"Renovating"

Renovating / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

Decks, porches and gazebos

How to stain or paint Cedar wood decking when renovating old decks

...renovating your weathered cedar planks, we would suggest you pick up a few samples of deck stains - especially if it's a pretty big deck like the one we photographed for this article. You should be able to find very small cans of deck treatment to test, and some companies even have tiny sample packs of stain for exactl...

Decks, porches and gazebos

How to restore a cedar wood deck easily

...renovating a deck, see our page how to choose the best deck stain or paint and how to stain a deck. Now you know more about how to restore a cedar wood deck easily. Find more pages for DIY reno guides and sustainable and resilient green building techniques in the Ecohome Green Building Guide and here on these pa...

Walls and Roofs

The easiest way to insulate walls from the exterior in older homes

...renovating or remodeling is a great way of improving a home's walls thermal performance and reducing energy use while reducing heating bills, carbon footprint and improving a building's comfort level. It may look easy to go buy some packs of rigid insulation panels down at the local hardware store and screw them to you...

Paints, finishes and natural coatings

Natural wood finishing oil is non toxic too

Being safe to breathe, natural oils are suitable and safe for pretty much everyone, but of particular value in the homes of pregnant women, young children and newborns, and anyone with respiratory issues or chemical sensitivities. Food safe oils are a great choice for sealing cutting boards or butcher-block counters, ...

Walls and ceilings - interior surfaces

Wood ceilings or drywall - how to choose your ceiling material & what's the difference in cost?

Wood ceilings - what's the the skinny? Ahhh, the charm of a wood ceiling, seriously, what's not to like? The intent of this page is less about talking you out of installing gypsum board (drywall), and more about giving you a little encouragement if you are hesitantly considering a wood ceiling. It’s a natural product t...