Why Construction Details Are Important

One of the things that people shopping for a remodeling company may not realize is that the level of care that is put into the work is very important. This is truly a case where the devil is in the details.

In many cases, we've been called in to repair work done by another contractor. Some of the items we've seen include:

• Improperly installed shower tile causing water to leak into the basement.
• Improperly installed gutter that cause water to flow into the corner of the house. Over time this cause the entire corner of the house to rot. In this case, the entire framing structure of this area of the house had to be replaced.
• Improperly installed plumbing. In this case, the drain lines from a bathroom were not properly pitched. This meant that the waste water did not properly drain.
• In the same bathroom, the plumbing had been installed without regard to the structural stability of the floor framing. The plumber had used a sawzall to cut through the floor joists in many locations. Over time, the floor had started to sag and the tile floor had started to crack. This required extensive repair of the floor framing.
• Improperly installed attic venting causing severe ice dams. This allows water to build up and drain down the inside of the house walls.

As a homeowner, you can't be expected to know all the ins and outs of residential construction. It's not your profession and not what you do with your time. Because of that, it's important to find a contractor who is up to date on the current building code. Also, it's important to find a contractor who cares about their work. Look for pride in the details as well as a records of happy customers. Ask about occasions when there was a problem with a project and how they handled it.

A New Year!

Okay - if you're following this blog you'll see that there hasn't been a posting for quite a while now. One of my resolutions for the new year is to post much more frequently.

A few notes on what 2010 holds for Red Apple Renovations

We're in the process of finalizing the changes to our new website. There will be much more content as well as an improved portfolio and periodic video posts. We'll let you know when it goes live but we hope you'll check it out.

The good news is that we continue to see strong activity in the remodeling market in the Boston area. Some of the most common project we're seeing are kitchen and bathroom remodels as well as finishing unused basement space. These are all projects that have a great return on investment and add to your quality of life as well.

Anyway, the first post of the year is done and out there. Stay tuned for more.

Warren Project Update: Boston Area Green Home Remodeling

The first few weeks of our green home project have been very productive. We’ve completed excavation, poured the foundation, started the framing for the addition and completed demolition on the main part of the house. We have some pictures with this post so you can see the progress.

At this point in the project you can really see the “bones” of the house. It’s also not surprising at this stage to see a few items that can’t be seen until the walls are down. In this case we’ve found a few areas that are not insulated properly along with a few framing surprises. The good news is that there is nothing that will keep the project from moving forward.

The next few weeks of a project like this show a lot of visible progress. Walls go up, windows get installed and the roof goes on. These are very apparent signs of progress that are easily seen by contractor and homeowner alike. Once these phases are done, progress continues but it’s not as apparent. The rough plumbing, wiring and HVAC work are as crucial to the house as the new roof or windows. However, more wires in the walls or new plumbing pipes don’t give the same feeling of progress as new walls.

When you’re doing a project of any size, don’t be surprised if sometimes things seem to be rocking forward and sometimes crawling. A good contractor keeps the project moving at all stages. Some are just easier to see than others.

Questions? Or just want to chat about an upcoming project that you're considering? Email owner Chris Matey. We specialize in Boston area kitchen remodeling and bath renovation. Ask us about eco green home remodeling and renovations.
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We service Boston, North Shore, North of Boston, including but no limited to Andover, Belmont, Beverly, Boston (Back Bay, South End), Brookline, Cambridge, Haverhill, Lexington, Lowell, Marblehead, Natick, Newton, Newburyport, Somerville, Swampscott, Weston, Winchester, Woburn. As well as southern New Hampshire, including Nashua, Londonderry, and Merrimack. Check out our portfolio for Boston kitchen remodeling, Boston bathroom remodeling, and more.

Building Green, Building LEED: What Does It Mean?

So you've been hearing the LEED word around quite a bit lately, right? It is an acronym associated with green building and eco-friendly building. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. As you may know, support for green buildings has increased rapidly each year over the last five years.

There are two LEED certifications. There is LEED (for buildings), and then there is LEED AP (Accredited Professional) - two distinct certifications administered by the U.S. Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI).

