Building Materials

You can save a lot of money and avoid future headaches by choosing and installing building materials that are safe and appropriate. There is no specific cookbook path to success with building materials.
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Bamboo Flooring

Bamboo flooring is a cost-effective and environmentally sensitive choice among traditional hardwood flooring options. An appealing building material, it is very durable, strong and long-lasting. Bamboo, a grass product and not a wood product, is harvested every 5 years without damaging the actual bamboo plant, and does not require pesticides due to its hardiness. more on Bamboo Flooring ...

Alternative Decking Materials

Alternative decking materials are rising in popularity because they are durable and long lasting, require little to no maintenance, and most are composed of recycled materials. The two most common types are wood/plastic composite lumber and plastic lumber. A majority of alternative decking materials are made from 90-100% recycled materials that do not require the use of paints or sealers and are not prone to cracking or splitting like their wood counterparts.
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Roofs - Durable, Lasting Roofing Materials

Slate, clay, concrete, and composite shingles, as well as metal roofing, offer longevity advantages over common asphalt-based shingles. Properly maintained, roofs made of slate, clay or composite shingles can easily last a century. Metal roofs in traditional "standing seam " or "batten seam" applications are available in terne (a thin mixture of tin and lead coating a carbon steel core panel) and now in terne-coated-stainless ( TCS, the same mixture covering a stainless steel core panel).
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Straw Bale Home Basics

Appropriate for a wide variety of climates, straw bale homes can be comfortable and can manage moisture effectively if designed and constructed properly. These structures can provide good thermal (approx. R-30 to R-35) and sound insulation and provide some fire-resistance in ASTM testing. They use low embodied energy, low-toxicity building materials which are usually available locally.
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Tucson Energy Efficient Homes