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My Chemical-Free House

A Guide to Creating a Healthy Home

  • Healthy Building
    • Insulation
    • Windows & Window Treatments
    • Glues & Caulks
    • Grout & Mortar
    • Drywall
      • Drywall Mud & Wall Texture
    • Showers
    • Doors
    • Pressed Wood Products
    • Sheathing & Subfloor
    • Pipes
    • Alternative Building Systems
    • Non-Toxic Prefabs
    • Building for the Chemically Sensitive
    • How to Test Materials
  • Healthy Interiors
    • Flooring
      • Gym Flooring
      • Flooring Underlayment
    • Kitchen Cabinets
    • Countertops
    • Mattresses
    • Sofas
    • Leather Furniture
    • Desks and Chairs
    • Sealers
      • Paint
      • Mineral Paints
      • Linseed & Tung Oil
      • Natural Wood Pigments
      • Natural Plaster
      • Natural Countertop Sealers
      • Concrete Sealers
      • Wood Finishes
    • Bathroom
      • Bathroom Vanities
    • Rugs
    • Wallpaper
    • Kitchen Appliances
    • Heaters
    • Reduce Flame Retardants
    • Reduce New Home Offgassing
    • Reduce Fragrance & Smoke
    • Air Purifiers for VOCs
    • Cleaning Products & Air Fresheners
    • Personal Care Products
    • Green Certifications
    • Gift Guide
  • Exteriors & Gardens
    • Decking Materials
    • Deck Stains
    • Deck Cleaners
    • Exterior Paints
    • Sealant for Concrete Birdbaths
  • Tiny Homes & Trailers
    • List: Simple Homes & Shelters
    • List: Trailers & RVs
    • List: Emergency Housing
    • Cargo Van Conversion
    • All Metal Tiny Home
    • Simple Insulated Shelter
    • All Aluminum Travel Trailer
    • Cargo Trailer Conversion
    • Teardrop Trailer
    • Tiny House Systems
    • Flooring for Vans, Trailers
    • Composting Toilets
    • How to Offgas that New Car Smell
    • Building for Chemically Sensitivity
  • Mold Prevention
    • A Detailed Mold Preventative Build
    • How “High Performance” can Help Prevent Mold
    • The Causes of Mold in Tiny Houses
    • Mold Testing Overview
    • Ozone to Kill Mold
    • Air Purifiers for Mold
  • Extreme Sensitivities
    • Healing MCS – Interview with Solona
    • How I Recovered from Chemical Sensitivities
    • Emergency Housing for Chemical and Mold Sensitivity

Healthy building

Hempcrete for Mold-Safe, Healthy Homes

November 3, 2021 by Corinne 1 Comment

Hemp can be used in building homes in many ways but building with hemp is very different than building with conventional construction methods.

Hempcrete can be tamped into board-formed walls, used as premade bricks, sprayed into cavities, or formed into precast panels.

It acts as insulation and as an interior and/or exterior surface, though it is not load-bearing – you still need a wood frame.

This article will review all the ways that hemp can be used to build a healthy home and is an investigation into whether it’s mold-prone.

[Read more…] about Hempcrete for Mold-Safe, Healthy Homes

Filed Under: Healthy Building Tagged With: Healthy building, mold prevention

Non-Toxic Deck Stains (For Outdoor Furniture Too)

September 6, 2021 by Corinne 1 Comment

This article digs into non-toxic and natural options for staining and sealing wood decks as well as most outdoor wood like fences, furniture, windows, doors, play gyms, and planters.

This post covers both water-based sealants and natural oil-based options that are either zero or low-VOC and have been vetted by the chemically sensitive.

Penetrating sealers require that older decks and outdoor wood be sanded all the way down, but the film-forming options can be applied to lightly sanded older wood.

The water-based finishes don’t work over oily dense tropical woods like Ipe, Teak, and Mahogany but the natural oil-based stains and the hybrid work well over these woods.

[Read more…] about Non-Toxic Deck Stains (For Outdoor Furniture Too)

Filed Under: Healthy Building Tagged With: Healthy building, healthy exterior/gardens

Non-Toxic Decking Material Options

August 15, 2021 by Corinne 13 Comments

This is a complete guide to non-toxic decking – types, materials, additives, and brands.

For most people, the main choice is between composite decking and solid wood decking. For the chemically sensitive you will have to get samples yourself of the decking materials as well as the stains needed for real wood – as this choice is very individual.

The long-term benefits of not having to do any maintenance on composite decking can outweigh the initial concerns.

There are also some more unusual options to choose from like aluminum decking.

[Read more…] about Non-Toxic Decking Material Options

Filed Under: Healthy Building Tagged With: Healthy building, healthy exterior/gardens, mold prevention

Choosing a Non-Toxic Vinyl Plank Floor

July 21, 2021 by Corinne 122 Comments

Vinyl Plank, Luxury Vinyl Plank (LVP), and Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) are very low in volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) and offgassing.

Most people find it odorless, but those like me with a high sense of smell can pick up a little bit of offgassing.

I pick up the chemical odor off every brand I have sampled (they are all very similar) and I do have concerns about plasticizers (which all brands contain) and small amounts of metals, explained further in the article.

Just about all vinyl plank is phthalate-free now – though phthalates were replaced with alternate plasticizers. The most common plasticizer used now is Dioctyl Terephthalate (DOTP).

[Read more…] about Choosing a Non-Toxic Vinyl Plank Floor

Filed Under: Healthy Building Tagged With: Healthy building, healthy decor, healthy interiors

Review of Boxabl Prefabs (Home of Elon Musk)

July 12, 2021 by Corinne 41 Comments

Review of Boxabl SIPS Prefab House

The company Boxabl has created a metal SIPs (structurally integrated panel) house that has caught a lot of folks’ attention.

