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Yearly Archives: 2017
Airlock Entry Interior Door
As the cold weather descends and as I set the thermostats a little lower to cut back our electricity use (I’m studying our use to figure out where we use too much electricity) I decided it was time to isolate … Continue reading
Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope
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The Seasonal List Update
This is the list we started with in the fall. Some of these seem to have been accomplished ages ago. Some keep getting put off. Notice I had several crossed off by the time I published the list. There are … Continue reading
Posted in Planning
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Not Much but Bath Bars
I wasn’t going to work on the house at all this week and just prepare for Christmas. But my mom is coming over to celebrate and I had a safety bar to put in the master bath and I had … Continue reading
Posted in Bathrooms
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Solar Install Scheduled!
Our Solar City/Tesla installation has been scheduled for mid March! I was surprised it would take that long to get a crew and materials together to do the installation but at least we are now on the schedule. I asked … Continue reading
Happy 2nd Birthday Grandson!
We visited Oakland, California for a big birthday bash for our grandson. We were excited about decorating for his theme of “Cars and Trucks and Things that Go”. My sister and brother came to the party too. My brother all … Continue reading
Posted in Diversions, Grandkids
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Foundation Insulation
We had some warm December weather and Dave thought he could do another outdoor project so he started digging the trench to repair and replace the foundation insulation. Although we thought the white insulation was EPS with its lower insulating … Continue reading
Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope
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Schluter Kerdi Shower
Schluter Kerdi is a thin waterprrof membrane that feels like a thick paper with a fleece side that gets embedded in mortar and what must be a polymer infused side that is waterproof. The directions say to make the mortar … Continue reading
Posted in Bathrooms, Construction, Plumbing
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Thanksgiving!
We roasted a turkey for Thanksgiving and I had the Effergy monitor on the oven electrical line and found that it uses up to 4KW during use. My sister visited and set a beautiful table with my mother’s fancy china … Continue reading
Posted in Diversions, Monitoring
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Exterior Door Trim
I finally let the trim on the front door get so badly peeled and chipped that I had to paint it before winter set in. The sad truth is that something went terribly wrong when we had these doors painted by … Continue reading
Posted in Construction, Maintenance and Repair, Trim
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Koffee Korner
We kept the plumbing location from the old kitchen sink even though we had moved the wall. Originally I thought we might install an outdoor sink near this water supply. But as the house progressed I thought a bar sink … Continue reading
Posted in Kitchen, Plumbing, Reduce Reuse Recycle
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First Two Doors
We brought in the two small closet doors because they were in the way in the garage. Well, they were in the way in the house too. I found these doors on Craigslist about 18 months ago. They were only … Continue reading
Posted in Reduce Reuse Recycle, Tools, Trim
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Fire Alarms
I finally got the fire alarms installed after having the item on multiple lists since the electrical was finished. I’m trying to check off all the requirements for our final inspection. LEED requires that we have a carbon monoxide alarm … Continue reading
Posted in Electrical, LEED Project, Trim
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Adding a Shower Light
The family room shower is big and it was dark inside. It really needed a light but I didn’t specify one in the electrical drawings so I had to add it as a retrofit. The light I bought came with … Continue reading
Posted in Electrical
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Radon Proof Sump Cover
When we demoed the slab floor we saw that drain pipes were connected from the outside perimeter foundation of the house into the sump tank. We seldom saw water in the sump tank so we were not sure the system … Continue reading
Posted in Moisture Intrusion/Expansive Soil, Radon Mitigation
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Ladder Pot Hanger Shelf
I have two of these old kiva ladders. They are popular in the Southwest and I like the look of them made out of logs and leather straps. I needed to use the 12′ ladder to help hang this ladder … Continue reading
Posted in Design Style, Kitchen, Reduce Reuse Recycle
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A Fall List?
It’s a little late in the fall to post a new list of tasks for the house, but I have been working from a list and I think I should share it. First, a review of the summer list. I believe … Continue reading
Posted in Planning
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Unpacking!
Being surrounded by boxes is no fun. So I started unpacking right away. All this finery that was in storage for so many years, and we are just now seeing it back in the house! As I unpacked the boxes, … Continue reading
Posted in Moving
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Annual Garage Clean Out
Each fall it is time to empty the garage enough to store the car out of the snow and park the mower inside too. This year we did not beat the first snow as it came in October. But we … Continue reading
Posted in Maintenance and Repair, Tools
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Solar Inspiration
At the Solar Decathlon information booths I signed up for consultations with three solar panel install companies. The one that represents Tesla products, and in fact will be changing their name to Tesla, is Solar City. I have looked at … Continue reading
Posted in Solar
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Solar Decathlon!
I spent one day at the 2017 Solar Decathlon at the Panasonic building near the airport in Denver. John Avenson hosted a booth at the Solar Decathlon for the Passive House Institute and included the various energy efficiency non profit … Continue reading
Posted in Green Building Interests, Solar
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