We have been absent for some time now and have once again made a number of changes in our plans. Namely we decided that having a full great room in addition to a den was too much space. So we lumped the great room, the breakfast area and the kitchen into 1 central room. Furthermore, I've been playing with Google SketchUp making 3-D models of our plans to give everyone a better idea of what we have in mind. Since the SketchUp plans are more than images I'm not certain how best to load them onto the blog so instead here is a link (SketchUp) for where to download SketchUp and if you are interested in seeing the plans email me at rosscram@gmail.com and I will send you the files.
I would love to send these to everyone but I don't want to flood the inboxes of folks who aren't interested.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Ross and Lorien
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
House plan update
We received a number of comments about the first set of posted house plans and have made a few changes. We've extended the breakfast nook to allow for more kitchen cabinet space. We have redrawn the screen porch to now be 14'x17' instead of the original 12'x12'. Additionally, we have rearranged the utility closet/shop/laundry area to allow shop access without going into the uninsulated garage and have shifted the woodpile to the garage with an easy access door to allow for greater shop space. One of our big debates right now is whether or not to "sink" the great room. The first set of house plans had the great room on level. This set illustrates what it might be like with two wide sets of steps down. It would likely only be 1 or two shallow steps down. We are trying to decide if this would make the great room feel more cozy or if it would just create a feeling of separation between rooms and disrupt traffic flow (in particular to get from the kitchen to the bathroom.) Thoughts?
I sketched a side view of the south face of the house with power point to give folks a better visual idea of what we have in mind. East and west face powerpoint renderings are not exactly publication worthy just yet but I think the south face and the floor plans give a decent impression. The garage (east) is on the right side)
On an unrelated note most of you know that I spent my first 6 weeks or so here dealing with firewood. Cutting it down, bucking it, splitting it etc. Here is a picture of our two wood piles at our rental place; and a toad that was living in the big pile :)
In front of the tractor is the pile. in the back corner is 1 1/3 cords we already stacked.
Next to the bikes is another 2/3 of a cord we stacked.
Here is the toad about the size of my fist hanging out; he was not happy that I moved the wood pile into the garage.
I sketched a side view of the south face of the house with power point to give folks a better visual idea of what we have in mind. East and west face powerpoint renderings are not exactly publication worthy just yet but I think the south face and the floor plans give a decent impression. The garage (east) is on the right side)
On an unrelated note most of you know that I spent my first 6 weeks or so here dealing with firewood. Cutting it down, bucking it, splitting it etc. Here is a picture of our two wood piles at our rental place; and a toad that was living in the big pile :)
In front of the tractor is the pile. in the back corner is 1 1/3 cords we already stacked.
Next to the bikes is another 2/3 of a cord we stacked.
Here is the toad about the size of my fist hanging out; he was not happy that I moved the wood pile into the garage.
Timber
The last two weeks have been spent ostensibly destroying decades of growth. It has been quite an adjustment for me to cut down massive numbers of trees just to create room to walk let alone for a house site and a yard/view. I am very happy with the trees that are growing on the site and am trying to leave as many as possible, within reason. Beech is the dominant species (great firewood, extremely dense). Maples are the next most common with 20+ (red and sugar) growing around the house area; all with tall slender trunks somewhat like palm trees due to their prolonged growth in the dense forest. The rest of the forest is mostly hardwoods:ash (I believe white ash), birch (yellow, paper and possibly cherry), ironwood or hop hornbeam, and black cherry. There are many eastern hemlocks, some balsam firs and some white pines though the pines are mostly limited to the periphery of the property.
The plot we are building on is highly rocky with stones ranging from 1/2 the size of my head to the size of our truck or so. The forest doesn't seem to care. It grows out of every nook and cranny and often envelops these rocks. The land was harvested for timber probably 10 to 15 years ago and the majority of very large trees were removed. As you might guess 10 to 15 year old saplings cover the property. Depending on the species these are anywhere from 8 to 20+ feet high and usually about the diameter of a quarter or a 50 cent piece. They grow extremely densely in places, 5+ per square foot. I tried to take pictures of this but it is totally unintelligible, you'll have to take my word for it.
(Thinned)
The overwhelming density of the saplings caused me to begin clearing with a tree lopper and a machete, highly effective and great for anger management. I think it is fair to estimate that I've probably cut down somewhere on the order of 2000-3000 trees! After a solid week of machete bush-whacking I moved on to the mighty chainsaw. Trees up to 1 foot in diameter have now come into the mix.
A portion of the cleared space ... now a giant mess
I have created an incredible mess with all of the clearing and it has become very difficult to walk anywhere on the site, especially while holding a chainsaw. With that in mind I have started to clean up the logs and brush etc to create space to do more clearing!
