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tracee ribar's take on cool home stuff

Take a Deep Breath April 7, 2011

Filed under: Home Innovations — tracee ribar @ 9:53 am

greenovate is a company located at 15 East Second Avenue in Columbus that offers all kinds of building resources and consultation to “greenify” your home or workplace. I have mentioned them in previous posts, they host events periodically to bring awareness and education to the Columbus building and consumer community.

Concerned or curious about the quality of the air you breathe in your home or office? If you or someone you live or work with suffers with chronic sickness/indoor allergies, this could be a real “lung opener”.  greenovate offers an IHAP consulation-see below taken from their site at: www.greenovate.com.

Indoor Health Action Plan (IHAP) Greenovate offers affordable indoor health consultations to homeowners, renters, and businesses. Consultations generally involve a one-hour walkthrough, followed by the development of a written Indoor Health Action Plan (IHAP) to assist clients in addressing indoor health issues (e.g., indoor air quality) associated with building materials such as flooring, countertops, cabinetry, and wall coverings. Oftentimes, an IHAP will also identify opportunities to improve general construction/renovation practices.

Standard fees: $75.00 for walkthrough and verbal recommendations –$125.00 for walkthrough and written IHAP 

Clients who purchase materials from Greenovate after the completion of an IHAP may count the IHAP fee toward their purchase (restrictions apply). Please call (614) 298-7000 for details.
 

It’s not Diamonds but… April 4, 2011

Filed under: Home Innovations,Real Estate — tracee ribar @ 9:10 am

Insulation. Not romantic, certainly not pretty, but remarkably thrilling!  Gary Pack of Pack Insulation ( 740-497-1194) came and blew insulation into the wall cavities of our house from the INSIDE . We had installed new siding 4 years ago and coudn’t drill from the outside. What does a girl do who yearns for warmth, quiet and enery efficiency?  She gets Gary Pack (via our contractor connection, Justin Collamore of Collamore Built Design and Construction)!

I immediately noticed the rooms were quieter and within a 12 hour period of having our furnace fan running/heat on,  noticed a warmer more even whole house temperature. Heating and air companies generally recommend running your furnace fan all year long-don’t rely on “auto”. Keeps energy costs down by keeping a consistent temperature and will help  increase the life of your furnace .

Gary drilled approximately one and one-half inch holes along the walls between the studs and, for almost 3 glorious hours, pumped cellulose goodness throughout the interior nooks and crannies of our 194o’s abode. It felt like Christmas. Perhaps a couple of extra gifts this year with our energy savings?!

He then popped in some wooden plugs, did some rudimentary spackling and off he went. With a little shop vac-ing and some additional spackling and sanding  we are good to go. Yes, you have to paint but, really, aren’t you looking for a reason to change that color anyway?

This was pretty painless, I am truly blown away. (couldn’t help it….)