Twinsprings Research Institute

Reused Outdoor Lights

Posted on June 10, 2015 by ellen

These were the original lights at the doors. They may have been homemade as they were cedar like the siding with white plastic covers. They were much the worse for wear, with the wood cracking and breaking and the lights filled with old wasp nests and dead moths.

Old porch light

I found a set of two of these lights on craigslist for $60 which was a little more than I wanted to pay but I was the first responder to the ad and I wanted them at $30 each it was reasonable if not cheap. They are light sensitive and have the on at dusk off at dawn feature.

New porch light

I was lucky to find a third light on clearance at Home Depot for about $50. These lights were normally $99. Not only is it a perfect match, it has the instructions for setting the movement time on and the on at dusk feature.
Each light is near a door. This is the now bedroom door under the overhang.

New light

This is the light next to the front door.

New light at front door

The existing light at the garage is an iron color instead of bronze, but it was the inspiration for the new “coach” lights.

Existing garage light

A small job but one that improves the appearance of the house. Too bad they stuccoed around the original fixtures.

Heath_Zenith Outdoor Carriage Light_user manual

Posted in Design Style, Electrical, Reduce Reuse Recycle | Comments Off

Tarnished Energy Gems

Posted on June 9, 2015 by ellen

It appears that SERI had a good deal of influence in the 80’s in the Denver area. I say this because I purchased a solar hot water system from a couple in Centennial who bought a foreclosure that has a huge trombe wall and three huge bins of rock storage in the basement! I was SOOO impressed. Unfortunately he said the system has been abandoned for years and even some of the vents were tiled over etc. They tried the fans which still work but they blasted dust into the air.

This was the rock storage bin idea.

Rock Bin Heat Storage

I was so excited, told him it was essentially free heat forever if they could just resurrect the system. So much expense into developing it and just sitting there doing nothing. The lower vents were blocked off with styrofoam panels. There were three stories of aluminum sliding glass doors in front of a concrete block wall. The brick for the inside wall was solid and all soldier course. The house was huge–2220 sq. ft on the first floor alone, then an upper story and the walk out basement rooms. At one time all heated with solar.

There is so much ignorance about these systems that it is sad–maybe tragic. The former owners who blocked off a system that would have given them free heat, the roofers who cut the solar panels and crushed the pipes going into the panels so that they will have to be disassembled to be fixed, the lack of contractors who would know how to return the house to its former glory, so they have a great house despite its solar “quirks” instead of because of them.

I wish I had taken some photos. The front of the house was indistinguishable from its neighbors, the back was gorgeous at three solar stories high with a sunroom on one side and a trombe wall on the other and it looked out on a lovely little green space before the next neighborhood. I wish they could renovate the system, but the expense would probably be beyond them as a younger couple with two little kids.

Current theory is that rock storage did not “work” as well as superinsulation does–just keeping the heat in the house is better. But if you HAVE rock storage, it depends on what you want to get out of it to determine its worth. Like a heat pump, it will only use the ambient temp of the rocks to pre-heat the house–likely it won’t actually heat the house adequately during the coldest weather due to the inefficiencies of air to rock heat transfer. Also there would be the thermal swing–if you actually store lots of heat–how long would it take to cool off when the temps get warmer? Yet my research shows this type of system is still being researched and in some cases installed–especially outside the US.

I thought it was so neat and if it were not so far away I would love to explore the system and see what the issues are. But I have my own systems to attend to, including a new hot water solar system that I purchased from these folks that needs to be restored.

Posted in Green Building Interests, Reduce Reuse Recycle | Comments Off

Air Barrier Membrane Install

Posted on May 12, 2015 by ellen

It seemed that it took getting the new doors and windows installed before the time was right to finally install the membrane. I made the decision to use the vapor permeable air barrier from Siga in October of 2013. We have had the membrane and tapes for over a year. Here they were sitting quietly in the corner waiting for me to finally start the job.

Siga Majpell Membrane

The first step is hanging the double sided tape over the rafters. These work on wood or metal and about any surface–here on the polyiso layer.

Siga Twinet Tape on Ceiling

The second step is to cut the membrane to length, with enough to overlap the next piece. Since we have the top plate of the bathroom hanging wall left on this ceiling, we cut enough to cover the room lengthwise.
The application was difficult as the heavy piece of membrane was too much for the Twinet double sided tape. I ended up stapling the membrane at the top and finally got it to stick to the tape but the first piece ended up a little uneven.

