Near where I live, there are many towns where people buy the old homes for the land, knock down the old house, and put up something new, and usually hideously large, in its place. Some of the houses, 1960’s era ranches for example, are not difficult to see go. But when people buy older houses and demolish them, my heart breaks a little.

But in all of the cases of tear downs, there is an enormous amount of waste that seems hard to justify.

Nancy Keates from the Wall Street Journal has written about the more eco-friendly option of unbuilding, something which they are doing to their Portland, OR home.

The Building Materials Association estimates that in the U.S., 315,000 to 360,000 tons per year of reused building materials are sold by reuse centers — not even 0.2% of the total waste from building activities each year.

Keates writes about how her house was painstakingly disassembled. Things that were going to be reused in the rebuild were separated out. Once that is done, “the Rebuilding Center will send in their deconstruction crew to take everything else apart. They will start with the hardwood floors, then take apart the windows, doors and even pipes — down to the house’s foundation.”

Doing this does end up costing more money than a traditional tear-down. The unbuilding at the Keates home took an additional 2 weeks and approximately $4000. Not adding to landfills, however, priceless.

Today my daughter broke a window in our sunroom. She also lied about it and blamed her little brother, which is a whole ‘nother story. I wish I could say this was an unusual occurrence, but my children always seem to be flinging things around the house that invariably hit a window.

While it annoys me, the windows in most of our house are single pane divided lights in wood frames. The glass is easy, and inexpensive, to replace. And their allowances have always covered the cost. The windows in our sunroom, however, are new. They have that “fancy” double layered glass with the special gas in between for energy efficiency. I question how well it actually works because it is cold in that room. But, I now need to remove the window and bring it to the glass repair shop and have it professionally fixed.

I have zero idea how much it will cost, but I am willing to bet that it will be more that the $10 I spent on a pane of glass at the hardware store last time. And like I say to my kids, do they have to break things faster than we can fix them?

The energy star website has information on windows and doors for your home.

Save money and energy. Installing ENERGY STAR-qualified windows lowers energy bills and saves you money over single-paned and even new double-paned, clear-glass windows.

More than just dollar savings. ENERGY STAR-qualified windows protect from the winter cold and summer sun, while also reducing condensation and interior fading.

What makes a window, door, or skylight energy-efficient? Thanks to a host of new technologies, ENERGY STAR-qualified windows, doors, and skylights keep your home cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, making you more comfortable.

Purchasing tips to help you buy with confidence. Every ENERGY STAR-qualified window, door, and skylight is independently certified to perform at levels that meet or exceed strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Energy-saving tips. Proper installation, orientation, tree planting, and home sealing can help you save even more energy and money!

Find Rebates. Search for local rebates in your area and learn about the 2006/2007 federal tax credit.

For old home enthusiasts, the choice between keeping original windows and replacing them energy efficient models is not an easy one. Luckily in the past few years manufacturers have noticed the need for high quality replacement windows that replicate the look and feel of old windows.

As we have been renovating our house we have made the decision to keep the large original divided light windows throughout most of the house. The back of the house where we did the most extensive of the renovations had small, unimpressive windows that were obviously added at a later date. We replaced them with new energy efficient windows and have been happy with our decision.

When my 7yr old son was a baby he was obsessed with the kitchen cabinets. Every day he would go over to them and grab a hold of the knob and pull the door open. The safety locks we had on the doors allowed the door to be open slightly. He would open and shut, open and shut, open and shut, that half inch of space until his little arm got tired.

One day I came into the kitchen and noticed that the door was missing. All of the opening and shutting had caused the hinges to give way. I only wish that I had a secret camera to have seen his expression when the door came off in his hand. The funny thing is that he didn’t take anything out of the cabinet. Instead he took the door away with him and I had to go search the house for it.

Most of us parents are familiar with the tiny plastic plugs that go into outlets, the doorway gates that turn homes into a track and field event, and the cabinet locks that turn our kitchens into Fort Knox. But what about the other things inside of our homes that pose a safety hazard.

Parent Wonder has a list of 101 Childproofing Tips for Parents. Most of them are very basic, but for a new parent who looks around their house and feels overwhelmed it might be a good place to start.

