Blogs & Ecology

Solistone, Stones, Surfaces & Architectural Elements, based in Los Angeles, is one of the largest importers and distributors

of fine paving, exterior and decorative stone products in the U.S. They

carry porphyry, granite, pebbles, antique terra cotta tiles, roof and

floor tiles, rare natural stone, and glass and metal mosaics. There’s

more, of course.

Marvin Windows and Doors’ most innovative window of the year just got better. Improving the Ultimate Replacement Casement, Marvin Window and Doors’ new Ultimate Casement can be used for all building applications. AND it features the revolutionary wash mode to help you stay in the house and off the ladder. Annually, more than 164,000 emergency room trips are due to ladder falls.

A reader submitted this tip to my Stair Porn blog, and I just had to share them here - the Roarockit Skateboard Company runs a school in Leaside, East York, England, teaching their method of building skateboard decks using a Thin Air Press (vacuum bagging system), and these stairs lead down to the basement. My very first ‘real’ job was building skateboards at the Scandinavian Ski Shop on 57th Street in NYC. And then I ended up a carpenter. Go figure. I want them.

GreenFiber manufactures GreenFiber Insulation for use in attics, floors, and walls of residential new construction and reinsulation applications. GreenFiber provides outstanding thermal performance, fire-resistance and sound control. GreenFiber’s Insulation products provide a better barrier against air infiltration, filling gaps and voids. Consisting of 85% recycled content, GreenFiber Insulation is specially treated for flame resistance.

I really dig these exterior sliding louvers on this prefabbed wood family house in Budyně nad Ohří, Czech Republic.

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Cobbleblock™ & Cobblewood™ Flooring: fabricated from antique beams, sliced cross-grain, sanded & triple oiled.  Also available in pine. Awesome.

Birger Juell, Ltd.

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Sweet.

Simpson Door

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Justin covered Swedish paints a while back, but after coming across the photos of this old Swedish farm house on Peter Guthries Flickr stream I thought some of the back story on the red paint was in order.

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Read the rest of falu rödfärg, red swedish house paint

I had two more links for foundation systems that I wanted to post so now seems like a good time to get them out here. They are  both precast concrete wall foundation systems. The first is called Superior Walls. They seemed to be the first one to enter this category of precast basement wall for homes.

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Read the rest of precast foundation wall systems

Flush-to-the-wall doors in standard US sizes, with aluminum frames, nice veneer and hardware choices, and best of all, they use Soss Invisible Hinges

Modern Doors Direct

Greenwashed counterops

We have previously noted the six sins of greenwashing; Joel Bittle over at Green Building Elements does a terrific job in coming up with the seven sins of greenwashing in the building business. Most are relevant to designers working with LEED, but many are useful to anyone looking at materials for home or office. Read the original post for greater detail, here is a summary:

Tulou, the unique rammed earth buildings of Fujian Province in southeastern China, have been added to the UNESCO World Heritage List

Via Earth Architecture