Icestone and Recycled Glass

Posted on January 14th, 2009

Our clients in Ballard gut their kitchen last year and remodeled with beautiful results. In particular, I loved their choice in tile backsplash and countertop. They used recycled glass tiles displayed in a fun pattern for the backsplash and a product called ‘icestone’ for their countertops. Icestone is recycled glass combined with concrete to form a smooth, matte finish. The combo plays well with the surrounding lyptus cabinetry. Lyptus, a product similar to hardwoods and harder than oak, is fashioned from fast growing Eucalyptus trees. It has a redish, teak/cherry quality to it and is gorgeous. Well done Tim and Ryan…and well choreographed by Dave! More info and photos in coming posts…

Weatherization and the Blower Door Test

Posted on January 9th, 2009

Happy New Year and welcome to my blog!

With recent snow storms, record low temperatures and our collective need to conserve energy, more Seattle homeowners are turning to energy auditors to help define areas of improvement.  As such, I thought I’d kick off my first blog with an intro to one method of identifying energy consumption in your home.

One tool used for energy efficiency diagnostics is the ‘blower door test’.  A  no-frills name for an effective procedure that can help identify problem areas in your building envelope, and help your auditor to create a list of what to do in order of importance.  A strategy to give you the most bang for your buck.  We can all get behind that! Read the rest of this entry »