The Heat Is On!

Pink is good - that means the pipes are filled with the water/sugar glycol mix for the radiant heat tubing. Dave and Quentin worked until the wee hours of 9PM two nights in a row getting this up and running. The house is comfortable at 62 throwing a nice even heat, I'm going to love it even more at 68 :) It feels great, and the wood stove wasn't even on! No drafts! The boiler only fired once today at 10AM, even on a cloudy day with no passive solar heat. Thank you Ellen for the festive Holiday wreath :) Our Boiler: Buderus Logane G115 (in Bright Blue) A photo of the upsairs coat of the American Clay in Megs office, and Dave hangs sheetrock in the Garage in prep for the doors arrival this week!

Vestfrost Refridgerator

Our "fridge" arrived! It's so much taller in real life than in the photos. I was pleasantly surprised! After ordering I feared it would be too small, but I think it's going to be the perfect size.

Vestfrost is a Danish company, and their website well worth a look.
I will take close up images of the inside coils of the freezer so you can see how it's built to be so energy efficient! Electric consumption of about 300kwh a year... $15-20 annually...not bad at all!

Quentin continues to work on his masterpiece!

American Clay Earth Plaster

HAPPY HOLIDAYS from MEG & DAVE thanks to Norman Head's Ice Candle we are in the spirit! We even plastered today listening to Holiday tunes on the XM Radio!



American Clay and Quentin's masterpiece! Where to start! So Builder Dave finished sheetrocking, and then used Murco M-100, a powdered all pourpose joint cement and texture compound formulated with inert fillers and natural bindres only. It does not contain any preservatives or slow releasing compounds. It mixes easily with water. He used this in preparation for American Clay Earth Plaster application.





Dave is using the Dos Manos application, which starts with the first layer of plaster going on with a mixture of mud glue to bond the plaster to the drywall/substrate. You skim coat the first coat - dry - and then the second. Dave found it easy to work with and easy to clean off hands and clothes.










I found it smells great - like the Earth! To me it's like being back in High School Art Class. Funny because I visited a local potter today Becca VanFleet Pottery who has wonderful work by the way...but I left her stating that I was going to work with clay in another application...for my walls!







This is the base color - white or Snow Canyon, but it goes on looking like what you think of a "clay color". When it dries it will be white as you can see in some of the images. I have to say I like how it looks in the photos, the color, kind of natural sand/almond ish... not bad. Wait until you see the colors we have picked!






Now on to Quentin! WOW! Since we poured our foundation, Quentin is on his third house! Albeit with a large crew, but we are so honored to have him help on our project! He is responsible for drafting our plans, designing and installing our radient heat system, and in general being an awesome resource, wealth of knowledge, and an incredible asset to our project! This is an image his handy work!















Some Additional Images around the house! Can you guess what room the clapboard siding is?

SNOW! And Blog Mention on F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods and Supplies!

Dave had a blast plowing the driveway for the first time! Go Dave! Peter also pointed out we were mentioned on the F.W. Horch blog! See: http://fwhorch.blogspot.com/2007_10_01_archive.html or go right to their site to see all their Sustainable Goods & Supplies! http://www.fwhorch.com/

Happy Birthday Dave!

Today is Dave's Birthday! He is going to finish the siding for this special occasion. Even with the Frenzy of the big Nor'Easter heading this way Dave has his head down and is determined to get the outside buttoned up. His to do list is 1) Build house 2) Go skiing.... and he knows he can't really do #2 unless the ski conditions are too good to be true...we are getting there! I love the view from the back yard this time of year, and you can really see the ridgeline view of Kearsarge if you look through the trees!

Flooring Arrives

Thanks to the generous use of the Wildcat Service Station Car Carrier we were able to pick up all our flooring at Home Grown Lumber in Center Conway, NH today. (White Pine, cheaper, easy, local) Over the last few days Dave has also been working on the vertical rough pine siding because the remaining sills to our windows came in allowing him to finish the exterior. I think the house is taking on a very craftsmen style look - way to go Dave! Did I mention it was about 10 degrees this a.m. at home grown lumber and the wind was biting! Easier for us to load up in the barn. Steve and Bob (the loader) help out. Dave shuffled lumber around and loaded it all into the garage to acclimatize over the next few weeks.