First Application Uneven in Spots

The cover on the tape is pulled down as the membrane is installed. Here the first layer is done and the tape is hanging ready for the second row.

Ready for Second Row

The overlapped edges are taped with the Sicrall tape here. Siga no longer makes this paper backed tape, they replaced it with a vinyl tape. But this tape holds quite well and with its paper backing is easy to install. The caulking at the edges complete the air barrier. I’m using the Siga Primur caulk that works on stucco but I also used it at the wood edges for the first room. The caulk looks like it has some silicone in it as it dries half clear/half white, but it stays tacky a long time. It probably stays rubbery to maintain a seal even if the substrates have some movement.

Installed taped and caulked edges

We started the job trying to use just one layer of scaffolding with a ladder on top. But the ceiling was still too high and partially was the reason the first piece was so difficult to maneuver. So for the caulking job and for the kitchen membrane, I added the second set of scaffolding and it allows for much easier contact with the highest part of the cathedral ceiling.

Double Decker Scaffolding

Unfortunately when rearranging the bottom set of scaffolding, I was having a problem lowering the platform. In the past I had easily dropped it a hole or two at a time but this time it was not working. It wasn’t until I tried to lower it from the side that the platform completely dropped off and landed on my left foot that I realized the problem was the platform was NOT bolted on. So the whole scaffolding had been a bit more rickety than I remembered and that little difference made for a very sore foot. Luckily I didn’t break any toes. When I reassembled it I found the bolts and USED them. Then I had to take it apart again to move it to the kitchen to install that ceiling membrane.

Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, Energy Efficiency | Comments Off

Leaks!

Posted on May 11, 2015 by ellen

Oh no, more leaks. We had literally weeks of rain in our normally dry climate. Our rain gauge registered almost 3 inches more than once. On one particularly stormy day last week we began to see water penetration.

Rain Gauge at 2.5″

We heard water splashing on the metal chimney. It was leaking in more than one spot. So the chimney will need to be recaulked–hope the flashing is still OK

Chimney Leak

Water was also squeezing between the two rafters and dripping down on the radon pipe and down to the floor.

Leak at roof corner

This was a slower leak and my guess is that it is coming from the corner where two roofs meet.

Drips from roof corner leak

The roofing is curved up in this spot and attached to the outer wall and at the corner it is a pretty messy caulk job where the old window was too close to the corner. We replaced the window with a smaller version and obviously need to redo the corner where the roofing meets the siding here. Something else to add to the list!

Posted in Maintenance and Repair, Moisture Intrusion/Expansive Soil | Comments Off

Remedies for Door Difficulties

Posted on May 10, 2015 by ellen

Efficiency Matters returned to relevel and replumb the doors–and they fixed most of the biggest issues with the doors opening and closing which was a huge relief. They also reinstalled the back door into 2 x 6’s instead of the existing crooked 2 x 4’s.
Then Mark Attard from AE Building Systems returned to view the issues still outstanding. Most of them will eventually be resolved by the Alpen tech representative.
Here is what we looked at. Paint is peeling both from where the door may have been struck and inside the jambs where it appears to just be a poor paint job.

Peeling paint

Not only is the paint cracking but the front door paint is rough like the spray gun had junk in it or the door wasn’t completely clean and the back door trim shows white through the paint. As soon as the weather gets better the Alpen tech will return to repaint these areas.

Paint cracking

It appeared that the front door was warped, but when Mark checked it, there was much less warping evident and he believes the top being out of alignment is still an installation issue so I contacted Efficiency Matters about the issue again.

Warped door?

One of the handlesets has the wrong faceplate but worse the screws for the handlesets are just painted black so using a screwdriver on them chips off the paint. The Alpen rep is ordering two more–that will replace some of the nicked handles as well.

Mismatched handleset

One of the bolt heads in the lock area is too large for the countersunk metal so I’m hoping they will send new bolts or have the tech bring a countersink to make room for the larger bolthead.

Bolt head too large

Finally, I thought this was just poor workmanship on the hinge routing, but Mark assured me several door companies now rout the slabs to hang either way in the jambs. Great, I wonder when they started this shortcut? Yuck. There are also a few crooked screws in the hinges and lock plates. Have to wonder who puts things together these days! Apparently the slabs are installed in the jambs by local trim companies, in this case Trimco. I actually think some of the issues are the result of the trim companies failures instead of the installers but I can’t really prove that. And the doors are working much better now.

