It also turns out that some home improvement projects can have the same effect on architects.  In January, I started the seemingly simple project of painting the living room.

The first step was to do a little prep and repair work on the existing plaster: scrape down the high spots, patch a few cracks and replace a few small areas that had been poorly repaired in the past.

“Sweetie, while you are at it, what would it take to remove those ugly, old, non-functioning baseboard radiators?”  I figured a few hours to rip them out, a few hours to patch the plaster and a few hours to install new baseboard.  All in all, not too much extra work for a much better result.

Let’s just say that the baseboard radiators pulled off more of the plaster than expected.

In the midst of working I realized that the inside face of the windows was warmer than the inside face of the walls and that the Living room was rather uncomfortable.

“What if I insulated  the exterior walls?”

For about $400 I could add two layers of 3/4″ R-5 rigid insulation and a layer of 1/2″ gypsum board, and the energy savings woudl pay for this in about three years.

I finished installing the vapor barrier today and started hanging the gypsum board.  The steps that led up to this:

• Remove baseboard radiators,
• Remove window casing, sills and stools,
• Remove wooden fireplace mantle,
• Insulate double hung window counterweight pockets,
• Repair double hung window counterweights,
• Cut back carpeting,
• Install insulation and furring strips, and
• Install blocking for hanging pictures and window treatments,

More detailed descriptions of these steps shall follow in future posts.

Dan Bossenbroek.

Many construction dumpsters are loaded with 2×4’s and 2×6’s that used to be packing crates, extra concrete block that is cheaper to throw away than to restock, glass that was cut to the wrong size and is either too small or more expensive to re-cut than to have new glass made.  In other words, perfectly good materials are headed for the recycling center or even worse, the landfill.

So how can you get your hands on all this great stuff for your energy saving home improvement project?  The best way that I have found is to develop a good relationship with a contractor.  Always keep in mind that they are doing you a favor by allowing you to take this extra material off of their hands.  It’s still easier for them just to throw it in the dumpster than to set is aside for you, so you may want to think of some way to reciprocate.

Another possible source of low cost or free materials are manufacturers.  More and more manufacturers are recycling and reusing more and more of their waste materials, but there are still some small companies that don’t generate enough waste or it varies too much to justify the cost of a recycling program.  You might have some luck contacting a company that manufactures custom millwork, or equipment.

No matter which route you take, I encourage you to help divert waste materials from the landfill and reap the extra benefit of getting cheap and/or free materials for your own DIY energy saving projects.

Dan Bossenbroek

The reasons for the increase in popularity of Cork Flooring are numerous.  Cork is appropriate for any room in the house, even kitchens and baths.  It is soft, warm and quiet under foot, great for walking around barefoot.  Like hardwood flooring, it will not harbor allergens and it is easily maintained.  Furthermore, not only is it make from a rapidly renewable resource, but from the recycled remains of the wine cork making process.  Home Improvement and Level 6

Click Here to shop for Cork Flooring.

A fluctuating stock market, depressed economy, and a myriad of investment options available make it difficult to determine the best financial investment strategy these days.  Even the tried and true investment strategy of purchasing a new house is not a guarantee anymore.  However, there is a way to invest in your current property that can ensure you a great return and help raise your position in the home resale market.

As energy prices continue to trend upwards, it makes more and more sense to do what you can to reduce your energy costs.  A typical family in the United States spends between $2,000 and $3,000 on utilities each and every year and this does not include phone, cable or internet service.  Energy costs in the United States have risen an average of about 5% per year over the past 8 years, and the rate was even higher until the recent sharp drop in prices.  Furthermore, this trend is only expected to get worse.  Thus, in ten years an average family can expect to pay somewhere in the range of $3,000 to $6,000 a year on utilities.

