refinishing-masonry-facades / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

Repainting and refinishing brick facades
Exterior cladding

All about painting brick, is it a good idea and what paint to use?

Is painting brick a good idea? Bricks will absorb moisture from the interior of a home and they need to be able to expel that moisture; applying paint to the exterior can cause the paint and masonry to lift, peel or crack as it can become susceptible to freeze thaw cycles in cold climates. Beyond just aesthetics, moist...

Gabion walls can be used for building homes
Concrete and masonry

Gabion Walls - what is a gabion cage & how to build with them?

Gabion walls are retaining walls built by stacking stone in a gabion cage or gabion basket that can serve many purposes but are most often used to create tiered or leveled ground in gardens.  They are rectangular baskets of metallic lattice filled with stones and their origin dates back to war times when they were erec...

Low Carbon Concrete - Lowering the Carbon Footprint of Eco Homes
Concrete and masonry

Low-carbon concrete by CarbonCure Canada - lowering the carbon footprint of buildings

Low-carbon concrete - "green" cement at last?  One of the most essential and commonly-used building materials in home construction, commercial buildings and city infrastructure is concrete, which has an extremely high carbon footprint, with cement production accounting for 7% of global carbon emission. This problem is...

Reduced carbon concrete Patio blocks and CMU
Concrete and masonry

Reducing emissions with CO² cured-concrete

A new cement block manufacturing process developed by an American company named Solidia Technologies® produces 40% fewer emissions during manufacturing than conventional concrete, resulting in a dramatically lower environmental footprint. Solidia’s concrete is formulated with less lime and is cured at lower temperature...

ICF Block Construction - The Definitive History of ICFs from 1932 to 2023 © R j
Concrete and masonry

The definitive history of ICF blocks and ICF construction

The Definitive History of ICFs - Contents What is the history of ICFs ? What is the History of Plastic foam ICF's  ICF blocks aren't made of styrofoam Who invented foam ICF construction blocks? Which was the first ICF block construction? What happened next in the history of ICFs? The History of ICFs Timeline ...

High efficiency wood stoves
Wood stove and biomass heat

Heating with wood and biomass fuel

There has been an increase in the use of wood and other biomass fuel for heating homes across the colder parts of North America & Canada for the last decade. In Eastern Canada and the USA in particular this trend was largely triggered by one storm in 1998. There was a noticeable spike in woodstove sales in 1999 thr...

wood ceiling in Reclaimed sunken lumber
Walls and ceilings - interior surfaces

Wood Ceilings or drywall - how to choose your ceiling material & what's the difference in cost?

Wood ceilings - what's the the skinny? Ahhh, the charm of a wood ceiling, seriously, what's not to like? The intent of this page is less about talking you out of installing gypsum board (drywall), and more about giving you a little encouragement if you are hesitantly considering a wood ceiling. It’s a natural product t...

Interior solid pine door
Doors and trim

Interior finishing

Adhesives and sealants: Modern homes have a lot more caulking and adhesives than older homes. Adhesives are liberally applied to many surfaces for ease and speed of job completion, as well as to prevent squeaking between flooring and joists, for example. Functionally speaking, caulking is used to prevent moisture and a...

Refinishing hardwood floors, top tips for sanding wooden floors DIY
Flooring and stairs

Refinishing hardwood floors or wood planks, top sanding tips

Sanding and Refinishing a hardwood floor, when is the best time to do it? It may seem weird to say, but the best time to refinish a hardwood floor is before it shows severe signs of wear and tear. Hardwood floors and hardwood laminated or engineered floors are durable and can withstand a lot of traffic, but over time, ...

Basement Design for walls prevents mold & midlew when renovating & finishing
Healthy indoor air quality

Basement renovations: How to prevent mold when finishing basements

Basements don't have to be moldy, that is the first thing to realize. It's easy to build a basement better, or to finish an existing basement correctly, we just need to realize that they behave differently than above grade walls and to build accordingly to effectively deal with the humidity found underground - and by d...

Polished concrete floors and counters
Paints, finishes and natural coatings

Finishing concrete floors with silicate densifiers

Polished concrete floors are extremely durable and non-toxic; silicate-based densifiers keep them that way and make it a great start to safe indoor-air quality in a home. This is an excellent flooring option for anyone with chemical sensitivities who wants a beautiful and durable eco-friendly floor in their passive sol...