Building With Recycled Materials
Friday, October 14, 2011
Recycled building materials are getting easier to find
According to the Building Materials Reuse Association, recycling is becoming more common in the construction industry. That means reclaimed building elements like doors, windows, plumbing fixtures, and wood flooring are increasingly easy to find.
Habitat for Humanity’s nationwide chain of ReStores sells recycled items, and many cities have architectural salvage yards. Online, neighbors advertise unwanted items on community bulletin boards, such as Craigslist, and national directories of recycled materials, such as EcoBusinessLinks, can be great sources for hard-to-find elements. And the price is right: reused pieces can be 50% to 75% cheaper than their new counterparts.
Nonetheless, the time-consuming legwork of finding good pieces takes persistance. But to make the process easier, spend time thinking about and researching online what you want before you begin to shop.
Searching for salvaged materials. Sounds terrific, right? But it’s not that simple. Using recycled building elements is like shopping at a thrift store: You can’t be certain you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for. Anyone interested in a good deal to spruce up their home—an ornate wood mantelpiece or a set of Victorian doors, for example—has to be willing to compromise on some of the details and commit some time to the endeavor.
If you live in or near a city and have access to a salvage yard, you’re in luck. If not, you need to go to the ‘world-wide-web’. If you’ve got something particular in mind, plan on spending a few afternoons at the salvage yard trying to track down what you’re looking for. The same is true if you’re exploring online: locating the right piece may take longer than you’d expect.
Before beginning your search, make sure you’ve got measurements in hand. It’s useful if you can allow for some wiggle room: unlike Home Depot or Lowes, the items on sale are usually one-of-a-kind pieces. So while a recent truckload might have dropped off a beautiful old mantelpiece, the size might not be an exact fit, so know in advance if you can manage with a slightly larger or smaller size.
Dealing with lead paint. Some old items need to be treated with serious care. Anything painted prior to 1978, when the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) banned lead in paints, in all likelihood, has lead-based paint on it. Older paint doesn’t mean the pieces are unusable, but the paint must be thoroughly removed or sealed—never scraped or sanded. The CPSC offers guidelines for treating lead paint in the household.
Finding savings. Some salvaged pieces are better deals than others. The greatest potential for savings is often flooring. Careful shoppers can find used floor boards from quality old wood that’s difficult to come by these days. Maple, white oak, and rare heart pine flooring can oftentimes be found which results in great savings over the cost of new flooring. Other useful finds are doors, particularly those already on a frame, and plumbing elements. Antique light fixtures can be a great bargain, but check whether they’ve been recently rewired before you buy; otherwise, you may have to do it yourself, or pay an electrician for the service. Windows are common, but many older widows are single-pane and not energy efficient. These are better used for interior walls to add light and air flow between rooms.
Finally, don’t forget to add in transportation costs. Not all salvage yards deliver, and those that do aren’t necessarily cheap. The cost of getting materials across town could be $100 or more. So it might make more sense to borrow or rent a truck on your own.
- Scott Askew
Posted in: Intown Atlanta Real Estate News
How To Dry A Wet Basement
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Some wet basements are easy to cure simply by clearing gutters and by diverting gutter water away from the foundation. But if the problem comes from other sources—water flowing toward the house on the surface, seeping in from underground, or backing up through storm drains or septic or sewer systems—you must take more aggressive action.
Here are eight strategies to keep water out of your basement.
Add gutter extensions.
If downspouts are dumping water less than 5 feet away from your house, you can guide water farther out by adding plastic or metal gutter extensions. But extensions aren’t the neatest or most effective long-term solution, especially if you’re likely to trip over them or run over them with a lawn mower. A permanent, underground drain pipe is invisible and capable of moving large quantities of gutter runoff much farther from your house.
Plug cracks in the basement floor.
If you see water dribbling into the basement through cracks or gaps around plumbing pipes, you can plug the openings yourself with hydraulic cement or polyurethane caulk for less than $20. Plugs work when the problem is simply a hole that water oozes through, either from surface runoff or from wet soil. But if the water is coming up through the floor, or at the joint where floor and walls meet, the problem is groundwater, and plugs won’t do the trick.
Restore the slope of your land.
If the gutters are working and you’ve plugged obvious holes, but water still dribbles into your basement or crawl space from high on foundation walls, then surface water isn’t draining away from the house as it should. Your house should sit on a “crown” of soil that slopes away from the structure at least 6 inches over the first 10 feet in all directions. However, if you have wood siding, remember, you need to keep a minimum of 6 inches ‘distance’ between the siding and the soil to lessen the chance of a termite invasion! . In that case, create a berm (a mound of dirt) or a swale (a wide, shallow ditch), landscape feature that redirects water long before it reaches your house.
