Landlord remodels houses with chemical sensitivities in mind

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http://www.post-gazette.com/homes/20030215healthy0215p8.asp

Landlord remodels houses with chemical sensitivities in mind

Saturday, February 15, 2003 By Kirkland, Post-Gazette Real Estate Editor

A. J. Stones didn't set out to create a healthy home in Trafford. But when a remodeler who specializes in environmentally conscious construction decides to rehab a rental unit, it just comes naturally.

A. J. Stones gutting the duplex unit that is unfinished. He expects its renovation to take at least a year. (Bill Wade, Post-Gazette photos)

Stones was mainly looking for ways to make two duplexes as low-maintenance as possible. After all, it can get pretty expensive to repaint and replace carpeting every time a new tenant comes in. Once he decided to pitch the carpet, it became clear that what was good for the landlord could be good for the tenants, and for their health. "I wanted to prove everybody wrong, everybody in the construction industry who says you can't do this and Realtors who wonder who would want a healthy home," he said. In 2000, Stones bought the two next-door duplexes, whose two center units are occupied. Working on weekends and around his other remodeling work, the Jeannette resident gutted the outer units to make two, four-bedroom, one-bath townhouses that he will rent for $680 a month. That may be a little high for Trafford. But finding four bedrooms isn't easy and finding a 2,000-square-foot home where a family with allergies or chemical sensitivities can live comfortably, well, that's nearly impossible. Stones, a certified remodeler and past president of the Pittsburgh chapter of the National Association of the Remodelers Industry, brought to this project the skills and interests he has developed during 16 years in the business. Much of his work involves residential renovations, additions, kitchens, bathrooms, porches, decks and window and door replacement. In his work, he takes special care to contain or safely remove lead, a harmful substance routinely added to paint until 1978. Any house older than that probably has some paint or other finishes containing lead on its walls or woodwork, he said. It can be spread as dust created when old wood windows and doors are used or during remodeling projects, both by do-it-yourselfers and professionals. "The hardest part is trying to get through to people that most lead poisoning isn't kids eating paint chips," he said. "It doesn't just happen in places like Wilkinsburg. It happens in Mt. Lebanon, Upper St. Clair, Fox Chapel -- any place with older homes."

A.J. Stones Design Contractor can be reached at 412-241-6042 or http://www.ajstones.com.

For more information on The Greater Pittsburgh Chemical Sensitivity Network, e-mail Marie at starspeak@.... The group is an affiliate of the Human Ecology Action League, http://members.aol.com/HEALNatnl/index.html.

Certified by NARI in lead-safe remodeling, Stones regularly mops down work sites to reduce dust and uses a vacuum equipped with a High-Efficiency Particulate Air filter, which traps 99.97 percent of airborne particles. He also promotes energy efficiency and sustainable development and helped start the 10-year-old Green Builders Alliance. On his duplex units, one of which is finished, Stones followed his usual procedures. He headed off any future problems with lead, soot and other contaminants by removing all the old plaster, lath and woodwork. He also replaced all the wiring and added cable for television and Internet service to every room. He replaced the plumbing with Wirsbo AQUAPEX, a flexible polyethylene tubing with none of the deposits or lead problems of metal pipes or off-gassing associated with early plastic plumbing. The walls and roof are insulated with cellulose and Icynene foam insulation, which he says better fills cavities and releases no fibers into the air, like fiberglass.

Real linoleum floors are found throughout Stones' renovated unit. Carpeting can hold dust, mold and other pollutants that could bother someone with allergies or multiple chemical sensitivity.

He removed all carpeting and four layers of flooring to put down Forbo Marmoleum, a type of true linoleum made from linseed oil, wood flour and other natural materials. Real linoleum, which has been manufactured for more than 100 years, is making a comeback. Stones said it costs $30 a yard, about the same as high-end vinyl flooring, and is more durable. He likes it so much that he also used it in the kitchen and bathroom as a back splash and as a decorative insert in the chair rail. To eliminate basement dampness that could lead to mold development, he rerouted downspouts and installed a system of French drains to divert runoff from the hillside in back. For general air quality, he installed a Broan Nutone HEPA filtration unit on the gas-fired furnace and central air conditioner. The ventilation unit, which operates constantly, uses no more power than a 100-watt light bulb, Stones said. Some of the changes he made in the duplexes are more about maintenance than about tenants' health. The doors between rooms and on new closets are made of Masonite, a very hard composite material. For added durability, Stones had the doors painted with automotive paint and a top clearcoat. The only rug is a thin runner on the stairs which he will replace with each new tenant. The duplexes have Traco aluminum thermal windows and will have vinyl siding soon. The lighting throughout the house is fluorescent and compact fluorescent fixtures with electronic ballast and T-8 bulbs, which use less energy than incandescents. The T-8 bulbs cost about twice as much as the more common cool white T-12s, Stones said, but use less energy and do not hum. He gets some of his ideas from Bower, a designer, builder and consultant on homes for chemically sensitive people and author of several books on "The Healthy House." Stones' efforts win guarded praise from Marie , co-founder of The Greater Pittsburgh Chemical Sensitivity Network. She said finding safe, affordable housing is one of the biggest problems for people with multiple chemical sensitivity. "A.J. has a good heart and wants to do a good job. But a blanket approach isn't necessarily the way to go. There's so much variation in how much and what kinds of things we tolerate," she said. said some people with MCS are OK with gas-fired vent heat while others can't tolerate it and must have electric heat. Still others have problems with the weak electromagnetic fields created around electrical appliances and must have radiators. She said the absence of carpeting in the duplexes is a good thing because it off-gases formaldehyde when new and traps dust, mold and other contaminants in the house. But drywall and other building materials, unless specially ordered, also contain formaldehyde, she said. The HEPA filter in the HVAC system is a plus, she said, because many people with MCS often have allergies to mold, dust and other non-chemical substances. said Stones is "probably the most progressive" of the contractors she knows and that people with MCS may be willing to pay a premium for a home rehabbed like his duplexes. But many people with MCS no longer work, she said. "A person on disability couldn't afford it. ... When you compound illness and no money, that's a devil of a problem," said. Stones said that beyond rent, his units would be comparatively inexpensive to live in. He said electric bills during the hottest months and gas bills during the coldest would average $30-$40 a month. It would be an ideal home for a family with children who have allergies, he said. "The trick is finding them."

Kirkland can be reached at kkirkland@... or 412-263-1978.