Then I want to talk to you. I’m writing a story for my NBC Universal blog on Home Goes Strong on the pros and cons of being on a DIY home improvement show. I’d like to interview real-life folks that have done a home improvement project (exterior or interior) with the help of one of the DIY Network, HGTV, TLC or other reality DIY shows on cable. Ideally, you are a married/partnered couple age 46 or older. But at this point I’ll interview anyone. Please tell me a bit about who you are, where you live, and what part of your home you had renovated/fixed up while on a show. If you have a link to your actual segment, please include it. Feel free to pass this information along to folks you know, and ask them to post a comment on my blog or click through the “Contact Leah” link above to email me.

When Bill and I started our home renovation, we knew that one of the projects we wanted done was refinishing the fireplace in the dining room. It was painted white with a sky-blue mantle, and it just wasn’t our taste. (That’s probably why we just piled the crap in it that you see in this picture and never used it as a proper fireplace.) But after finding out how much professionals wanted to do the job (how’s $600 for you?), we knew we needed to do this refinishing project ourselves.

I did some Internet research on the best–and least toxic–way to get paint off a fireplace and get the bricks back to their natural color. I’m pleased to report that in less than 24 hours–and for not a lot of money–we were able to get the job done. Here’s what we did.

First, I removed the wood mantle so that we could get to all of the exposed brick underneath. Notice the lovely yellow paint that was hiding behind the mantle. I used a crowbar to pry the mantle away from the wall, gently, of course, so it would come off in one piece. It did, and I ended up selling the mantle on Craigslist for $30.

Next, we bought a citrus-based paint remover called Citristrip at our local home improvement store. (Note: give the new FTC rules on bloggers and disclosure, neither Citristrip nor my local home improvement store has paid me to mention them.) It’s an orange-colored gel that’s somewhere between marshmallow Fluff and hair conditioner, that you’re supposed to spread liberally all over the bricks. Because it’s a paint remover, we were warned that, if spilled or splattered on wood floors, it could also take the varnish off. So we spread plastic sheets around the fireplace and over the nearby furniture just in case. It was amazingly affordable–only $12 for the bottle.

Then, we spread the stuff on using paint brushes. (We wore gloves and protective eyewear, too.) It smelled surprisingly good–nothing sickening like the insulation our contractor originally choose–and went on easily. Now, we had to wait for it to do its job of loosening the paint, but we didn’t have to wait long. Within 30 minutes we knew the stuff was working because the gel was bubbling up and the paint was starting to fall off the brick on its own. So we got out our scrapers and started, well, scraping!

We were amazed to discover that this fireplace had actually been painted four times. Working backwards, from the layers we removed, the fireplace was white, then before that blue, then green, then before than yellow–no, wait harvest gold. Why the original owners didn’t just leave it the natural, beautiful red brick is beyond me. Then again, this house was built in the 1960s and I’d be willing to bet that the harvest gold paint was applied around the same time that my own mother was investing in harvest gold appliances for the kitchen in the house where she raised me!

While metals scrapers were able to get off most of the peeling paint, eventually we had to bring out the big guns–namely a wire brush attached to a power drill, a power sander and then the Dremel to get any of the stubborn paint off the bricks. This part was the most time-consuming–see Bill sitting down on the job here.

But eventually our hard work paid off as you can see in the lovely, natural brick we were able to restore. As soon as we have a new mantel built and installed (Bill is doing both himself), I’ll post a picture of the finished job.

Bottom line: in keeping with my earlier 10 Grand in My Hand post, we were able to keep $588 in our hands by refinishing our fireplace ourselves. Then if you add in the $30 we made on selling the mantle, we actually ended up “saving” or “keeping” $618!

Today I learned more about insulation that I ever wanted to know. That’s because we determined that the traditional fiberglass insulation that our contractor had installed earlier this week–but hadn’t yet enclosed in drywall–had to come out.

This had nothing to do with the contractor or the quality of their work. This had everything to do with the noxious smell of fiberglass insulation, which has made my house almost unlivable. To most people it’s a mildly offensive odor that supposedly goes away over time. But I’m one of those people who is sensitive to smells, and there was no way I could live with the odor, or risk closing up the walls and not having the smell dissipate.

Turns out that nearly all insulation gives off an odor. The cause? The formaldehyde manufacturers use to bind the fiberglass together. Frankly, it creeps me out to think that there is formaldehyde gasses in my house right now. Isn’t that the stuff they use to embalm people after they die?

Anyway, I spent the better part of today looking for less-toxic options. Here’s what I found out:

* You can get formaldehyde-free fiberglass insulation.
A company called Johns Manville has created JM Formaldehyde-Free Insulation. Actually, nearly all of the company’s insulation products don’t use added formaldehyde, and it’s the brand I’m recommending my contractor get as a replacement. I’ve spoken with other people who are sensitive to smells like I am, and they’ve used this product to great (and odor-free) results. I found it available at my local Lowe’s store only.

* Fiberglass is actually made of recycled glass.
This was a new one on me. It doesn’t make it any easier or less itchy to work with, but it is recycled at least.

* You can get non-fiberglass insulation but you’ll pay a premium for it.
I knew that you could get insulation made from cotton or recycled denim. What I didn’t know was how much more expensive it was. Today, I spent a couple of hours looking into Bonded Logic UltraTouch denim insulation, which seemed perfect for our needs. However, it costs 3X as much as the formaldehyde-free insulation. And if my purpose in getting “non-toxic” insulation, if you will, was to avoid odors, then I’ve got to go with the one that doesn’t smell and doesn’t cost the most.

Anything else you think I need to know about insulation?