Repair footing drains.
If water is leaking into your basement low on the walls or at the seams where walls meet the floor, your problem is hydrostatic pressure pushing water up from the ground. First, check whether you have footing drains, (commonly called a French drainage system). These underground pipes were installed when the house was built to carry water away from the foundation. If the drains are clogged, open the cleanout and flush the pipes with a garden hose. If that doesn’t work, a plumber with an augur can usually do the job unless the pipes have been crushed at some point in time. In which case, you’ll need to completely replace the damaged part of the system.
Install an interior French Drainage System.
If you can’t keep subsurface water out, you’ll have to channel out, from the inside. To create an interior drain system, saw a channel around the perimeter of the floor, chip out the concrete, and lay perforated pipe in the hole. The pipe drains either out to a low spot in the landscape far away from the structure, or, to a collection tank at the basement’s low spot, where a sump pump ‘lifts’ it out the house.
- Scott Askew
Posted in: Intown Living
Upcoming Morningside Events - Coat Drive and Party!
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Share The Warmth Coat Drive starts this coming MONDAY, October 3rd.
PLEASE, PLEASE, go through your closets, your kids closets, everyone’s closet this weekend and find any ‘gently worn’, clean, jackets, coats, hats, gloves or scarves you DON’T wear anymore and donate them!
Please bring items to our office any time over the next two weeks or call us and we will come pick them up!.
THANK YOU!
Morningside Mile and Block Party, Sunday, October 16th!
Dude, it’s only a mile. The 2nd annual Morningside Mile is Atlanta’s only competitive 1-mile run with cash prizes for the winners. Runners of all levels from competitive runners to moms with jog strollers & kids are welcome. The race starts in Virginia-Highland (corner of Lanier Boulevard and Virginia Avenue) and ends in Morningside in the parking lot across the street from our office (141 North Highland Avenue).
Then, meet us at the finish line for a neighborhood Block Party thrown by Morningside Village businesses. Meet your neighborhood business owners and enjoy family fun for all ages! Invite your friends & family to cheer you on & enjoy the festivities. Neighbors are encouraged to “go green” and walk or bike to the event.
For more information on all the fun, go to: http://www.morningsidemile.com/block-party.php
- Scott Askew
Posted in: Intown Living
Is Fear Holding You Back?
Thursday, September 22, 2011
I recently had the pleasure of talking with another REALTOR® outside of our office who is struggling with the idea that maybe real estate is not what they should be doing for a living. Today, this is not an uncommon topic of discussion. But is fear also causing you to second guess whether you should buy or sell real estate?
It is true we are presently living in turbulent times. As of late, many of us have witnessed our savings and retirement funds shrinking, real estate sales remain somewhat stagnant and century old banks have disappeared. But we are also blessed with having record low interest rates and properties being offered for sale at prices not seen in the last 5 -6 years!
The media has bombarded us with the negative happenings in our world economy, instilling uncertainty in all of our lives. Can you guess which emotion uncertainty breeds?... FEAR
Fear can be a paralyzing emotion. Sometimes referred to as the “mental monster,” fear can suck the life out of us. It is an emotion that often causes us to stop dead in our tracks, even when we know it is best to move forward.
Have you ever watched a sporting event where the “under dog” is winning the game, and then becomes conservative in their approach to the game? While being bold got them ahead, they shift their game plan to be conservative in the hopes of ‘hanging on’ for a win. But then, more often than not, they lose because they became too conservative and lost their ‘edge’.
Unfortunately, many people become like the abovementioned ‘under dog’, and in times of uncertainty will also:
◊ Look at the obstacles instead of the opportunities.
◊ Look at potential loss instead of potential growth.
◊ Start to work from a position of scarcity rather than a position of abundance.
◊ Will focus on the risks and play defense, instead of going on the offensive and win!
There is no question that these are unprecedented times, however this is not the time to sit back and go on the defensive. Now is time to build your real estate portfolio and position yourself to reap the benefits when our economy gets on a roll again!
Lance Armstrong, winner of a record 7 Tour de France titles, didn’t make up time against his competitors going downhill, he made up time, and more importantly, pulled ahead, when the challenge got tough; going uphill when other riders were struggling just to maintain.
There is no question that we need to face reality as it is… not as we wish it were, and we need to accept “what is” without resistance. However we need to focus on the opportunities rather than the challenges and play to win rather than not play at all.
Step up to the challenge and make the balance of this year, and, coming soon… 2012, count!!
- Scott Askew
Posted in: Intown Atlanta Real Estate News
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