I had a plumber walk out of my job today before even giving [...]]]>

Green building is not mainstream. The systems and habits are not in place. Doing a green job is part construction part education part experimentation because once you start thinking off the grid there are very few reference points to guide you.

I had a plumber walk out of my job today before even giving a bid. He couldn’t get his head around some of the things I’m doing. His last words were, “I hope what you are doing works out, but it’s not the way I do it.”

It is definitely not business as usual. We have different ways of installing our pex tubing and they were at odds with what he knew. I believe our way is better and I’m betting on it. We’ll see.

I had to go through several carpenters before I found one who was willing to do things my way. They are used to reaching out and grabbing a perfectly clean and sized piece of wood for their work. They have no part in preparing the wood. It comes from the lumber yard and all they have to do is put it in the house like Lego. There is something to be said for the efficiency of this.

But on my job they have to pick through a nasty pile of salvaged ugly wood, pull the nails and wires off, rip it to size and only then can they get back to their job. It takes some getting used to and there is no end of grumbling about it.

But I point out to them that I can pay them to do that or pay the lumber yard to get clean wood. From that perspective they have no problem with me paying them instead and the grumbling lessens.

I don’t pay for the wood. I pay a little more for the labor. In terms of my costs it comes out to the same, maybe a little cheaper. But it is not purely a financial issue.

By salvaging the wood I lessen the impact on land fill. I also lessen the amount of wood being cut down. I also get much better quality wood, since the salvaged wood is old growth and miles better than the crap you buy today.

IT COSTS PRETTY MUCH THE SAME FOR ME TO DO THIS YET THE BENEFITS IN MY EYES ARE MUCH HIGHER. This for me is a revolutionary concept. Clearly from the initial resistance I get from industry professionals it is a change from the status quot.

Going from this scrap to wall:

Fixing some broken joists in a floor [...]]]>

I had a big argument with my architect because I wanted to use salvaged wood for part of the house and his mantra was:
“If it is fixing something old you can use it but if you are building something new you need to use new wood.”

Fixing some broken joists in a floor is ok to use old wood. Make a new floor and you have to use new wood.

This drives me crazy. Here is why.

Below are three types of wood. Two are salvaged and more than 100 years old. One is brand new fresh off the mountain. The department of buildings will let me use the new wood but not the old wood, presumably because the old wood is inferior.

I hit the back of the hammer into all three types of wood.

The first one I hit is real 8″x8″ old yellow pine beams. The hammer bounced off without leaving even a dent. It hurt my wrist and felt like I was hitting concrete. This beam costs less than the equivalent sized new wood. I bought it from the wood salvage place Fine Lumber. It is over 100 years old and has several hundred to go.

old yellow pine

The second type of wood is salvaged real size 3″ x 8″ fir. It is also about 100 years old. The hammer made a dent but didn’t stick in. This wood was free but you can buy it at Fine lumber for about the same as the equivalent size new wood.

douglass fir

The third wood is a 2″ x 10″ new pine beam. This is what I ended up using because I didn’t want any issues with the DOB. My project is strange enough with all the green stuff I’m doing. I need to make sure it is all code. The hammer stuck in the wood completely. Compared to the other two woods it was like hitting sponge cake. Here it is. I pulled the hammer out to show the hole.

The moral of the story? When used ethically old wood is the way to go. It saves landfill, saves trees, is stronger, costs the same or less, obviously lasts a lot longer and doesn’t feel like spongecake.

I’ve called around and it is still very new. A lot of the [...]]]>

Fiberglass as a building product has been around for years but there were some hindrances to using it in window frames. I don’t know the specifics of why but the hurdle has been overcome and more companies are making fiberglass windows.

I’ve called around and it is still very new. A lot of the sales reps haven’t even gotten company training or even seen samples.

But there is no doubt in my mind that fiberglass windows will become the norm.

Fiberglass is made from sand basically. It is glass after all. Fiber glass. So it has all the great qualities of glass:
Does not expand/contract
Lasts for years
Great insulator
Relatively ecological to produce (as opposed to vinyl windows for example which is plastic)

Here is the laydown:
Aluminium:
good: ecological, not expand/contract, no maintenance, lasts
bad: doesn’t insulate

Wood:
good: looks nice, insulates, ecological
bad: high maintenance

Vinyl:
good: insulates, low maintenance, lasts, affordable
bad: not ecological

Fiberglass:
good: insulates, low maintenance, lasts, ecological, not expand/contract
bad: ?
So fiberglass carries all the good qualities of aluminum, wood and vinyl without the drawbacks.

The only thing it lacks is the nice feeling of wood. But in my opinion that nice feeling fades over the years when your wood windows start warping, cracking and peeling. Unless of course you maintain them every year, which costs money, time and energy. Nothing comes without a price, except for happiness which is priceless and comes from within in abundance if you let it…..

But I loose focus….

Right now fiberglass windows are more expensive than the standard vinyl window but this is more a volume issue and not a material issue. To make fiberglass is very cheap. What is expensive is making the molds for the frames. Once the demand increase I suspect the price will also drop.

In terms of pricing they hover around the price of a good wood window. For example I am pricing out windows for 22 2nd street and got the following prices:

Home Depot has Jeld Wen which I would take over the better known Anderson or Pella. Jeld Wen is a VERY old company with solid quality. And priced much better. But NOT fiberglass. They priced me at around $9,000 for high quality aluminum clad windows with wood interior. Good stuff and good price. But not fiberglass….

Home depot could probably get me the chepest vinyl for about $7000 so it pays to go a little higher for aluminium/wood. Vinyl is bad for many reasons unless of course it is what you can afford and then it is very, very good. Everything and everyone has a purpose.

Fibertec priced me $12,000 for fiberglass white inside and standard color outside. Sam at Fibertec is really good with quick response. The windows however will take 7-8 weeks since they custom make every one.

Modern Way Lumber in Brooklyn priced me $18,000 for Bonneville windows which are great quality. But pricey and not fiberglass.

Marvin and Comfortline do Fiberglass. I am waiting, and waiting, for Allied Building Products to get back to me with a price on that. Still waiting….as luck would have it they just called as I write this and promise pricing tomorrow.

So the range so far is $9,000 to $18,000 for good quality Low E argon etc windows with Fibertec being in the middle at $12,000. Not the cheapest but they are fiberglass. I do think that fiberglass pays off in the long term. The windows will last longer, not cost anything for upkeep and save money on heating. In the long run they are the cheapest. Really the greenest choice.

Fibertec Fiberglass Windows in a living room