Door routing

Posted in Construction, Maintenance and Repair | Comments Off

Skid Steer Skills

Posted on May 7, 2015 by ellen

I rented a skid steer for the day from Arvada Rentalls. I decided moving concrete by hand was too slow and I wanted to scrape the grass off the slab area too. The machine required a large trailer to bring it home and the delivery cost was the same as the trailer rental so I had it delivered and picked up. When it was delivered the man asked if I was getting help in the form of an operator and I said no I would do it. He seemed alarmed, so I quickly said my husband would help. I don’t know why I said that! He seemed mollified though. Dave did help but not by driving the skid steer. He helped me figure out how to put on the bucket and tried to get it off too but we couldn’t.

In the driver’s seat

Unfortunately it turned out to be a partially rainy day when I was expecting sunshine admittedly after several days of rain during the week. The forecast changed and it continued to rain for another week with some downpours. But I had to use it on the day it arrived and I was allotted 8 hours of engine time and 24 hours of time on location.

Scooping concrete

The main job for the machine was moving as much of the broken concrete as I could in the time allotted. That meant learning how to scoop the heavy concrete. Although I read about how to operate a skid steer and how long it might take, learning was trial and error. The hand controls for steering were pretty easy to learn–I thought they were easier than a steering wheel. The controls for working the bucket were counter intuitive. They were foot pedals, with left controlling the lift arms and right controlling the bucket. Toe forward was down and heel back was up for the arms, but toe forward was up for the bucket and heel back was dump. So my feet had to be opposite to either lift the bucket into place or return it to the travel position. I kept getting it backwards and had to look at the bucket to see what it was doing. Needless to say my knees got a workout.
I came inside to rest during the first shower but I was in the machine when it rained again and just kept on working. It didn’t seem to matter since I was enclosed and the ground was already wet. When supper time came I still had another hour and a half to work with the machine so again I just kept on going and missed supper with the grandkids, but Dave brought me some dinner that I enjoyed later. Because of the rain I had to approach the concrete pile from different directions making new ruts each time and then moving on to a different area. Once the ruts got so deep, I was getting stuck and there were a couple of times I had to rock the skid steer to get out of the mud. Still I got at least half of the concrete moved to the rear of the garden. And as a bonus I pulled out two dying evergreens, a huge juniper at the road and a large dead spreading evergreen near the front.

Slab area for the spa–in the mud

I had to stop for a bit to go pick up the second load of rubber tile. We kept that on the pallet instead of unloading it to put it on the truck. I rented a forklift attachment hoping to get the tiles off all at one time. But I couldn’t get the bucket off to put the forklift back on. It came with the fork lift attached and we did use it to get a heavy pump mount out of the back of the truck. The pump mount will go in the concrete slab to reduce pump noise but it weighs 600 lbs so not easy to move!

The next morning, the man who picked up the machine said the bucket was stuck from the mud caked on the bottom. He put the forklift back on to pick up the bucket and drive it onto the trailer. I asked him if he could try to move the pallet from the truck first, and he obliged but it turned out that the pallet was so heavy it was tipping the skid steer so he said he couldn’t do it and I ended up unpacking the the tile by hand. So off he went taking the skid steer to its next rental.

Goodbye Skid Steer

Posted in Landscape, Tools | Comments Off

Two Loads of Rubber Tile

Posted on April 30, 2015 by ellen

I will add another project to the list. Build the front patio with these rubber tiles.

These are recycled rubber tiles that I found in a craigslist ad. The guy had two pallets and wanted to sell them all at once. There are about 1200 tiles. I’m excited about this great find.

The seller has a business about 15 miles from here and his guys loaded them onto our truck. I unloaded them and will go back tomorrow for the second pallet. I’m hoping they will be able to load the pallet all at once tomorrow after I empty the truck of another purchase for the spa installation.

First load of rubber tiles

This is what one tile looks like. They are about 12″ x 12″ and are a bargain way to fill in our front patio.

