Exterior Features

Metal Roofs - Make It Right uses 26 gauge metal roofs that absorb less heat and reduce the need to cool a home by 20 to 70 percent. Metal roofs are durable, long lasting and require minimal maintenance.  Metal is also an excellent surface from which to capture rainwater.

Solar Power - Photovoltaic panels on the roof use light from the sun’s rays to generate electricity.  Using photovoltaic as a source of electricity saves money and decreases dependence on conventional fossil fuels.  Each Make It Right house is equipped with a system that generates 2.7 to 3.0 KW of energy.  The systems over produces energy which is then introduced to the Entergy grid allowing our homeowners to gain credits that reduce their monthly energy bill.

Roof Hatches - All homes have a safe way to access a secure area of the roof.

Elevation - Make It Right elevates house up to 5 or 8 feet depending on the homeowner. This is done to assure the homes will be out of the sustained flood levels.  This exceeds FEMA requirements while creating a parking area underneath the home at the 8 foot elevation.

Storm Fabric - Hurricane Fabric, made from Kevlar that is also used in bullet-proof vests, is fitted to all Make It Right windows and eliminates the lengthy and cumbersome process of boarding up windows with plywood.

Advanced framing techniques and specially engineered wall sections are used to increase the durability of homes, allowing them to withstand winds of at least 130mph.

Green Guard Rain Drop Building Wrap - RainDrops’ innovative drainage channels keeps water out of the wall system. The channels will not crimp, collapse or flatten, ensuring water will drain no matter how tightly cladding is nailed to the wall.  Because it is not perforated, RainDrop resists air and water infiltration plus it breathes to allow moisture vapor to escape and present rotting and mold growth.  RainDrop is an ideal secondary weather barrier for fiber cement, vinyl, foam-backed vinyl and wood siding.

Fiber Cement Board Siding - Make It Right uses James Hardie Fiber Cement Board siding.  This siding is design to last 50 years against cracking, rotting, hail damage, termites and many other possible problems.  The reason we use fiber cement board siding is to help reduces maintenance worries of our homeowners.

Bluwood is a line of structural framing components treated with a two-part system designed to safeguard homes against the elements. BluWood is environmentally friendly and a smart building choice in the Gulf South region. Bluwood is a revolutionary new lumber product that resists:
• moisture
• mold & fungus
• wood rot
• wood-ingesting insects, including Formosan termites
Landscaping - Make It Right’s Landscape Architects design strategies that reduces the need for irrigation, requires minimal maintenance and handles droughts or temporary inundation.  They do this by introducing native plants, rain gardens and green roofs.

Rainwater Harvesting - Each Make It Right House comes equipped with two cisterns that collects 600 gallons of water from the roof.  Homeowners can later use this water to wash their cars and water their plants. Capturing and reusing rainwater from the roof is an economically efficient practice.  One of its benefits is that it reduces stormwater runoff which can erode topsoil, spread contaminants and overwhelm the city’s storm water management system during heavy rains.

Pervious concrete sidewalks and driveways allow the stormwater to drain freely through the pavement and to be stored in the substructure. This approach to stormwater helps combat localizes flooding.

Interior Features

Tankless Waterheaters - heat water instantaneously while at the same time being 83 to 93 percent more energy efficient. These types of water heaters can reduce annual water heating cost by 50 percent.
Energy Star Rated Appliances & Light Fixtures - All appliances and light fixtures in the Make It Right homes use 30 percent less energy than conventional appliances and fixtures.

Spray Foam Insulation - All Make It Right homes are insulated using close cell spray foam.  The insulation is used on the underside of the roof, walls and floor to assure that the house envelope is properly sealed.

Low E Windows & Doors provide proper Solar Heat Gain Coefficient helping to keep the home cool during the summer months as well as Low U-Factor that help keep the home warm during the winter.

Low Flow Plumbing fixtures - The faucets and showerheads in Make It Right homes reduces water flow while maintaining the water pressure and “feel” of a typical shower.  Low-flow aerator showerheads and faucets can reduce water consumption and energy cost of heating water by up to 50%.

Dual Flush Toilets - The dual-flush design gives users the option to use less water to flush liquid waste than solid waste and can reduce water usage up to 67 percent.

Mold Resistant Drywall - Gold Bond® BRAND XP® Gypsum Board with Sporgard™* was developed as an improved moisture resistant board offering the same advantages of a traditional moisture resistant board, with added mold resistance in the core and paper. XP Gypsum Board panels consist of a specially treated fire resistant gypsum core encased in a heavy mold/mildew/moisture resistant 100% recycled purple paper on the face side and a heavy mold/mildew/moisture resistant 100% recycled gray paper on the back side.

Benjamin Moore ZERO-VOC Paint - Benjamin Moore Natura and Aura paints have zero VOCs and helps create better air quality by limiting this off-gassing and providing better air quality.  Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) produce a gas that is harmful to human health. VOCs are found in many traditional paints and finishes.  Such paints “off-gas” vapors that mix with the air you breathe.

Sustainable Cabinets with No Added Formaldehyde - Our cabinets are made from wood that is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.  FSC certified wood is harvested in a sustainable way which encourages responsible management of our world’s forests.

Shaw Green Edge Carpet is a Cradle to Cradle Certified products that uses safer materials and dyes.  This carpet contains recycled content and can also be recycled into new carpet when it is removed from the home.

Uponor Fire Safety System features Uponor AquaPEX® crosslinked polyethylene (PEX) tubing, a flexible, durable, potable plumbing pipe that has been used in residential and commercial construction for more than 20 years. Fire sprinklers activate in the presence of extreme heat and only the sprinkler nearest the fire will activate.  Another benefit is the fact that our homeowners will save more on their homeowners insurance because of the fire sprinkler system installation.

Uponor Plumbing features Engel-method crosslinked polyethylene (PEX) tubing.  This is a flexible plastic tubing product that has been used for more than 35 years in radiant floor heating, plumbing and fire safety systems.  Key benefits of PEX Plumbing are:
• Corrosion resistant
• Free of metal contaminants
• Resists pitting and scale buildup
• Dampens rushing water noise
• Eliminates water hammer and singing pipes
• Retains heat in hot-water lines
• Resists condensation on cold-water lines
• NSF International Certification for water purity