The job we had been dreading for some time turned out much better than we had hoped for. We expected that applying the second coat of concrete sealer might require hazmat suits and oxygen bottles, but were very comfortable with open windows, a decent dust mask, and a good shower afterward. Three days on there is still some residual odor, but not offensive even to a mine canary like myself.
The appearance of the stained and sealed concrete is really not what we had envisioned, but we have come to appreciate the texture and color with all its imperfections. It is a nice rusticated counterpoint to the crisp lines we had developed in the design.
I did manage to get the garage painted. This is important as the organizational nexus of the move-in, and having it cleaned up and organized became a high priority once we got the house liveable. At least now my tools are all scattered on the shelving instead of all over the house. It is great to have a workshop again. Getting it all organized is another project.
I installed all of the remaining appliances. The washer, dryer, and range. If I have not mentioned it before, they are all Energy Star rated appliances which means they are in the top 25% of the energy efficiency ratings for the appliances in their classification. The less power we consume, the smaller the solar panel array needs to be to support our needs.
I also installed some new file cabinets and countertop for my new office, and am back in business with most of my critical files and reference guides installed. The metal roof is an effective block to cell phone signals, so I have to go out in the front yard to have a conversation. I hope to have a signal amplifier installed this weekend, though the exercise and fresh air does me good with the recent concrete sealer installation.Michael Holcomb with Home Inspector General did the real blower door test today. He was so amazed by the results that he wants to review all of his data inputs to see if it can possibly be true. I will report the results next week and hope his data bears up. You may recall that the last test he did was the best result he had ever tested, and we had not yet installed the drywall, any backdraft dampers on the exhaust fans, and had jammed a piece of styrofoam in the transom over the door. Judy is afraid we might suffocate if we have a power failure and the fresh air supply fan fails while we are sleeping. Now I will be getting a Carbon Dioxide monitor with a battery backup to make sure she can sleep at night.
I wanted to show you the contrast in solar gains related to the passive solar design. The picture on the left was taken on the day of the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, and the day at which the sun is at the lowest declination on its arc across the sky. This picture was taken at solar noon and you can see that the sunlight is penetrating into the middle of the house. The picture on the right is taken three months later on the vernal (spring) equinox. The sun has moved up above the horizon to effect a significant reduction in solar gains. By high summer there will be no solar gains at all except for a little bit from one window with a western exposure.