Good Housekeeping Magazine has an article listing the best and worst childproofing products. I really liked this list. Any parent knows the feeling of standing in the aisle at your local big box baby store with an entire row of products and having no idea which one to chose, or why a certain one was superior to another similar one. Good Housekeeping has taken the guesswork out. Print this list off and take it with you the next time you need some cabinet, oven, or toilet locks. Or even better, print it off and include it with your gift at the next baby shower you attend. The new parents will surely thank you.

Many new parents are turning to so-called childproofing professionals, who will come out to your home and asses your individual home and needs. Professionals like this one featured in this South Carolina newspaper.

This is a nightmare for all of us involved in extensive home renovations and also living and raising families in those homes. I can not even imagine a government agency coming into my home and telling me what I had to do, or face criminal prosecution. Especially in light of the fact that their requirements would most likely do more harm than good.

This week I came across this article online about the Ellis family living in Wellesley, MA that is being forced to do lead abatement in their home.

Court cases involving lead paint are fairly common. By law, the state Department of Public Health must inspect any home where children have blood lead levels of 25 micrograms per deciliter or higher. And if lead paint is found - as it almost always is in old homes - the state can order the homeowners to address the problem, taking legal action if deemed necessary

This case is unique in many ways. First off their 4 year old daughter tested high for lead months before they moved into the house. The family blames a charm necklace that the little girl like to suck on. A necklace which was made in China. Secondly, the family owns the home they live in. Most of the time it is a negligent landlord situation.

As I wrote on the topic of lead paint several months ago:

Turns out there is another more common source of lead dust now– home renovations. Most children now are in fact poisoned during renovations when lead dust flies through the air, through knocking down old painted plaster walls, pulling off old trim, sanding old painted floors. Ah, my own personal hell. I joke with my children that I am going through all of the effort to protect their precious brain cells and IQ they better be thankful. But really it is a serious matter.

It used to be thought that lead poisoning was primarily an issue for children living in housing projects where upkeep by an absent landlord was an issue. Now it is becoming increasingly common for children of middle and upper-middle class homes to become exposed to high levels of lead dust through extensive renovations of older homes in the urban core.

This family in MA did not have any home renovations going on. Yes, their home has lead paint in it. I would challenge anyone to find a house built before 1950 that does NOT contain lead paint.

The Department of Public Health is requiring that the Ellis family delead their home. The family is refusing to do it. Deleading is dangerous because disturbing the paint creates dust and airborne particles. You can’t contain everything. Even the meticulous contractor mentions this in the article. If the lead paint is ENCAPSULATED, it is best to leave it alone.

If you want to remove all the lead paint in a house built before 1978 you will probably have to gut the interior as well as tear off all the siding. But most lead paint is fine. Afterall, most of us grew up in homes that contained lead paint in them somewhere and I daresay that most of us turned out okay.

The cost of such a process factors into this also. The Ellis family has received estimates that say it will cost them $100,000 to delead their home. They will also need to live elsewhere while this process takes place.

One of the commenters said:

I agree with the sentiment that you’d think parents would do anything to protect their children, so why not fix the lead issue?

BUT, it’s not that cut and dry. The law was established to protect children from lead poisoning., yes. But they don’t get the lead in their systemts just by living there, otherwise adults would be at risk as well. They get it by means of ingesting flaking paint, usually in old, not updated, homes. And if this home is well kept, with no flaking paint, then the risk is minimal at MOST. And I believe the parents have a right to determine if they want to live with that risk. The cost of deleading a home is not insignificant, and as their home is 5000 sq ft, that is going to cost a fortune (I think they quoted upwards of $100,000, plus they need to move out for a period of time and live elsewhere). Just because they bought s $1.3 mill home, does not mean $100,000 is chump change. AND, I’ve heard of cases where families moved for a long period of time and spent life savings while their home was deleaded, only to move back and STILL have the child’s lead level too high. Then what?

Then what indeed? Where does it stop?

Families in Massachusetts also report being discriminated against when it comes to finding rental property due to the restrictive lead paint laws. Of course most landlords would not come out and say the reason that they don’t want to rent to families with children is because they fear being held liable should the child be lead poisoned.

