The Remodeling Show Awards: Most Interesting Product October 25, 2007

 Hands down this goes to Green Glue.  Green Glue is the simple and easy answer to sound  proofing floors, wall and ceilings in new construction or remodeling. You simply apply the product with a caulk gun between two sheets of standard drywall or plywood. There is no exact measuring (other than 2 tubes per 4×8 sheet of plywood) or specific coverage pattern - you just apply it randomly all over the board.

This product is great for home theaters, recording studios, condos, apartments, impact noise (footstep noise) and squeaky floors.

Green Glue has been tested and found to:

• Be the most thoroughly of any sound isolation material available

• Be able to be inserted into any fire rated assembly according to the International Building Code

• Not form a vapor lock

• Be environmentally friendly with almost no V.O.C.’s

• Not contribute to mold growth

 Thank goodness for the FAQ on their website. Below are a few:

The Remodeling Show Awards: Products For The Installer and DIY October 24, 2007

For The Installer: Custom Building Products has a new line of lightweight setting materials that help tackle the issues of load factors, vehicle wear and fatigue on the body. These products are equal to the traditional products in strength and coverage – they just weigh less. A major benefit to this new line is that they are made with recycled materials that contribute to LEED’s certification! Click on the pictures above or below for the complete specification sheet, MSDS sheet and brochure.

For The DIY (Do it yourself-er): Custom Building Products has come out with a full line of pre-mixed tile setting products so if you want to tackle your own tile installation project you can avoid the potential disaster of spreading thin-set from your ceiling to your floor! If you’ve never tried setting your own tile or mixing your own thin-set, it’s a lot harder than it looks! The line offers a floor leveler, floor patch, ceramic tile thin-set mortar, and another for natural stone. For small jobs and repairs, there is a premixed adhesive and grout – all in one! All have the added protection of Mold Guard Technology , an environmentally sound method designed to keep moisture out and neutralize the food source that mold and mildew thrive on.

The Remodeling Show Awards: Products For The Guru October 19, 2007

This award is FOR THE GURU.  I couldn’t decide if this product was better suited more for the end user, retailer or the installer, but Custom Building Products has come up with a product that will make customers, retailers and installers all smile. They have taken their top 18 colors and created a product called Prism Sure Color Grout that eliminates some of the nagging problems with grout like shading and that chalky residue known as efflorescence. As a bonus, it is stain resistant right out of the bag. (which is now in a 17 pound bag instead of a 25 pound bag covering the same square footage) You can even walk on it in 4 hours rather than typically having to wait until the next day. For the retailer, it cuts down on your inventory eliminating the need for sanded and unsanded grout because it covers joints from 1/16” to ½” and obviously less call backs. So, the customer gets great results from their grout installation the first time and the installer doesn’t have to go back for service calls. It’s nice to see a great product being improved upon by a company that doesn’t stop with a good product, but continues to find new ways to improve their products to make them even better. 

Toasty Toes & Warm Floors October 16, 2007

As the weather outside starts to turn and the temperature starts to drop, my floors are beginning to feel cooler and I long for warmth under my feet! I have always thought that having radiant heat to warm my floors was a good idea but thought the process was probably more complicated than it was worth. Recently, a friend of mine who was working on a remodeling project called to ask my advice on what type of radiant heat to use. So, I figured now might be a good time to demystify this process and get my friend some answers.The first thing I found interesting was that radiant heat systems work not only with tile and stone floors but also with carpet, vinyl and hardwood! I am from the south where it doesn’t ever get too terribly cold. To me, it made sense to heat tile because tile is cold! But now that I know that I can heat other types of flooring, I ask you, why not have warm floors everywhere? As much as I love to go barefoot and have now relocated to Colorado, this is very appealing.