Go Green - Built It To Last - Green Bathrooms Vancouver

JohnFRWhipple

Green Bathroom Renovations

I was working late last night with my main man Riccardo and he made an observation that really made me think.

We where talking about "Green Building Practices" and what more we could do to improve in this area. He commented that we are the "Ultimate Green Builders" because everything we build is built for life.

Riccardo went to school to be an Engineer and he shared with me class projects where Mechanical Engineers design items to do the job but also design items to wear out. This makes a market for replacement parts and service work.

We all buy fridges, cars, toys, fans etc. and have to throw them out in 1-20 years as their planned obsolescence has been achieved and they break down.

Think about all the wasted tile, cement board, insulation, plywood & lumber, drywall, glass that has to be thrown away because a dodgey outfit did the renovation. We build things the right way with the right products so there is no water damage, no floor failures. This means no extra renovations producing more trips by more vechiles, more tile, more cement board etc.

I thought it was a very interesting point from some one in this business (past 7 years he has been with me) and some one who is a Mechanical Engineer - A graduate (1998).

If every one build things to last the amount of waste Nation wide would be cut down so much. If house where built to last 2 or 3 generations think about the Green Footprint There.

When selling the luxury items and justifying the costs of Ditra, Kerdi, Red Guard, Panasonic fans, spray foam etc. a little reassurance from us that we are in fact building you a "Green Bathroom" I think will go a long way into justifying the costs. It will cost you more to begin with but it will be green and you won't have to repair it. If an extra 15% total costs means you can keep your bathroom and not have to tear it out in 5-7 years you are in fact producing less pollution and lowering your Carbon Foot Print.

If you buy local, recycle your drywall, clean lumber, cardboard, paint and metal you generate very little waste.

We donate the old plumbing fixtures, electrical fixtures, cabinets and hardware to HABITAT TO HUMANITY RESALE STORES. I donated the labour to deliver and unload the pieces to the Habit to Humanity and my clients pay an extra $100 - $400 in labour to my crew to remove these items with care, bag the parts and remove them so they aren't 'total junk'.

Most contractors here park a bin and junk all - sledge hammer and crow bar tools of choice.

The cost of the extra sub floor prep, Ditra and waterproofing systems can easily double or triple the tile installation costs. These costs in relation to the total job costs are cheap insurance and a Green Building Practice if you think through all the waste, materials, gas and carbon produce to generate more materials to re do the job in one to five years.

Think about it?

Here in Vancouver you can deliver your fixtures and cabinets to Habitat for Humanity;

Burnaby ReStore
2475 Douglas Road
Burnaby, BC V5C 5A9
604-293-1898

Vancouver ReStore
69 West 69th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V5X 2W6
604-326-3055

Call them first as some times they are over stocked in one type of item. The box stores often load them up in a certain area when they do inventory adjustments.

Craigs list is also an excellent resource to give away "Free Material" and the last chance before items are forced to be dumped.

Go Green - Built it to last

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John Whipple (By Any Design Ltd.) - Member of Terrazzo Tile and Marble Association of Canada, the National Kitchen & Bath Association and the National Tile Contractors Association. Specializing in Vancouver bathroom renovations, linear shower drain installations and shower waterproofing procedures.

Willie T

We've pretty much run out of land here. And things work a lot like buying refrigerators..... tear down the old to build new. It does keep us in work.

It's interesting that you seem not to mind also ripping up someone's old work to put in your "built-to-last" stuff. But what if everyone before you had also done so. What would you find to rebuild? Would you not be standing around wishing someone would become dissatisfied with their obsolete stuff?

Of course, I'm ribbing you. We should all build to the best of our abilities. Just be VERY thankful that homeowners really don't want to live with the same old thing that may last forever. The ones with money love to tear-down the old, and go with the latest trend or craze.

And, let's be honest. We love to oblige them.

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"True eloquence consists in saying all that is necessary, and only that which is."
François Duc de La Rochefoucauld
Bill Everett - St. Petersburg, FL

jarvis design

I chuckle a little when I think of 30-40 years down the road when some contractor gets to rip up my work!! I too build things to last and use a lot of the same materials you mentioned.

