The Perks of Pine Lumber

Pine lumber is a great choice for building, and we like these 5 reasons why:

1. Affordability
2. Decay and rot resistance
3. Easy to drive nails in
4. Natural beauty
5. Durable

Oh, and it’s cost-effective too!

Sustainable Design Stacks Up

Can houses be built out of straw? Before you scoff, a pair of Parkville homeowners did just that–and explain how a straw-bale home can be both an economical and environmentally friendly decision–as featured in a recent article in Kansas City Homes & Gardens.

According to the article, straw bales “stack up” in many ways: they are “economical, allow the walls to breath, are biodegradable, durable over time and easy to maintain.”

They can also be aesthetically pleasing too (see the Parkville home, below).

According to the homeowner, it was our modern approach to building that inspired his straw-bale home: “We come up with more and more ways to seal out the natural environment and we end up trapping poor quality air indoors and moisture inside our walls, so the idea of building a more simple and natural type of wall construction really appealed to me,” he says.

Schutte Lumber supplied the Douglas Fir for the wood structure, floors and ceilings. Check out more of Andrea Darr’s article, “The Last Straw“.

‘Cash for Caulkers’: Stimulus for contractors

Who could forget the government’s much-hyped Cash for Clunkers program? Its runaway success has inspired yet another industry to save—this time one that contractors, construction workers and do-it-yourself homeowners alike can benefit from. Proposed earlier this month, Cash for Caulkers might just prove a boon to all of us in the industry, if the program comes to life as part of President Obama’s job creation agenda in 2010.

From performing an energy audit to using an online Energy Saver calculator, we recommend reading this article in the USA Today,  which outlines 19 different measures you can take to weatherize your home, and the potential incentives that will get contractors back to work, and homeowners on the path to save.
And for extra credit, check out this diagram outlining some potential weatherization projects on Treehugger.com.