Can This Home Be Greened? A Florida Fixer-Upper Gets a Green Remodel
(Page 3 of 5)
May/June 2009
By Greg Hardwick
A home for today and tomorrow
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A few aesthetic changes, improved accessibility for their son and their future, and native landscaping will make the Dyers happy in their home for years to come.
3. Replace all flooring
Wisely, Tim and Phyllis want to remove the old carpet and replace it with solid-surface flooring.
Solutions: If the Dyers want wood floors, they should choose from the variety of resource-efficient wood flooring products. Shaw Floors EnviroCore line uses otherwise-discarded tree parts and sawmill waste as its core. If installing with glue, choose adhesive with low or no VOCs (volatile organic compounds).
When selecting tile, the Dyers should choose a product made from recycled content such as recycled granite or glass. When installing tile, minimize grout lines to a quarter-inch or less. Porous grout tends to harbor bacteria and other indoor pollutants.
Cork flooring is also a great sustainable option. It has many benefits over other types of flooring: It’s affordable; pest-, termite- and moisture-resistant; antimicrobial and hypoallergenic; renewable; and has relatively low embodied energy. It’s also as durable as many hardwoods and provides thermal and sound insulation properties.
Cost: $6 to $10 a square foot for flooring and installation
4. Increase accessibility
The Dyers’ son occasionally uses a wheelchair, and remodeling the guest bathroom and bedroom can improve his accessibility. The Dyers also plan to retire in the home and want to plan for their needs as they grow older.
Solutions: The Dyers should increase the door sizes to the guest bedroom and hall bath. The existing door openings of only 26 inches should be increased to 32 inches (current Florida building codes require at least one bathroom to be ADA accessible, and 32 inches is the minimum).
To accommodate their future needs, the Dyers should choose easier-to-grasp handles instead of knobs for door and drawer hardware throughout the home. They also should replace the door hardware throughout the home with levers, rather than single knobs.
During the guest bath renovation, the Dyers should strategically place framing behind the wall around the toilet and shower before finishing with drywall or tile. This will support future installation of grab bars that can hold a person’s weight.
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