Work with Bathroom Remodeling Contractors Focused on Superior Results
At a certain point, remodeling your home becomes a necessity. Perhaps you prefer the look of more up-to-date finishes, or a more thoughtful bathroom layout would improve your ability to use the space in your home. Or maybe you want to increase the value of your home.
Regardless of your reason for remodeling, you may still be focused on hiring a contractor to perform a bathroom remodel as eco-consciously as possible. At NextGen Remodeling, we know it can be done. Take our advice on a few ways you can be eco-friendly as you get your new and improved bathroom in your home.
Recycle the Fixtures You Remove During Bathroom Remodel Demolition
That 1990s honey-oak wood vanity in your bathroom may not be to your taste, but that doesn’t mean someone else won’t love it. And if you can salvage your linen cabinet and old cast-iron bathtub, too, that’s even better!
Avoid using brute force in your bathroom demolition, and carefully uninstall these pieces so they can be reused in other settings. For example, Habitat for Humanity Re-Store offers fixtures and furniture like this at bargain prices for people looking to do DIY remodeling projects on a tight budget. Many times, they’ll come pick up your donations, too, as long as nothing is broken or heavily damaged.
By keeping these fixtures out of a landfill, you’re taking a big step toward making your bathroom remodel more eco-friendly than it would have been had everything gone into a dumpster.
Opt for Water-Saving Toilets
Every time you flush a conventional toilet, you’re literally sending between 1.6 and 7 gallons of water down the drain, depending on the age of the fixture. Calculate how often you flush, and you might end up with a startling number.
Keep your bathroom remodel on the eco-friendly side by choosing a dual-flush toilet. This type of toilet gives you the option for a light flush of liquid waste, or a 1.6-gallon flush for heavier stuff. For a small bathroom remodel in your finished basement, a toilet with vacuum technology provides a powerful flush that uses even less water.
And if your goal is going as green as you can in a half-bathroom, ask your bathroom remodeling contractor to pick up a toilet tank sink. This tiny sink sits atop your toilet tank and replaces the lid. The water you use to wash your hands is saved for flushing. This type of sink can even save you money, because you don’t need to plumb a whole sink for your half bath.
Choose a Low-Flow Showerhead and Sink Faucet
Your old showerhead goes through between 2.5 and 5.5 gallons per minute. When you upgrade your bathroom, opt for a low-flow showerhead. There are two kinds to choose from – laminar flow and aerating – that still put forth plenty of water pressure.
An aerating low-flow showerhead mixes air with the water, and a laminar-flow pushes the water into individual streams. Either deliver between 1.25 and 1.8 gallons per minute.
You can even get a low-flow bathroom sink faucet and save 30 percent of the water you’d normally use. An aerator on your sink can reduce it even further, to only 0.5 gallons of water per minute.
Expand Your Bathroom Remodel to Include a Greywater System
If you’re really set on conserving water, you can add a greywater system to your home. It recycles gently-used water from your sinks, showers, bathtubs, and washing machines and repurposes it for lawn and garden irrigation.
Greywater can appear dirty because it has had contact with dirt, food, and cleaning products, but it helps you maintain your yard without turning to a traditional garden hose and sprinkler.
If greywater grosses you out too much, you can utilize rainwater that you collect via rain barrels to water your lawn and garden.
While your Kansas City bathroom remodeling contractor may not install greywater systems, you can have the work done simultaneously through another company, so you’ll not be without your home for any longer.
Find Eco-Conscious Flooring
Unconventional flooring tends to be more eco-friendly than commonly-selected materials. You may be surprised to find just how many flooring options there are that are made of recycled content!
Instead of buying mass-produced ceramic or porcelain tiles, you might spring for some made of reclaimed wood or “vegetable ivory” tiles, which mimic the look of real ivory, but are made of plants.
Buy Cabinets and Vanities Made of All-Natural Materials
Common bathroom vanities are made of pressed wood or MDF, which use formaldehyde-based glues that off-gas into the air. Eco-friendly cabinets – those made of natural materials – are much more environmentally friendly.
Look for materials like solid wood, recycled wood, reclaimed wood, FSC-certified wood, bamboo, or even recycled steel or concrete. Even your countertop can be made of recycled materials, like gorgeous glass.
Although these greener cabinets tend to cost more, you’ll find they’re worth your peace of mind.
Ask Your Bathroom Remodeling Contractor to Use VOC-Free Paint and Finishes
Volatile organic compounds, called VOCs for short, are gases that emit from household products. You almost can’t get away from them! VOCs come from household cleaners, makeup, flooring, furniture, and paint.
In paints, stains, and varnishes, VOCs are used as solvents. Not every VOC is truly harmful, but en masse after a small bathroom remodel, you may find that they are bothersome, as they continually emit harmful vapors even after these finishes are dried.
Thankfully, you can find VOC-free versions of these products, and your contractor can use them at your request.
Enjoy an Eco-Conscious Bathroom Remodel Near You
If you’re looking to upgrade your home, but want to lessen the carbon footprint of the process, then it’s up to you to talk about the green choices you want to make when you call NextGen Remodeling in Roeland Park, Kansas.
Specializing in basement, kitchen, and bathroom remodels in Kansas City, we pride ourselves in the focus we put on our clients’ wish list and our ability to carry them out with an incredible level of craftsmanship. And we’re proud to help you live up to your personal code of ethics in our remodeling projects, too.
To learn how NextGen Remodeling can help you upgrade your home in a more green way, give us a call or request an estimate online.
Get started by requesting an estimate online or by calling us. We can’t wait to learn how we can help you transform your home.