture was made before particleboard and other synthetic materials became popular, so it’s healthy, right?

Answer: Not necessarily, old furniture can be contaminated with musty smells, tobacco smoke, pesticides, and perfume odors—all things that affect air quality. Some pieces are actually moldy. If an antique piece has been refinished recently, it may be bothersome because of a noxious stripper that was used, or because of an oil-based stain or finish.

We have an antique oak desk that belonged to John’s great grandmother. Over the years it picked up a wide variety of odors, and it was too bothersome to bring it into our healthy house. We thought about stripping the finish off ourselves (3M has a low-tox product that’s widely available called Safest Stripper), but decided to take it to a commercial stripper. They had more powerful stripping chemicals, the correct safety equipment, and they knew where to properly dispose of the spent stripper and old finish. Once it was stripped, it didn’t have the original odors, but it did smell of stripper. So, we put it in the garage and let it air out for a couple of months. Once it was aired out, we finished it with a water-based urethane floor finish. It’s now odor free and sitting in our entry hall.

Question: I think outgassing from some of my new upholstered furniture is affecting my health. Any suggestions?

Part 13 of our 15-part Q&A series on all aspects of green building from the publishers of HealthyHouseInstitute.com. Click here for the introductory post and furthur details.

Question: How healthy are most kitchen cabinets?

Answer: As a rule, the majority of new cabinets—kitchen, bath, etc.—are quite unhealthy. This is because manufacturers all use man-made wood products—hardboard, particle board, and plywood—which contain a potent urea-formaldehyde glue. Even expensive cabinets are made with these materials, and they outgas formaldehyde for years. Although the doors and drawer fronts may be made of solid wood, the end panels, backs, shelves, drawer bottoms, and drawer sides are made of noxious wood products. They can have an attractive thin wood veneer on the surface, but it does little to block formaldehyde. Some manufacturers claim they make their cabinets out of “solid wood,” but they’re playing games with definitions. If you ask if they use plywood, they’ll answer, "Yes, that plywood is solid wood."

When man-made wood products have a plastic or vinyl surfacing, it can block some of the emissions, but almost never enough for sensitive people to tolerate new cabinets. This is because in commercially made cabinets, the plastic or vinyl surfacing rarely covers all the edges, and it often has holes drilled in it for shelf supports.

While the cabinet materials are bad enough, the clear finishes used are often worse. Most manufactures use a urea-formaldehyde clear finish that is one of the strongest formaldehyde emitters found in houses. The good news is that it’s so powerful, it’s usually done outgassing after 4-6 months. After that, you’ve still got the formaldehyde in the plywood, particle board, and hardboard to contend with.

Question: Can’t I just coat problem cabinets with a sealant to make them safe?

Part 12 of our 15-part Q&A series on all aspects of green building from the publishers of HealthyHouseInstitute.com. Click here for the introductory post and furthur details.

Question: Why don’t you like certain types of carpeting?

Answer: Some carpets are high emitters of VOCs. Choose low-VOC types.

Question: What’s the best kind of carpet to buy?

Answer: Look for those rated by the Carpet and Rug Institute's Green Label Program. Otherwise, the best advice we can give is to look for a product with as little odor as possible. It’ll help to take someone along with you who has a good sense of smell when you go shopping for carpet and padding. This is imperfect advice because some of the chemicals outgassed don’t have an odor. If you can’t find a low-odor carpet, you can roll it out in an uncontaminated garage and let it air out there before you bring it indoors for installation. Furthermore, you should install the carpet with tack strips rather than an adhesive.

Many people believe natural-fiber carpets are inherently healthier. Sometimes they are, but that’s not always the case. Natural fibers are often chemically dyed or treated and wool carpet is routinely treated with mothproofing chemicals. Actually, some 100%-nylon carpets are less bothersome than some natural carpets. Whatever kind of carpet you choose, we highly recommend using a central vacuum cleaner to maintain it.

Area rugs may offer advantages over carpet. First of all, you can often find them locally made of cotton or other natural fibers at reasonable prices. Some may even been dyed using natural plant dyes. If they have any odor when new, they can usually be laundered in a washing machine or hung outdoors until odor-free. As a result, they're much easier to keep clean than wall-to-wall carpet. If a larger area rug won’t fit in your washing machine, you can take it outdoors and beat it over a line—but be sure and wear a good dust mask.

Question: Wood floors are always a healthy flooring choice, right?

Part 11 of our 15-part Q&A series on all aspects of green building from the publishers of HealthyHouseInstitute.com. Click here for the introductory post and furthur details.

Question: I’ve heard that plaster is a healthy material. What are its advantages and disadvantages?

Answer: You buy plaster as a powder, mix it with water, then apply it to a surface where it hardens. Once completely cured, the plaster is very inert and rock-like. Although most people can’t detect any odor after a few days, a few sensitive people have said that they’re bothered by a slight odor for a month or so.

In the past, 2-3 coats of plaster were commonly applied on top of thin strips of wood lath. In some commercial applications it’s still applied in a similar manner, but it’s usually put over to metal lath instead of wood. However, the most common way to use plaster today involves skimming one or two thin coats over a gypsum-board material. The gypsum board has a blue paper face, so it’s usually called blueboard.

Most of the time, plaster walls are painted. For sensitive people who are bothered by paint, plaster has the advantage of being hard, durable, and scrubbable enough that you can actually leave it unpainted. While most plaster is white, it can sometimes be tinted (before its applied) with the same kinds of mineral pigments that bricklayers use in mortar.

As far as drawbacks, plaster is more brittle than drywall and, if it ever cracks, it’ll no longer be airtight. Plaster costs more than drywall, primarily because of the skilled labor required. In some parts of the country, plaster is widely used. But, in other areas, it’s been totally replaced with drywall.

Question: What makes drywall different from plaster?

Part 10 of our 15-part Q&A series on all aspects of green building from the publishers of HealthyHouseInstitute.com. Click here for the introductory post and furthur details.

Question: Won’t a good air filter remove all the pollution in my house?

Answer: In most cases, filtration isn’t the single answer, but it can be part of the answer. To have good indoor air quality, you first need to apply the three Healthy-House Design Principles of eliminate, separate, and ventilate. Once that’s been done, the indoor air should be pretty good, and you can use a filter to remove any minor pollutants that are left. A good filter is not a substitute for ventilation because filters can’t remove moisture from the air and they can’t supply oxygen.

If you want to try and use filtration to clean up the air in a problem house, you’ll need a very powerful system that will filter the air several times an hour. This will be expensive, breezy, and noisy, and it won’t be as effective as applying the three healthy-house design principles first.

If you decide to use a filter, there are three ways to do so. First, you can use a portable room-sized filter unit. There are a number of companies that offer these free-standing units.

Portable filters work best in a single room, with the door closed, and the filter left running continuously. Second, for whole-house filtration, you can let the fan on your forced-air furnace or central air conditioner run continuously so its filter will remove pollutants passing through the system. Third, you can use a filter with a general ventilation system to filter the incoming air—air that isn’t always as clean as we’d like it to be. In some cases, it can make sense to combine a forced-air heating/cooling system with a ventilation system. That way, one filter (and one set of ducts) can serve both systems

Question: My furnace already has a filter. Isn’t that good enough?