Jen Stout - Healthier Homes: A Blueprint for Creating a Toxin-Free Living Environment

First published in 2022 by Victory Belt Publishing Inc.

Copyright 2022 Jen and Rusty Stout

No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission from the publisher.

ISBN-13: 9781628604528

The authors are not licensed practitioners, physicians, or medical professionals and offer no medical diagnoses, treatments, suggestions, or counseling. The information presented herein has not been evaluated by the US Food and Drug Administration, and it is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Full medical clearance from a licensed physician should be obtained before beginning or modifying any diet, exercise, or lifestyle program.

The authors/owner claims no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss, or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the information presented herein.

Cover illustration by W. R. Barrineau & Associates Architects

Cover design by Kat Lannom

Interior design and illustrations by Yordan Terziev and Boryana Yordanova

Photography by Robert G. Gomez Photography and Tyler Schmitt, Mill Photo Studio

Printed in Canada

TC 0122

To my wife, Jen:

While my name may be next to yours on the cover of this book, I unabashedly give you all the credit for making this dream a reality.

We always say the homes we build change lives. Today, without hesitation, I can say that no event has changed me more for the better than the day I fell in love with you! Through all the obstacles and health problems thrown your way, you made your own path with grace and changed an industry along the way.

You have always been an inspiration to me, and I am beyond excited to share that inspiration with the world.

I love you more than bacon.

Rusty

Ten years ago, if someone told me that a house could make you physically sick, I would have smiled, said, Sure, sure, and then walked away quickly. After all, I had spent most of my life in remote parts of the worldthe Amazon rain forest, the jungles of Thailand, and the plains of Africa. These places were filled with microbes that evolved to feed on flesh, and yet I had always returned unscathed. I figured a healthy diet and clean living could ward off the worst the natural world had to dish out.

Turns out, I was wrong.

Over the course of a few years, my wife and I started experiencing strange symptomsanxiety, muscle pain, blurred vision. We both figured it was stress and carried on. Then, one day, while I was working out in our home gym, something broke. Setting down the weights after just a few reps, I desperately needed to take a nap. I awoke in what I can only describe as a different body. Every muscle and joint hurt, it felt like an icepick had been embedded in the back of my neck, and the anxiety I had been carrying turned into crippling panic. Little did I know, chronic illness would define our lives for the better part of a decade, all thanks to a moldy patch of drywall beneath a sink.

Mold illness, otherwise known as chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS), put my immune system into a tailspin, activating latent Lyme disease I must have been carrying since my youth. Suddenly I was sensitive to just about everythingfood and exercise and toxins, many of which were coming from my own home in the form of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). We knew if we were ever going to heal, we needed a clean living environment, so we decided to build a home from scratch using only nontoxic materials. It seemed like a simple enough goal. We couldnt have been more wrong.

There were very few books on the subject available at the time, and those that were available read like rocket science manuals. I thought, even if I learn everything these manuals have to offer, what builder is going to take the time to get up to speed? There had to be a better way, so I started reaching out to healthy building consultants who could lead my builder and me through the entire process. I was absolutely thrilled until our first group meeting. The consultant began rambling on, sharing the chemical compositions of different materials but not supplying any practical applications. My builders eyelids were half-closed at the end of the meeting, and he hadnt absorbed a thing. So, I paid the consultants fee and tried another. Same thing.

My builder was ready to ditch me as a client, and truthfully, I was about ready to give up on the dream of building a home that would support my health rather than harm it. In a last-ditch effort, I stumbled upon a husband-and-wife team out of Texas and decided to give it one more try. It was the best decision I ever made.

During our first meeting, it was already apparent Jen and Rusty werent trying to impress us with how much they knew about building healthy homes. They knew that most builders bandwidths for trying new things were small or nonexistent. So, they cut to the chase, letting us all know which materials were toxic, which nontoxic materials they could be replaced with, and how those products needed to be installed. They made the whole process so simple and pain-free, even my builder got excited about what we were creating.

When the building process started, Rusty and Jen were part of each weekly builders meeting, and construction went off without a hitch. Radon mitigation went in first, then the nontoxic foundation, then the mold-free lumber got hammered together to form the frame. Then the real fun beganmold-proof sheetrock, nontoxic paint, and no-VOC cabinets. The whole process became a thrill ride, and soon my wife and I were scooping up all the information we could get. We installed healthcare facility wiring to avoid EMFs, whole-home air exchangers, and water shutoff switches on every outlet to detect a leak and automatically shut off the water. Truthfully, the whole healthy-home project became an addiction, and when all was said and done, we even had a freshwater pool.

Now I consider myself a healthy-home expert, all thanks to Rusty and Jen. They made me realize that you dont have to be a chemist to learn what will make you sick. Their approach was so simple, literally anyone could follow their guidance. It seemed to me that this was something the world needed, and so I approached them with the idea of writing this book. And now, dear reader, you have their expert guidance at your fingertips. Those early manuals I attempted to read contributed to a good amount of hair losseither from the stress or from tugging it out from the rootsbut the book currently in your hands will be an entertaining ride, guaranteed. Youll learn how to design, build, remodel, and decorate a house that will support your familys health in the years to come, and I hope you find that as empowering as we did.

Erich Krauss,
President, Victory Belt Publishing

preface

how JS2 Partners is paving the way for healthier homes

Jen Stout, co-founder of JS2 Partners and Healthier Homes, discusses why modern homes are toxic.