"Renovation"

Renovation / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

Crawl spaces

How to insulate crawlspaces properly as part of renovating an older home

Crawlspace insulation - be careful to get it right A crawlspace comes with all the downsides of a basement, but it is just too low a space to be functional either beyond the folded plastic christmas tree and a couple of boxes of baubles. Unless there is a good reason for it, going through the process of pouring a footi...

Bathrooms

Are low-flow shower heads worth the money?

Are low flow shower heads worth it? So, let's start with this somewhat shocking reality - North Americans will on average use over 1.4 million litres of water per year, or about 4 to 5 times that of most European citizens. This is according to the SDWF (Safe Drinking Water Foundation). That makes Canada and the US the...

Cleaning and maintenance

Tips for keeping air clean during renovations

...renovations. Find out all you need to know about how to carry out successful renovations in the Ecohome Building Guide and these pages here: Tips for staying on budget during renovations Choosing safe paints to protect indoor air quality Non-toxic natural finishing oil for wood that protect indoor air quality ...

Radon in Homes - Mitigation

Removing radon gas from well water

It is a very wise idea to have the air of your home checked for high levels of radon gas. Health Canada has identified exposure to radon gas as the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking, estimated to be the cause of 16% of diagnosed cases in the country. A high reading may come, not from having a uranium so...

Real estate

Are you selling a house? Here are the top 10 things homebuyers look for

...renovations Buying a house to renovate and flip for profit? Here's what you need to know to succeed And sign up here for a free Ecohome Membership and reap all the benefits!

Interiors

Are laminate countertops good for a sustainable green home?

Are laminate counters good? Laminate countertops were a long-time staple of residential kitchen and bathroom construction, but they started to fall off in popularity around the time rockstars stopped wearing spandex, which was somewhere in the 80s. A trend started at that time towards alternatives to laminate counters,...

Wall assemblies - new construction

Larsen truss wall systems with double-stud construction & extra insulation for new homes & energy efficient home renovation

Larson truss wall systems for new green home building & renovations for max wall insulation A Larsen Truss is a type of lightweight & non structural double-stud wall assembly that allows for thicker insulation, is ideal for dense-packed cellulose insulation wall systems and a very high R-value building envelope...

Healthy indoor air quality

Why you should never Install air-con in a home with a vapor barrier

Vapor barrier + air-con = damp moldy walls So here's a little known fact that most HVAC installers won't tell a potential new client for central air; Polyethylene vapor barriers in combination with air conditioning in homes can rot walls because of the condensation they may cause. This is why if you have a newer home w...

Basements improvements

Why are basements moldy? How to fix or prevent a moldy basement

...renovation beginning with breaking and removing the existing concrete floor. Most older basements have very limited head room and owners are often reluctant to lower it even more by adding insulation to the floor. It also allows for the addition of a radon evacuation stack, which is the perforated tube and T-junction i...

Kitchens

Formaldehyde-free green kitchen cabinetry for a non-toxic home - price comparisons

...renovation by River Woodworks © Ecohome Custom green kitchen renovation by River Woodworks © Ecohome Formaldehyde-free kitchen cabinet renovation by River Woodworks © Ecohome Green kitchen cabinets in a Custom kitchen renovation by River Woodworks © Ecohome

Insulation and soundproofing

Insulating below slab-on-grade floors

Insulating below slab-on-grade foundations Why insulate under a slab on grade foundation? For comfort, and to save money, that's why! In many areas Building Code has fallen behind common sense on what specification of insulation to use under a slab, It is common to install as little as R5 insulation below slab floors, ...