LEED certification is the recognized standard for measuring building sustainability. The Green Building Council is a Washington D.C.-based, nonprofit coalition of building industry leaders. It was designed to promote design and construction practices that increase profitability while reducing the negative environmental impacts of buildings and improving occupant health and well-being.

The LEED Green Building Rating System is a voluntary, consensus-based national rating system for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings. LEED addresses all building types and emphasizes state-of-the-art strategies in five areas: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials and resources selection, and indoor environmental quality.

LEED AP professional is a credentialing program was developed to encourage green building professionals to maintain and advance their knowledge and expertise. LEED-accredited professionals range from architects, consultants, engineers, product marketers and environmentalists to other building industry professionals around the country.

The LEED rating system offers four certification levels for new construction -- Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum -- and divides building into five categories:

Sustainable Sites

Water Conservation

Energy & Atmosphere

Materials & Resources

Indoor Environmental Quality

Many cities and states either provide tax credits or grants for green buildings, or require green building certification for public buildings. The U.S. government is adopting LEED or similar green building standards for the General Services Administration (which owns or leases over 8300 buildings), the U.S. Army, the Department of State, the Department of Energy (DOE), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Eight states including California, New York, Oregon, and Washington have adopted LEED for public buildings. Many agencies are requiring LEED silver certification as a minimum.

Thirteen countries have expressed interest in LEED including China and India; these countries have exceptionally high levels of new building construction.

Questions? Or just want to chat about an upcoming project that you're considering? Email owner Chris Matey.
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We service Boston, North Shore, North of Boston, including but no limited to Andover, Belmont, Beverly, Boston (Back Bay, South End), Brookline, Cambridge, Haverhill, Lexington, Lowell, Marblehead, Natick, Newton, Newburyport, Somerville, Swampscott, Weston, Winchester, Woburn. As well as southern New Hampshire, including Nashua, Londonderry, and Merrimack. Check out our portfolio for Boston kitchen remodeling, Boston bathroom remodeling, and more.

Follow Us On A Whole House Remodel with Green Features

We’ve just kicked off an exciting project at Red Apple Renovations. It’s a whole house remodel with the addition of an existing home. The interesting thing about this project is that is has some very “green” features. I’ll talk about all the green aspects of this project in the next several weeks, but for this post I’d like to tell you about the progress on the geothermal heating and cooling system.

For those of you who don’t know about geothermal heating and cooling systems, see this blog post. What we’ve done so far on this project is installation of wells that provide energy for the system. On the practical side, well drilling is a interesting activity. We contracted with a well driller to dig two wells for the system. What we didn’t know until we got started was if we would hit granite ledge or ground water. We also didn’t know if the wells would provide adequate energy to the system at the planned depth.

We started once we had our DigSafe inspection and pulled the well permits. The actual well drilling went on for several days. The good news was that everything proceeded as planned and we didn’t have any surprises.

The well drilling itself is a loud activity, but once it’s underway, you barely notice. The wells were completed and grouted last week. This week we dug trenches and brought the well lines into the basement. Later in the project we’ll connect the well lines to the HVAC unit.

Check back soon as I'll post more about this project.

Questions? Or just want to chat about an upcoming project that you're considering? Email owner Chris Matey.
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We service Boston, North Shore, North of Boston, including but not limited to Andover, Belmont, Beverly, Boston (Back Bay, South End), Brookline, Cambridge, Haverhill, Lexington, Lowell, Marblehead, Natick, Newton, Newburyport, Somerville, Swampscott, Weston, Winchester, Woburn. As well as southern New Hampshire, including Nashua, Londonderry, and Merrimack.

Check out our portfolio for Boston kitchen remodeling, Boston bathroom remodeling, and more.

No VOCs, High Air-Quality Just A Few Advantages of Soy-based Insulation

For decades, the soybean has been in the spotlight of the U.S. agricultural economy. Now the renewable resource (a.k.a. "bean") is attracting attention as a green construction and green building material, especially in projects for clients with chemical sensitivities, allergies or who want better indoor air quality.

Soybean-based products do not contain urea/formaldehyde. When processed with chemicals they do not release volatile chemicals (VOCs) or other toxic emissions. Some of the soy-based products on the market include adhesives, roofing, carpet backings, wood and concrete coatings and stains and structural membrane coatings. Now it is available as an insulating material.