There is something that you can do to help minimize the impact of increasing energy costs, however, and that is to invest in energy conservation home improvement projects.  Remember that the least expensive energy is the energy that you never use.  For example, one strategy might be to take $2,000 and instead of investing it in mutual funds or the stock market, invest it in making your house more energy efficient.  Some of the most cost effective steps that you can take like switching to LED nightlights, LED and CFL light bulbs and using watering timers and low flow showerheads don’t seem like investments, but they very quickly pay for themselves and continue to save you money year after year. This energy conservation investment could easily reduce your energy costs 15% to 25% or approximately $400 a year.  You can even recapture your original investment by taking the money that you save each year and investing it just as you planned to invest the original $2000.  In just five to eight years this investment strategy will likely out perform a typical mutual fund, and in just nine to fourteen years it should be worth twice as much.

An added benefit of this strategy is the increase in value or increased salability of your home.  Some of the steps that you might take such as adding insulation, a whole house fan or even installing a solar air heater will add value to your home.  Most home improvement projects immediately add 70% to 90% of the cost of the improvement to the value of your home.  Furthermore, with these green home improvements your house will be much more attractive to a potential buyer, especially when you can show that your utility bills are significantly lower than those of other comparable houses.

Which ever way you look at it; increased investment value, reduced utility bills, increased comfort level, greater home value, or ease of resale, they all indicate that the wise investment is in energy conservation.  You probably knew that saving energy saves you money but you may not have imagined that to GO GREEN that you have so many ways to GROW GREEN.

Dan Bossenbroek

www.JustGreenHomes.com

by Ruth Shann

Due to the nature of real wood such as oak it is a living and breathing product. It will expand and contract depending on its environment. A new wood floor looks fantastic but it is always best to ensure it stays looking pristine for years to come. The way to do this is to make sure the preparation for laying the flooring is done correctly, along with a common knowledge of the small issues that can happen with real wood floors.

Solid flooring has a tendency to expand and contract. In summer, when the air is more humid due to the house being aired more often – the boards soak up the extra moisture and tend to expand slightly. In winter, when central heating / underfloor heating are used regularly, the air in the house is very dry therefore resulting in the boards drying and contracting – this often creates gaps appearing between boards – often large enough to put a coin between. These are harmless and disappear in the warmer months when heating is not used in the house as often.

When hardwood flooring gets wet or damp it absorbs the moisture and expands to accommodate this extra moisture. This can often happen even if the room does not feel damp or wet – the humidity in the air can also affect the floor. Before laying a wooden floor in is essential to check that the room is dry and the sub floor contains no extra moisture. It is also best to check the moisture content of the flooring before installing. However the sub floor is the most important thing to check before installing as this will affect the floor if it is not the correct moisture levels.

Where an existing timber subfloor is present, this needs to be checked for wet rot, dry rot and for woodworm. Although these are not commonplace it is always best to check existing floors before laying down your new wood floors which can get ruined by rot or woodworm. It is always best to ensure that the existing boards are also securely fastened to the joists as they will cause creaking if not fitted well. Loose timber boards can be screwed down onto the joists – or additional noggins can be placed between the joists if an old board has been cut in the wrong place and is loose.

When nailing down onto the existing flooring, the boards should be laid at 90 degrees to the sub floor. This ensures maximum stability and strength in the floor. (As an example consider a jenga game where all the blocks are placed on top of each other in the same direction – it is extremely unstable). If you are wanting the boards to be laid in the same direction as the sub floor a layer of plywood can be placed and nailed or screwed down to ensure a stable fit of the new wood flooring.

There are additional precautions to take where a screed or concrete sub floor is present. New concrete dries at a rate of 1 inch per month or 1mm per day. Although the concrete can look and feel dry to the touch, it can often still contain more moisture than the recommended amounts for hardwood flooring. The best way to check is to use a moisture meter – this will give you an instant reading and tell you whether you need to leave it to dry for longer.

If the new wood floor is an engineered floor that is being laid as a floating floor then it is possible to lay an extra layer of damp proof membrane (DPM) over the concrete / screed to ensure no moisture reaches the wood floor however if the floor is being glued down to the subfloor or battened out it would not be possible to lay the DPM, however a liquid DPM or epoxy resin can be used to create a liquid barrier instead. As solid wood floors are recommended to be stuck down to the sub floor it is best to glue solid wood floors down to the concrete directly therefore it is essential that the moisture is checked before laying.