It reminds of all the times I have had to rip out a tile shower or cast iron tub with a mud bed. Compare that to a bathroom built since that time and it is a joke!!

I always tell me customers that our jobs are designed to last a lifetime. That means the only reason it is being ripped out is because someone wants something newer, not because it has failed.

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Bathrooms Built for Life.
www.JarvisDesignBuild.com
519-495-4062

JohnFRWhipple

We like to leave smiley faces on the inside of the framing so when someone is met with the challenge of demolishing my bathroom and freak out because the guy used wood glue and #8 3" screws instead of a couple of framing nails he has a laugh.

Sometimes I write "How's your demo day going?"

I wouldn't want to demo my work.

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John Whipple (By Any Design Ltd.) - Member of Terrazzo Tile and Marble Association of Canada, the National Kitchen & Bath Association and the National Tile Contractors Association. Specializing in Vancouver bathroom renovations, linear shower drain installations and shower waterproofing procedures.

s.kelly

Love to hear that attitude. I think somewhere along the way in the states we forgot that quaity is worth more and should be sought out. Wallyworld and others taught everyone that low price(cheap) is it's own reward, even if it is all just so much shiny crap. Don't fix it, throw it out, it is cheaper.
Saddens me.

woodchuck2

I like some of you opinions and thoughts but the problem with todays society is that it has become a throw away society. Alot of items are cheap and often it is cheaper, faster and easier to just replace than restore. We also have fads/trends now that the consumer tries to follow. If you look at alot of older homes "100-150 yrs old" alot of the construction was similar and alot of your appliances were just basic and very much the same from home to home. Reason being they were a new idea at the time and there was no selection to chose from. Everything back then was also built to last, no one had the money to just keep buying and replacing. How often do we see a fridge from the 50's that is still functional? If you can find one that hasnt been junked then it most likely still functions. The only reason why they were scrapped is because they were not large enough and didnt have all the bells and whistles of todays fridges. Plaster and lathe is another example, tough as hell and if applied right looks good. Drywall on the other hand will still sag over time and the nails/screws tend to work loose.

JohnFRWhipple

Is there any basics that some of you do that help make you Greener than the next guy?

It's sometimes a fine line between going green and using products that work. Some of the low VOC contact cement products we just don't use because of poor performance.

We have switched to yellow carpenters glue instead of bull dog or titebond. The job site fumes are way down and the old school glue works great.

Garbage is my big issue - it is a constant battle to recycle but the North Shore Transfer Center takes everything. recycling stations every where.

It used to take 5 - 20 minutes to unload my F150 heeped to the sky now the same load can take 20 - 45 minutes to unload with the extra 3 - 4 places you need to go to unload cardboard, metal, drywall, paint etc.

Makes me so mad that we take the care and the time - then the big bin trucks drive in with there mixed lots and dump away....... ?????

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John Whipple (By Any Design Ltd.) - Member of Terrazzo Tile and Marble Association of Canada, the National Kitchen & Bath Association and the National Tile Contractors Association. Specializing in Vancouver bathroom renovations, linear shower drain installations and shower waterproofing procedures.

10fingers

I hear on Van Isl (or is it Saltspring?) that it costs more to get rid of drywall than it does to buy it. This true?

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Ever get the feeling when your up to your arse in aligators that someone forgot to drain the swamp?

JohnFRWhipple

Drywall waste is a by product of producing the best end result (looks) and speed. It takes longer to piece together small scraps and cost more in tapping materials.

My drywaller estimate nearly 20 - 30 percent waste in boarding the main and upper floor of my home. This is a huge number and does not sit well with me. I have increased the amount of Shear walls in my basement and plan to use this 20 - 30 percent waste to board the basement. Attaching odd shaped pieces will be easy with 1/2" Plywood to screw to and should help me cut the total waste on the project down to 5%.

This 5% like all the old drywall will be sent back for recycling.

We have piled all of the 2"x4" off cuts on the street with a sign "FIRE WOOD" on top and I have over the past 4 months unloaded every scrap. My truck has not made a dump run in a long time.

It's easy to recycle, it just takes effort and patience. Yesterday a man took an old wire spool with him to make a shrimp net winch - this is great I had it out there on my side yard for month. This same neighbor asked for all my old off cuts of drain pipe and such for a backyard project he's working on. One less thing to dump, less effort to unload and less fuel to be used.

