feb 21, 2009, Multiply, New Kitchen 4

Time for a New Kitchen no 4

This has been another busy weekend but with a little help things are moving on. Finally all the walls have been stripped, washed down, filled and sanded. I was very grateful for help, some corners were just too awkward   for me to get into and a smaller person was defiantly needed. Some of the walls were in such a terrible state it was more like re-plastering than filling in the holes, but it’s done now and every thing is ready to start the actual decorating. I have begun painting the units and my new (reclaimed) shelf unit. They will all need several coats of paint but even after the first coat I can see it’s going to look quite nice.

Once the painting is finished the next thing on the list is delivery of the new sink, then the joiner needs to do his bit and then the wallpapering, tiling and finishing touches. There is no point in trying to get on with the wallpapering or tiling before the joiner has done his bit so I can take my time with the painting and try to make a half decent job of it.

BUT; I now have a major concern. My concern is the fact I didn’t make any effort to use eco friendly paint, paper and other decorating products. I even bought a small can of paint stripper, just about the most toxic substance you can buy over the counter. I am so conscientious about only using natural cleaning products, about saving electricity and water where ever possible and recycling anything and every thing that is recyclable. I don’t throw things away unless they have no life left in them at all. I use and re-use all the time, all my light bulbs are long life low power bulbs and I always buy local if possible. Sometimes I have a dilemma of conscience over if it is more ethically correct to buy fair trade, and increase the amount of air miles associated with my purchase, or to buy local produce that does nothing to help the fair trade movement. When planning my kitchen renovations I naturally gave a lot of thought to what I could keep and re-use.

I am keeping the majority of my units and re-painting them, I have the nice old red chairs bought last year from the second-hand market and my shelf unit salvaged from the shed is the ultimate in re-use and re-cycle.

But now I realise that wasn’t nearly enough. I should also have paid a lot more attention to the potential damage caused by the paint, wallpaper and other decorating materials. I didn’t give it enough thought right at the beginning and it was only after I had bought the paint and vinyl covered paper and began reading the labels that I realised just how toxic a lot of decorating equipment is.

Seems the no 1 nasty in all this stuff is the VOC’s or (volatile organic compounds). Volatile organic compounds are compounds that have a high vapor pressure and low water solubility. Many VOCs are human-made chemicals that are used and produced in the manufacture of paints, pharmaceuticals, and refrigerants. VOC fumes are slowly released into the environment from paint, paint thinners, paint stripper and newly painted surfaces. Other sources include vinyl covered wallpaper, new carpets, carpet underlay and carpet adhesives. The list doesn’t stop there; VOC’s are also present in vinyl floor coverings, blinds and wipe clean table cloths. These substances are thought to be the cause of ‘sick building syndrome’, they are linked to headaches and respiratory disease in affected people and are also know to cause major damage to the environment during their manufacture AND due to the continued 'leaking' of fumes into the environment. The VOC’s present in our homes cause just as much environmental damage as CFC’s or (Chlorofluorocarbons). These were developed in the 1930’s and are the main cause of ozone depletion in the stratosphere. CFCs have a lifetime of about 20–100 years and can therefore continue to destroy ozone for a long period. Another disturbibng little jem I just discovered; apparently people who have spent all their working lives in the ‘paint’ industry have a 20% higher incidence of cancer.
So………………you can see my dilemma, my major concern.
I have to admit to being more than a little upset about this; I just wish I had bothered to think about it all before going out and buying a load of toxic materials. Pragmatist that I am, I’ve decided I have no choice but to live with the consequences of my decisions in the kitchen, BUT….. I am already thinking about how I can decorate my living room using only the eco-friendly options. Hmmmm need to finish the kitchen first.

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delete reply acousticeagle wrote on Feb 23, '09 Cute pictures, some great help there. Your comments on the toxicity of decorating products was very thought provoking, and something I actually haven't given much thought to previously. Actually, I did see a tv show about sick building syndrome, and it was pretty shocking. I personally wouldn't buy a carpet made out of synthetic fibres, but I prefer natural timber floors anyway, partly for looks and partly for dust build-up because of dust mite allergy. Also another reason I don't go for sythetic products is the build up of static electricity. After you paint you'll be airing out the room well.

delete reply starfishred wrote on Feb 22, '09 we learn as we do and sometimes it is not easy-you are moving forward my friend-

delete reply pestep55 wrote on Feb 22, '09 Lessons learned, at least you know what to be careful with. Your helper looks to be doing a good job /:-)

delete reply msowens1 wrote on Feb 22, '09 your helper is precious.... and while all these facts are daunting.... at least it is not something that you do more than once or twice in a lifetime..... I also have kept all my cabinets in my kitchen remodel and am glad for it!

delete reply brendainmad wrote on Feb 22, '09 I'm looking forward to seeing the results too. I love having a tiled kitchen -easy to clean. Sweet photos of your granddaughter.

delete reply aimlessjoys wrote on Feb 22, '09 Congratualtions on your elfin helper, what a sweetheart! Best of luck with the materials you've selected--you can only do your best as it was possible to do at the time...I'm looking forward to the lovely results!