Soy insulation is available as a spray-on foam, as well as in panels. The product expands like similar products. An added benefit is that it resists mold and mildew. According to the United Soybean Board (USB), soy insulation provides insulation characteristics that are as good as or better in four-inch walls as traditional batting insulations with six-inch stud construction. Soy-based insulation may also reduce building costs by decreasing the amount of lumber used.

Other advantages of soy-based insulation include expanding up to 100 times its volume to create a barrier and thermal seal. It also is not affected by insects or rodents. It reduces demand and dependence on non-renewable petroleum reserves.

In addition, since soy-based insulation will help reduce your energy usage each month, you'll be using less electricity and/or natural gas which is another positive benefit for the environment. Soy-based insulation can help homeowners save up to 50 percent on their heating and cooling costs.

Emega Technologies, based in Lancaster, Ohio, is one of many producers of soy-based polyurethane foams and panels. Its owner, Don Duffy, says it's a natural for remodelers to offer soy-based insulation to customers, who increasingly request healthy homes. "It does not emit gases and chemicals, long or short term, like those present in many other different types of building materials. It's easy to form into shapes and lightweight."

Check these sources for more information on soy-based insulation:

United Soybean Board

American Soybean Association

BioBased Systems (spray foam insulation)

Soy Systems (SoyOyl® and rigid foam insulation)

Emega Technologies (soy-based insulated concrete form manufacturing system)

Questions? Or just want to chat about an upcoming project that you're considering? Email owner Chris Matey.
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We service Boston, North Shore, North of Boston, including but no limited to Andover, Belmont, Beverly, Boston (Back Bay, South End), Brookline, Cambridge, Haverhill, Lexington, Lowell, Marblehead, Natick, Newton, Newburyport, Somerville, Swampscott, Weston, Winchester, Woburn. As well as southern New Hampshire, including Nashua, Londonderry, and Merrimack.

Check out our portfolio for Boston kitchen remodeling, Boston bathroom remodeling, and more.

Vetrazzo's Recycled Glass Countertops Are A Beautiful and Eco-Friendly Option

There are many choices for beautiful kitchen and bath countertops, floors or backsplashes. One eco-friendly choice is recycled glass tiles called Vetrazzo. The California-based company takes recycled glass from sources such as decommissioned traffic lights, windshields, used bottles and plate glass windows and transforms them into a surface that is durable and heat resistant.

Nearly 85% of each tile’s surface is glass, and 100% of the glass used is recycled. All materials are from the U.S., and the product is also made in the U.S. The glass is combined with a cement-based, resin-free binder. It is as durable as granite and less porous than marble.
Available in various shades. Shown here: blue sourced from Skyy Vodka and other blue glass sources.

Terrazzo releases few, if any, emissions into the indoor environment, and its hard surface allows it to be thoroughly cleaned with just soap and water. Terrazzo floors and tiles are among the best-tolerated by people with chemical sensitivities or chronic respiratory ailments. Terrazzo is extremely durable, comparable to concrete and stone.

Vetrazzo surfaces give an alternative to using non-renewable resources (like virgin granite, for example), and provides a new market for recycled glass, including glass that cannot be recycled elsewhere.

According to former software executive and now Vetrazzo CEO James Shepard, the company’s manufacturing plant is also green -- from utilizing daylight, to a negative-pressure dust booth to minimize air pollution, to a state-of-the-art system that recycles the water they use. If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can take a tour of the company’s manufacturing plant, based in a recycled Ford auto plant.

The company recently unveiled four new earth-tone colors, which join their line of 15 other colored tiles that include green, red and blue hues.

Questions? Or just want to chat about an upcoming project that you're considering? Email owner Chris Matey.
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We service Boston, North Shore, North of Boston, including but no limited to Andover, Belmont, Beverly, Boston (Back Bay, South End), Brookline, Cambridge, Haverhill, Lexington, Lowell, Marblehead, Natick, Newton, Newburyport, Somerville, Swampscott, Weston, Winchester, Woburn. As well as southern New Hampshire, including Nashua, Londonderry, and Merrimack. Check out our portfolio for Boston kitchen remodeling, Boston bathroom remodeling, and more.