My trusty tote of tools and log pile 1 of 3 so far
The plot we are building on is highly rocky with stones ranging from 1/2 the size of my head to the size of our truck or so. The forest doesn't seem to care. It grows out of every nook and cranny and often envelops these rocks. The land was harvested for timber probably 10 to 15 years ago and the majority of very large trees were removed. As you might guess 10 to 15 year old saplings cover the property. Depending on the species these are anywhere from 8 to 20+ feet high and usually about the diameter of a quarter or a 50 cent piece. They grow extremely densely in places, 5+ per square foot. I tried to take pictures of this but it is totally unintelligible, you'll have to take my word for it.
(Thinned)The overwhelming density of the saplings caused me to begin clearing with a tree lopper and a machete, highly effective and great for anger management. I think it is fair to estimate that I've probably cut down somewhere on the order of 2000-3000 trees! After a solid week of machete bush-whacking I moved on to the mighty chainsaw. Trees up to 1 foot in diameter have now come into the mix.
A portion of the cleared space ... now a giant mess
My trusty tote of tools and log pile 1 of 3 so farSaturday, September 13, 2008
Property
As of yesterday at 1pm we now officially own property! The place is 33 acres on the Temple Road in Wilton, ME. If you haven't been looking at the map and tromping all over the property it can be difficult to visualize what it looks like so I made a simple powerpoint map of it...
Here is the Google satellite link to the site, the terrain button will let you see the topo of the site.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Temple+Road,+Wilton,+ME&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=63.215425,104.765625&ie=UTF8&ll=44.633146,-70.200341&spn=0.00707,0.012789&t=h&z=16
Our desktop computer is on the fritz and our scanner isn't out of the box from moving so I couldn't scan in the floor plan drawings. I did, however, have some free time yesterday morning so I made up some powerpoint graphics of them! Let the advice begin!
The font is pretty small and is hard to read in the blog window, if you click on the image an enlarged version should appear. If you have trouble seeing these or just want a higher quality copy send me an email and I'll get them to you.
We will be taking pictures of the site and putting them up either later today or by Monday.
Cheers,
Ross and Lorien
Here is the Google satellite link to the site, the terrain button will let you see the topo of the site.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Temple+Road,+Wilton,+ME&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=63.215425,104.765625&ie=UTF8&ll=44.633146,-70.200341&spn=0.00707,0.012789&t=h&z=16
Our desktop computer is on the fritz and our scanner isn't out of the box from moving so I couldn't scan in the floor plan drawings. I did, however, have some free time yesterday morning so I made up some powerpoint graphics of them! Let the advice begin!
The font is pretty small and is hard to read in the blog window, if you click on the image an enlarged version should appear. If you have trouble seeing these or just want a higher quality copy send me an email and I'll get them to you.
We will be taking pictures of the site and putting them up either later today or by Monday.
Cheers,
Ross and Lorien
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Background
Lorien and I have been planning on building our own home for the better part of a year. We have gone through well more than a dozen basic floor plans as we vacillate between dreams and pragmatism. I would like to take this opportunity to give a bit of background of how we got started and to explain some of the concepts we are considering. We would greatly appreciate any comments and criticisms you may have; it would certainly be better to have them now rather than after the walls are painted.
The first, an possibly most influential, book I came across in thinking about building our home is "Living Homes" by Thomas Elpel. Thomas and his wife built their dream home in Montana with seemingly heroic personal efforts and limited funds. The book not only outlines the various building concepts the couple employed but also goes to great lengths to explain alternatives and the rationale of their choices. Those of you who know me well will have no trouble imagining how much I wanted to emulate this young couple... living in a tent at the job site in the wilderness forging ahead with my unbridled enthusiasm. It is probably best that I could not start building the day after I finished this book for while it gave us many great ideas there were a whole host of considerations yet to be addressed. Possibly the greatest asset that we gleaned from this book was the host of new resources to consider; that and the more pragmatic side of home construction rather than just wanting a castle in the mountains.
Goals and key ideas:
From reading nearly two dozen home building books and a degree in engineering (albeit not focused on home construction) we have come up with a number of tenets for our home construction. The most influential of these is that the house is a system to be considered not only as a sum of parts but also as a whole. Like all homeowners we of course care about the form of the building; the architecture, the landscape, and the site are all serious considerations. Our goal is to address all of these while building a technically and mechanically sound sustainable home.
