We were hard at work again on our renovation project in Three Rivers last weekend. First, we managed to build our first wall! Using the 2x4s we salvaged from the previous walls, we attempted and (mostly) succeeded in building a straight wall. The 2x4 that frames the corner is more twisted than we thought it was when we installed it, but we'll have to figure that out later (and count it among the joys of reusing old materials).

Next, we set about preparing to build the walls for the bathroom and the utility room. First, we removed the existing wood floor that covered the area for the bathroom. We'll be reusing this floor in the back of the apartment to fill in when we remove the interior stairs to the first floor. Then we took up the subfloor to allow the plumber access to run drainage plumbing and to eventually put down a more appropriate subfloor for the bathroom. Finally, we removed the old cast iron plumbing with a sledge hammer.

In the process, though, we ran into a pretty significant issue that kept us from beginning the walls for the bathroom and utility room: five of the floor joists had been cut almost completely through when the plumbing was last installed. The only load-bearing walls in this building are the side walls, meaning the joists that span between them hold all of the weight of the floor and the ceiling. So, when five joists in a row are cut as badly as these, the whole floor/ceiling in that area is structurally weakened. Thankfully, though, the joists have only sunk about an inch, so we may not have to jack up the entire section before sistering in new joists for strength. We need to wait for an expert opinion before moving forward ...

As per usual, you can see more photos of our progress on Flickr.

Last weekend was a bit quiet on the renovation front, due primarily to family gatherings and delays of our own making involving permits. We did manage to do some important managerial duties, such as contacting an old friend who may be able to help with our heating system and finally meeting with the building inspector. Both were very productive conversations, with the latter resulting in a building permit--which means we can start building walls next weekend. Yay!

We also managed to remove all of the cast iron pipe from the old boiler heating system, most of which ran the length of the building in the basement. When we were finished cutting it out, we hauled about 1,800 pounds of scrap metal to a scrap recycling center and had a much cleaner basement.

Before:

After:

You can keep track of our progress through more pictures by checking out our 37 N. Main Flickr set. Thanks!

So, knowing that we're on the verge of doing some constructing now that we're nearing the end of desconstructing on our renovation project, I've been doing some research to find sources of lumber besides Home Depot. I filled out a comment form on the web site of a local chain about FSC-certified wood and was surprised to get a thoughtful response within an hour:

We do not stock certified lumber because of the additional cost. We have sold at least one commercial project that required FSC material and it was 30% more expensive than our "normal" lumber. If you would like, I would be happy to have one of our salespeople obtain a quote for you, although I believe that the less you need, the more the difference will be. We've actually been giving the green building movement quite a bit of consideration lately and trying to figure out what role Big C Lumber should play.

So, let me ask you a question or two since you obviously are interested in the responsible management of our forests. Is paying 30% more for lumber from a managed forest worth it? How about low-VOC adhesives, low-formaldehyde sheathing and flooring products? Are they of interest if they add say $1,000 to the cost of the project? What other interests might you have coming from a pro-managed forest perspective?

You asked a pretty simple question and received four questions in return! Any input would be appreciated.

Here is my response:

Wow! Thanks for your prompt and thoughtful response, Matt. I'm really glad to hear that Big C is thinking about what its role is in the future. I think, as a society, we can't continue to keep doing things the way we've been doing them (lumber and otherwise) and I think businesses who make changes now will be ahead of the curve. And hopefully more demand for 'green' building materials would bring prices down a bit.

If there were FSC-certified wood (or locally harvested that could be verified) readily available in common sizes at Big C, we'd pay 30% extra. Being able to trust a local chain saves time on research (I'm spending hours looking for local mom-and-pop sources or trying to find recycled stuff) and gives us peace of mind about the materials we're using in a living space, which is our current project. If cost is really an issue, as it is with our project, people can be creative to off-set costs in other ways. We've been finding used materials on Craig's List and salvaging from demolition in order to be able to afford things like low-E windows and a high-efficiency furnace. We will still end up spending more than doing things the quick-and-easy way, but we're trying to think long-term, even as we try to complete a project relatively quickly.

If you were to introduce a selection of lumber and other products that are environmentally-sensitive, I think that in an area like northern Indiana and southwest Michigan, you'd have to be willing to do some education as well and have a budget for targeted advertising and networking--with universities, extension offices and environmental organizations as well as influential individuals like city managers, contractors, bloggers, community activists and others. A lot of people who would want to purchase these kinds of materials also have a desire to shop more locally than big boxes Home Depot, so being able to buy stuff from a regional business would be a double-bonus.

So there are some of my thoughts. Let me know if I can offer any more feedback. I'm not sure exactly what the parameters of your inventory are, but there are a lot of innovative green products out there--one need only read a few issues of a magazine like Natural Home to get a lot of ideas. Real linoleum flooring, recycled denim insulation...lots of possibilities.

I would love to see positive changes start happening on such a local level with smaller chains, which requires a bit of financial investment and a good dose of imagination. It was refreshing to get a response that didn't patronize me for being a tree-hugger, but took seriously our desire to do things a different, better way. Hopefully this exchange can be a small component of a larger catalyst.