In Massachusetts, a state law passed more than 30 years ago says that children under 6 years old cannot live in apartments that contain lead paint on certain high-risk surfaces, such as windowsills and baseboards. And if children suffer lead poisoning, landlords are legally liable. But state law also clearly says that landlords cannot discriminate against families with young children because their apartments are not deleaded. The only way landlords can comply with the law is to delead their apartments, a process that can easily cost $10,000 per unit. (There are some exceptions: Landlords who live in the building and rent out only one other unit, as well as some elderly landlords, are allowed to refuse families with children.)

In January of this year, I wrote about the link between lead paint and the decline of function in older brains.

In March of this year the EPA issued new requirements to keep children away from the hazards of lead paint.

For the past 20 years granite has enjoyed a relatively uncontested reign as the high end counter top surface of choice. Recently, however, new innovative products are popping up and causing people to rethink their choices.

When a material is found in apartment complexes and tract homes, “it’s been done to death,” said Ellen Hanson, an interior designer in New York.

The trend now, designers and suppliers said, is toward warmer and softer materials used centuries ago, like wood, copper and soapstone. For a more modern look, glass, composites and recycled materials are being used.

I wrote a few months back about recycled paper countertops, which I love.

(photo courtesy of NY Times)

Ice Stone is a newer product that is made from 100% recycled glass in a cement matrix, diverting hundreds of tons of glass from landfills each year. They operate out of a renovated, day-lit factory in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, creating U.S. jobs for workers in an eco-friendly, safe and respectful environment.

Sales of quartz composite surfaces, also known as engineered stone, by manufacturers like CaesarStone and Silestone, have steadily increased over the past five years. I am not overly fond of either of these products. To me it just doesn’t have the same cache as granite, soapstone, or wood.

I love soapstone. Particularly they way the it feels when you touch it. It also reminds me of middle school science lab which had soapstone counters. So perhaps part of the appeal for me is a wistful nostalgia for the good old days of the asymmetrical hairstyle and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. My husband does not share this love. So the soapstone is off the table, or cabinet as the case might be, for us.

The Harmony Wood Collection is a real wood tile from sustainable forests that come mesh-mounted for ease of installation.

Modern and warm these tile can be used in a variety of applications where they will not come into contact with water.

Harmony Wood Tile comes in a wide range of colors, wood types, and textures. The photo above is from the Wood Tile Cane line. It is meant to mimic a caned seat and is priced at $27 per square foot.

Recently it was featured as aDwell product of the day. And Apartment Therapy also mentioned this line of tile sold by Anchor Bay Tile as a great find for warming up a modern home.

I think that this particular tile is my favorite from this line. Called Falling Water, it is an accent border tile. I think it would be stunning as a backsplash in a kitchen. It can be purchased at the Anchor Bay Tile website for $18.50 a square foot. Teak Vein Cut is just one of 7 styles offered in this line.

This week I was reading the fabulous blog, Reclaimed Home. The tagline says it all: Low Impact Housing and Renovation Options for Thrifty New Yorkers.

One post was about Recycled switchplates, with one designer making them out of recycled street signs. Very fun for a kid’s room or a game room.

It got me thinking about the things we have in our home. Not all of our door knobs or outlet covers and switchplates match. We kept all the original ones in use and moved the fancy Eastlake Ceylon ones to the first floor. It truly pains me that somewhere in our house’s history someone thought it was upgrading to get rid of all the nice brass ones and replace them with junk that is available at the local hardware store.

We also have these hinges on many doors. I suppose we should take comfort in the fact that we could one day sell our house off piece by piece if we wanted to.

My daughter’s bedroom has some very old glass door knobs. There are none in the rest of the house so I often wonder why just one set? Did one of the children like them? Did they just happen to have it laying around from a previous home of theirs and use it replace a broken one?

We have doors that are flat 4 panel. Doors that are raised 4 panel. Doors that are 6 panel. And a couple doors that have the panels going horizontal, not sure what they are called. We also have one door that I have taken great pains to strip and sand, and now paint. It is an old bathroom door with a window in it. I think it was to let let light into the hallway from the bathroom in the days before our home had electricity.

We have window locks that vary from room to room, and sometimes even within a room. There are random coat hooks and locks here and there.