Sustainability is a word that is tossed around a lot today. I have been fortunate to be surrounded by many brilliant people who are working towards a more sustainable future in a broad spectrum of fields. What has become increasingly apparent to me in the last few years is that there are often no completely right answers when it comes to sustainability. A truly superior option very rarely exists, if it did we would all likely be doing it already and there would be little cause for debate. What is widely agreed upon is that increased efficiency and reduced material and energy usage are essential first steps. With these ideas in mind Lorien and I are looking to create a warm, comfortable home that minimizes energy usage and lasts well beyond our lifetime.
Ideas we are considering employing include but are not limited to...
Passive solar design (carefully calculated solar orientation, thermal mass, window glazing etc.)
Super-insulation
Open floor plan with strategically place windows and venting to allow natural convection to thermally regulate the interior of the house.
Masonry heater for primary heat generation
Timber frame construction from sustainable timber
Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) for use in both the walls and the roof of the structure
Active solar thermal for hot water and possibly hydronic heating
Active solar for electricity (insolation is not spectacular, slightly below Minneapolis on average)
Wind for electricity (wind resource is more substantial than solar, particularly since we will be on the top of a 1000' above sea level hill, however, the NIMBY consideration may be significant)
Composting toilets (this idea is currently looking highly improbable due to potential resale difficulties)
Gray water mitigation
Attached greenhouse, for decoration, passive solar gain and minimal food production
Please feel free to ask me about any of these ideas or anything that I may have forgotten to list. I will be putting up a list of links and resources as soon as I can.
Many of you may be wondering exactly how we plan to go about building this home. As we haven't actually begun construction the ideas are still skirling about and we are not certain of all of the details just yet. The final decision may come from financing options. The only bank we've spoken to so far has no qualms about financing an owner-builder, however, they want the construction complete in 12 months, 15 at the longest. Lorien and I are both healthily skeptical that I could do all that I want to and complete the house in this amount of time (that being said neither of us has ever built a house and we have no idea how long it will actually take.) The basic plan thus far is....
I will clear the trees and scrub from the future road site and the house site (the road is likely to be about 800'.) We have spoken to a construction company about having them lay the road, grade the site and pour the foundation, likely next spring or early summer. We will hire a timber frame company to build the timber frame. We will sheath the house in SIPs either ourselves or will hire out depending on a the timber framing company and a few other considerations. We will hire out the roofing and eventually the drywall. I have spoken to a masonry company about constructing the masonry heater and I will hopefully aid in that construction but will not be in charge of it. I am planning on doing the rest of the construction myself with whatever help arises (extra hands are always welcome.) I am still in debate about whether to do my own electrical and plumbing work. I have received stout advice for and against both by highly competent people and the verdict is still out.
A few words about stone...
After reading Thomas Elpel's book I read a handful of other books about working with stone written for owner-builders (those who build their own home.) After three or four of these books I believe I got a decent handle on the pros and cons of building with stone and I think we will probably not construct a stone castle.
Pros:
If you live in a rocky area, the material can be very cheap if not free.
Buildings made of stone are supreme when it comes to longevity.
Stone provides fantastic thermal mass and when insulated properly is a great thermal attenuator.
Stone can provide a level of beauty and craftsmanship to make a home truly unique.
Cons:
As you may imagine... stone is heavy.
Compared to other structural materials it is very time consuming.
Stone is a very poor thermal insulator, thick exterior stone walls alone are nowhere near sufficient in northern climes.
All of that being said we are purchasing a piece of property that is heavily wooded and highly rocky. We will not be without ample stone. We currently intend to use stone as an element in our masonry heater (more to come on that later), as a feature in our greenhouse and hopefully as a design accent in the interior of the house.
Preliminary floor plans and site pictures are in the works.
The first, an possibly most influential, book I came across in thinking about building our home is "Living Homes" by Thomas Elpel. Thomas and his wife built their dream home in Montana with seemingly heroic personal efforts and limited funds. The book not only outlines the various building concepts the couple employed but also goes to great lengths to explain alternatives and the rationale of their choices. Those of you who know me well will have no trouble imagining how much I wanted to emulate this young couple... living in a tent at the job site in the wilderness forging ahead with my unbridled enthusiasm. It is probably best that I could not start building the day after I finished this book for while it gave us many great ideas there were a whole host of considerations yet to be addressed. Possibly the greatest asset that we gleaned from this book was the host of new resources to consider; that and the more pragmatic side of home construction rather than just wanting a castle in the mountains.
Goals and key ideas:
From reading nearly two dozen home building books and a degree in engineering (albeit not focused on home construction) we have come up with a number of tenets for our home construction. The most influential of these is that the house is a system to be considered not only as a sum of parts but also as a whole. Like all homeowners we of course care about the form of the building; the architecture, the landscape, and the site are all serious considerations. Our goal is to address all of these while building a technically and mechanically sound sustainable home.
