Cohousing-L Mailing List: VOC-free paint; recycled plastic decking & alternatives

[Louisa Rogoff Thompson (louisathompson]

Re:  VOC-free paint:

I've used McCormick's VOC-free paint and was very pleased.  It's not 
100% free of VOC's, but I think they say it's 99.5% free.  I slept in a 
room I had painted a few hours earlier and didn't even get a headache.

It's slightly more expensive than regular and had to be special-ordered 
(1-day ahead).  If you need a lot, ask if they'll give you a contractor 
discount - they seem to be very ready to do that, and it brings the 
price down to about the same as regular paint.  It's a thick paint, so 
you may not need as many coats.

With McCormick and other companies I originally contacted to ask about 
VOC-free paint, I was told by almost all the sales people either (1) all 
latex paint is low in VOCs (true but not what I meant), or (2) they had 
never heard of VOC-free paint and didn't think the company carried it 
(incorrect).  The product is there but the market is so small that the 
sales force just doesn't even know about it.  With McCormick, I had to 
go to the website, find the product number, and order it that way.  I 
went to a green building conference where several paint companies has 
exhibits advertising VOC-free paint, even though their local stores new 
nothing about it.

Re:  recycled plastic fencing and decking

Both pure plastic and plastic mixed with sawdust products exist.  Those 
that are pure plastic - better from a recycling perspective - are 
slippery, very hot in the summer sun, and tend to sag.  Trex (a brand 
name) began adding some sawdust (or similar waste-wood)  to its products 
several years ago to deal with these problems, and to make a material 
that looks somewhat more like wood. 

Note that these products are, as Bill McDonough would say, down-cycled, 
not recycled.  That is, plastic milk jugs are not being re-used as jugs, 
they are permanently turned into a product that is not recyclable.  Some 
alternatives you might consider, depending on the purpose of the fence 
or deck:

Black locust fenceposts and rails - naturally rot resistant and widely 
available.  If anyone knows where to buy black locust landscape timbers 
or planks for decks in the mid-Atlantic I'd love to know.  If you can 
find a local source of trees and a portable sawmill, I'm told that it's 
important to mill them immediately after cutting, before they dry.  Once 
dry, they are so hard they destroy the sawmill.

Low stone walls, planters, or hedges.  Make stone walls about knee 
height for comfortable sitting.  For hedges, avoid invasive plants such 
as barberry or privet.  Find out what the low-growing native shrubs are 
in your area and use those.

A patios instead of a deck.  A patio is on the ground, instead of built 
over it.  It can be paved, partially paved, or planted.  If paved, you 
can used paving stones or bricks laid in sand, to allow drainage.


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