natural-oil / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

Livos is a Quebec manufacturer of natural wood finishing oils, and they are very transparent about the composition of their products which are mainly plants and some other natural materials. There are also no heavy metals used in the colouring pigments, so it is a completely sustainably-made and healthy product.  "In o...

Is Polyurethane floor seal non-toxic? In North America, polyurethane varnish is used almost exclusively as a wood floor finish, but the majority of them are high in VOC's which are detrimental to interior air quality and health. For this reason non-toxic wood floor finishing oils are gaining in popularity. There are a ...

Construction is a dirty business, and living in a home under renovation can aggravate asthma and other respiratory illnesses, it can also lead to issues developing that people didn't suffer from before. Air that is full of dust and chemicals can cause respiratory irritations even among adults who don't suffer from such...

Deck building tips for a durable deck construction: Meeting setbacks and getting building permits in Canada & US Raised Deck frame specification - make sure the structure is strong enough Which raised deck foundations are best: cement pillars (Sonotubes), screw piles, floating deck blocks What's the best type of d...

How to price a sustainable kitchen countertop? As a professional cabinetmaker, I have often been asked how much a kitchen costs. There is no accurate answer of course, though when pressed, I would have to say somewhere between $18-30,000. The size of your kitchen, material choices and your taste in finishing makes it i...

Natural swimming pools - what are the origins? Natural pools were inspired by the beauty and joy of swimming in mountain lakes, a team of Austrian researchers are credited with launching a movement back in the 1980's that saw chlorinated swimming pools being replaced by natural swimming pools and swimming ponds. The id...

The cleaner burning process (than diesel fuel) and price has made heating and cooking with natural gas quite popular in the last couple of decades. However, popularity put a pretty heavy dent in supply, so much so that alternative sources are being explored to meet demand. There are some potentially greener sources of ...

While Ecohome is a firm advocate of decarbonizing homes by the adoption of electricity as the primary power source, we understand that for some of you, using gas may be the only option that fits your situation or location. We have written this guide to help you differentiate between renewable natural gas, fossil gas, a...

Gas stoves - playing with fire? Fossil gas stoves and gas cooktops, greenwashed as using 'natural' gas, are even more of a problem than most people realize - especially if concerned about the keeping everyone in the family in good health! The Asthma Society of Canada says that the number of asthma cases being diagnosed...

So why is natural gas being phased out?   Natural gas is being phased out of new home construction because burning any fossil fuel releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and contributes to the warming of the planet. The carbon dioxide emissions from burning natural gas are lower than with oil or coal, but there ar...

A frost protected shallow foundation (FPSF) is an interesting and well-proven alternative to deeper, more-costly foundations in cold regions with seasonal ground freezing and the potential for frost heave - and the simplest way to build a solid and dependable foundation is to use frost protected shallow foundation (FPS...