Healthy Interior Finishes: Low Chemical Impact, Non-Reactive, Non-Toxic Materials for Homes
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- Опубліковано 5 лип 2024
- From flooring and cabinetry to drywall and paints, we made a ton of decisions on our new home that affect air quality and the health of our home for our growing family. We go very in-depth here about what exactly we chose, and why, and what the installation was like. For the deep indoor materials investigators, this whole thing is likely a treasure trove. For those of you looking for something specific, here are the highlights:
1:20 Flooring
10:14 Tile
11:19 Cabinetry
12:53 Countertops
15:19 Pecan Trim
19:29 Decorative Surfaces
20:51 Drywall
22:15 Paint
24:08 HomeChem Basics for Decision-Making
Learn more about this whole project at: HomeDiagnosis.tv/atlanta-home...
Consult with the Lunsfords on your own home or company: BuildingPerformanceWorkshop.com - Наука та технологія
Your metaphor of people and chairs eminds me of a term I learned in allergy clinics. "Third Hand Smoke"
1st hand is obviously just smoking
2nd hand is sitting in a smokey bar or house and breathing in that smoke
3rd hand is going to a smokey hotel room and breathing in smoke particulates as you walk around the room.
I'm so sad that we watched this after our remodel! We did a remodel having had a dishwasher "flood "1.5 yrs ago, at the beginning of covid. I was worried about vinyl flooring but was told it's made so well today. I ended up putting it in our whole house! I put in aluminum windows for the 2 windows we changed during the remodel but they can be hard to open and less energy efficient. I've struggled with what to do for windows. Aluminum or vinyl. I'm thinking for us, we probably should do the clay paint, too! I bought some "Blue" and "xiaomi" air purifiers for every room in the house and try to leave windows open as much as possible. I've always left the bathroom window open as much as possible. We live in Phoenix. thx!!!
This was incredibly helpful. Thank you for sharing!
Happy to hear somebody else doing this!
Ditto buddy, keep it up
This house 😍 also I ordered my whole house air cleaner from April air, really excited.
You read my mind. I was just wondering yesterday what flooring you guys went with. I totally neglected the glues in the installation process. Great tip!
Thanks Brett
Awesome info
Thanks for watching
New subbie….great intent!
"Its called cellulose excrement." Danielle and I cracked up when Grace corrected you off camera!
She’s so technical about worm poop
Hi, there! Great video! You mentioned that for your floors, you used Bona. Do you mind sharing which exact product you used to finish your floors? There are quite a few from this brand. Thanks so much!
That bathroom is so nice
Thanks buddy
In your opinion, what is the safest non-toxic house siding that resists mold and rot?
This video is so helpful! We are doing floors, new cabinets and countertops this year!
What VOC monitor do you use?
Mostly our noses, but we have Airthings Wave + set up, as well as a Haven.
trying to find nontoxic, green guarded insulation. My builder wants to do blown in cellulose - I'm leaning toward Rockwell. What do you guys suggest? Thank you!
Thanks for this video! Tons to think about. Quick question: at about the 2:10 mark, tile that looks like wood was in the "avoid" category. May I ask why? Later on in the video, it seemed like tile was a great choice...
Just want to clarify so I can know what to research further. Also, can't wait to see the video on your cooktop and oven! Super interested to hear about the reasoning for going induction vs. gas. 👍
Sorry to be unclear- tile is fine. Was just trying to be methodical. Thanks for following enthusiastically!
Currently going through refinishing my wood floor and would love to know exactly what Bona products you went with/would recommend?
Traffic was final coat I know, and first two coats were their mid-grade floor finish, not sure exact name, sorry.
Great information. Wondering what your thoughts are on the different finishes for engineered wood: Bona, UV finish, lacquer finish, UV cured polyurethane, and UV oil. We were told that in terms of the material and VOC, there is no difference between these finishes
We used Bona, not much to add sorry
What are your opinions on the large format custom porcelain countertops (and shower walls!) that are more popular in europe? Not worth the price?
We were more focused on the chemical and chemistry impact of materials- porcelain is great. If you want it and can afford it, great.
We are at the painting phase of building our home, and the formaldehyde levels have been terrible according to my Temtop formaldehyde meter, as well as my symptoms. I can’t even be outside the house, never mind in the house.
Due to dry wall compound shortages caused by new laws against coal ash, our drywall company used a new drywall compound that was very high in formaldehyde. My eyes were stinging very badly in the house for days and I would get severe migraines, and other bad symptoms. So we used a special paint that was supposed to seal in formaldehyde (AFM Safecoat paint), but this paint itself caused formaldehyde levels to go up! We are trying Ecos paint, and it seems to be better. But we will see. What brand of paint did you use?
Do you have a brand of formaldehyde reader that you know is accurate?
Don't you have good lime or silicate paint providers in the USA? In Europe we have several brands. residential.keim-usa.com/mineral-paints-colors/
What material are your cabinets doors? Vinyl wrapped? 2 pack?
Are you worried about radon in the counter top? And lead in the tiles while cutting and installing?
Cabinets are all painted solid plywood. Not worried about radon from the countertop, or lead from the tiles.
But what did you use to seal your countertop? I am getting quartzite and they are telling me they have to seal it! That defeats the purpose of natural stone! UGH it is so frustrating.
Love the waterfall granite. I've the same. FYI...My neighbor is a Geologist and avoids granite countertops in his house...why? Embedded Radon! Ouch...his corian is lame.
