Month: October 2017

Busily Waiting

Things are getting crazy busy. We are starting rough-in for plumbing, so suddenly we need lots plumbing fixtures on site so that the in-the-wall pieces can be installed accurately in the proper locations. But we’ve had a few snafus. The list of fixtures from our initial supplier was supplied to our plumbers about a week late, and then it was not at all accurate. So we’ve had to use plan B to obtain the things the plumbers needed first.

We’ve also been anxiously tracking the progress of our window and exterior door construction and delivery, since they’re being made in, and shipped from, Germany. For about the past 9 days, they’ve been shipboard, crossing the Atlantic during the last 6 of those days. We’ve been tracking the progress of “our” ship, the YM Enlightenment with the help of the MarineTraffic website. The ship conveniently avoided Hurricane Ophelia fortunately, but it rather appears to my inexpert eye that it did have to take a less than optimal route to go around it.

As of this moment, the Enlightenment is about 10 miles off shore from Virginia Beach, heading to make port at Norfolk. Once the container is off the ship, it will somehow get loaded on a railroad car headed towards Minneapolis. That journey is estimated to take another 9 days Our container of windows and doors will then be required to clear customs in a Minneapolis rail yard. Once it does, we can get it trucked to our building site.

We very much look forward to having the house “buttoned up” with windows and doors, both to keep the weather out as well as for the security. We’ve already had someone steal some lumber; we’d hate to have more theft occur.

Vegetable & Mineral: wood, concrete, steel.

The garage has wood rafters and decking, so more wood can be stored inside and on top. A green roof is heavier than a typical roof, so Sweet Tree’s garage has a significant support structure.

The Electric Power box arrived! Soon, there will be lights inside without needing the gas-powered generators. (Hint, hint, Xcel Energy, it’s your move). We’re eyeing a Power Wall, and looking for good placement for plug-in spots for future electric car charging.

Looking SE from under garage

Looking NE from under garage, mudroom door in center

There will be a nice south window in the garage

It’s a power thing

I-Joists stand out from the second floor and the gable ends. There will be insulation between them, and steel covering the second floor walls and the roof. The steel will have a standing seam which can serve as an attachment point for solar panels.

Inside the attic space will be an office with a great view to the East. The man standing near the window gives a sense of proportion to the space. It should be a good size for a small office.

I-joinsts being screwed to the ICF structure.

The west balcony and attic, with i-joists to hold the insulation.

Seeing an adult for scale shows the nice size of the attic spaces

West window from the attic, looking at the future sugar bush and orchard

Looking down south from 3rd floor attic

Looking into the east bedroom

Not quite infinite trusses

North window from the closet

The great amount of concrete forming the shell of the house will be left open to see where ever possible, but the inside structure uses wood and steel to support and define the rooms.

West Bedroom

Kitchen Rafters

Stairway to heaven (attic)

Future bed, bath, and closet

East Bedroom, stair well, bath above the east entrance

Attic roof rafters are tape-sealed and bolted firmly in place.

These steel brackets are just about everywhere something needs to be held up.

There is a spectacular view from the attic to the ground floor, through second floor and ground floor windows. The light from those south windows should flood the open space, and reflect up to make the attic bright as well. We expect this to be a house of light and warmth, with windows and stairwells strategically placed for best views, illumination, and heat gain in winter.

We had a lot of rain again, and at first that produced prodigious mud ruts.
After the rain came mushrooms.

Rain ruts

Mulch Mushrooms

Topping it off and Closing the Moat

Roof decking was lifted up to the rafters, where pieces were slipped into place and secured with nails. Once the decking is in place, the seams will be taped for air and water tightness.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

A glycol loop runs around the base of the house. It will help pre-heat or-cool the fresh air system, using the soil temperature from the base of the foundation. It will change very little during a year’s time, and this helps the fresh air system regulate the temperature of our home.

Bollig & Sons filled the moat in with our small mountain of soil, then packed it down.

North side, basement with glycol tube

Flying rock shoots into the moat before the soil was replaced.

Bollig & Sons used this to flatten our moat!

The mountain of subsoil is now a molehill

Graded soil at the front

Back yard graded

Taped roof decking

Breezeway covered

Rafters look like boat framing upside down

Plywood stack

Wood is used is so many ways in homes, even when the walls are concrete. Floors, rafters, beams, and finished surfaces rely on wood for strength, versatility, and beauty.

EIFS: (Ee-fuhss) A new Acronym. Mid-September 2017

Sweet Tree Passive House is getting an Exterior Insulated Finish System (EIFS) exterior for basement, ground floor, garage, mudroom, and breezeway. It is a layered water-proofing insulation. Sweet Tree Passive House will get a white stucco finish for the ground floor, so much of the “look” will be similar to the white of the unfinished ICF.

Here’s the progress view just before the EIFS team got started:

The house is up to the second floor, almost ready for floor joists. RJStegora places re-inforcing lumber at critical points to prevent stress on the forms. The forms are sturdy, braced and secured (and inter-laced with rebar) to withstand the impact of the heavy, wet concrete.