Hexagonal Rubber Tire

The bonus is that these are environmentally friendly by using up old tires in a recycled product. Plus these were quite inexpensive. I found very similar tiles on sale from a California company for $2.85 a tile. The seller said he imported them himself for $2.00 a tile, he sold them to me for about $.30 a tile.
I am wondering if they could be installed on the flat roof–if I have enough. They would add about 2 lbs per square foot but should be sturdy and if glued down and caulked could protect the heat applied membrane roof. I would like to sit up there for fireworks this 4th of July!

Posted in Landscape, Reduce Reuse Recycle | Comments Off

A Spring List

Posted on April 29, 2015 by ellen

I’m making a spring list that will follow us into summer I’m sure. The rule of making a new list is to put something on it that can be crossed off right away, especially if it was not on a previous list. So number 1 is install new electric box, and number 2 is install new windows: check and check.

Spring List

The new list is made just as I think of things, not in order of doing. Here we go:
1. ~~Install outside electric box~~
2. ~~New windows~~
3. New doors (will be replumbed and leveled today)
4. Insulate remaining openings
5. Install battens
6. Install membrane/air barrier
7. Polyiso in crawlspace joists
8. Plan ventilation system
9. Resolve door issues
10. Get insulation inspections
11. Foam sheathing cracks/tape
12. Drywall exterior walls
13. Patch concrete (floor) and caulk edges
14. Clean and polish floor
15. Interior walls
16. Pour concrete slab
17. Install spa
18. Excavate spa slab area

It is kind of obvious that sometimes I think backwards! So this list is obviously not in order. Can’t install the battens before the membrane for instance. Or pour the concrete slab before excavation. Nevertheless there is plenty to do these next few weeks.

Posted in Construction, Planning | Comments Off

Next Steps–Not These!

Posted on April 28, 2015 by ellen

What are the next steps?
We still have the membrane and the furring strips to install throughout the house. That is left over from the fall list.
Dave and I both had bad colds these past few weeks. Felt miserable and not up to much in the way of construction. I had a few leads for craigslist finds, being sick in bed and having time to read the ads, but they all seemed like way too much work.

This was an 8 x 10 gazebo that we could have moved for $200. We couldn’t use the deck though, it would not hold the full spa–not hefty enough and it was too big to fit on the truck in one piece.

Gazebo for spa

This was a free toilet that I picked up and broke the tank trying to get it behind the house. I was sad as it was a pretty toilet and I can’t find a replacement tank. It is only a Home Depot Glacier Bay brand made in China. I’m supposed to buy water sense toilets but I could not pass up free. Now it is just trash I guess.

Glacier Bay Victorian toilet

I waited for these folks to close on their house to view and make an offer on this solar system. The equipment is pretty old. One of the pumps had been replaced. It used a temperature differential between the pumps to determine the rate of flow. The pipes coming out of the storage tank were quite warm given that it was completely overcast that day. The former owners had told them not to get rid of it but that was one of the first things they were doing! Kind of odd I thought.

Glycol solar hot water system

While I was there I asked if they wanted to sell the greenhouse and they said sure, but then I had to ask Dave if he wanted it, or would help with moving the solar system. As I was leaving another man came to see the solar hot water stuff and I suppose he bought it as I have not heard from the owners. There were three panels and a frame on the roof.

Solar hot water panels

The greenhouse was cool but not quite wide enough for our solar space.

Greenhouse

None of these things are part of the larger picture and we can’t put effort forth to make them happen right now.

The concrete slab for the spa does have to be poured. Would like to have that done in the next couple of weeks.

I have been thinking that while the weather is cooler, I should cut and fit some of the extra polyiso into the outside joists in the crawlspace and caulk it. Maybe even spray the exposed wall with foam from one of those little two part kits.

Once the membrane is up we could get the ceiling and exterior wall drywall installed. If that were done, the rooms would look brighter and cleaner.

I need to plan for the ventilation system–design the ductwork and decide where the intake and outflow will be.

Also the concrete floor needs to be patched, caulked at the edges, cleaned, waxed and polished.

Then the walls could go in! Wouldn’t that be nice?

Posted in Construction, Diversions | Comments Off

Piper Electric

Posted on April 28, 2015 by ellen

Piper Electric did an estimate for us in the fall of 2013. That was to rerun all the existing circuits to the new walls when they were built. But it did not include installing an outside shutoff. The code now requires one for the whole house electric service for safety’s sake. A fireman could turn off the electric service from outside if the building were on fire. The existing box is in the garage.

