Real Green Trends

Aventura Eco Friendly Tips for Condo / Home Living

Are you planning on doing some Spring Remodeling? These Tips will help you maintain the value of your condo. Especially if you are thinking of reselling in this Buyer’s Market.

Why Don’t you Try Bamboo Floors?

Highlights

Renewable flooring materials like Bamboo cost less than hardwood and look great. Bamboo grows significantly faster than hard wood so it is sustainable. Some bamboos grow to over 60 feet in just 6 months.

Vertically oriented ‘carbonized’ 5/8 bamboo tongue and groove with pre-urethane top coat performs very well and looks terrific. Note that when comparing prices against hard wood, American oak is often cured longer and has less potential to buckle than cheaper imports that cost less than $5 / sq. ft. Bamboo costs about $3.50 / sq. ft. so the immediate savings on a 300 sq.ft. room (20′ x 15′ ) is about $450.

Consider bamboo for guest rooms, dens, home offices, or play rooms. You have many styles to choose from, but the vertical oriented system may wear better over time than the horizontal. The ‘carbonized’ finish is darker than the blonde finish and it looks more like hardwood, and pre-finished boards with multiple coats of urethane will save on installation.

Also consider using bamboo instead of carpet. Installed carpet ranges from $1.25 to $2.50 per sq. ft. but you have to clean it and potentially replace it every 5 to 10 years depending on the wear.

The savings is immediate relative to wood, but the ROI Calculation is based on offsetting carpet at an average of $1.75 / sq. ft. for two 300 sq. ft. rooms with the need for a carpet replacement within 10 years.

The Bamboo ‘Grain’ is elegant and durable, a great option for your condo.

For more information on green friendly tips, stay tuned to my blog www.realgreentrends.com and when you are ready to sell or buy your residence in Aventura, Bal Harbour or Sunny Isles, just contact me.

SPRINGING INTO ACTION – NATURAL CLEANING PRODUCTS FOR YOUR AVENTURA HOME

Do we really need to smell  amonia and or clorox in our Aventura or Miami homes to consider them clean?

The truth is, once you get it out of your head that you need your house to smell like a freshly sterilized hospital room, you’ll find your best cleaning supplies right in your own pantry. Baking soda and vinegar will often work to clean just about anything, including toilet bowls, soap scum and kitchen sinks.

Try some club soda and a clean rag to scrub it out. This also works wonders on garments, as I thankfully learned when I spilled red wine on my champagne-colored dress at my brother’s wedding. (No need to point out the irony, folks. I get it.)

What can I use for my everyday household cleaning?

Simply, mix 1 cup vinegar with 1 cup water in a spray bottle and you’re ready to go. For more serious disinfecting, try having one spray bottle of vinegar around and one spray bottle of hydrogen peroxide (make this one a dark bottle since light can change the properties of hydrogen peroxide). Different sources have proved that spraying these two nontoxic ingredients on your countertops can kill 10 times more bacteria than peroxide alone.