TIME FOR SOME RESPECT
By Carl Seville, GBA Advisor
I had a discussion several months ago with a designer I know regarding energy efficiency in a project she is working on. She recently took the initiative to become a licensed residential contractor and is now managing entire projects. I applaud her for making this transition and for working hard to maintain her professionalism in an industry where there are a lot of fly-by-night operators. The homeowner is interested in making the house more efficient, and our conversations focused on those aspects of the project. I offered my services as a consultant to evaluate the house and make a set of recommendations for improvements to consider.Well, I ran into her recently and asked about the project, which is just underway. She asked me about coming in to do blower door and duct blaster tests when the project is finished, to see how it turned out. Since I don’t find running test equipment that much fun, and I believe that my particular talents are better applied earlier in the job, I declined the invitation. During this discussion, it occurred to me that here was a residential designer with little, if any, training or experience in building performance making decisions on insulation, air sealing, HVAC systems, and other critical details. Any wrong choices in products or installation methods on this project would very likely create long-term problems that could be avoided with proper advice up front.
Expertise worth paying for goes both ways
This designer is very professional, places a value on her expertise, and expects to be paid for it. She is very experienced in kitchens, baths, and interiors, and, in fact, I hired her to assist in the new house I was attempting to build. I trusted that she has the proper knowledge in her area of expertise and engaged her to take advantage of her abilities. It appears that she was not as respectful of my expertise, and assumed that she could make appropriate building performance decisions by herself, with assistance from the insulation, HVAC, and other trade contractors on the project, then bring me in to confirm her decisions after the fact.In my curmudgeonly style, I pointed out to her that if she thought that she was qualified to make those decisions, what would keep me from thinking I am qualified to design a kitchen or bath, without any training or experience? If she didn’t use qualified professionals for their expertise, why should she expect anyone to use hers? This seemed to get her attention, and I expect that I may be hearing from her soon about some consulting work.
The implications of insanity
What occurred to me through this interaction was that there is a general attitude in the marketplace that residential construction isn’t very difficult, and pretty much anyone can do anything. Homeowners build and renovate their own homes. Trade contractors make decisions about products and methods without consideration of their impact on the entire project. Mechanical systems are installed without taking into account the overall building performance. This behavior perpetuates inferior buildings, and must change. Einstein’s definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Unless we change the way we build and renovate, we are insane and will continue to get the same result: poorly performing buildings.
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(Carl Seville, owner of Seville Consulting in the Metro Atlanta area, is a green builder, educator, and consultant on sustainability to the residential construction industry. After a 25-year career in the remodeling industry, he has dedicated himself to advancing residential green building and remodeling by consulting with, speaking to, writing for, and training industry professionals, and by certifying homes under the LEED, EarthCraft, NAHB, and Energy Star programs. Seville, a green remodeling consultant from Decatur, is among a group of 15 green building industry experts serving as advisors for www.GreenBuildingAdvisor.com, a new residential green building website launched by BuildingGreen, LLC. For more information about Seville, see www.sevilleconsulting.com.)
Add comment May 5th, 2010
How many times can a wood floor be sanded? There seems to be universal agreement that the magic number is three and that could spell problems for any house built before the 1950s. After the original sanding when the house was built, many homes got their second sanding during the ’70s and ’80s when wall to wall carpet fell out of favor with homeowners. This means that any more sanding from that point on can be the final one with few options to consider. For the last 35 years, most of my work has been on old floors and I think I can provide you some insight. 
closure rates are approaching an all-time high and as a result, the market appears to be dominated by foreclosed or bank-owned property. Conventional wisdom seems to be that buyers can purchase a foreclosed property from a bank for a substantial discount, in some cases as much as 40 percent of the original asking price. Then logically, it seems to follow that the smart buyers who made this great deal with the bank will be the proud owners of a $500,000 house that they purchased for only $300,000. They can live in this house and when it is time to sell, they will make a huge profit or in the case of investors, they can do some modest cosmetic repairs and “flip� the house for $500,000. 
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the human body, your home is made of parts, all working in unison, many unseen and unthought of during the course of your daily life. From the roof to the foundation, and from the front door to the back, a home consists of literally thousands of components.
Engineered wood flooring is the hottest and fastest growing segment of the wood flooring industry. Formerly called “prefinished�, this rapidly expanding selection is not only large, it can be confusing and intimidating to wade into if you don’t know what to look for. Let me highlight a few differences, point out some of the pluses/minuses and give you a sense of direction before you head into a showroom. 
The last 20 years have seen some dramatic changes in products for finishing wood floors. At the top of this list are waterborne polyurethanes. These finishes provide superior performance, are easily maintained and provide homeowners better options than ever before. For these reasons, I am recommending and using waterborne urethanes over all my work. It has been on my own floors for over ten years and I wouldn’t consider any other product.