Wood That Could

Among the termite damage that we discovered was a portion of the fence that surrounds my property. This portion of the fence is the oldest and we share it with an older neighbor who hasn’t spent any money to maintain her home so while other portions of the fence had been updated, this section has probably been up for over 20 years. So it isn’t surprising that many of the supporting posts were riddled with termites.

Cemil had his team pull out the posts and take off the boards. What we did discover is that some of the old redwood boards are in good shape and quite lovely. Once planed, they can be reused. And so they will. We are going to create a pool equipment enclosure and having these nice old redwood boards will give the new construction and old feel so that the “new” pool house will blend in nicely with my older, weathered outdoor teak furniture.

The learning…..even old wood can be renewed and reused and make a beautiful and cost efficient addition.

When Any Old Door Won’t Do!

Ok, so I was not an integral part of the decision-making that went into getting new doors into place. I only knew that the old ones were warped and always had to be held open by doorstops. Cemil chose the doors and he made sure they were not your usual Douglas Fur. Rather, they are MDF and are of 97% recycled material. Formaldehyde free, of course. And they are now up and ready for painting. I can vouch for their being solid and attractive. And they are green too!

I have to put in a plug for Truitt & White for anyone in the bay area of San Francisco who is looking for a building supply partner. They are able to offer lots of advice and their green knowledge and product experience grows daily. (www.truittandwhite.com).