All my efforts have come at a cost, more time, more sorting and often far less productive but in the end one more step and lesson learned in Green Building.

My kids are thrilled with the efforts and many of our friends are feeling guilty that their old home was tipped and gone in a day under the watchful eye of an excavator and dump truck after dump truck.

These are hard choices to make and ones needed to be decided on together as a family. There are so many ways to make a little difference - make em!

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John Whipple (By Any Design Ltd.) - Member of Terrazzo Tile and Marble Association of Canada, the National Kitchen & Bath Association and the National Tile Contractors Association. Specializing in Vancouver bathroom renovations, linear shower drain installations and shower waterproofing procedures.

JumboJack

+ YouTube Video

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in texas with framing and cornish people will do it for 3.00 a foot. What do yall think about that? Just laber

JohnFRWhipple

".. is a licensed general contractor in California for residential and commercial construction, remodeling, and additions. Trust experience when it comes to expert construction work for your home or business in Los Angeles and Orange County, California"

This quote is from your website Jack.

What does a video on hippies crying over trees have to do with green building - other than poke fun at it.

Surely in Orange County people recycle and surely there are builders in and around Los Angeles that want to do build greener. Build better.

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John Whipple (By Any Design Ltd.) - Member of Terrazzo Tile and Marble Association of Canada, the National Kitchen & Bath Association and the National Tile Contractors Association. Specializing in Vancouver bathroom renovations, linear shower drain installations and shower waterproofing procedures.

JumboJack

That was kinda the point.......To each his own.
I am not waste full when I build and yes I do recycle.But I think the whole "I'm a green builder" is just another marketing ploy that many use and I'm not gonna fly that kite....But in your honor I will go hug the tree in my front yard...



p.s.....20-30 percent waste with drywall?I'm not even "green" and we never have that kind of waste.You might want to try using something other than 4'x8' sheets...

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in texas with framing and cornish people will do it for 3.00 a foot. What do yall think about that? Just laber

bconley

We have dumpsters for construction debris that get sorted and recycled in a process like this....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIczwVeNzeI

The video wouldn't embed

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bigisdikis

That is a wonderful story about you and your lover ricardo but the fact is the bathroom will be outdated in ten years and will be renovated any way.The person buying it will want something different and will rip it out .

JohnFRWhipple

??? What a mind set! My lover Ricardo! I love that. I only wish you could meet him and offer up this statement.

Maybe because of change we should buy everything from the dollar store and bin it the next day. Your opinions are yours and I disagree - there is always more we can do.

As for drywall waste. I built my home "Old School" - all stick framed and no trusses. I have vaulted ceilings and the hardest ceiling layout I've seen upstairs to board. The drywall has been ordered in 8's, 10's, 12's and 14's.

I want no waste but don't wan't to live in a box. I'm discussing the concept of building things right to last as a Green Building concept. I'm changing my ways because it's the right thing to do.

On a crazy road trip to Vegas I got hammered and ended up married to a women (gasp!) and cheated on Ricco and had 3 daughters. It's because of these three daughters, my wife and my lover that I have wanted to and try to make a difference each day.


Go hug a tree - that's nice. Go plant a tree - that's trying harder...

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John Whipple (By Any Design Ltd.) - Member of Terrazzo Tile and Marble Association of Canada, the National Kitchen & Bath Association and the National Tile Contractors Association. Specializing in Vancouver bathroom renovations, linear shower drain installations and shower waterproofing procedures.

JohnFRWhipple

50% recycling for construction waste. A great goal.

Thanks for the link.

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John Whipple (By Any Design Ltd.) - Member of Terrazzo Tile and Marble Association of Canada, the National Kitchen & Bath Association and the National Tile Contractors Association. Specializing in Vancouver bathroom renovations, linear shower drain installations and shower waterproofing procedures.

rustyjames

I think you hooked into a Troll.

DKnafo

well the lover part went a bit far but he is right in that if you overbuild (which isn't a bad thing) you are most likely not going as green as you can. Many of the kitchens/bathrooms will be redone in 10-20 years. So although I would always want to overbuild I don't think that premise is a green option as Ricardo thinks it is.