From left: Antonio Estrada, Lisa Phillips, Mike McMinn, Randy Johnson and Micah Phillips show off their handiwork after installing a synthetic turf lawn on Elda Moroz's house in Lodi. (Courtesy photograph)

Building a greener home

Re:Visions helping owners to reduce energy costs and find eco-solutions

Mike McMinn of Re:Visions, a Stockton-based home-improvement company, has a five-year plan. In that time, he wants his company to run on completely eco-friendly — or "green" — practices. He's well on his way.

Throughout the Lodi and Stockton area and beyond, McMinn is not only going green with his business, he's helping customers do the same and cutting their energy costs to boot.

When McMinn, who has been a general contractor for 12 years, started Re:Visions, his crews were taking leftover materials and waste from job sites to the dumps every day. At $15 a load, plus the fuel to get there, he realized there had to be a better way.

One year later, all the things that were disposed of are now recycled, cutting down on those extra expenditures and putting Re:Visions on the path to being a certified green business.

Although they are able to remodel any part of a home, McMinn says the company focuses on those things that will help a homeowner reduce the cost of their utility bills, such as patio awnings, dual-pane windows and synthetic turf.

As reported in an earlier News-Sentinel story, synthetic turf, though in existence for many years, is starting to grow in popularity. It's already being used to a great extent in places like Arizona and San Diego, and, according to McMinn, cities like Tracy and others in the area are passing ordinances that city parks will need to have synthetic turf installed. The main reasons are to cut down on water usage and maintenance costs.

And whereas most companies that install synthetic turf use a type of rubber pellet brushed into the "grass" to make the blades stand up after installing, Re:Visions uses a finely ground zeolite. The mineral basically works as a natural filter, keeping the turf clean of odors and animal urine, breaking it down naturally.

Elda Moroz's front lawn suffered from dry patches and a dead area due to a stump before Re:Visions home repair installed new synthetic turf. (Courtesy photo)

McMinn and two of his employees, Micah Phillips and Lisa Phillips, are certified through Pregra, the manufacturer of the turf they use, to professionally install the lawns. McMinn credits Lisa Phillips with doing all the research and follow-through to become authorized Pregra dealers and installers.

Recently, the company finished installing a new turf for Elda Moroz of Lodi.

"It sounded ideal for me. There's no watering, no mowing," Moroz said. The installation took about three days (due to the removal of a large tree stump in the front yard), but she was impressed nonetheless. "They work so hard. They never quit."

Though the total installation of the turf cost around $12,000, in the long run, Moroz expects to save on water and overall lawn maintenance.

But it's not just synthetic turf. McMinn says that they've been installing many dual-pane windows, which help cut down on heating and cooling costs and reduce outside noise.

"We've been averaging about two homes a day," McMinn said of the windows. "We've even replaced first-generation dual-pane windows." He said that many of the original dual-panes are now outdated due to technological advances in window design and construction.

The company also builds patios to reduce the amount of ultra-violet rays that can bombard a backyard. The laminated roof covers are made from an expanded polystyrene that absorb more of the rays.

And how about the money that's saved from recycling all the old materials? Well, McMinn says, that's recycled, too.

McMinn takes the money saved into an employee entertainment fund to boost morale.

"We're going on a camping trip next," McMinn said.

Contact Business Editor Marc Lutz at marcl@lodinews.com.