For an interesting look at housing and transportation costs around the United States, check out the Center for Neighborhood Technology's Housing + Transportation Affordability Index. After selecting a region, it becomes quickly obvious that city dwellers spend less overall (as a percentage of their total income) on housing and transportation than do suburban inhabitants. I imagine this is most likely due to the increased availability of mass transit in urban centers, which allows people to live without cars (thereby significantly reducing their transportation costs). Interesting stuff ...

We were back at it this past weekend, working away on the second floor of our building in Three Rivers. We took out the last of the walls we intend to remove, chipped off more plaster to expose the brick underneath and carefully took up some wood floor we weren't able to use where it was (but will certainly save, possibly for use in part of the bathroom). We also managed to start several smaller projects, including removing existing trim and breaking apart old heat registers. Below are a few photos, with more available on Flickr.

Rob, tearing out walls:

Kirstin, taking plaster off brick:

And the floor removed:

Next up, we need to clean up more plaster and lathe, remove nails from the floor we're saving, and dispose of other debris. Then we can start building things instead of tearing them down!

In a disturbing story out of Texas, Joe Horn was recently acquitted of shooting and killing two men robbing his neighbor's house. Horn called 911 when he saw burglars entering the house next door, but decided to take matters into his own hands as the two exited before police arrived. He ran outside, without hanging up the phone (so there's an audio record), and shot both men with his 12-gauge shotgun.

"Joe would be the first to tell you that he wasn't acting as a vigilante," said Horn's attorney. Well, that's nice of Mr. Horn to say about himself, but his actions are the definition of vigilante:

One who takes or advocates the taking of law enforcement into one's own hands.

And while the jury might have understood Horn's actions, the law doesn't really provide for this kind of thing--meaning the jury was wrong to acquit. Imagine what a society might look like if anyone carrying a firearm were permitted to shoot to kill, not out of self-defense, but when simply perceiving a crime. Such a society would quickly devolve into chaos with no respect for authority.

While the burglars in this case were certainly in the wrong, their crime just as certainly did not deserve death. And Mr. Horn had no right or authority to take two lives into his own hands. As he made a conscious choice to kill these men, he should face consequence for his actions.

N.T. Wright was recently on the Colbert Report to talk about his new book, Surprised by Hope. It'd be interesting to know who set that up ...

Kirstin wrote a few weeks back about the strike at the American Axle plant in Three Rivers, asking if company CEOs were willing to sacrifice their salaries for budget cuts. Well, a short story in the Kalamazoo Gazette this weekend answers the question for American Axle's CEO:

American Axle and Manufacturing Holdings Inc. Chairman and CEO Richard Dauch has been awarded an $8.5 million bonus in part for leading the auto parts supplier through a bitter strike.

Revealed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the bonus is in addition to his earlier reported 2007 compensation valued at $5.55 million.

About 3,650 United Auto Workers union members at American Axle's five original facilities in New York and Michigan went on strike Feb. 26 for nearly three months, but later ratified a contract with deep concessions.

Most of Dauch's previously reported pay was stock and options worth roughly $3.99 million on the day they were granted. He also earned $1.47 million in salary and $94,684 in other compensation.

Some of the "deep concessions" mentioned above have forced many American Axle workers to take a 50% cut in pay. Others simply took a one-time, lump sum buyout based on their years with the company, leaving them with a decent amount of money but without work.

Conversation around the strike has been interesting, with many people suggesting that the workers were being greedy during the strike. Granted, many long-term employees were making approximately $28/hour with benefits (significantly above most other laborers in the county), but why can't employees of a successful manufacturing company be paid well? And why should management reap all of the rewards of success?

Indeed, it seems curious that so many people are distrustful and suspicious of worker motivation instead of management greed. Even after seeing the story above and being incredulous that a single person earned so much money in one year, a friend, when we suggested that it was ridiculous in light of the worker concessions, still thought the workers had been earning too much money.

It seems that American culture has been so poisoned by fear of anarchism, communism and other labor movements that we have allowed capitalists free reign to trample over as many people as they'd like on their way to extraordinary wealth. And even when we're presented with evidence of corporate greed, we've been so paralyzed that we refuse to imagine or demand a different and more just way of operating. We are indignant, but held from action because we still won't allow ourselves to trust labor.

Lest I be accused, I'm not suggesting that labor movements are always in the right or that they are always acting in the best interest of the public good. Examples abound, particularly in education, of labor unions protecting incompetent employees for the sake of solidarity.

History shows us, though, that labor movements have been the catalyst for establishing 5-day work weeks, 8-hour days, child labor protection, safe working conditions and a host of other things we now take for granted. Without labor opposition, capitalists will run roughshod over people on their way to more profit. In fact, they're still doing it around the world in countries that don't have adequate labor laws.

And yet we still side with management. Worldviews are indeed difficult to change.

We continued work on our building in Three Rivers this past weekend--tearing out a few more walls, removing plaster from brick, cleaning up debris and picking up building materials. At this point, we're a little more than halfway finished with the demolition phase. We still have a few more small walls to remove, three doors to take out, some more plaster to remove from brick and some floors to take up. But we're certainly making progress!

Here's what the space looked like after this weekend:

Again, there are more photos over at Flickr, complete with descriptions.