A few things have changed...

A few things have changed since I last wrote. 

We had a small grade change that could have affected the sumac grove.  The site provided an abundant harvest of boulders which we used to build a retaining wall/rock garden.  This helped to manage the grade change in a shorter distance and helped preserve one of our favorite features on the site.  I rented a small backhoe for a day to move them all into place. 

We had planned to install cement plaster over the exterior of the house.  I had done some cement plaster repair work on our last home.  We appreciated the durability of the material that had served for over 100 years on that home, and wanted to replicate that on this home.  After further consideration, we decided that this surface was too important to leave to amateurs in terms of not only appearance, but in the weathering qualities of the material. 

We decided to bid out the installation, and found only two contractors in the area with any experience, and neither had done an entire home.  The bids were far outside of our budget.  I did finish up the cement plaster on the foundation, using up the last of the mortar mix.  The cement mixer has been banished to the back of the garden shed. 

Plan B involves installing plywood sheathing over the exterior rigid foam and installing a pre-stained cedar shake shingle.  The stain is two coats and is finished on all sides of the shingle with a 25 year warranty, and the shingle has a 50 year warranty.  Our first home had cedar shingles that at 110 years required some repairs, so we are confident that the material is durable a bit beyond our lifetime. 

We are beginning to discern patterns for opening and closing windows with an eye on the indoor and outdoor temperatures and humidity levels.  This time of year we can open the windows when it is chilly outside without sacrificing comfort inside.  The thermal mass of the floors keeps us comfortable as the cool air gently cools down the concrete slabs for the daytime.  There is nothing like a cool breeze as you sip your morning coffee and watch the deer graze their way across the meadow.  Even if it is scented by the invasive, though not unpleasant, Autumn Olive bushes.

I have installed the trench and liner for the rainwater harvesting system.  I designed this system as an antidote to a deep aversion I have developed to cleaning gutters.  This is the no maintenance, barrier free gutter system.  A trench, six feet wide and sloping from one end of the house towards a concrete cistern, circles the entire perimeter of the home. It is lined with used rubber roofing that was supplied from a tear-off by a Langerak Roofing Company, a commercial roofing contractor in the area I have worked with in the past.  They stockpile this material in their yard to avoid landfilling it.  They give it way to people who find alternative uses for this material for hunting cabins to pond liners.  I scrubbed the material where it lapped, brushed on a contact cement, and installed a 3” wide ribbon of adhesive that I purchased from Langerak. 

I installed a 2x4 treated board six feet away from the foundation which I secured in the ground with stakes.  This board is two inches below the height where the liner adjoins the house.  If the system ever overflows, then it is designed to overflow onto the lawn.  At the bottom of the trench is a drain tile with a fabric cover called a sock.  The sock is designed to keep small sand and silt particles from clogging the drain tile.  I was more concerned about insects making the tile a home. 

Earthworm Excavating has re-graded the site and installed the base course of gravel.  We used pea gravel as a bedding material to hold everything in place as it is less expensive.  Pea gravel has rounded edges and will not puncture the rubber liner.  On top of this we will have about 4” of one inch round stone.  The larger stones will not deflect as much when you walk on it and has a different texture. The gravel will slope two inches from the house towards the lawn, so that leaves will be less inclined to collect at the foundation wall.

I had installed rigid plastic pipe under the sidewalk and driveway before we poured them.  I excavated the pipe to expose the ends.  I folded the liner partway underneath the pipe, and then held it taught over the pipe opening where I cut a hole smaller than the pipe by about one inch.  I then forced the rubber roofing over the pipe.  The smaller diameter hole left a half inch band of rubber ringing the pipe around with I fastened a band clamp to hold it in place.  I then brushed sand back under the rubber liner to prevent ponding water in the liner around the pipe joint.  The duct tape holds the sock in place so that the gravel does not dislodge it.  I have carefully graded all of the rubber so that there will not be any areas that will puddle.  I do not know if any ponding under the gravel could be potential breeding grounds for mosquitoes, but I have assumed the worst. 

Currently the liner is nailed to the starter course for the siding.  When the gravel is installed I will trim this off and glue it to the foundation wall, both to prevent water from infiltrating behind the liner, and to prevent insects from gaining access.  This may fail as the soils settle over time and it will require periodic inspections. 