I had gotten another estimate back in 2013, but when I called that company to come back and redo their estimate, they were out of business in our area. My daughter used Piper with great results when she was selling their house and had to get the garage up to code before the sale could go through. They were reasonable, prompt, had cost-saving suggestions and are well regarded as a local company in Arvada. So I was glad they were available to do the work.

They did a new estimate just for the outside box, upgraded service making room for new circuits, the new meter box install, and a sub panel and 50 amp circuit for the spa. The new box is 200 amps instead of 150 so Xcel had to approve the upgrade and install the new meter, the Xcel workers turned off the electricity at the pole while the electricians disconnected the old incoming wire and installed a new pipe and box for the new meter.

Xcel truck

The old box located in the garage is now the subpanel. It will hold most of the circuits except for the new circuits for the spa and kitchen. More circuits are required for kitchens and other electrical appliances now. The circuit breakers will have to be upgraded to arc fault breakers so all the half size breakers will now be full size and the new box will also be used for those extra circuits.

Old box

Piper had two trucks on the job–tons of materials on hand for the project.

Piper trucks

The new box is located outside just behind the old box so that wires can go through the wall between them.

New box

The guys pulled a new 50 amp wire through to the master bedroom and out the wall for the spa motor and heaters. The box is outside on the wall and a new 15 amp outlet is also installed below it. They were glad the wiring chase allowed them to pull the wire pretty easily.

Spa subpanel and outlet

The job took two workdays, Friday and Monday. Next steps are up to us.

Electricians at work

Posted in Electrical, House Systems | Comments Off

Door Difficulties

Posted on April 23, 2015 by ellen

As much as I like the new windows and the LOOK of the new doors, the doors are not opening and shutting correctly. These are Therma Tru entry and french patio doors that Alpen purchases and then installs their high end glass into. It is the Smooth Star line that when painted the same color as the fiberglass windows, match their style and appearance beautifully.

Smooth Star Doors

I spent some time working on one of the french doors that was left not fully installed because the issues with the doors showed up right away when they were installed. The Therma Tru doors are shipped to an assembler as slabs and a jamb kit and they are put together by a local manufacturer. In this case the guy who came out to figure out the door issues was from the Trimco company. Also the Efficiency Matters sales person, Mike Rodriguez, and the EM owner whose name I forgot, the AE Building Materials rep, Todd Collins and the Alpen rep Riley Dennig were on hand to figure out the problems. The Trimco guy checked the level of the french door sills and determined they were out of level by a hair. He worked on the jambs on one of the doors himself, but said it was probably ultimately my fault (who would have guessed?) by not having perfectly level sills. They recommended tearing out the doors (at EM’s expense I suppose) and putting in level sills.

So I thought about this for a night and started to think it seemed bogus. What house has perfectly level sills? Even a new house doesn’t. That is what shims are for. So I wrote Mike and told him they could just come out and plumb and level as much as possible with shims. The Trimco guy said that the jambs should be screwed on the outside mid jamb which I was not too happy with. In fact the directions say the doors ship with clips that should be removed AFTER they are plumb and level which would mean drilling holes in the exposed part of the jambs. The problem with that is introducing an avenue for rusted screws, water, and ugliness on the jambs of the doors. The installers used regular door hanging instructions, i.e. they screwed the jambs level and plumb in the hinge area of the doors. They did not replace a hinge screw with the longer screws provided though.

After I worked on the door myself, I had it exactly level at the sill and jamb and still could not get it to close properly. Plus I found that the hardware I was trying to install didn’t fit, and then when I put another set of hardware on, the door’s three point locking system wasn’t working properly. I started to get annoyed. Why did I pay thousands of dollars for doors that don’t work as well as cheap Jeldwens? Plus the paint job on one of the doors is rough like they painted with dirt on the door, and another one is chipped at the lock set holes. The locksets are made in China and the bolts are just sprayed with the dark color so that the act of screwing them in chips finish off in the phillips head area.

So I had read that people had trouble with the Benchmark Therma Tru series that Lowes sells, but that the factory Therma Tru doors were much better. After my issues I read further that installers have used these doors for years with mostly good results. They blamed misfitting doors on the assembler more often than the manufacturer. Although complaints about moving to Chinese manufacture for the hardware were found. In 1999 the door hardware was made in the USA and installers thought they were of better quality.

