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Home Improvement Blog - On the Level is a home remodeling & repair blog to keep you informed on the products and trends that we see in the field.
Watch out, birds! |
I just moved into a new apartment with floor-to-ceiling windows that afford great views of Boston. However, as much as I love this feature of my new place, I’m dreading the day when some unsuspecting bird plows into the glass and drops eight stories to the ground. Since birds can’t see glass, the lives of our avian friends is often the price of having big windows.
But thanks to German design company Arnold Glas, that may not be the case much longer. Since 2006, Arnold Glas has manufactured ORNILUX Bird Protection Glass, which is coated with a UV reflective pattern that’s visible to birds, but transparent to the human eye. The company’s new model, Mikado, features a criss-cross pattern resembling a spider web, and is even less visible to the human eye than its predecessors. ORNILUX is working with various American groups, including the Audubon Society and the American Bird Conservancy, to create awareness of the issue of bird-window collisions and to encourage architects to incorporate solutions into buildings.
According to last week’s New York Times article about ORNILUX, in a test, three-quarters of birds avoided the glass. And besides saving avian lives, the glass is also energy efficient: it's available with either a low-E coating or a solar protective coating.
ORNILUX couldn't provide a per-square-foot price quote for us, since it varies too much project by project. But regardless, this sounds like something architects and builders should start installing, especially given the current green trend towards installing big windows in new buildings.
Tell us: would you consider putting this glass in your home?
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If you live in a hurricane-prone area, you should be prepared for dangerous winds and high surf. |
Hurricane Earl is blasting its way up the East Coast, with Tropical Storm Fiona hot on its heels. If you live in Earl's path, you should be prepared for the possibility of torrential rain, flooding, and dangerous winds in the next few days. Make sure your disaster kit is complete with enough food, water, and medication to last for at least three days. Watch this video to find out how to board up your windows if you don't have impact-resistant glass. Follow this checklist to make sure you've done everything you can to get compensation from your insurance company in case your home is damaged. Scroll down to the hurricane-specific section of the list to ensure that you've prepared adequately. Remember that along with dangerous flying debris and high winds, hurricanes cause flooding. Earl is predicted to cause flooding along the Outer Banks and Cape Cod later in the week. If you live in those areas, read up on avoiding flood damage and on protecting your property from flood damage. Not in Earl's path? If you live in a hurricane-prone area, you should still make sure that you'll be able to withstand a storm the next time one comes your way. Find out how to protect your home against damage by installing straps, clips, anchors, and bolts in its structurally weakest parts. Read up on planning a safe room, an independently constructed space in your home built to withstand wind speeds of up to 250 mph. If you follow these tips, you'll be prepared to weather the storm.
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New building code changes mandate sprinkler systems in new homes. |
As more states vote to adopt the 2009 International Residential Code changes that mandate sprinkler systems in all new one- and two-family homes, builders worry that the additional cost could scare off potential new homebuyers.
According to this recent article in Builderonline.com, some builders in Pennsylvania--the latest state to adopt the changes--see the decision as a "loss for the housing consumers in Pennsylvania." The decision to install a sprinkler system should lay with the consumer, these builders believe.
The cost to install a residential sprinkler system can be anywhere between $8,000 to $10,000--a cost that will be passed on to the buyer. Will this depress an already hurting housing market?
Proponents see the issue as bigger than simple economics. Homeowner safety, firefighter safety and even community safety comes into play. Mandated sprinkler systems will save lives, homes and potentially entire neighborhoods.
While no one wants to see the housing industry take anymore hits, it's hard to argue against fire safety. And where current generation residential sprinkler systems are not the eyesores that they once were, aesthetics is hardly a point of contention for the opposition. The new systems' sprinkler heads install in a ceiling like recessed lighting, with a simple cover that sits flush and pops down in the event of a fire.
Where do you stand on the matter? Are you willing to pay the extra money for a sprinkler system in your new home?
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The new Green Toad Paint System. |
It's not so much the fact that every part of the Green Toad paint system--including the plastic parts, handle, brush heads, bristles and internal parts--is biodegradable and compostable. No, that's very cool, for sure, but that's not what turns my head.
With a toy-gun grip handle and a quick release button for easy attachment switching, the Green Toad paint system is claiming ergonomic superiority over the traditional paint brush and roller.
Designed to reduce hand and wrist strain, the brush head can rotate 360 degrees and lock into eight different positions. You can also throw a roller attachment onto the handle, which probably then feels like you're wielding a crossbow.
Will the average consumer take to this new paint brush design and concept? I have to say I was a bit wary when I first took a look. I haven't put hand to grip, yet, but the more I think about it the more I feel inclined to give this product a go--we've all suffered the hand, wrist and forearm strain of a long day (or days) of painting. If Green Toad is saying those days are over, who am I to reject the notion without first trying?
Green Toad will be sold exclusively through QVC at www.QVC.com
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Do we have too many homes in the U.S.? |
The word in new home construction, according to Martin Holladay of the Green Building Advisor is that energy consumption matters more than any other "green" consideration, including energy efficiency, indoor air quality, and those other factors that make a home green.
You can make a home as efficient as you want--tight windows, great insulation, and so on--but if you're building big, the house is going to consume more energy. In other words, big homes are not "green."
Holladay takes a pretty extreme stance, saying that the best way to build green is actually to not build at all. He encourages renovating an existing home over building new, living in a small house or apartment over a big one and opines that the U.S. already has too many houses and doesn't need more.
Take a look at the full article and see what you think. I can't say I support the "No New Houses" rally cry, but there's something to be said for building smaller.
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Two models of Television Wall Mounts recalled. |
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recently announced the recall of over 130,000 television wall mounts by Milestone AV Technologies. The wall mounts have elbow joint components that don't fit together properly, which can send a mounted television toppling onto a consumer.
The two models recalled are the Sanus Vision Mount model LF228-B1 and the Simplicity model SLF2.
Instructions for visual inspection of a suspected recalled wall mount can be found at http://www.milestone.com/recall.
More information on the recall can be found on this CPSC page.
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Smog-eating roof tiles. |
What's the best way to combat air pollution? Install smog-eating roofing tiles.
SMOG-EATING Technology roof tiles--or SET Roof Tiles--do just that: eat smog. Well, not so much eat, but reduce, at any rate. Made by Boral Roofing (formerly MonierLifetile), the SET concrete Roof Tiles contain titanium dioxide--a photo catalytic agent--which breaks down polluting nitric oxide molecules in the air, improving overall air quality.
The smog-eating properties of the tiles are considered "long-lasting" and environmentally-friendly. I'd love to know an actual life-span on the emission-reducing agent. Surely it can't perform this miracle indefinitely.
Also, while I can't imagine one home's worth of SET Roof-Tiles making a huge impact in a neighborhood or city, it is easy to think that an entire town's worth can start to make a dent in smog levels. Is this an opportunity to incentivize?
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