Green Building, #Salvagedawgs, #earthship, Junk Raiders, Hetch's, BMOMN and Johnny Cash Oh My!!!!Lets Go Green!Those of you that read my blog will probably be well versed in what Im about to talk about, others not. Those of you who are not I hope Im about to enlighten you to the possibilities and open your eyes to the waste and destruction that construction causes to the earth. First off I want to sincerely thank those in our society that innately salvage and up-cycle left over materials. If I had the space I would probably one day keep things in a warehouse and offer them for sale. I am very much on board with the #salvagedawgs way of up-cycling. These men and women are architectural archeologists preserving one artifact at a time, and for that I raise my coffee cup and salute you. If you are the remodeler who likes to take a crow bar to the beautifully done stained glass mosaic and crush it into the garbage can this blog is not for you. This blog is dedicated to those in the green revolution, and those that are disgusted by the waste of our American society. Let us build homes with architecture based on sustainability, rather than elegance and grandure, homes that produce energy and not waste it exponentially. A shout out to long time admired "Garbage Warrior" Michael Reynolds and #earthship way of life. Back in 2012 I wanted to come down to New Mexico and take the #earthship apprentice program, however do to family needs was not able to. For those of you who do not know what I am talking about please dig a little deeper on this #earthship movement it is very interesting and absolutely positively sustainable. Mother Earth has a homeostatic threshold and once its crossed there is no doubt that it will be bad for humans. The earth is much too populated and resources are disappearing much faster than they are replenished. Let us take a lesson from Dr. Suess. Anyone remember what happened in "The Lorax"? Do we really what to have to terraform our own planet one day? Also let us not confine green building to only using more recycled materials but the contractors that can get more done with less energy consumption. Here is to the tile contractor Mike whom I met at a job this week and uses a small suburu car to pull a small trailer. Little thoughts like this will produce big changes in the building world one day. SALVAGE DAWGS and Junk RaidersAny of you watch reality television? I know its not everyones cup of tea, especially for us carpenters, many of whom find it very unproductive and would rather be building a cabinet or table in our spare time. In fact, my guess is that the boys and girls in Black Dog Salvage do not find much time for it either, I mean with building couches out of old claw foot tubs and making one of a kind pieces on a daily basis who needs T.V., am I right? For those of you who don't know what Im talking about go on Netflix and watch a few episodes these people really know how to have a good time and keep things interesting. Junk Raiders was a reality T.V. series that aired back in 2009 and the basis for the show was a team of designers and builders had a very limited budget of $5500 or so to remodel entire apartments on which meant salvaging through the streets and curbs of Toronto where it was filmed. Now just so there is not too much of a back lash from anyone who might read this in the future, yes I know that depending on the cost of your skilled laborers you would have a hard time making this work. but there is a potential for saving if you think about it I mean let say we find a kitchens worth of cabinets on the curb. This lot of cabinets are in good condition and with some new faces and a spray job will look like new. The one episode that truly brings back a wow moment is when they incorporated the front end of a car into the island in the kitchen. Heck, the headlights even worked! Heres a shout out to all of my long time acquaintances at the "Lumber Farm". Dylan, Garret, Dan, Jeff we miss you and who ever else I forgot heres to you. For any of you in my area 54767 and surrounding you should go check the place out. Their website is hetchs.com and their business is a building materials liquidation. You never know what you will find out there so call before you come out if you need, because they do not mind answering question on the phone. If you run into Dylan out there just ask him how many times he's seen my dig through their $1, $2, and $3 dollar piles of lumber. Really, there is great stuff in these piles if all you need is scabs or odds and ends. The place started me out with a way to get my business off of the ground, cheap materials and a way for me to get some clients. I really appreciate them for everything they have done for me. They sell windows, doors, lumber, entire kitchen cabinets and much, much more. Other clients of mine use a place out in the Minnespolis/St. Paul area called Building Materials Outlet of Minnesota located in Egan, MN. I have never been their but many people highly recommended it so I will give it the thumbs up as well. I really like hearing about these types of places and just recently installed two window from BMO both of which were salvaged from a home that had never windows put in. Here is their website. www.bmomn.com If you are working on an older home and need some relics to match a craftsman or victorian style check out Architectural Antiques, google link below. Located in Nord-East Minneapolis your sure to find what you need and look at many cool artifacts. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Architectural+Antiques/@44.9057276,-93.5026394,8z/data=!4m8!1m2!2m1!1sArchitectural+Antiques!3m4!1s0x52b32d905ee8ca71:0xa2b58eb0d8f67b72!8m2!3d45.001936!4d-93.251603 Also if you are in the Eau Claire are check our Dell's Architectual Antiques for other great scores. Link Below: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Dell's+Architectural+Antiques/@44.8204874,-91.5137246,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x87f8bd67dc3c3ec5:0xf0fe13ed0a92c928!8m2!3d44.8204874!4d-91.5115359 Johnny Cash Now what Im sure you all had been waiting for, how exactly would Johnny Cash be brought into this Green Building Equation. Besides being one of my favorite musicians, every time I salvage a material, a screw, a door, or whatever I hear "I did it one piece at a time and it didn't cost me a dime". Of course Im not talking about theft here but the idea is why not.
Thus, far Id say that this has been my favorite blog post to share. I hope that this offers a bit of insight as to how I think and you getting to know me. When it comes to the possibilities of building almost everything can be recycled. As I wrote the last few lines here I remembered the time that I installed my first Patio doors. The old ones were heavy duty and from the 60's glass and frames were fine and perfectly square. My idea was to install them sideways on south side of my house in my future plant room. Add a few lounge chairs and windows like that and what could go wrong. They would have looked fine and were a double thermal pane so I knew I could trim them out so no one would have ever known. As my homes renovation progressed I decided against it due to wanting windows that could be opened. So I put the very large heavy panes on Craigslist and they were called on within an hour of being posted in the free section. Another fellow builder from Eau Claire WI came and picked them up and was to install them in a custom shed he was building and said they would be placed on a barn door style sliding system. One Ironic thing was I salvaged them from Eau Claire WI, hauled them home 50 min and a year later they were picked up and brought back to Eau Claire. So before you throw that window or 2x4 in the trash please think of the mountains of garbage that form if 7,515,284,15358 people think like that. Yep 7.5 billion as of 2017 according to google link below. https://www.google.com/search?q=how+many+people+are+in+the+world&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS525US525&oq=how+many+people&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l5.9863j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 But seriously, do any of you think like me or are you from the school of thought that I save money if I just throw it in the trash? Honest opinions and comments matter most in this blog so please voice your soul. Mr Ken
2 Comments
According to wikipedia.org:
A general contractor (main contractor, prime contractor)[1] is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the course of a building project.[2] As a man of the repair business for three years I thought its time to add another feather to my cap. I have a personal deadline to become a licensed general contractor before the clock strikes 1am January 1st 2018. Hopefully I can catch a break here at some point or sub out more of my work to do so, because the small job repair business has been busier than ever. Many folks in my area are preparing for the 52nd super bowl. As of recent I have worked at a few air b&b's that will cater to the event. Super Bowl LII, the 52nd Super Bowl and the 48th modern-era National Football League (NFL) championship game, will decide the league champion for the2017 NFL season. The game is scheduled to be held on February 4, 2018, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota,[1] the second Super Bowl in Minneapolis, which previously hosted Super Bowl XXVI in 1992. The game will be televised in the United States by NBC. It will be the sixth Super Bowl in a cold weather city.[2] Are you going to the 52nd super bowl? Are you currently looking for a general contractor, or are you one comments and thoughts are appreciated. Sincerely, Mr. Ken |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
January 2022
Categories |