Nothing matches, but I love it that way. It shows the history of the house. The progression that the house took over its 100+ year journey. Not all of the things are fit to stay forever. There have been more than one times when I have stood scratching my head and thought, “What WERE they thinking?” (The 1970’s were not a kind era to old homes.) I am sure that one day years from now people will stand in this house and wonder the same things about renovations we have done.

Maybe one of them will even hate that one bathroom has a frosted window in the door.

Though I am not sure they could ever hate it as much as I hate the orange and brown shag carpet with the matching orange walls in our formal living room.

The New York Times mentions in a recent article that people are trying to extend their times outdoors enjoying their backyards, by well, heating the outdoors.

Patio fireplaces, fire pits, and heated pools are all ways that homeowners are doing this.

Among the cheapest and most environmentally friendly outdoor heat sources are freestanding and tabletop propane heaters, which start as low as $50 but are usually $125 to $400. They usually use less gas than a barbecue grill.

Somehow sitting around a propane flame is not the same thing to me.

Portable wood burning outdoor fire pits are among the least expensive option, however some object to wood burning because it releases fine particulate pollution. But how are you supposed to roast your smores if we do away with fire pits? Fireplaces are another option that some home owners will install on their patios, but just like their interior counterparts, they are more for ambiance than warmth since most of their heat goes up the chimney flue.

We have a fire pit in our back yard, most often it is used as a burn pit for wood that has been torn out of the house. But during the spring and fall we enjoy sitting around it in the evenings and roasting marshmallows, especially as a pay-off from a long day of working around the house. There was no cost associated with buying it for us, we built it ourselves.

There is a nice thread on building firepits at the Garden Web should you be interested in undertaking this particular DIY project. And Uni-Lock pavers have a DIY friendly Firepit kit.

Heating a pool– that I have no experience with personally. Though most of the people I know heat their pools around here even in the summer, such is life in the frozen tundra of New England. The idea of being able to swim in March sounds lovely, if only because it would mean the pool is not buried under two feet of snow like it would be here. However as most homeowners have found out, a heated pool comes with a high price tag, up to $2000 per month for some Arizona pool owners.

Any of these options can prolong your enjoyment of the outdoors into the cooler months. You just need to chose what price you are willing to pay to dine (or swim) outside in March.

This Old House recently published what they call the Top Ten Home Improvement Skills that a DIYer needs.

1.) No Splinter Sawing

2.) Using a Tourniquet clamp

3.) Clean Caulking

4.) Making clean cuts in glass

5.) Fixing loose Hinge holes

6.) Smooth Paint Brushwork on wood

7.) Freeing stuck nuts

8.) Fitting Tiles around corners

9.) Drilling pilot holes

10.) Removing headless nails

I will admit that as I read through the list Quite a few of the made me say, “Huh, really?”

I would definitely replace making clean cuts in glass (item 4) with taping drywall. Having to replace broken glass in our original windows, we discovered that it is hardly more expensive to have the glass cutter do it. And then for just a few dollars more he will even put the glass IN the window frame if we bring it down to the shop. However, we have hung more sheetrock than I can even begin to count.

I would replace using a tourniquet clamp (Item 2) with simple wiring like changing a light switch, plug, or fixture. For the record I have never, NOT ONCE, needed a tourniquet clamp in over 12 years of home renovations. I have, however, replaced countless outlets, fixtures, and switches.

What do you think? Are there any others on the list that you would replace? Or is there anything that you would add to the list?

Wallpaper, love it or hate it, it is here to stay. Only you won’t find anything that your grandmother would have used in the new modern papers.

Today’s papers are sophisticated, turning wallpaper into an artwork that stands on its own. People are looking for something that appeals to their modern design aesthetic.

Walnut Wallpaper opened in Hollywood in early 2005 with the goal of showcasing cutting edge wallpaper not found at typical retail wallcovering stores.

According to the NY Times last year when they featured Walnut, the wall paper rolls “which vary greatly in size, depending on where and how they are produced - are priced from about $30 to $2,500, most clustering around $150 a roll.”

They are beautiful, but as a home owner who has stripped off more than her fair share of wallpaper in her home I can’t get too excited knowing that one day the cool, hip factor of these wall coverings will look as dated as avocado green appliances.