Imber Akse House – Burlington’s LEED home

Recently we surfaced our deck in the rear yard. We had been searching for an alternative to wood or composite for various reasons but mostly to build this deck only once, well, and have it last as long as possible. In our situation, most of our deck surface is covered by the roof overhang of the exterior room but the remaining exposed area takes the roof run-off in an intense drip area due to the lack of eaves troughs. So, essentially, a wood surface wood age and rot quickly in these conditions  — even cedar. Composite on the other hand is suspect in a sustainable sense due to their manufacturing practices, plastics and off-gasing.

We had been looking for a panel product that would fit the bill in either a paper or cement based material. There are many recycled paper wall surface panels on the market but none that we could source were structural; meaning meant to manage the load and wear and tear of foot traffic. For concrete, many companies produce a structural concrete panel however they all use these as underlayment in construction, and cover these with graphics of logos and specifications making them useless for a finished floor application.

Recently while speaking with a carpenter friend, he recommended a new product called Finex that’s manufactured in Canada — presumably in Quebec. Finex is a structural panel designed to go on both walls and floors and is produced for exactly our use — outdoor applications like decks! The great thing is the deck requires no exceptional preparation from the typical with exception of the 4lbs. per square foot weight tag it comes with. Lads, that means approx. 130lbs per 4′x8′ sheet of back splitting panel slugging.

I’ll save the details of the application specs but the short is that it cuts like a concrete panel and is screwed down to the wooden joists using stainless screws.

How did it turn out? Well, in some ways better than expected but that outcome was saved by the design considerations of trim, fascia and stonework. As for the product itself, it’s not for everyone. Our aesthetic was ideal for this product as out interior floors are concrete and so a inside outside flow was achieved well – almost a perfect match in colour to our surprise.

The downside was in the inconsistency of the surface appearance that occurred during the purchase, application and sealing of the material. I’m sure floor finishing experts will agree that the finish of the floor isn’t entirely credited to the flooring material, rather it’s the handling, finishing products and experience level of those applying it. After our carpenter friends did an exceptional job applying the sheets, the finishing meant me…

Though some of the material arrived cracked, we had enough to sort through it and chose the best. During application, the Finex recommends using a construction sealer/caulk between the panels to seal the specified 1/8th gap. They say be generous and allow the product to ooze out. Wow, this is not good.

The issue is that the Finex is surprisingly porous and so the rubberized caulking adheres so well to the surface that it’s nearly impossible to remove. After it cured, I tried blades to no resolve and resorted to sanding which helped. Once all the caulking looked as though it were removed, the surface was sealed using a waterborne water sealer to resist staining the porous concrete surface. At this point, and now whenever the surface is wet with rain, the places where the caulking was removed glows with a blotchy white stain.

All is not lost, I believe there is a further solution in either a re-sanding or potentially additional coats of sealer — or both likely.

Never the less, the end result was a cool and beautiful looking deck surface that is tough as nails, fireproof, waterproof, rot proof and will hopefully last a lifetime. I would recommend this product to anyone who is seeking the modern outdoor patio look that we achieved or is chasing a sustainable outcome as we were.

There were many more details in the application; tips and learnings that I could share if anyone is interested in the product.

Finex Concrete Panels — http://gofinex.com/english/welcome-Finex.html

When it comes to sustainability, talking the talk is one thing, walking the walk is another especially when you lump in altruistic challenges like locality to your material purchases.

When it came to bed mattresses however, the decision was easy. A few years ago we discovered Natura sleep company, a mattress manufacturer out of Cambridge Ontario, while looking for our children’s organic mattresses. We thought that sustainable or organic baby mattresses from Canada would be an impossible search however we were excited to find a high quality and easily accessible mattress line for children in our own backyard. (Incidentally – these are made with chemical free cottons, wools and either natural latex or synthetic latex. In all cases they are mite resistant and hypoallergenic. The company promotes using sustainable best practices in their materials and manufacturing processes. Link)

Years later, the mattresses had worn so well, holding up to all the rigor, and fluid exercise, that babies and toddlers can throw at a sleep surface. So when it came time to graduate the kids to youth beds, while also outfitting our guest room, we turned to no one else.

We happily ordered our mattresses online using Natura’s bed guide to point us to the right fit and balance of consciousness and cost. An attempt was made to purchase the Natura product through an area brick and mortar retailer but after too much time being dragged from one tired display to another to hear of their uncertain delivery timing, I gave up, turning to the direct internet route and had a pleasant experience shopping from my couch. Thankfully Natura also delivered.

The first thing we noticed when we took delivery of the mattresses was the increase in quality from the previous purchase. Wow, these are simply beautiful mattresses — weird because they are just mattresses. However the materials used, in our case sturdy organic cotton and wool, are combined and finished with such pleasing shades and handsome stitching. Seriously, I’m sure I’m not alone that mattresses are typically horrible shiny things that are scary to the touch. Not with with these Natura beauties, we felt sorry to have to cover them.

The kicker came when we had to sleep in the spare room or one of the kids beds during nights when the kids were continually waking, or I was snoring. To our surprise, they are more comfortable than our bed which was supposed to be a marvel of organic sleepy goodness — the Samina. Shhh, don’t tell them.

So, for the money, health and altruistic pull of local manufacturing and organic materials there is no better product in my opinion.

Natura Sleep / Bedding Company – http://www.naturaworld.com/