Lead poisoning is arguably the most significant health risk faced by remodelers and restoration contractors. According to HUD, 57 million homes in the United States contain at least some lead paint. To work safely in older houses, you have to know whether lead paint is present. Analysis using sophisticated x-ray fluorescence meters and atomic absorption spectrophotometers can measure the quantity of lead present, but the tests are expensive and usually require sending samples to a laboratory. More appropriate for most remodeling and restoration contractors are inexpensive lead test kits that use sodium rhodizonate or potassium rhodizonate. These indicate whether or not lead is present—but not how much. To find out just what’s involved in using these lead test kits, EBN tried out the Pace Environs

Lead Alert and HybriVet Systems’

Waiting for hot water to get hot wastes about 10,000 gallons of water per year in an average household of four people. So says the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California in a brochure suggesting that customers collect that water in a bucket for watering plants or flushing the toilet. That’s a great idea, but unlikely to be popular with most homeowners. A new company, 21st Century Water Systems, has a better idea. The company produces several lines of equipment designed to collect and re-use water that would otherwise go down the drain as homeowners wait for hot water to arrive at their taps.

Timbrex™ is Mobil’s new name for a product that has been around for several years under the name Rivenite. In 1992 Mobil Chemical Company purchased the Rivenite technology (hiring its developer, Roger Wittenberg) and formed a Composite Products Division to produce and market the material. Although Mobil is working on possible changes to the product, Timbrex is currently identical to the former Rivenite. Even Mobil’s glossy Product Information sheet is taken almost word-for-word from older Rivenite literature.

Timbrex is made by blending recycled plastic resins (primarily HDPE and LDPE) with sawdust from a furniture factory and extruding the mixture into standard lumber dimensions. Like plastic lumber, Timbrex holds up well in exterior use and doesn’t require any protective coating. The promise of a maintenance-free material only holds, however, if you like a light gray color, which is what Timbrex becomes after a few months’ exposure. The material does take paint and stain quite well if you want a different look (unlike 100% recycled plastic, which can be difficult to paint). Several contractors agreed that Timbrex looks and feels more like wood than does lumber made entirely from plastic, and it doesn’t tend to heat up in direct sunlight as do some plastic materials.

Non-exposed Wood

Boron has long been recognized as an effective and very safe pesticide in wood. In part, it effectiveness comes from its ability to diffuse freely throughout the wood, thus protecting even the center of large timbers, which are not affected by pressure treating. Unfortunately, the diffusability of boron also makes it difficult to keep in the wood under wet conditions, so it is not likely to replace CCA or other preservatives in outdoor applications. For termite protection, however, or for other potential infestations in wood that is protected from the weather, borate preservatives can offer a relatively non-toxic and affordable solution.

Lumber from 100% recycled plastic has been around for several years now. Due to the large number of companies making recycled plastic lumber (currently about 22 in the U.S.), and the range of processes and feedstocks used, product quality varies greatly. ARW Polywood comes strongly recommended by contractors who’ve used it.

According to Dixie Jo Staley, Sales Manager for the company, ARW Polywood’s plastic lumber products have two advantages over most others: careful quality control of the feedstock, and a die extrusion fabrication process, instead of the more common injection molding process. While variability of physical properties has made it difficult for plastic lumber products in general to get code approvals, ARW Polywood has been HUD-approved in California for use as a base for mobile homes, according to Staley. Playworld Systems, a large playground manufacturer, recently tested several different plastic lumber products for use in their playgrounds. Ted Grove, Technical Services Manager for Playworld, was very impressed with ARW Polywood. “They’ve made a lot of improvements just in the last year,” he says. While he had steel pipe inserted in the 6x6 posts of the first Polywood playground they did, he says that he now has the confidence to use the plastic without such reinforcement. They are currently using the material for on several more playgrounds for the Lever Brothers.

Kitchen recycling organizers, called “a hot new design frontier” in

The Naturally Elegant Home (see review, page 14), are proliferating nationwide. One innovative item, introduced last year by Feeny Manufacturing Company, replaces the common corner-cabinet lazy susan with three rotating bins for separating recyclables. The Spin-A-Bin consists of three 32-quart polyethylene bins hanging from a steel frame that rotates just like the lazy susans it replaces. One bin at a time is accessible outside the cabinet, and is easily removed by lifting it off the frame.

Trus Joist MacMillan, makers of the Silent Floor™ framing system, have just introduced a rim joist made especially for use with that system. The new product is made from a new type of manufactured lumber called Timberstrand LSL™ (Laminated Strand Lumber), which is basically a next-generation, high-end oriented strand board (OSB). The new rim boards are 1

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If it were just a new type of concrete form for foundation walls, Faswall would be an interesting product. But it’s much more than that. Faswall blocks offer exciting new possibilities for building houses and small buildings that are affordable, non-toxic, and made with high recycled-content materials. Adapting a technology that has been used in Europe for decades, Dr. Hansruedi Walter is producing blocks made from cement and recycled wood fiber. The blocks are strong, lightweight, and durable, and can be worked with conventional saws and routers. They also insulate well, which is one of their biggest advantages over conventional concrete block.

The standard Faswall product is a block 12" high, 9" wide, and 12", 24", or 36" long. A 24" corner block is also available. The 36" block weighs just 39 pounds. The blocks are about 80% wood fiber, which has been specially treated with a patented, non-toxic process that mineral-coats the fibers, making them immune to rot or insect damage. The treatment also prevents sugars and tannins in the wood from reacting with the cement, which would interfere with proper curing.

Update: (September 26, 2006)

To the best of our knowledge, this product is now being marketed under the name Rauhsaser by Better Wall System of Kenora, ON.

The company's promotional material is the epitome of environmentally friendly packaging—like a Ben & Jerry's annual report. The article reprints sent were even bound in a jacket made from corrugated cardboard. So we were quite intrigued by the product. Syndecrete™ is a lightweight, pre-cast, architectural concrete composite used in kitchen countertops, sinks, tub surrounds, tile flooring, and new-age furniture. What makes it interesting enough to cover in EBN is its composition. Syndecrete is cement-based, but western coal flyash (a waste product from coal-fired power plants) is substituted for roughly 20% of the cement, and waste polypropylene fiber from a carpet manufacturing plant is mixed in to provide reinforcing. Other recycled materials are often added in, such as metal shavings and recycled glass chips, but these are added mainly for the unique aesthetic style the company is seeking.

Currently, all Syndecrete products are custom-made and targeted toward wealthy, style-conscious customers. While products are not sold on a square-foot basis (everything is custom, remember) a 2"-thick kitchen countertop will cost an average of $75 to $100 per square foot! Company president David Hertz said, however, that he would like to expand the use of Syndecrete by offering lower-cost standard sizes and designs. If that happens, the product could become a competitor to the Corian®-type products and, though EBN has not done any detailed analysis, Syndecrete would almost certainly be better from an environmental standpoint.