Sustainability is a word that is tossed around a lot today. I have been fortunate to be surrounded by many brilliant people who are working towards a more sustainable future in a broad spectrum of fields. What has become increasingly apparent to me in the last few years is that there are often no completely right answers when it comes to sustainability. A truly superior option very rarely exists, if it did we would all likely be doing it already and there would be little cause for debate. What is widely agreed upon is that increased efficiency and reduced material and energy usage are essential first steps. With these ideas in mind Lorien and I are looking to create a warm, comfortable home that minimizes energy usage and lasts well beyond our lifetime.
Ideas we are considering employing include but are not limited to...
Passive solar design (carefully calculated solar orientation, thermal mass, window glazing etc.)
Super-insulation
Open floor plan with strategically place windows and venting to allow natural convection to thermally regulate the interior of the house.
Masonry heater for primary heat generation
Timber frame construction from sustainable timber
Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) for use in both the walls and the roof of the structure
Active solar thermal for hot water and possibly hydronic heating
Active solar for electricity (insolation is not spectacular, slightly below Minneapolis on average)
Wind for electricity (wind resource is more substantial than solar, particularly since we will be on the top of a 1000' above sea level hill, however, the NIMBY consideration may be significant)
Composting toilets (this idea is currently looking highly improbable due to potential resale difficulties)
Gray water mitigation
Attached greenhouse, for decoration, passive solar gain and minimal food production
Please feel free to ask me about any of these ideas or anything that I may have forgotten to list. I will be putting up a list of links and resources as soon as I can.
Many of you may be wondering exactly how we plan to go about building this home. As we haven't actually begun construction the ideas are still skirling about and we are not certain of all of the details just yet. The final decision may come from financing options. The only bank we've spoken to so far has no qualms about financing an owner-builder, however, they want the construction complete in 12 months, 15 at the longest. Lorien and I are both healthily skeptical that I could do all that I want to and complete the house in this amount of time (that being said neither of us has ever built a house and we have no idea how long it will actually take.) The basic plan thus far is....
I will clear the trees and scrub from the future road site and the house site (the road is likely to be about 800'.) We have spoken to a construction company about having them lay the road, grade the site and pour the foundation, likely next spring or early summer. We will hire a timber frame company to build the timber frame. We will sheath the house in SIPs either ourselves or will hire out depending on a the timber framing company and a few other considerations. We will hire out the roofing and eventually the drywall. I have spoken to a masonry company about constructing the masonry heater and I will hopefully aid in that construction but will not be in charge of it. I am planning on doing the rest of the construction myself with whatever help arises (extra hands are always welcome.) I am still in debate about whether to do my own electrical and plumbing work. I have received stout advice for and against both by highly competent people and the verdict is still out.
A few words about stone...
After reading Thomas Elpel's book I read a handful of other books about working with stone written for owner-builders (those who build their own home.) After three or four of these books I believe I got a decent handle on the pros and cons of building with stone and I think we will probably not construct a stone castle.
Pros:
If you live in a rocky area, the material can be very cheap if not free.
Buildings made of stone are supreme when it comes to longevity.
Stone provides fantastic thermal mass and when insulated properly is a great thermal attenuator.
Stone can provide a level of beauty and craftsmanship to make a home truly unique.
Cons:
As you may imagine... stone is heavy.
Compared to other structural materials it is very time consuming.
Stone is a very poor thermal insulator, thick exterior stone walls alone are nowhere near sufficient in northern climes.
All of that being said we are purchasing a piece of property that is heavily wooded and highly rocky. We will not be without ample stone. We currently intend to use stone as an element in our masonry heater (more to come on that later), as a feature in our greenhouse and hopefully as a design accent in the interior of the house.
Preliminary floor plans and site pictures are in the works.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Circle zero... square one yet to come
Well we don't actually own land to build on yet so this first bit will just be about where we are staying in the mean time and a few pictures of that. Lorien, Tesla, Ryu, Kaiya and I have been living in our rental for about two months now. Our stuff is unpacked, we've made a few new friends and have thus far not acquired any new animals.
5am sunrise from our back porch
and our living room as it is just now.
Blogger appears to be cranky with me for trying to load photos so I'll have to call it quits for now and come back with more in episode two.
Cheers,
Ross
5am sunrise from our back porch
and our living room as it is just now.
Blogger appears to be cranky with me for trying to load photos so I'll have to call it quits for now and come back with more in episode two.
Cheers,
Ross
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