Mismatched lockset plate on right

I also read that dark painted doors with a southern or western exposure were likely to warp, especially if storm doors are installed. I missed a statement on the Alpen quote that said the warranty for the doors was not in place if they did not have an awning that covered at least the top half of the door. Of course that upset me when I finally read it–the Therma Tru warranty does not state this. So of course it means they had trouble with the doors warping before. The whole business about not being able to order outswing doors was based on what they were willing to warranty and this NEVER was mentioned. So I complained to Mark but it was too late to change the order to outswing–without warranties.

I’m pretty sure the doors are not closing well enough to be airtight. So that impacts my blower door results pretty strongly and means that I have purchased high level doors with performance that will LOWER my HERS rating, not improve it. I’m waiting for Efficiency Matters to see if they can re-level and re-plumb so that the doors actually close tightly against the weatherstripping evenly all up and down the jamb.

Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, Energy Efficiency | Comments Off

Moving the Fish

Posted on April 22, 2015 by ellen

So today was spa moving day! We hooked up the new trailer, stopped by Arvada Rent-alls and rented a Gin Pole and a set of 8 ton rollers. We also had filled up the truck with tarps, bubble wrap, tape, rope, strapping, a saw with a new blade for the fiberglass edges, wire to wire them on, bungees, a metal pry bar, both hand trucks and dollies, and the motorcycle lift that we had used for the heavy wood stoves. I also brought a few lengths of pvc pipes but didn’t use them, also didn’t use the hand trucks, and the dollies didn’t really work, but the gin pole and the pry bar and the motorcycle lift were great. The owner also had a floor jack that we used. It was quite a job and I was so involved I didn’t get any photos!

But here is one of the spa on the trailer after we got home.

Spa on Trailer

I had a general idea about protecting the spa for the ride home by using an old pool bubble cover over the top and then putting on the fiberglass edges. But the pool cover was not big enough so we covered the top with a tarp first, then put on the bubble wrap, which I cut into two strips for two sides and then draped the rest over for the other two sides. We used regular packing tape to wrap around and hold it in place.

Then we used two full size fiberglass edges for the long ends and cut two to fit between on the short ends. I bought a non-metallic carbide tipped blade for the circular saw that worked well on the fiberglass. The top fiberglass edges were wired to each other across the spa top to hold them on. Then the bottom edge was covered with fiberglass edges by screwing them into the frame that held the siding. We jacked the spa up to take out the 4 x 4s and cement blocks that were underneath it then we used blocks just at the middle to keep it high enough to put on the edging.

Once the edges were protected for travel and to keep the metal from getting scarred from dragging on the cement, we jacked the spa so that it was lowered to the heavy roller blocks. They were difficult to keep under the spa. Maybe pipes would have worked better here. The rent on the rollers was rather high. Might have been able to buy more pipe to use instead. The spa frame kept slipping off the roller blocks when the cement dipped and rose so we had to keep stopping and put them back in place. The gin pole really helped redirect the front of the spa so it would go up to the trailer evenly.

When we got the spa to the end of the patio, some neighbors came over to help! Boy that was fortunate as getting the spa up onto the trailer took a lot of team work. The guys lifted at the sides with 4 x 4’s while the rest of us pushed it from the back. We also had a couple of tries at putting the roller blocks under the front to roll up onto the trailer but they wouldn’t stay in place.

We hooked up a winch to the back of the truck to help hold the hot tub and keep it from slipping backwards. It wanted to pull the spa to one side though and after it was on the trailer that was not helping. Eventually the 4 x 4 prying from the sides tipped the balance and we were able to use the motorcycle lift to get the back of the spa up high enough to push it the rest of the way onto the trailer. Once on far enough the trailer was pretty easy to tilt up into place and shove the spa the rest of the way down the trailer.

Then we just had to use the ratchet straps to hold it down and an extra rope to fasten it front to back and we were ready to roll out the driveway and home! Took some coaching to back it up through the gate and be on our way. We didn’t get home until almost 5 p.m. so not remembering the hours of the rental place I hustled the borrowed goods back to the rental agency but made it with plenty of time to spare, as they closed at 6. It cost $72 for both items. So that made the spa move part a total of about $800. But we still have to move it into place once the cement pad is poured.

