Improve Your Home and Garden
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We all know a home must be well insulated to keep it warm and cozy in the winter and cool in the summer. The better insulated your home, the less you pay to heat and air condition it and the more energy you save. That means insulation is a green building product…but is it really green [...]
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Timber frame homes are grand mansions for movie stars and cowboy millionaires. They require a Montana-sized backyard and a NASA–sized budget, right? If you really believe that, you should meet Rick Stockmann of Specialty Built Construction, Salem, OR. He doesn’t live in Montana, or work for NASA, and he isn’t interested in building castles only [...]
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Haven’t you heard? “Green Is Good.” And a good way to green up your home is to add insulation which helps decrease energy consumption as much as 30%. Cellulose insulation is a popular choice and accounts for 15% of the total insulation market today, says Fiberlite Technologies, Inc., of Joplin, MO, a manufacturer of the [...]
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Does your yard need a retaining wall to create more usable space? How about making it a Living Wall? Have you ever driven past a retaining wall that was performing a structural function but it was totally covered in plant material and all you could see was the plants? If you have then you have [...]
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Have you ever dreamed of building your own wood-burning oven? Or how about constructing an earthen floor? No? Perhaps it’s because you never knew these educational opportunities existed in the 21st century. But some forward-thinking inviduals are offering courses in sustainable living that go far beyond tossing glass bottles into a recycling bin. The rural, [...]
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What do you see when you picture a “green” home? Perhaps you imagine a house with solar panels and a wind turbine, or a simple home that conserves resources and has energy efficient appliances. If you ask Alan Gillespie, founder of Heartland Homes, he will tell you that energy efficiency is only one piece of [...]
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Okay, you want flooring for your home that is long-lasting, looks great, fits your budget, and agrees with your earth friendly principles. You’re in luck. There are now many flooring options that are attractive, durable, affordable, and kind to our environment. So how do you find the right flooring products for your home? David Dixon [...]
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Heat, light, food, and good health-amenities that none of us can do without. Unfortunately, the meteoric rise in cost for all four over the last 10 years shows no sign of slowing anytime soon. But you can fight back. As a homeowner, you can reduce your expenditures on all four by retrofitting your home with [...]
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My friend Janelle is from a family of pioneers. No, they didn’t own a covered wagon, but her dad was one of the first people I knew to go solar. When Janelle and I were in sixth grade, her father spent most of that spring installing a solar panel the size of Nevada on his [...]
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Visit this year’s Energy Trust Better Living Show in Portland, OR, on March 26 – 28, 2010, and you will see very quickly that this is not your mother’s home and garden show. As a matter of fact, it is not a home and garden show by any measure. This 3-day sustainable lifestyle festival is [...]
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Do you have the urge to run away from the clutter in your home? Should your overflowing closets be classified a Federal disaster area? If the answer is yes, consider closet organizing systems to rid your home of unwanted clutter. Closet Tailors, St. Louis, MO, designs closet organizer plans that are both cost efficient and environmentally friendly. “Homeowners and business [...]
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It may happen just before the first frost. Sitting on your couch in the evening, watching TV, you will suddenly feel the air wash over your toes. That’s no tropical breeze, either. The cold draft causes you to reach for your slippers, turn up the heat, and call a contractor. It’s time for an energy [...]
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Green Building is growing in popularity, but the industry still faces plenty of challenges… mainly finding cost-effective solutions to energy efficiency and our dwindling natural resources. But new innovations in technology are creating options, and here’s one to watch: structural insulated panels. Hailed as one of the leading 21st century green building materials, SIPs conserve [...]
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“Love the home you’re in,” is the latest “homeowner trend.” Slow real estate sales of existing homes and frozen new home construction influence many families to upgrade or add on rather than buy new. Now that we’ve likely seen the worst of the downturn, homeowners may see what a smart choice their remodel was – [...]
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