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Sustainable building materials to refurnish your home

Getting ready to remodel your home? Think about how you can go about doing it in a sustainable way. In addition to making your home more eco-friendly, this would enable you to save plenty of time and money on the project. Started thinking? Well, here are some useful pointers to help you out. If you are remodeling your home, choose these sustainable building materials and interiors to their expensive counterparts.

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Bamboo

Touted to be a fast growing plant (one of the fastest to be exact), bamboo can be grown with little or no use of pesticides, fertilizers or water. It is extremely versatile, durable and can be used as a sustainable building material for walls, floors, countertops, decking, patios etc. With loads of attractive options to choose from, this material can make your home look a whole lot greener (in an eco-friendly way). The best part of it all is that bamboo is renewable, which means you can never run out of the material. Moreover, it’s cheap too which means you can use as much of it as you want without burning a hole through your budget.

Composite Decking

Try using this material for your outdoor space. Made out of recycled plastic and reclaimed sawdust, it is a very good substitute for new hardwood floors that could cost a bomb, especially if you are on a tight budget. In addition to being cheap and sustainable, composite decking is extremely durable and does not get affected by mold, rust, rot or warps. It does not need high maintenance cleaning and can keep your garden area green and beautiful for a very long period.

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Reclaimed & Recycled Lumber

Before buying new lumber for your home’s wooden needs, try visiting a shop or company that specializes in reclaimed or recycled lumber. Chances are you will get what you need at a very low cost as when compared to new lumber. Reclaimed lumber is both sustainable and durable. Moreover, the companies that specialize in reclaimed or recycled lumber would usually have plenty of it in stock. This would give you the opportunity to choose the right quantity along with the right size and color for your home.

Sustainable Paints

Opting for sustainable paints means you would be doing yourself and the environment a big favor by using paints that release nasty, chemical laden fumes into the air. Always choose paints that contain low –VOC for the same purpose. Another good idea would be to visit swap shops that contain leftover paints from other housing o remodeling projects. Chances are you would be able to get the right amount of paint you need at just a fraction of the cost of a new gallon of the same paint.

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Sustainable Fixtures

Sometimes fixtures would actually cost more than the wood or paint. A great way to overcome this would be to visit a local thrift shop, a secondhand store or a retailer who specializes in recycled building materials. These places would usually be loaded with plenty of reclaimed or recycled fixtures (gently-used). You can get anything from window treatments, lamps and lighting options to ceiling fans and faucets here. Additionlly the best part of it all is that you can get these items for really cheap prices, and walk away with a treasure trove of beautiful, eco-friendly materials at the end of the day with plenty of cash to spare!

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