On the Wire - Resolve to Go Green
As you make your home improvement to-do list for 2007, think green. There are a number of ways you can incorporate earth-friendly features while improving your own quality of living through energy savings, lower water bills, and a more pleasant indoor environment. Consider the following means of greening up.
- Save energy
- Start by assessing your home’s energy efficiency during the past year with the ENERGY STAR Home Energy Yardstick. With a few minutes of time and your 2006 utility bills, you’ll be able to compare your home’s energy use with that of similar homes around the country, and get recommendations for changes and upgrades to make in the coming year.
- For a more tailored and specific assessment, hire a qualified professional to perform a comprehensive home energy audit.
- Seal air leaks and ducts, and add insulation where needed so that your heating and cooling system doesn’t have to work quite so hard.
- Speaking of heating and cooling, consider a system upgrade. A furnace or air conditioner that’s over 10 years old may be due for replacement with an ENERGY STAR qualified model. Such products meet the strict energy efficiency guidelines set forth by the EPA and U.S. Department of Energy, and can save you up to 20 percent on heating and cooling costs. Support your systems by changing air filters regularly (which will also contribute positively to your indoor air quality) and installing a programmable thermostat.
- Replace appliances and lighting with products that have earned the ENERGY STAR label, including refrigerators, clothes washers and dryers, electronic equipment, and lighting fixtures. Switching in compact fluorescent bulbs can also help to brighten your outlook when you open your monthly utility bill.
Conserve water
- Inside, install low-flow toilets and shower heads, as well as under-sink flow restrictors.
- Outside, make water-wise changes to your landscaping.
- Select plants and ground covers that require little water, and consider reducing turf area in non-recreational spaces in favor of a wider swath of indigenous plantings and ornamental, low-water grasses.
- Set up a rainwater collection system and use the proceeds to water your yard and wash the car.
- Improve indoor air quality
- Choose home improvement materials and finishes that won’t release significant pollutants into your living space. These include non-toxic caulks and adhesives, formaldehyde-free building products and no-VOC (volatile organic compound) paints.
- Give your home and yourself the gift of an electronic whole-house air cleaner, such as the Aprilaire Model 5000. Installed by an HVAC professional as part of your central heating and cooling system, this wonder clears the air of most airborne pollen and mold, respirable dust and virus-sized particles, killing bacteria and spores and trapping the rest. What’s more, the Aprilaire Model 5000 keeps dust and dirt from hindering the efficiency of your heating and cooling equipment and, unlike other air cleaners, requires only annual maintenance.
- In addition to regularly changing your furnace filters, choose the more sophisticated replacements which can screen out up to five times as much dust as traditional models.
- If you don’t have one already, install a carbon monoxide detector to protect your family from this otherwise undetectable danger.
- Protect natural resources
- When planning a repair or remodeling project, research and incorporate green materials, including wood from sustainably managed forests, products made from such renewable resources as bamboo, and items incorporating recycled content.
- For green touches with historic flair, prowl architectural salvage lots for fun finds and rare materials.
- Recycle, recycle, recycle! Get your family in the habit by setting up an in-home recycling center for collection of glass, plastic, and paper products, and deliver used batteries and toxic chemicals to designated collection centers in your community.
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Ask Tom & Leslie - Kitchen Facade Facelift
This week’s question comes to us from MeeMee in Tory, Alamaba. “I recently moved into a older rental home. It has plenty of kitchen cabinets but the fronts have been abused. What can I do to give them a new look? I love the look of wood, antique, etc.
MeeMee, you first need to figure out what your cabinets are made of. If they are particle board covered in a wood veneer your options are a bit limited. You can give them a new painted finish, which would require you to clean them with a degreaser and then prime them with an oil based primer like Zinser. This will give excellent adhesion and allow a latex top coat to stick very well. Make sure you remove the doors before you paint them and keep the hinges attached to the cabinet itself so you do not have to readjust all the hinges. Also be sure to label the back of the door and inside the cabinet so you know exactly where each door goes. For an antique finish, paint the cabinets an almond-white and then use an aging glaze tinted in a brown tone. Use the glaze sparingly until you achieve the look you desire.
