Healthy house remodeling

[alisonlf]

We just bought our first house and it needs some cosmetic work.The first day we are there we will be painting basically every room. We will need to clean the carpets (eew, I hate carpeting) to get rid of the pet odor (it is obvious the people had big smelly dogs- no poop or pee smell, just dog smell.) Then we will completely re-do the kitchen and put new cabinets in the bathroom.
I am on a poor man's budget here, but I want to use people and earth-friendly products. The last time I did any house painting I got a wicked, nauseating headache. I hope that doesn't happen again. Do any of you know of some easy-to-find (I need to be able to get it at my local Home Depot) and inexpensive materials I can use? I don't want to buy things, such as carpet or furniture, that will off-gas nasty chemicals. A few years ago, I know Mothering did an article on a natural nursery, but I lost that issue. Or, if you can't reccommend what I should use, what chemicals should I stay away from? I have develpoed chemical sensitivities over the past 3 years and I have 3 kids who I do not want to expose to some of the awful stuff that is out there. I don't want to cause asthma or allergies or health problems.
Thanks!

[Round Belly]

My Advice,
we just moved last year and have to paint and decarpet.

Is to paint with a flat scrubbale paint so you can scrub the walls and not have to repaint too often. Also I'd just plain advise on getting rid of carpeting. Vinal tile is easy to instahl and relativly cheap. It is also easy to clean!

Also Look Online, do several searches for green house building/remodeling and see if that helps you to find healither products

[pmcleod]

Boy, have we been where you are ... with two houses in the past four years! My first recommendation is research, research, research. The second is a subscription to Natural Home magazine, which I can usually find at Borders or Barnes & Noble. For every project we embark on, you will find me on the internet or leafing through magazines obsessively researching alternatives until I find one that works for our situation and budget. It's not easy, but it can definitely be done! There are also a few books on the subject.

Carpet is hard - it all outgasses and eco-carpets are not cheap. We've tried jute and sisal type rugs and find them very hard to keep clean in our multi-pet household. So we always stick with either hardwood floors or a natural stone/tile like slate or mexican terracotta tile. I consider vinyl to be a very non-green product - it outgasses like crazy and the manufacturing process is definitely not environmentally friendly. Alternatives which are green are natural linoleum or cork (expensive). There are sealants/finishes available for all of these types of flooring which are natural - I shop for these types of products at http://www.environmentalhomecenter.com or http://www.home-environment.com . For instance, our hardwood floors are always finished with a natural oil/wax or hardwax oil type finish.

I have heard good things about the HOST system as a carpet cleaning alternative - they have rental centers around the country: http://www.hostcarpetcleaning.com .

Paint is easier - there are lots of low-VOC alternatives at paint centers and Home Depot type stores. Low-VOC isn't usually green enough for me, so we often use old-fashioned milk paint, which is entirely natural and nontoxic (it's a powder that you mix up). However, it's not as cheap, often needs to be ordered online, and needs a primer on pre-painted surfaces (we order AFM Safecoast primer). In bathrooms that aren't well-ventilated, I sometimes compromise and go with a mildew-resistant paint (I try to put in ventilation first, however).

Cabinets are usually finished with wicked stuff and outgas a lot. Two things to look for are: all-wood construction with minimal glues (ie., OSB or particle board have lots of glues and formaldehydes), and an unfinished surface. We typically build our own, but we also live in old houses where stock cabinets wouldn't fit. I think you could order Home Depot's cheap stock cabinets without a finish, then you could finish them easily with two coats of milk paint and a 100% natural tung oil finish. Milk paint is EASY on bare wood, and not too expensive for smaller projects. Mexican tile is a nice countertop finish which is all-natural (except the grout and sealants): http://www.artesanos.com/tile.html .

Furniture - we buy either unfinished wood (finish with milk paint/tung oil) or used furniture. When we bought couches a couple of years ago, we got only 100% cotton fabric (with our pets, we have found that only a heavy twill will work for us) and specified that it should have no Scotchguard or Guardsman type finish - yucky stuff. That's the best we could do without going completely organic, and we didn't pay any more for the furniture than average.

Nursery - I am a week overdue with our first child, and we have done a completely organic nursery. We found a used cradle, crib, & changing table which have already outgassed (and were much cheaper); I made organic cotton/wool futons for the beds, and organic sheets and bumper bads. It took a lot of thought and planning, but was cheaper than buying organic mattresses and bedding online.

Finally, we use natural cleaners everywhere in our home - there are lots of resources/recipes on this board and several books on the subject.

Phew - I hope that helps a bit! My last bit of advice - don't listen to the salespeople at building centers when they try to tell you that such-and-such a product is "green" ... do your own research first. They usually have no idea what is green and what is not.

Hang in there - it can be done!!

Pam