The main reason it has gone so viral is that it promises it all – fast, easy, cheap, resilient, and healthy.

My job as a Building Biologist is to review homes for durability, indoor air quality and resilience to mold.

It may be cheap and fast, but is this home a durable and healthy home?

[Read more…] about Review of Boxabl Prefabs (Home of Elon Musk)

Filed Under: Healthy Building Tagged With: Healthy building, mold avoidance paradigm, mold prevention

Guide to Non-Toxic Glues, Caulks & Adhesives

July 11, 2021 by Corinne 81 Comments

Updated Winter 2022/2023

Testing wood glues, construction adhesives and silicone caulks was the hardest part of building my house since I did this when I was highly sensitive.

But, you’re going to need glues, caulks, and adhesives if you are building so it’s a good idea to start testing them out!

You’re going to need them for repairs and renovations too. I would suggest finding out which are non-toxic and which ones work for you before that urgent repair is needed.

I’m not interested in certifications like GreenGuard Gold here. I’m interested in the official VOC level and how fast it is to offgas. In this type of product, a high initial odor/VOC level could offgas faster than one that is lower VOC, and that can be better for the user. For some adhesive types, the one with the lowest VOC level will be the best. I’ll be sure to specify.

This post covers low VOC, low odor, non-toxic options that are suitable for chemically sensitive or health-conscious folks.

[Read more…] about Guide to Non-Toxic Glues, Caulks & Adhesives

Filed Under: Healthy Building, Healthy Interiors Tagged With: Healthy building, healthy interiors

Non-Toxic (Low-VOC) Sealants for Marble, Granite, Limestone

June 3, 2021 by Corinne 15 Comments

This is a post is about sealants for light-colored marble, light granites, limestone, and other light-colored cool-tone stones. The sealers are intended for food-contact areas like countertops, stone serving boards, and stone bowels, as well as areas like stone tile backsplashes.

My post on all-natural oil-based sealers for stones focuses on walnut oil (and other non-toxic oils) that work best on dark-colored, medium-tone (or beige-toned) stones since they do darken and yellow the stones slightly.

There is no 100% natural sealer for white and light-colored stones. This should be considered early on if it’s a new build for someone chemically sensitive.

Light-colored stones are also much more likely to be porous compared to some darker-colored stones that can be naturally dense enough to not require a sealant in food prep areas.

Manufacturers of natural stone countertops usually recommend a penetrating or impregnating sealant every few years (depending on the type of stone, the use, etc).

These sealants do not fully disclose their ingredients, but I have dug into the literature to see what is likely in them. Most of them use fluoropolymers as the main technology, a type of PFAS. If you are avoiding PFAS (“forever chemicals”), there is one sealant on the market that is zero-VOC and not based on PFAS.

These four sealers are ones I have researched, compared and actually tested myself. They are the safest, lowest offgassing options out there right now.

[Read more…] about Non-Toxic (Low-VOC) Sealants for Marble, Granite, Limestone

Filed Under: Healthy Building, Healthy Interiors Tagged With: Healthy building, healthy decor, healthy interiors

Non-Toxic Kitchen Cabinets: Complete List of Types and Brands

April 30, 2021 by Corinne 64 Comments

Conventional Cabinets & VOCs

Conventional cabinets can be a significant source of VOCs in the kitchen – with all of the low and mid-range brands using particleboard or MDF at least in their lower-end lines, which offgas formaldehyde.

There are pressed wood products with no added formaldehyde now, and some cabinet makers mentioned in this post are using these. I don’t always think the alternative glues are better.

The move towards CARB II and GreenGuard Gold has greatly improved the formaldehyde levels in the conventional options in recent years.

Regular plywood-based cabinets (as opposed to particleboard or MDF) offgas quite rapidly, while at the same time more companies are offering formaldehyde-free options.

[Read more…] about Non-Toxic Kitchen Cabinets: Complete List of Types and Brands

Filed Under: Healthy Building, Healthy Interiors Tagged With: Healthy building, healthy interiors

Guide to Non-Toxic Flooring 2023

April 11, 2021 by Corinne 392 Comments

There are many choices for non-toxic flooring suitable for the chemically sensitive or the health-conscious homeowner.

The best options are real hardwood, polished concrete, and tile. But specific brands of natural linoleum, carpet, and engineered wood are excellent choices as well.

I will look at a few options that are still non-toxic, but not quite as healthy, like luxury vinyl plank, laminate, cork, and bamboo.

[Read more…] about Guide to Non-Toxic Flooring 2023

Filed Under: Healthy Building, Healthy Interiors Tagged With: Healthy building, healthy interiors

Non-Toxic Insulation: A Complete Guide

April 5, 2021 by Corinne 198 Comments

Updated in winter 2023

There are so many excellent choices for non-toxic, healthy, green insulation, there should be one to fit everyone’s needs.

Look out for Greenwashing

There are many new options that claim to be “green” “soy-based” or are formaldehyde-free – this does not mean that they are VOC-free or safe. Look very closely at what’s in it. Also, flame retardants and mildewcides are not counted as VOCs.

Green Certified?

On top of that, certifications are not that useful: almost every insulation now qualifies as GreenGuard Gold, which for sensitive folks is not enough information.

The post includes the best of green non-toxic insulation and includes a cost comparison as of 2021.

[Read more…] about Non-Toxic Insulation: A Complete Guide

Filed Under: Healthy Building Tagged With: Healthy building, mold prevention

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ABOUT ME

Hi, I’m Corinne Segura, I hold a certificate in Building Biology, and a certificate in Healthier Materials and Sustainable Buildings, among other credentials below. I have 8 years of experience helping people create healthy homes.

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