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Feb 22, '09 esoterika713 said PS: Do you know whether Latex paints have the same chemicals that the paint that you are using? Just been looking up latex paints and it seems they are usually low in VOC's but each paint and each manufacturer is different, these days the VOC level should be printed on the label of the paint. And Grannies little helpwer this week is Erin, and very helpful she was too. Also, I feel the same about cleaning stuff. It took me a while to get to the point where i only have natural cleaning products because i didn't want to throw things away, so I used every thing in the cupboard and changed to natural products gradually as the old stuff got used up.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Feb 22, '09 bennett1 said When we redid the plumbing we chose copper over PVC plastic pipe because of the non-reusability of PVC Oh Bennett I have just faced the same problem. While doing all this work I thought i had discovered a leak on the old original (copper) cold water pipe. I asked the plumber to come in and take a look and the problem was condensation, the pipe was very cold and the air in the kitchen a lot warmer, consequently I had this small puddle of water on the floor under the pipe. The solution was to change that one length of copper pipe to plastic. I didn't want to but felt I had no choice, the water was rotting the skirting, so i agreed to change just that one length of pipe. These things are very difficult, and yes grannies little helper certainly ate her way through the cookie jar.

delete reply ruraldiva wrote on Feb 22, '09 I have such a love of wallpaper. This house I used it quite liberally. The dilemma stems from my previous home in Arizona...virtually no mold to this swamp where everything including your feet if you stand still too long will mold or rust. We all suffer from one type of asthma or another...worst to better. The problem....mold has delighted in the paste we used...The removal will be toxic and messy. I've tackled three rooms on my own and dread the upcoming torture. Being informed, and careful cannot be emphasized enough. I like your helper as well, such a doll. RD

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Feb 22, '09 I trust the helper got all she could eat in cookies.

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Feb 22, '09 I face the same dilemma with paint and strippers. It is difficult anyway you do it. When we redid the plumbing we chose copper over PVC plastic pipe because of the non-reusability of PVC. But often I throw up my hands when there does not seem to be a good option.

delete reply esoterika713 wrote on Feb 22, '09 BTW who is the little helper? She is a cutie pie.

delete reply esoterika713 wrote on Feb 22, '09, edited on Feb 22, '09 I feel the same way about these toxic chemicals lurking in all of the stuff we buy. My husband recently bought a slew of toxic cleaners for the bathrooms, kitchens, and floors. Now, I feel I should use them but I worry about putting these chemicals down the toilet and into our water systems. It is too expensive for us to buy the fancy non polluting types of cleaners. After I use up the ones I have I am going to use baking soda to clean everything from floors to the whole bathroom or kitchen. Ta. PS: Do you know whether Latex paints have the same chemicals that the paint that you are using? We recently painted our living area,kitchen and bathroom with Latex paints. I hope they are better then oil paints.

delete reply veryfrank wrote on Feb 22, '09 Thank you for clearing up the time. I was curious because the Multiply inbox has been slow for sometime now. They had a large group migration from MSN and much has slowed down.

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Feb 22, '09 veryfrank said Btw, I just received this posting and it is timed and dated 15 hours ago. Thanks for the comments frank. I found the same as you, kitchens and bathrooms are more difficult to do 'green' because of the special requirements. I suppose if I had thought about it I would have tiled the whole room rather than buy the wallpaper, apparently its not just the paper that has problems but the wall paper paste as well but tiles are quite environmentally sound. I could have bought a water based paint for the cupboards but like you say, for the kitchen that is not always the best thing. Also, my new sink unit is specially coated to give a high glass finish, I thought it would be more practicable, I didn't know it is also more toxic. There seems to be so much to think about here, like i said i am going to try for a eco living room next. BTW.............reason for the post being times 15 hours ago, I posted it as a draft because it wasn't finished, and it seems the date and time is set from the first posting even if it is as a draft version.

delete reply veryfrank wrote on Feb 22, '09 I have found that the only good alternative to a stripper is a steamer. I rented one to do a room and it worked but took longer and used a lot of water and electricity, plus did a fair amount of dripping. Instead of wallpaper in the bedroom, I used grass-cloth a wall-covering woven from natural grasses. One problem with going green in a kitchen or bath is that both rooms need to handle a lot of moisture (also grease in the kitchen) and the natural products are mostly absorbant. Also a sturdy washable paint is needed. Btw, I just received this posting and it is timed and dated 15 hours ago.