If the cabinets are solid wood, you can paint or you can completely refinish them. Remove the doors same as above, and strip the current finish off of the doors. Rock Miracle is an excellent stripper because it goes on thick and you can see it change as it is removing the existing finish. You might have to apply it a few times to get the finish completely off. Once you have reached the raw wood. You can reapply a new stain in any color and finish that you like. You can paint the cabinets like above without removing the stain but you would have to rough up the surface by sanding it with a medium/fine grit to scuff the surface and get it ready to sand, then prime and paint as above. Or you can hire a pro to re-laminate the cabinets which is also know as re-facing. There are so many options of laminate available that the choices are almost endless from wood looks to really fun and interesting textures and colors. Hope this answers your question. Enjoy your new house and the project!
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Got A Question About Your Money Pit?
You can do-it-yourself but you don't have to do-it-alone. Getting in touch with us is as easy as 1 - 2 or 3!
- The toll-free studio hot line is 1-888-MONEY PIT. Find out when we broadcast in your area by checking out our website at www.moneypit.com. Each week we take dozens of calls, give great advice and offer callers a chance to win a terrific prize awarded to one random caller to every show.
- Call when it's convenient for you, 24 hours a day, same number: 1-888-MONEY PIT. A live person takes your call 24/7! So -- WHENEVER you have a home improvement question -- phone it in. Simply tell our phone screener your first name, and where you're calling from...and ask your question. We’ll get back to you with the answer – or even call you back during the show!
- Click here to email your question to us. We may read your email on the air and we also respond personally to many of the email questions we get.
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On the Air - Bob Vila's Baby Proofing Tips
From crawlers to toddlers, babies are naturally curious. Their little hands are always reaching where they shouldn’t. Coming up on the radio show this week, baby proofing step-by-step from our friend Bob Vila. To find out where to listen to the show, download our podcast or get a transcript of a past show, visit www.moneypit.com
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Dot Common Sense - Carpet Care
Dingy and dirty carpeting can easily drag down the look of a room. Follow a few steps to keep your carpets lasting longer and looking great. Keeping a carpet clean is the best way to extend its life. Vacuum regularly and clean spills and stains immediately. Visit www.justrite.com for our favorite stain removal products. Clean your carpets thoroughly and completely every 12 to 18 months. You can usually rent a steam cleaning machine at your local supermarket or home center. You should also fix loose and wrinkled carpeting right away, because loose areas speed up the wear and tear a carpet takes. Restretching the carpet will tighten the material and remove wrinkles.
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Fun Fact - Replacement Cabinet Requirements
Where do your kitchen cabinets rate on the quality scale? We’re going to tell you how to sort the wheat from the chaff. You really can’t tell a cabinet by its cover. No matter how attractive the outside, it’s what’s inside your cabinet that really counts. There are a few things you should look for when you’re shopping for new cabinets. The best-quality interiors are made from ¾-inch hardwood plywood. Door and drawer construction is also important Get a good look at the construction, joinery, and the glides. The care and workmanship will be clear in these details – so get a “handle” on them before you buy. Your money will be well spent, because well-built cabinets won’t require much maintenance.
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Short Cuts - The Right Stuff
If you're hiring a contractor for your home improvement project, YOU should pick the products to be used. Most people choose their own brands of exterior paint and stain, but allow contractors to make buying decisions about products like asphalt roofing and vinyl siding. Don't do that! When you’re doing-it-yourself - YOU are the one who shops for and chooses materials, right? You should have just as much input on materials for your DIRECT-it-yourself project as well. There are significant performance differences among products, and homeowners would do better to make the key decisions themselves.
For example, contractors traditionally use thirty pound felt as the underlayment of choice for roofing jobs. This is probably a very outdated practice because not only does felt tear easily, but it also absorbs water. This means that if water gets under your roof’s coverings, it may stay pressed against its wooden decking for weeks – or worse yet, find a way into your home and cause structural damage. There are many better underlayments out there. For example, Grace has a synthetic underlayment called Grace Tri-Flex 30. Unlike conventional roofing felts that actually absorb water, this product SHEDS water when properly installed on sloped roofs. It is stronger and more tear resistant than felt and the best part: the cost difference between the two is minimal. So make sure you are choosing the right materials for your direct-it-yourself project. And for more information on synthetic roofing underlayments or Grace’s family of weather barriers, visit www.GraceAtHome.com
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Copyright 2006 Squeaky Door Productions, Inc.
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