The small pipe coming out of the foundation wall is from the sump pump.  We had a long discussion with the building inspector on where to put the discharge.  This pipe expels water from the footing drains.  Based on what I have seen so far, there is little to no risk of this pump ever operating.  However if it did, the discharge should be just ground water, and putting it into the rainwater system is fine.  The concern is if there is a chemical spill in the basement that would contaminate the water in the sump pump.  At this time we are not storing anything that could cause any problems, but future owners might not be as attentive.  I put a wire mesh screen over the end of the pipe to keep gravel and rodents out of the pipe. 

The advantage of the 6’ wide gravel strip is that it captures all of the water from the 30” overhangs regardless of how hard it is raining, it acts as a maintenance strip by allowing easy access around the perimeter of the house, it reduces the potential for pests to infiltrate the home, and it keeps water away from the foundation walls.  The wide eaves would normally prelude planting near the foundation walls, but we prefer the minimalist aesthetic. 

We also installed the cistern which is a 1,000 gallon tank typically used for septic tanks.  It is enough volume to capture half the volume of the runoff of our roof.  Our use for the rainwater includes irrigating the garden and washing the car and driveway.  We did not install graywater toilet fixtures in the house that use rainwater.  Flush fixtures that use rainwater require some water treatment to keep out particulates and organic matter in order to keep them functioning.  Though I have a background in water and wastewater treatment and wanted to implement the technology, it was not a technology my ever practical wife wanted to have to deal with in the event of my demise or impending dementia.  I suspect my demise is imminent on occasion. 

 

Because of the extra volume of water coming into the tank, I installed a 100’ long overflow drain, which is a drain tile with a sock extending out towards the sumac grove from the short length of blue pipe in the foreground.  We used solid pipe near the tank to perfect the seals into the tank and to prevent water infiltration from leaks that could eventually soften the soils and cause the tank to settle.  The soils should be more than capable of accommodating the rainwater overflow load, but in the event they are not more tile can be added and the system is designed to overflow into the yard in the event of an unusual rain event.  

Remaining is the pump and irrigation system which I have roughly sketched out in my mind.  In the next couple of weeks we will be planting a garden and I will be forced to have completed engineering of the system if I expect to forestall my demise.   

Buddy smiling for the camera

We have also become re-acquainted with the local wildlife.  The deer have made a regular circuit through our site, and we see them several time a week.  Butterflies seem to be in abundance this year, turkeys, squirrels which we had not seen before, our brace of eagles, a murder of crows, and two turtles that Judy has named Buddy and Wilson.  Wilson: for the markings on his shell that look like the hand print on the soccer ball in the Tom Hanks movie Castaway.  The cats have claimed the home as their own turf, and thoroughly enjoy the wide window ledges.  Mollie the day cat, bakes it’s brains in the sun, and Lizzie the night cat keeps an inventory of all of the nocturnal animals on the site.

 

Next week we will finish the grading and begin the installation of the plywood sheathing, and I hope to have started seeding the lot and planting the garden. 

Were in!

We finally moved in with much less anguish than anticipated.  Rae came down the weekend before the move to help us finalize some of the remaining projects in the new house.  Cleaning the cabinets and the job site were a priority.  You may have noticed the large piles of debris in the pictures looking outside the living room window in previous posts.  We had been stockpiling wood scraps for recycling.  The pile was often a source of materials during the project for backing material and little odds and ends.  It is a relief to regain our view. 

 

 

Jake and Rae returned on moving weekend to help unpack.  By the end of the weekend we had almost all of the boxes unpacked, and most of the pictures hung.  We had accumulated a lot of pictures over the years and our tastes have changed since the 70's, so we ruthlessly discarded pictures and frames that no longer suited our new environs.

 

We took three small trailer loads to Kamps pallets for recycling.  The clean material is ground up with in big chipping machine and a large electromagnet removes all of the nails.  They resell this material as landscape mulch.  Construction debris which can contain treated lumber, painted wood, or wood with glue, is chipped and sent to a pelletizer that compresses the material for fuel.  They buy back pallets after sorting based on the condition, and will send a check once they have determined the value anywhere between 3 and 5 dollars each. These are resold to end users. 

Our total landfill for the project included four “Bagsters” from Waste Management.  The Bagster is a three cubic yard fabric bag that you purchase a many of the big box lumber centers for about $30.  You can keep it on your property as long as you wish.  The fabric drains nicely, so you don’t pay landfill costs for rainwater.  You also don’t pay for a weekly rental rate for a dumpster.  When it is full, you call Waste Management, and they come out with a truck with a small crane attached which picks up the entire bag for about $75. 

