When the Myers' purchased Casa Dos Rios, the house on the property was 4 years old.
It had been used by the previous owners to run their two businesses and so roughly half of the house was dedicated to their business space. There was one adjoining interior door. Additionally, the kitchen layout was not to their taste. The interior remodel was extensive, and consisted of adjoining the two halves of the house together through a central hallway, repurposing many rooms, replacing cabinetry, plumbing and electrical fixtures and replacing and adding upgraded cabinetry and built-in shelves. All stains used on the cabinets were water based low-VOC stains.
All cabinets, plumbing and electrical fixtures, reuseable lumber, tile, countertops, windows and doors removed from the house were recycled.
Items were either reused in another location in the house, donated to a small school for a complete kitchen remodel, or given to private
homeowners for their use. Very little was taken to the dump. All wood used on the job
was either FSC (Forest Stewardship Certified) or recycled lumber.
A lighting control system was installed and all electrical near bedrooms and offices was
replaced using shielded cabling to prevent possible emissions leakage. Long-life bulbs
were installed and programmed to run at no more than 90%,
leading to an increased bulb life and reduced electrical cost.
After the electrical work was complete, eco-friendly wall board was used to replaster the walls.
Because there were lots of visible tape marks where the old and new plaster
board adjoined,
clay paint was used with a thick nap roller in order to add enough
texture to the walls to hide the tape lines. Then, low VOC paints were used to repaint the interior of the house.
Finally, wood floors were extended down the new hallway and into two bedrooms using
FSC lumber. We attempted to use water-based low VOC stain on the floors, but found
that without the extenders contained in regular VOC stains, the paint dried too fast to cover a large floor without visible overlapping marks.
New, low-flow toilets and faucets were installed throughout
and additional water filtration
systems were installed, as a safety measure since Casa Dos Rios uses well water.
A large (7 foot by 5 foot) mosaic was designed and installed over the Great Room
fireplace by Texas artist, Deb Carlson Wight. You can view this fantastic Valley Oak on her website by clicking on the Commissions page. Fantastic wall murals were painted on one Bedroom and the Guest Bath walls. The kitchen island was topped with FSC Lumber and was faux painted to impart an aged look. This work was done by Lisa Kindley at Butterfly Studio. She can be reached at
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.
All furnishings were chosen specifically for the house and match the Old California
Mission style interior. Many pieces were custom built like the antique mexican door
which was made into a coffee table for the Great Room, a massive old-Spanish style
armoire in the Master Bedroom and a mission-style cabinet in the Dining Room. Two
limestone fireplaces were hand-carved for the Great Room and North Patio and a
blacksmith crafted a custom wrought iron lamp for the Family Room. The Pool and Air
Hockey tables in the Family Room were hand-crafted to our design using recycled
wood. Original artwork featuring California landscapes and missions is featured
throughout the house.
More details will be added to this section as Jean finds time to research products and
techniques that were used. More narrative regarding working with a contractor on an
eco-friendly remodel will also be discussed. Also, specific house projects will be
featured in the featured in the Casa Dos Rios Journal.
See the Resources section for more references to eco-friendly remodeling resources.
