Where I live (Long Island, NY) you need a permit for EVERYTHING - even remodeling an existing bathroom. That being said, NO ONE gets one for that or for finishing an existing basement. BUT, when you go to sell the realtors are REQUIRED to report any inconsistencies between the what exists in the house at the time of listing and what the Tax Assessor's office has listed. The catch is that the seller gets fined, the new owner pays more in taxes. BUT, as far as "finished" basements go, you MAY be able to fight it because a DIY "finished" basement is not necessarily "liveable" - that requires PROFESSIONAL waterproofing inside and out (and permits for drains etc). My former neighbors next door supposedly finished their basement, but I don't think it was included in the listing or on the new guy's taxes. I live too close to the water with a high water table for anyone to have a truly "liveable" basement. I can't see how a truly finished basement anywhere would double the tax assessment, since ANY underground space, no matter how well-designed, will always have a greater risk of destruction than the above-ground portion. Also, a house with an unfinished basement is already taxed higher than a house on a crawlspace or slab, most likely because they assume people will "finish" it in someway.

"Titanium dioxide. Waterbased vs oil based finish. Titanium dioxide is what makes white paint white. You can add titanium dioxide to the base up to a point. After you reach that point, the paint takes on the properties of titanium dioxide and ruins the paint. Almost all factory finishes are now waterborne; cars, furniture, ect...The main difference is the carrier. FPE waterborne paint is made with alkyd urethane base. So are some other brands that are equivalent. Another good base is acrylic urethane or acrylic copolymer. As far as the VOC is concerned, use a fan but waterborne is much lower than oil based." Yikes. Talk about confusing. All alkyds will indeed yellow. The type of oil used in the alkyd (safflower, corn, tung, etc) plays a part along with the type of solvent used. Both the presence ammonia (think bathroom) and/or absence of light will accelerate yellowing while bright light can reverse it (to a certain extent). Most alkyds do indeed dry harder than latexes but then again, they are not as scrubbable. The new water dispersible alkyds like Eco do offer a nice compromise between latex and oil but if yellowing is a concern because you will be painting cabinets white next to another white object (think appliance or tile), then a premium latex would indeed be your best choice. BTW, like most things, there is a rule of diminishing returns with TiO2. Up to a certain level, you do indeed get incremental hide but after a certain level, you are just wasting money. What this means is that FPE doesn't cost twice as much as other because it has twice as much TiO2 as other premium brands (never mind that its volume solids would need to be in the 70% range) - you need to look elsewhere to solve that puzzle. Keep in mind it's only the white/light base that has a high TiO2 load in any paint - TiO2 is pulled out of the other bases in order to hit the deeper colors.

Hi....sorry to take so long to respond. That kind of a week. [g] barb, fire retardants, I know. When did everything start having that applied? I just can't for the life of me figure out how they require that on all clothing and even on furniture. To me it's like poisoning everyone just in case they 'might' be in a fire. Even if you are in a fire, is fire retardant going to save you? It just doesn't make sense to me at all. Yes, finding organic is only half the problem. The cost and what you want being available is still an obstacle. Hi cyn427 :-) thanks for that link. I'll check it out. I guess I feel that they have gotten off balance in the way they approach this issue. How many people go their whole life without ever being in a fire and to try to protect the entire population by adding something to every product would be fine if they were not adding something that was potentially harmful. I also have to wonder about any statistics that can actually show that adding fire retardants have reduced deaths and injuries from fire. Yes, I am actively avoiding products from China too. Good idea. ideefixe, Great to have at least two names of companies who sell something without it. oopsie913, guess I'm not following your line of thought, in asking whether something that is free of pesticides is actually better than something that has pesticides. Pesticides are poisons that kill insects and are poisonous to humans as well in large enough amounts. And even if they don't kill you, what does a constant stream of these in small amounts do in a human body? Seems pretty simple to me, no poisons, vs. poisons, which is better? I think you could be right, some of the organic beds are just thick rubber with organic cotton around it. I don't think we could sleep on something like that either. Back problems in our family need firm mattresses. I hope there will be more available at some point. Thanks for that link, I'll check it out. mpmg46, I didn't realize that about products from Ireland, that's great! I'm going to have to look into that. chicagoans, I'm with you, I don't believe it's hype either. So many clothes now have this 'no wrinkle' finish and I was reading the other day that it is made from formaldehyde. Formaldehyde has been linked to illness and the EPA has identified it as a carcinogen and yet it continues to be allowed in so many products that who knows how much of an exposure you have to it. Even in amounts as small as 0.1 ppm, it produces symptoms. That is a tiny tiny amount. I try to find clothes without that finish. It's hard to find men's pants without it now. Yes, I'm glad they now offer the VOC paint. I love that! Thanks for the conversation and information. :-)

Kimmsr, that's a very poor summary of what I can only hope was a helpful article. If it really was that awful, shame on them. I haven't read it. "Let grass grow...." No....set the mower height higher but mow on a regular schedule. There's a 'one third rule' about cutting turf grass.....don't remove more than one third of the stalk length at any one time to avoid plant stress which may invite insect and disease problems. Reduce the lawn area by increasing the landscaping, using low water, pest resistant species....some of which could be native. "Water properly". Turf grass responds well to deep watering....one inch per week but issued in a manner that will not encourage run-off. In the dormant season and when it rains sufficiently, turn off the irrigation system. Operate sprinklers in the early morning to reduce evaporative loss. Mulch mow the grass, returning the blades to the soil where they will decompose, releasing valuable nutrients back into soluble form so that the roots can absorb and reuse them.