Local Materials for the new Southern Home - Part 3
For those who missed the rest of this series, this is a look at Local Materials that can be used when building a new Southern Home. These are materials that are manufactured, harvested, extracted or recovered within 100 miles of Birmingham. This time we'll look at cabinets and interior finishes.
•· There are at least 3 lines of modular cabinets that are manufactured in Alabama. Diamond Cabinets has a manufacturing facility in Auburn, Legacy Cabinets has a plant in Eastaboga, and Wellborn is located in Alexander City.
•· In addition to the modular lines, there are too many local custom cabinet makers to count! I have worked with several custom cabinet makers in several areas of Alabama - if you're interested in custom cabinets from a local company, contact me and I'll be glad to refer you to one!
•· By weight, gypsum board (also called sheetrock) is the most used finish material in Southern Homes - unfortunately none is made in Alabama. The closest extractor/manufacturer is Temple-Inland, who also has a high percentage of recycled product in its gypsum board (see page 4 of the site). They manufacturer gypsum board in Cumberland City, TN (about 200 miles from Birmingham) and West Memphis, Arkansas (about 250 miles of Birmingham).
•· In my experience, wood flooring is the most used floor material in Southern Homes. Wood floors help to warm the interior and, when used with other wooden features like cabinets or the trusses shown below, help tie it all together. In my last post I mentioned recycled wood flooring by River Bottom Pine in Birmingham. There are many other Alabama mills produci
ng flooring in a number of wood species.
•· The second most popular flooring in Southern Homes is carpet. Some carpet is produced in Alabama - Beaulieu of America - a Belgium company - has a plant in Bridgeport. Of course, lots of carpet is manufactured just across the Georgia line! Shaw, Barrett and Mohawk all have manufacturing facilities in Dalton, and Milliken has a plant in LaGrange. In addition, Shaw has a Post-Consumer Carpet Recycling Center in Birmingham, where recyclable carpet is collected, shipped to the Evergreen recycling facility Augusta, and turned into new carpet.
•· A third flooring option that bears exploring is tile. The closest manufacturer is Crossville in Crossville, TN (about 200 miles from Birmingham).
If you want a new home and are concerned about the environment, this is good news. While there are a few materials that aren't manufactured in Alabama, most of what you need is. So contact me today, and let's get started on a green Southern Home for you!
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