Before Picture of Kitchen:

Becky's Before Kitchen

Green Kitchen Phoenix on Tight Budget

She acquired her property using the FHA 203(k) Renovation program. A quick summary of the FHA 203(K) Renovation program goes as follows:

1. Buyer finds a property that needs a ton of work in the area they desire (usually a bank owned property fits this description…missing flooring, missing cabinets, bad roof, A/C needs work, broken windows, etc). Let’s say the home is being sold for 80k.
2. The home is being sold at a discount because the seller does not want to spend the money to make the repairs.
3. Buyer has qualified for a FHA loan up to 125k.
4. Buyer writes offer for 80K. Buyer has home inspected by HUD consultant to find out what is required to bring it up to FHA standards.
5. Buyer also informs Home Repairs and Remodeling what other items they would like to add (new windows, new cabinets, new paint, etc). Buyer can remodel anything in her home as long as buyer stays within their qualified budget of 125k.
6. Total funds needed to meet FHA standards plus meet the wants of the buyer are 110k. The lender approves loan for 110k.
7. Buyer agrees to proceed with Home Repairs and Remodeling. Once escrow closes, 80k is given to the seller, and 30k is held by the lender. Home Repairs and Remodeling begins making the repairs and renovations. Once work completed and passes inspection, lender releases funds to Home Repairs and Remodeling.

Now, let’s get back to Becky’s situation. She needed a new electrical panel, all new windows, new carpeting, HVAC work, new block fencing to secure property and provide safe yard for her new puppy!

Becky's puppy, Cookie!

The kitchen needed major updating, yet there were not enough funds to replace the beat up cabinets and outdated countertops with new cabinetry and granite countertops. What to do on a very tight budget?

“Go green Becky!”
Immediately her first response was that going green would be more expensive. Big myth! John D. Wagner, Green Editor for the magazine Qualified Remodeler, points to five basic tenets of green building. John says for the most part a product is green if:
1. It improves indoor air quality.
2. Uses recycled/recyclable materials.
3. Reduces water consumption.
4. Is sustainably harvested.
5. Reduces fuel consumption (carbon footprint) during the manufacturing, delivery, installation and use.

So, Becky and Home Repairs and Remodeling got to work. Today they visited Stardust, to find kitchen products that could be re-used. Bingo! They found 15 Linear feet of butcher block that someone had turned in.

$175.00 later, Becky had her countertops. The countertops will need a layer of wood sanded off, plus staining and sealing, but it was still a great find. They also saw where they could buy someone else’s disposed of cabinets at a fraction of the cost they would have paid for new ones…and then have cabinets painted with low to zero VOC paint. Once layout of cabinets finalized, Becky will be back to purchase the used cabinets and Home Repairs and Remodeling will make them look like new again. By saving on big ticket materials, Becky was able to pick out a brand new farm-style sink and faucet from IKEA.

So, please continue to follow this story as it develops. We will keep you posted on the progress through pictures and keep a tally running to see if we can do it under the tight budget!

Young married couple in Tempe already had the bamboo flooring, and now they wanted to finish off their kitchen with Fireclay (re-cycled tile high in post consumer material) tile for their back splash. We were eager to please! No job is too big or small for Home Repairs and Remodeling!

Here are some Before, During, After photos:

Before Green Back Splash

During:

During Green Tile back splash project

After

Green Remodeling with Green Tile!

Set the budget and stick to it (not as easy as it sounds…ask elected group of men and women inside the beltway in DC). Whether you do it yourself or select a contractor to do it…the budget is the budget. Positive things happen when one follows the budget. Here are the byproducts of setting a budget: proper planning, creativity, resourcefulness, and efficiency.

And remember Rome was not built in a day, neither is your home going to be as Green/Sustainable as possible in one month.

There are 6 categories that the USGBC (U.S. Green Building Council) uses in its rating system…just think SWEMI
1. Sustainable Site
2. Water Efficiency
3. Energy and Atmosphere
4. Materials and Resources
5. Indoor Environmental Quality
6. Innovation and Design

When new buildings go up or new homes are built and the owners want them to be officially LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certified, then guess what, the owner must meet certain requirements in each of the above categories. But as a homeowner you may tackle each category at your own pace…so it takes you 1-3 years to go through all the categories…you are being fiscally responsible with the environment…and keeping more dollars in your pocket…nothing wrong with that! With all this new info, let’s get to the nuts and bolts (that would be recycled nuts and bolts!!!!)

Tip #1 Planning phase: Decide which of the following categories you want to address first:
1. Sustainable Site: How your home is situated on your property, how to manage stormwater (just like it sounds…rains from storms), the landscaping being used, the grading on your property.

2. Water Efficiency: how much water you are conserving (low flow fixtures, tankless water heaters), recycling water (aka Graywater), collecting water. Good resources are http://envirolet.com and http://watersavertech.com

3. Energy and Atmosphere: conserving energy (heating system, cooling system, appliances, lighting, electronics), solar and wind power. Good resource is http://irecusa.org

4. Material and Resources: Recycling paper, cardboard, glass, plastics and metals. The fun stuff…what is the end product going to look like (bamboo and cork flooring, recycled paper countertops, Forest Stewardship Council certified wood, natural insulation, fire clay tiles, recycled glass tiles, ceramic tile, low to zero VOCs {Volatile Organic Compounds} paint, natural fiber carpets)…where you buy your materials (think local) makes a difference in saving energy, plus it gives a nice boost to local economy! Also re-using materials from demolition (i.e. if we were to demo wall, we could re-use 2×4 studs to frame maybe another portion of the remodel project). Good resources:
http://vetrazzo.com
http://enviroglassproducts.com
http://glasstile.com
http://kireiusa.com
http://ecotimber.com
http://bondedlogic.com

5. Indoor Environmental Quality: If you choose certain materials from #4 you automatically improve the air quality indoors. By using 0 VOC paint, and installing HEPA filters in your HVAC return system, and changing out furnace filters 1x per month you can save up to 10% of your heating costs plus remove allergens from home and improve air quality. Think of techniques to create natural ventilation (will address when we cover these item more in depth).

6. Innovation and Design: this category if more geared to getting a project LEED Certified. The purpose of this post is to give homeowners valuable tips as they contemplate going green.

Please check back with us at http://homerepairsandremodeling.com/blog over the next 7 days as we break down each category in separate postings to give Free Green Remodeling Tips that homeowners can do themselves (for the most part), and most importantly keeping it within a budget!

Please visit us at http://homerepairsandremodeling.com and visit the Request Service page…or email javier@homerepairsandremodeling.com or call Javier Zuluaga, Director of Sales and Marketing at 602-686-8354.

Here are some before and after pictures.

As a plus it just so happens that we are on our way to becoming LEED accredited. We used very “Green”(look under the “about us” page in this link) cabinets to complete this project.

If you are looking to remodel “Green” just let us know!