I ended up taking two pickup mini-van loads of the rigid foam insulation to the dump as well.  Though I originally identified a recycler it turned out they did not accept this type of foam, and I did not have time to find an alternative use.  They did take a load of Styrofoam we had collected.  I had about one cubic yard of scrap metal which I redeemed for about $35.00, and about four pickup loads of cardboard which I was able to recycle at no cost.  Total out of pocket cost of construction waste will end up being about $400.    

In the process of condensing a five bedroom home down to a two bedroom home, we ended up donating a lot of furniture to Habitat for Humanity's Re-Store along with some leftover construction materials which I was happy to find a home for.  I also have worked on historic homes for the last 35 years, and had many tools that I will no longer require which also found a home at Re-Store.   

 

 

My office is put together now so I can operate efficiently, though I still have a wire management problem that I have to figure out.  Rae's creative genius provided dual purpose for my office space which will eventually become the dining room.  We installed our old dining room table against the far wall which looks like a library table, will act as a conference table, and can easily be pulled out into the room and used as a dining table when we have company.  Two of my favorite prints, a series of watercolor thumbnails by Mary Blocksma looking out her cottage window on Beaver Island in Lake Michigan, hang over the table.  We will need to re-frame them to get them to scale right in the space.  Below that is a mantle clock that belonged to my great-grandfather.

The inspiration for the color scheme in the house came from this not quite complete set of 20's and 30's era National Park reproduction posters.  We would not have had the courage to have selected such bold colors on our own, but we implicitly trusted Rae's capacity to assemble a color palette and make it all work right.  We do have strong opinions about our likes and dislikes, so we may not have been her best clients, but we are very pleased with the results.  The last two posters came in this week, and will be mounted shortly.  

This week we are preparing for the final push.  We have been getting estimates to complete the cement stucco.  Our experimentation with the stucco on the foundation gave me such a case of tendonitis that I am prepared to find someone else to finish the job.  Besides, Judy was concerned about workmanship quality for something that will be such a permanent and prominent aesthetic feature.  I agree.

The stucco must have at least 72 hours of cure time without temperatures dropping below freezing, so we are nearing the date when we can safely start work.  We cannot finish the rainwater harvesting system until the stucco is complete, which means we cannot re-spread the topsoil or plant the prairie.  This will defer planting at least a couple of months. 

The blower door test results are back, and though not as spectacular as originally anticipated during the testing, they are more than adequate.  As a reminder of what a blower door test does, a fabric frame with an exhaust fan is firmly fitted in a doorway and turned on.  A computer measures the air pressure differential between the inside and the outside.  The air pressure differential can be quantified as a numerical volume of air leaks in the building. 

The building code requirement is to have less leaks in the home (around windows, door, etc.) than would provide for three air changes per hour (ACH).  Passive House design only allows 0.6 ACH.  Design and construction detail is essential to get the leakage rates down to this level.  We tested out at 0.44 ACH under a fan pressure of 50 PA (Pascals - a unit of measure for air pressure).  This includes the open ductwork associated with the fresh air supply and exhaust, the range exhaust, and the three exhaust fans in the bath and laundry areas.  The effective leakage rate without the air pressure differential is 0.02 air changes per hour.  This equates to 8.9 square inches of hole in the side of the house, or an area of about 3" x 3".  Our last home, which was 100 years old had a hole over 900 square inches based on the blower door test.  We consider this an improvement.

The advantage of such a tightly constructed home is that you control the heat losses and gains though your mechanical system.  The disadvantage is that you are required to provide fresh air to sustain life and health in the building by mechanical means.  This requires that the heat recovery ventilation system (HRV) operates on a 24/7 basis.  There is not a great deal of energy consumed by this equipment, just a small fan motor, but the reliance on energy to sustain life in the building is disconcerting.  In the summer months we can just open the windows and turn off the equipment. 

When the HRV is not operating, air quality noticeably suffers within a few hours.  The air is stale and stagnant, and you begin to feel as if you are struggling to get enough oxygen.  You may have experienced this at one time or another in a classroom or confined public space. 

The last element will be the installation of the Photovoltaic (solar) panels.  Our preferred vendor, UniSolar, just declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  They are still constructing equipment to fabricate the next generation of solar cells which is 50% more efficient than what they are currently producing.  They expect to go into production this spring, and this should help get them out of trouble.  Cost per watt is what makes any solar manufacturer competetive, and the new technology promises to vault them into the lead.  We need to stay with a thin film solar cell because the other panels require structural reinforcing of the roof.  There are other thin film manufacturers out there if need be, so we are keeping our options open as they work through this bankruptcy.  UniSolar is based in Michigan and developed the thin film technology.  

