Found this very interesting product this afternoon - 100% recycled brick pavers made from shredded tires and plastic bottles - Made by Vast.
Seems like a great alternative to poured concrete or traditional brick. I’ll look into pricing to see what it might cost. One of the most exciting features of this product is that the [...]
Well, we’ve officially moved into the painful, “lose the frills” phase of the project. Because the cost of the project exceeds our lender requirements, we’ve started hacking and slashing to cut costs. A big portion of these costs? Windows.
Here’s how the math works out:
Removing 8 windows saves us a total of $2400 in costs, plus [...]
Well, to placate the city, we’ve removed our glass roll-up door. While a bit of a hit for the design, there are some functional benefits. Namely:
Standard French doors are more energy efficient
It would be easier to convert the lower level to a living space at some point in the future.
It will help the appraisal - [...]
Check out what can happen when you’re committed to good design on a realistic budget ($51 per square foot!):
As part of my never-ending quest to find affordable housing options, I stumbled across this interesting article in the New York Times. Here’s a brief excerpt:
Mr. Flueckiger chose to build with industrial materials in homage to the [...]
Here’s a great guide to designing a rainscreen system. Kudos to the guys at Build Blog for assembling the info!
I’ve always been a fan of Marmoleum. Not only is it a “green” material, but it’s incredibly durable and forgiving. We’ve got two dogs, and with our wet Portland winters, it makes a great buffer between our living space and the outdoors. Here’s a couple of neat options I just found on the web…can’t recall [...]
I’ve been working with a new builder to develop a more accurate budget for the ADU project. One element of the design that accounts for a HUGE percentage of the overall cost is the kitchen. And, in the kitchen, one of the of the most expensive elements is the countertops.
We’re not building an elaborate kitchen [...]
A while back I wrote about an exciting product called “Ice Stone.” Back then, I didn’t pay a lot of attention to the price of materials, but I have the sense that it’s not cheap. Still, if you’ve got the cash and can afford to be “green,” it’s a great alternative to granite, quartz, or [...]
Some great ideas from the UK
Here’s an interesting green floor finish from Vermont Natural Coatings.