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Living energy efficiently, or "going green", is becoming a new way of life. Aside from helping the environment, energy efficient products help homeowners save money. The Total Basement Finishing (TBF) system provides a number of basement finishing products to help you create an energy efficient home, all at an affordable price.
The U.S. Department of Energy reports that insulating your basement could save around $300 to $400 a year in many areas of the country. The DOE also recommends interior insulation rather than exterior insulation on basement walls because it is less expensive to install, allows you to use a wider selection of insulation types, eliminates the threat of insect infestations and isolates the space from the cold earth much more effectively.
The EverLast™ Basement wall panels offered by TBF use 2.5 inches of high-density R-13 closed-cell foam insulation and a half inch of 95% certified recycled hard board for reliable construction that can hold as much as 300 pounds (136kg) without breaking, buckling or failing. The walls are created with HCFC blowing agents, making them 94% less ozone-depleting than standard CFC blowing agents used in other products. HCFCs have little comparative ozone depletion potential, with short atmospheric lifetimes. This makes them far less environmentally damaging than the standard alternatives. TBF wall paneling is installed without wood or metal studs. Wood and other organic materials can get moldy and rot when in a damp environment like the basement. Metal studs conduct the cold from the basement walls right through to the finished wall and can also rust from water or moisture.
Before adding insulation or finishing the basement, Energy Star recommends finding and plugging all outside air leaks. You should first take control of moisture in your home to improve the effectiveness of your sealing and insulation. The DOE writes that moisture control greatly improves energy efficiency in a home. Be sure to properly waterproof your basement before finishing! (Basementsystems.com)
Getting the proper basement windows can drastically improve the energy efficiency in your home. TBF's EverLast™ Basement windows are made out of crystal-clear double thermopane glass with an R-insulation of 2.94, and an all-vinyl frame. Unlike metal or wooden framed windows, they will never rot, support mold growth, or rust, and will never need to be painted!.
We know that heat rises in a home, so only about 1% of a home's energy is lost through the basement floor. Therefore, insulating the basement floor is not as beneficial as insulating the basement walls or basement windows. However, a homeowner who uses the basement is going to be in continuous contact with the floor, and this homeowner is going to want the floor to be a warm, comfortable surface.
If you install tile, carpeting or other materials on the floor, cold and moisture from the floor will start to collect. Anything organic will rot, and the cold surface will be unpleasant to walk on. It's best to first install an insulated sub floor that will create a thermal break between the cold concrete and the surface. The Total Basement Finishing ThermalDry® Flooring is inorganic and will never rot or grow mold. All plastic compounds used to create ThermalDry® tiled flooring and sub flooring, as well as the MillCreek wood laminate flooring, have been created with post-consumer products, and their plastic compounds are fully recyclable.
The tiles have raised pegs on the back, forming an airspace underneath that allows the flooring's surface to be as much as ten degrees warmer than the concrete below. If the floor gets wet from a plumbing leak or other source, simply dry the floor out! If a tile or two ever becomes damaged, a high traffic area at the bottom of the stairs for example, those tiles can be replaced due to ThermalDry® Basement Flooring's modular design. Available in carpet and tile designs, there's a color and style to match everyone's taste!
Similarly, the MillCreek flooring has been tested to have an ozone layer destroying index of 0. MillCreek flooring contains no lead, cadmium, or mercury and does not emit formaldehyde.
Total Basement Finishing's ENERGY STAR® approved dehumidifier will dry your basement and clean the air while using minimal energy. The SaniDry™ Basement Air System will take four times the water out of the air as a typical dehumidifier, while using the same amount of energy or less! The SaniDry™ also removes particles out of the air down to 2 microns in size - that's the size of dust mite droppings! (The #1 household allergen in the U.S.) It's the perfect energy efficient dehumidification solution for your eco-friendly and healthy home.
View our Basement Finishing Product Page for more information about our finishing components.
With landfills filling up with drywall and more shallow gypsum mines eliminating swaths of wildlife, we know that drywall is far from a green remodeling material. In landfills, drywall adds toxic sulfate to the water and emits a rotten egg smell. In your basement, damp drywall will also support mold growth as it rots in the humid environment, contributing to home allergens. It's becoming increasingly clear that there has to be a better product for basement finishing in your home.
Total Basement Finishing's line of remodeling products is the green basement finishing answer you've been looking for. Total Basement Finishing would like to provide you with a free estimate and 90-page full-color basement finishing book to help you design a long-lasting, healthy, and beautiful new space in your home. Each of our products includes a written warranty, and the backing of an international dealer network of basement finishers.
To get started with a free, no cost, no obligation basement remodeling estimate from one of our company's experienced contractors in Naperville, Aurora, Joliet, Elgin, Schaumburg, Cicero, Des Plaines, Bartlett, Palatine, Arlington Heights, Lombard, Glenview, Saint Charles, Lockport, Elmhurst and surrounding areas, call or send our company an e-mail today!
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