I am not expecting to post any more blog postings for another month or so until there is more activity on the site, though I do have some thoughts on writing about the lessons we learned, what worked, and what we would do differently.  We still have a fair amount of organizing to do after the move, and a lot of small unfinished projects.  The devil is in the details.  Stay tuned.   

   

Floors are sealed

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.

 

Occupancy Permit

Well it is beginning to look like a home.  We finished the painting except for the garage and basement.  All of the hardware is now installed.  The window sills are installed.  The blinds were installed by the blind man (sorry, old construction joke).  The ceramic tile backsplash was installed and grouted.  The plastic laminate backsplash was installed. 

 

 

I did want to pass on a caution about the brand of paint we used.  Our local Home Depot is very convenient to our location, and their premium brand of paint is Behr.  We had primed all of the new drywall with Kilz zero VOC primer with great success.  We had tinted the primer to match the base color of the paint that was to be applied.  In spite of the fact that we have a great deal of experience painting, we had to install at least three coats of paint over the primer to get coverage.  Though the paint was a zero VOC paint, and we did not have an adverse reaction to the fumes.  I would not use it again. 

 

The most dramatic change was removing the paper and plastic from the floor.  We had installed this to protect the floor from drywall mud and paint.  Before installing it I had rented a carpet extractor and was successful in removing a significant share of the dust that had accumulated to that point.  We had carefully taped the edges to the wall and the wood trim was installed over it.  We tended it as well as we could considering the traffic it handled, patching tears as we went along. 

We found the floors in fairly good condition.  A little more cleaning this weekend, and we will be ready to apply the last coat of sealer.  As I have mentioned before I have been a bit nonplussed by the concrete sealer.  The VOC's in the product will make any future refinishing efforts difficult.  The VOC levels do comply with the LEED requirements but they are still mighty potent.  The material we originally installed had a high gloss which telegraphs every imperfection in the floor.  The replacement is the same brand, but in a matte finish.  

Other options we considered were: 1. do nothing, 2. install wax.  The first option is cosmetically undesirable.  The beating the finish took during construction has taken its toll.  The second option would require continuing maintenance, which is something we had hoped to avoid.  The lesser of the three evils was to reinstall the original material which should provide years of service without any required maintenance. 

The best news of the week is that we got our temporary occupancy permit.  We only get a temporary permit because we cannot complete the work on the outside of the house until it gets warmer.  The temporary permit allows us to live in the house until the work is complete and we can call for the final inspection.  

Only a couple of minor issues to be corrected.  Apparently in the 30 some years since I last built a house there have been some changes in the building code.  We now need to post the R-values of each of the building envelope elements on a label to be located inside the electrical panel.  The inspector indicated he did not think this would be a problem for this house.  The second issue is a requirement to fire rate the attic access door which I can do with an extra layer of 1/2" plywood or drywall.  I should have both of these done in the next week or so. 

This coming week is being spent catching up on deferred work for my real job.  Over the weekend we will prep and seal the concrete floors, possibly paint the garage and the replacement door for one that was damaged in shipping.  Otherwise we have no urgent priorities.  The movers are scheduled for the 28th and we expect to be all moved in and functioning by the end of the month.  

Hardware installed

 


We continued on with the painting, not quite getting as far as we had hoped, though we will be done with everything except the basement by the end of this weekend.  I set up the doors in the garage in an arcade so I could spray paint them.  It took several coats of paint, but the end result is terrific.   






 




Installing the doors required all of the door jambs be painted, so we spent last weekend making sure that the door frames were ready.  I re-installed all of the doors, and installed the lever sets and door bumps.  

One of the great design features of a barrier free home is a lever handle on the door.  We found a nice arts and crafts lever set from Emtek. Slightly more challenging was the hardware for the double pocket doors, but I finally found a mortise privacy lock that will work just fine, also from Emtek. 








 


I was able to get a coat of stain on the maple doors in the living room.  We had determined that we wanted the stain to match the kitchen cabinets.  We came pretty close, just a slight shade lighter.  A coat of clear sealer has darkened it just a fraction.   





This weekend we will finish painting the rest of the baseboard and garage, and we will be ready to remove the protective paper from the floor.  Then we start vacuuming and moping in anticipation of applying the final sealer.  This may be a two weekend project, and I expect that we will have to vacate the building for a day or two while the concrete sealer cures.






