Do you have a pile of old computer equipment taking up space in your basement? Does a defunct television lurk in the back of a closet shelf?

Among all the useful tips leading up to Earth Day this Sunday, April 22nd, comes information about how to finally get rid of obsolete and broken household electronics. Rather than contribute to another land fill, we can recycle them!

Web Innovations and Technology Services will be at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park this Sunday from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., accepting your recyclable electronics.

Should you need a little more time to gather up old cell phones, blenders, microwaves and printers, there are 10 metropolitan locations accepting electronic waste all year long. Click here for details on locations and what items will be accepted.

Happy Earth Day.

We are currently working on an interior remodel with an interesting twist. The husband half of this Ballwin client is an accomplished carpenter, specializing in furniture making. He is fully qualified to convert a small bedroom and living room into one large family room, but to do so on weeknights and weekends would take months of disruption and effort.

To shorten a job from months to mere weeks, they enlisted us to demo and drywall the new space, reface the fireplace, add a new entrance to the backyard pond and create a closet in the foyer. We do the basics and our carpenter client will do all the finishes. He will put down tiger wood flooring, install moldings and handle all the painting. In essence, Mosby creates the canvas for the client to create on.

When Mosby lead carpenter Rory (pictured above with “site supervisor” Maxwell) asked what made him choose us to do the prep work, he replied that there was never any question that it would be Mosby. He wanted quality work done right, and we were the only ones he trusted to match his carpentry standards.

A compliment like that from a carpentry peer is quite the honor. Thank you, sir.

We have just begun work on a complete renovation of a 2-story farmhouse in Southern Illinois. The home was built by a great-grandfather approximately 140 years ago and has served 5 generations of family.

The house was built with balloon framing, which is not unusual for a house of this vintage. But finding the wells between the studs lined with non-structural bricks was quite the surprise. Interior plaster was applied directly to the bricks, while wood clapboards nailed into the wood studs covered the exterior brick. This curious find led to a collective, “Why?”

One of our carpenters, recalling old building practices of his native Ireland, said they used to fill framing with bricks to keep out rodents and insects. The most logical guess was that the bricks were a crude form of insulation. A little research into this phenomenon offers up several answers.

This practice of brick wall lining is known as “brick nogging,” and can be found in wood frame buildings built from 1810 - 1900. Bricks were found to be a better material for thwarting pest infestation than the straw and corncob insulation used in earlier days, and that solid wall helped block wind.

Brick nogging also served as a form of fire blocking, and provided a bit of soundproofing. A fascinating detail on all aspects of brick nogging can be read here.

It’s said that brick nogging was done only on exterior walls, and that highlights another curious aspect of our client’s farmhouse: even the interior walls are “nogged.” Seeing as how this home is (still) in a sparsely-populated rural area, the fire protection aspects of brick lining could have been an incentive for the 19^th century builder.

In the 21^st century, a brick lined wall provides an R-value of only R1 while modern homes strive for R11 – 20. Bricks retain moisture, so applying any new materials on or near it increases the risk of damp and mold issues. So, in adherence to responsible remodeling practices, we are carefully removing the brick lining, and proper insulation will then go into the spaces between the still-sturdy wood framing.

As we move through the old house, we’re learning how best building practices both change and remain the same over the centuries, and that great grandfather and Mosby have something important in common: We build it to last.

When looking at the facts, trading in the traditional incandescent light bulb for compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL) makes sense.

● CFLS use 70-75% less energy

● Last 8 - 10 times longer than traditional bulbs

● Save $30+ in energy costs over its lifetime

While standing in the light bulb aisle at the hardware store, the price tag for a 2-pack of CFLs is somewhat higher, but think of the most-used light fixture in your home and realize this: one CFL can easily last 2 years whereas you’ll change out an incandescent 4 or 5 times in that same fixture in the same time period. Itemize the cost differences, and that initial price tag isn’t more expensive; it becomes more economical on so many levels.

Because switching over to CFLs makes so much sense for everyone, Australia made the bold step of enacting a law that phases out incandescent bulbs by 2010. Australia’s Environment Minister said, “It’s a little thing but it’s a massive change. If the whole world switches to these bulbs today, we would reduce our consumption of electricity by an amount equal to five times Australia’s annual consumption of electricity.”

So, it’s easy to make the change, and it feels good to be a part of helping the planet (and your pocketbook) as you screw the new bulb into the living room lamp. Then you turn on the lamp and your heart sinks….

The color it gives off is very unflattering!

This isn’t solely a vanity issue. People who normally never notice such things notice the peculiar yellow hue a CFL throws out, and for some people that unflattering light is a deal breaker.

But have no fear! CFLs come in a range of color temperatures. After fretting to a colleague about how the “soft white bulbs are actually ugly yellow,” I was shown how to look for “daylight” on the bulb packages, and that the Daylight versions give off a pleasant glow similar to the light we’re used to with incandescent bulbs.

I purchased a 2-pack of Daylight CFLs, and sure enough, they look great. I moved the “soft white” yellow versions to outdoor and basement light fixtures, and thus, economic and “atmospheric” balance has been achieved.

This quick education on selecting the proper color CFL is just as important as why to switch to CFL. Everything works out if you let it.