With all wood flooring, an expansion gap must be left around the edge to ensure there is room for expansion in case of problems with moisture. This can be covered with skirting, beading or an edge profile. When preparation for the sub floor has been completed correctly, the laying of the wood floor is more likely to fit properly and without problems for the future.

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First you must examine how your house was built.  If you have solid masonry walls of brick, stone and/or clay masonry units you really should not add any insulation.  The second red flag to look for is if your house has “knob and tube wiring.”  If so, it must be removed and replaced since covering this type of wiring with blown-in insulation is a fire hazard.  If your house was built in or before the 1950’s it may be “balloon framed” instead of “platform framed” which means that the cavity between the wall studs will extend from the top of the foundation wall all the way up to the roof rafters.  These cavities are obviously interrupted by doors and windows, but they are not interrupted by floor framing as is the case with “platform framing.”  The implication here is that with balloon framing fewer holes will need to be drilled into your walls.

The three most common types of blown-in insulation are: cellulose, fiberglass and foam.  Each type has its positives and its negatives.  Cellulose insulation is basically recycled ground up newsprint that has been mixed with chemicals that deters mold, fire and vermin.  This is typically going to be your least expensive option and is a little better than fiberglass at preventing water damage in your walls.  One drawback of cellulose insulation is that it will not fully fill the inside of the wall cavities as it will not expand like foam into cracks and around obstacles in the wall.  Furthermore, it can settle a little over time leaving small gaps of no insulation at the tops of your walls.  This however can take many years to happen and is most often insignificant.  Fiberglass is one of the most familiar types of insulation.  This solution will usually be a little more expensive than cellulose and its insulating capabilities are slightly less effective.  It is less likely to settle than cellulose, but only contains about half of the recycled content.  Foam insulation is by far the most effective energy conservation improvement for your walls.  Foam will completely fill the entire wall cavity and any minor cracks and openings, this creates an effective air barrier that will seal any source for air leakage.  The basic insulating properties of foam are about 33% better than cellulose and 60% better than loose fill fiberglass.  However, overall foam performs even better because of its air barrier qualities.  The only drawback to foam is cost, only you can decide if the added savings will be worth the added cost.

The blown-in insulation of choice for the do-it-yourselfer is cellulose.  The materials and equipment for installing cellulose insulation can be found at most large home improvement stores, but you should have some general knowledge of wood framing and other home improvement skills.  If you do decide to take on this challenge make sure to plan carefully and take all safety precautions including using dust masks.  You could blow fiberglass into your attic yourself fairly easily, but leave it to the professionals to blow it or foam into your walls.  The materials and equipment for installing foam insulation are not typically available to the general public. 

Finally, the last consideration is how this project may impact the looks of your house.  Many blown-in insulation contractors will prefer to drill holes directly through your siding or stucco into the wall cavity and repair them at the end of the job by placing a painted plastic plug into the hole, this will be your least expensive option, but it will have a negative impact on the look of your house.  A second option is to carefully remove the siding in the required locations, drill holes through only the sheathing, install the insulation, plug the holes and then replace the siding.  This solution will be more expensive and may require you to repaint your entire house, but it will leave your house looking just as before.  One complication is that some sidings are very difficult if not impossible to remove without damaging them.  Homeowners with brick or stone veneer do not have the option of insulating from the exterior and must do it from the inside.  This solution, available to everyone, creates a bit of a mess in your house, but drywall and plaster is much easier to patch and repair without leaving a trace.

Regardless of which options you choose, adding insulation to your home is one of the most cost effective energy conservation strategies that you can use to reduce your heating and cooling bills.  Depending on the efficiency of your heating and cooling equipment and the cost of energy in your area insulating the walls in your older home could pay for itself in as few as two years or as many as ten.  However, if viewed as an investment, insulating your older home is one of the best and safest that you could make, returning you a 10% to 50% return on your investment, and that is with today’s energy costs.