I have a few more carpentry projects to finish up.  The countertop for the island needs to be finish sanded, the backsplashes for the bathrooms and laundry room need to be fabricated, I need to make my new desk top, and I have a little bit of trim remaining to do on the outside of the house.  

I will schedule the final inspection early next week.  With time to spare on the schedule we have plenty of opportunity to make sure that all of the little details are complete before we move in.  Adjusting doors, securing appliances, painting the basement, and other low priority tasks can be finished up before we move in by the end of the month. 


We are looking forward to that date if only for a brief reprieve.  We have allowed ourselves a weekend off after we move in before we begin tackling the exterior spring completion work. 

The End is Near

We have completed the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing, and should have all of those inspections done this week.  I finished painting the closets and installed the closet shelving in the pantry, front hall closet, and master bedroom.

We finished painting all of the walls over the weekend so that the electrical outlets and light fixtures could be installed. It is really nice to have access to light and power now without having to stretch and extension chord the length of the house. 

 
The lights are all of a craftsman style and are Energy Star certified which makes them among the top 25% of the top performing light fixtures in energy efficiency.  The under cabinet lighting is a ribbon of light emitting diodes (LED) about 1/8" thick, and about 3/8" wide.  It comes on a spool which can be cut to length with a pair of scissors in about 2" increments.  We had selected the color to simulate daylight to match all of the other lamps (the technical term for light bulbs) in the house.  Though we went to some trouble to get all of the lamps to match, the lens that it shines through, and the paint that it reflects off of have an impact on the color of the light. 

All of our lamps are either LED or compact fluorescent lamps (CFL's) in an effort to minimize energy consumption, and reduce the amount of Photovoltaic panels we will require.  Every appliance in the home is Energy Star rated for the same reason.  We have opted out of having a garbage disposal to reduce the demand for power, water, and the impact on the septic system, and will compost food scraps instead.  We have opted to make some lifestyle changes, and will keep you posted on how well we are adapting.  More on that later. 

 

This weekend we will finish painting the trim, and start painting the doors.  As soon as that is complete, we can re-install the doors and hardware, remove the paper and plastic from the floor, and prep the floors for the final coat of sealer.  We still want to finish painting the basement and the garage before we move in, but neither is a priority. 

When we are done with this phase of work, we will call for the final inspection.  We will get a temporary occupancy permit which will allow us to live in the house until the exterior work is complete.  The cement stucco, trim, painting, stormwater collection system, final grading, and landscaping will need to be completed in order to get the final occupancy permit. 

Trim done and painted ... mostly

 

The extended family joined us over a long weekend, and we were able to get a good share of the painting done.  Our three kids Jake, Becky, and Rachael, joined us from Northern Michigan, California, and Ohio, and Judy's brother Dave and wife Cheryl joined us from Iowa and rounded out the crew. We painted most of the trim, most of the walls, and got the feature wall colors painted.  We were really pleased with the colors which were selected for us by Rachael based on the some of our favorite art pieces. 

 




 
The trim was completed this week, with the most complicated part being the installation of the huge pocket doors and the sliding doors in the living room.  They are very heavy and required two people to set in place.  The wood doors will be stained a honey maple to match the cabinets.  




 

The rolling doors in the living room provide architectural relief from a conventional door in our main living area.  These doors to the front hall closet and pantry glide on an overhead rail with exposed wheels.  The doors will be stained to match the cabinets and will become a backdrop for artwork.  




  
 
 


A few more hours tomorrow will have the countertops ready for the plumber.  He will complete the installation of the three remaining sinks, dishwasher, refrigerator ice maker, and the sump pump and be ready for the final inspection.  

The bath accessories are all installed with the exception of the shower rods, for which I have not found a suitable rod.
 
The HVAC is nearly complete.  Today they installed the registers, thermostats, outside air filter box, exhaust fan controls, and some final wiring.  A few more details to clean up tomorrow and it will be ready for final inspection.  



Monday the electrician will begin the final electrical.  I have already started installing the light fixtures per our agreement.  They will install the outlets, switches, and a couple of fan controls and should be ready to call for their final inspection by the end of the day Tuesday.  
   
There is still a great deal to be done.  Closet shelving, painting the basement and garage, backsplashes in the bathrooms and kitchen, undercabinet lighting, cabinet hardware, cleaning, and final sealing of the floor are but a few of the many details that will take another couple of weeks to complete.