Well, not only radon. In building biology we use to test first for radioactivity, some granite countertops are OK, but some of them have high levels of gamma radiation. In such cases don't leave food laying for a long time.
@@cemprotecta food is unaffected by radiation - the human body.... Not so much !!
@@cemprotecta I am looking for countertops but so far all the ones I like contain radon. What countertop material does not emit radon?
Wonderful points. Question: if we have a superb ventilation system like you have, would it negate the radon and formaldehyde’s and VOC emissions. Say we bring in fresh air every one hour. Just trying to come up with a middle solution compromising on the overall cost.
imho better to vent stuff like radon away from the house first.
the rest ventilation system can deal with to a large degree. one thing i don't see mentioned a lot is with a high efficiency ventilation system is the ability to have much higher ventilation rates without imposing big heating/cooling costs.
@@tweake7175 : hrv efficiency is between 70 to 80%. From my experience air gaps and improper insulation causes high Hvac costs. Simple example, my attic keeps radiating heat till midnight in summers. Conditioned attic or a radiant barrier to inner roof will decrease heat radiation by a large extent.
@@squeekhobby4571 if your hrv is 80% efficient then the amount of heat loss caused by it is rather small. therefore you can double the ventilation without increasing heating/cooling cost a lot. however it all depends on the house, if your hvac system is designed for tiny loads it may not like bigger loads placed on it by increasing ventilation.
@@tweake7175 : agreed. Better to design an airtight home in the first place. I see too many heat losses in my current home.
👍👍
Was in the Bona Mega or Bona Wax oil you used?
Sorry, unsure
Growing up in the midwest, decades ago, most homes had "plaster walls" done by really skilled artisans. Today finding a skilled plasterer is near impossible. What are the home performance issues with embedded color plaster walls?
None, that’s great- except for the giant problem you pointed out.
@@HomePerformance how air tight is that plaster work?
i see a lot of our old homes downunder have great plaster work. however the walls tend to be an insurance nightmare and often get removed because of that (and lack of insulation etc).
Nice home. What type of non-toxic paint did you use?
Sherwin-Williams Emerald
@@HomePerformance Ecos is around 7000x purer (less residual VOC)
What do you use to measure your Voc level?
Airthings Wave + and Haven TZOA
Im doing a full remodel on a doublewide, hauling off truckloads of polyester and plastic cheap building materials and dealing with the dust of it is eye opening.
Rebuilding with only 100% natural materials and organic cotton furnature besides the no voc floor adhesive.
Heads up, open the wallet lol
I thought I heard that some vinyl plank flooring claims to be phthalate free. Is that not the case, or are they false claims?
UPVC is Unplasticized, meaning it’s rigid and hard to work with. They do make windows out of that, but I have a hard time believing flooring is possible.
So you used hardwood which doesn't emmit vocs, but you have osb under the hard wood that's emmiting vocs ?
Everything emits something, that’s kind of the point. Ventilation is critical.
@@HomePerformance it's so hard to know what to choose with flooring haha
Yes, lots of misinformation out there
If corben wasnt a home efficiency expert. He'd be a science teacher. . .
Hey, thanks!
Ventlation cures so many evils.
Amen
So we had pretty much ruled out carpet because of all the reports about them holding on to great amounts of dirt. We can't afford real unfinished hardwood, and I hate the fake real hardwood with fake aging and poly coat with aluminum oxide. So we were looking at vinyl. Now I'm scared lol.
So the question is, which is the lesser evil? Vinyl? Or carpet? Thanks
vinyl through out the house ewwww and thats without considering any heath side of things.
carpet and clean it with a decent vacuum cleaner.
vinyl is typically used here in wet areas as its easy to clean. carpet in toilets and bathrooms is just horrible.
whole house tile can be nice but really needs to be heated.
@@tweake7175 what's so eww about it if you don't consider the health side?
@@jl9678 typically uncomfortable, doesn't feel nice, often doesn't look great (commercial look to it even with wood pattern etc). fine for a laundry, bathroom etc, even a kitchen where practicality is preferred over looks. but would not want it in the rest of the house.
@@tweake7175 ok, gotcha. Thanks.
Flooring can be changed out at later dates. Invest in an airtight, humidity controlled, well ventilated home, without overwhelming quantities of foam insulation. You can only afford what you can afford. If it has to be carpet or vinyl first so you can afford the really important stuff I think that’s a smart decision. Except that vinyl doesn’t hold up well and the stuff in my house always looks a little cloudy… also my endocrine system and that of my wife and child are presently fine.
We have vinyl floors on the entire main floor besides main bathroom and laundry room. Oops.
Clean often 👍🏽
I can't help but comment on the many studies which speak to keeping a cat indoors. They basically track their feces everywhere.
You are of course free to comment whatever you’d like!
Much less all the hair and dander they spread around the place. But as a fellow pet lover, I don't think I could bring myself to say no indoor pets.
It's not a good idea to have pets inside your house. Our world is too toxic and animals have a lot of pathogens and cats proteins which can act as allergens.
Fair point, but if we’re talking calculated risks then we shouldn’t live around people either- they’re much more toxic to our health generally.
@@HomePerformance I don't think so since humans can consciously follow programs to remove parasites themselves on a daily basis and pets don't, that's a huge difference.
Basically we poor people are doomed to smell chemicals 😥😥
Are farts VOCs? 💩
And flowers and pizza too