I dealt with some pretty nasty crap over the years. Corroded toilet bowls, moldy drywall, collapsing trailers – gross to say the least. One of worst parts of these jobs wasn’t the part where I had to touch the stuff, but rather figuring out what to do with it all after it got ripped out. A lot of local landfills just won’t accept toxic building leftovers. To make matters worse, I’d end up having to drive halfway across the state to find a dump that would accept the stuff. If you’ve got a nasty mess left over from your latest remodeling project; what do you do with it all? Consider these guidelines to handling and disposing toxic building materials and don’t get sick of these nasty byproducts from construction renovations, remodeling and repairs. [Read more...]
Toxic Building Materials and How To Dispose of Them
Eco-Friendly Wood Finishes – Or How to Make your Own Salad Dressing
Woodworking projects are something I really enjoy. But at the end of the day, after I’ve finished sanding something and it’s ready to be painted, stained or coated with urethane, you can bet that applying finish is the part of the project I hate the most. Smelly stains, mind numbing fumes and toxic chemical cleanup, makes me leave a lot of my wood projects like I leave my ladies — naked and waiting to be finished. Just kidding, I don’t have any ladies. If you’re anything like I am: you hate smelly paint fumes, loathe cleaning up brushes and are alone on Friday nights. You can also bet that finishing your favorite home improvement projects is the part of the project you despise. Get rid of the stinky stains and putrid paints, go green and use these cool techniques for finishing your wood projects naturally. You’ll be sure to get a good finish without the toxic trouble. As far as a date for Friday night, these tips will absolutely not help at all. [Read more...]
Saving Green while Going Green
Going green with spray foam insulation
Bosch Debuts at CES in Vegas – German Tools, Appliances & Sustainability Get Sexy
Over the last several years I have flirted with going to the Consumer Electronics Show. It’s one of the biggest shows of its kind in the world, and a mecca for any person or company serious about electronics. Plus, it’s in Vegas. Long story short, when Bosch recently invited me to the show to bear witness to their first ever foray into the crazy world of CES, I couldn’t say yes fast enough. Our full coverage of CES in general will post shortly on HF, and in the meantime, you can check out over 60 tweets and photos we posted covering the show live). Since a lot of our time was focused on Bosch, we’re kicking off our CES coverage with them. A lot of people just think of power tools, wiper blades and maybe dishwashers when it comes to Bosch. My visit to the Bosch virtual “house” at CES opened my eyes to the multitude of industries Bosch is involved with, many of which have some application in the home. CES isn’t known for power tools, so what exactly was Bosch showing off at CES? Read on for all the details. [Read more...]
De-Oil-It – A New Biodegradable Degreaser
I know that a biodegradable degreaser, even one with as neat of a name as De-Oil-It, might not sound all that exciting to you but to me it’s as cool as Miles Davis. You see, my alter ego is an environmental scientist. For the past five years I have worked on one project and one project alone, Advanced Anaerobic Bioremediation or AAB. I know it sounds like something, but for the most part I drive a forklift and sometimes take samples. What we do is work with naturally occurring bacteria, on an Air Base, which will remain nameless, to breakdown chlorinated engine degreasers. The degreasers were used in the engine shops and motor pools to clean those pesky hard to reach spots. Unfortunately, like most places that these carcinogenic chlorinated solvents were used, they were mishandled and large amounts leached into the ground. These solvents, TCE and PCE, rank number 2 and 3 on a list of the most common groundwater contaminants at contamination sites, very comforting isn’t it? So when I hear tale of a degreaser that is biodegradable and doesn’t cause a list of serious problems in and of itself, I get excited. [Read more...]
Flat Roof Insulation How To
Like most Southern Californians, we use our garage for just about everything EXCEPT storing a car. It’s a luxury not all parts of the country have, but it affords Californians with some square footage that might normally be a basement in other parts of the country. In our case the garage is a HomeFixated proving ground, workshop and all-around man-cave (you do need to ignore the washer and dryer, which completely mess with the man-cave feng shui). Our garage has a flat and dark-colored roof, and in the summer it turns into an oven that will literally broil you if dare set foot inside it mid-day. When we recently needed to reroof the garage, I decided to capitalize on the opportunity and install some rigid foam board insulation as well. [Read more...]
Reach Barrier Garage Door Insulation Kit How-To
If you’re like most of the US population of homeowners, your garage door is a simple steel door with little to no insulation. This style of garage door has one redeeming value; it is cheap. One selling point you won’t hear mentioned is that thin metal doors are great at insulating. In fact, this type of garage door turns into a massive radiator in the summer and a massive heat loser in the winter. Living in San Diego, where winters don’t truly exist, my concern was more with the giant radiator-effect our door has. It doesn’t help that our door is brown and subject to direct sun exposure in the afternoon. Last month, while prowling the countless exhibits of the 2012 National Hardware Show, a booth showing off a radiant barrier garage door insulation kit caught my attention. [Read more...]
Composite Decking by TimberTech – Low Maintenance Alternative to Wood Decks
Composite decking is fast becoming the only choice for many people who no longer want to deal with the constant maintenance of wood. Though there are many manufacturers of composite decking out there, we’ve used TimberTech products and have had good results overall. We also found the TimberTech dealers we used to be responsive to any issues that have arisen. So, if you’ve had it with your wood deck, pulled one too many splinters out of your kid’s foot, refuse to replace another rotted board and think murder every time you’re forced to pick up the paintbrush and wood stain again — it may be time for TimberTech. [Read more...]
EVOPaint – A One Coat Painting Revolution?
Aqueduct Paint Technologies Inc., (APT) recently announced EVOpaint™, which is being marketed as “the first and only ONE-COAT paint™.” A couple weeks ago, my eyes were starting to glaze over as I roamed the vast painting aisles of the 2012 National Hardware Show, something that’s known to happen after walking by one too many booths with more paint brushes on display. My disdain for painting is no secret, so anytime I spot something that might ease the pain of painting I get a little giddy. When I read the words “one coat” on the EVOpaint booth, I had to know more. [Read more...]
Johnson Level – Now Made of Grass
Johnson Level sent us their fastest growing level for a review. By “fastest growing”, I don’t necessarily mean market share. I’m talking literally here. Johnson has a new line of levels made out of bamboo (which, by the way, is technically a grass and grows insanely fast). We checked out the 24″ version of the 1601 Eco-Tech series bamboo levels, and they also make a four foot version. [Read more...]