An amazing thank you to the owner for lending us tools and helping with the whole process and his two neighbors who just came over to help and really put their backs into it as well as figuring out the side 4 x 4 pry technique.

We will leave the spa on the trailer until the slab is ready.

Truck with Spa on Trailer

Posted in Reduce Reuse Recycle, Spa, Tools | Comments Off

Give a Man a Fish–or a Spa Mover

Posted on April 16, 2015 by ellen

Yeah, I was so going to have someone else move the spa. But then they gave me grief, maybe we can get to it, maybe there will be access at your house. I sent photos, I sent specifications. That tub will be heavy–less heavy than most foam filled and wood spas, but it would need two guys. Really? How do you move a spa with one and insure safety for your employees and the spa? The bottom line was expense, more than I anticipated.

I looked up how to move a spa, I watched the spa dolly videos, I decided not to buy a fish but a fishing pole. That is a tilt trailer. Well, one just happened to come up close to home on craigslist. The guy was nice, obviously took good care of his stuff, and the price seemed reasonable given that we would not use the spa mover.

Tilt Trailer

It is 8′ x 8′ and the spa is 7.5′ x 9.5′ so it will only hang over a bit. It has the flip down axle wheel so we can leave the spa on the trailer and move it around until the concrete is ready. We also will be able to pick it up and pay for it before the sellers get too impatient!
We think we can use this trailer to move objects that would be difficult or impossible to get on the truck bed, like taking the mower in for service etc. I needed to find one that had the entire bed above the wheels so that the spa could be loaded straight on.

Trailer rear

The trailer is rated to 2000 lbs and has good tires plus a spare so we’ll be moving the spa ourselves. Learning to fish so to speak.

Posted in Diversions, Spa, Tools | Comments Off

Windows and Doors Installation

Posted on April 16, 2015 by ellen

New windows and doors are the most expensive and largest change to the house since the new slab was installed. And it is finally happening! We ordered the Alpen windows and ThermaTru doors with Alpen glass inserts from Mark Attard at AE Building Systems and he recommended the Efficiency Matters company for installation as they are trained in Alpen window installs and also the Siga air barrier systems. Alpen is a local window, manufactured in Longmont Colorado and the most energy efficient made in the USA.
Last week the Fort Collins based crew arrived to take out the old and put in the new. After installing a couple of the master bedroom windows just to get started, a separate crew came to reframe the door openings. The first area they tackled was tearing out and reframing the large southern window exposure for french doors.

Middle French Door

The door crew was not quite up to speed, although more experienced, they first framed the large door area for the 36″ doors! I was out and about and when I returned and saw the framing I said WHOA. What is going on here? Before I left I had told the head guy that the new doors would fit in the opening with more than one 2 x 6 between them. I wanted to be sure he understood the spacing and reinforce what I discussed with the Efficiency Matters folks. Instead, he asked the guys to give him the door measurements and they must have measured one of the front doors, so he assumed that was the three doors to install!

I told him there were 201 inches of rough openings for the doors and 211 inches available in the full opening. Obviously he was not really listening to me! Don’t know if it is true, but there were a couple of other instances where he seemed reluctant to follow my knowledge of the construction and I just got the idea that it was because of my gender. Maybe that was too quick to judge, but I have seen it before and it makes me feel the same way, or maybe it was because I am “just the homeowner”. But it was definitely a communication barrier that I didn’t have with the window crew.

Dining Room Window

While the door crew was doing their thing, the window crew continued with the window install. Here they have prepared the dining room opening with the Siga tape wrap.

Wrapped Window Opening

This is the door crew working on the tear out from the former front door and window area.

Mud Room Door Reframe

Before long we were looking at a new scene from inside the house.

New Doors

We ran into a problem with the north bedroom window. Somehow it was ordered ten inches too wide! That was a shocker. I checked my spreadsheet and it was an error that I didn’t catch. An earlier quote had the correct size and although I double checked the measurements for the final order, I noticed that my spreadsheet was overwritten on that particular measurement.

So I can’t tell where the larger measurement came from but it was a problem for sure. The solution was to just tear out the larger opening! We are lucky that the original construction is post and beam and the builders had used the roof support beam for the window header so the opening was not limited to the original size of the window. There was an insert in the concrete walls that was dry walled. So the crew just cut out to the cement sides and framed for the new window. It fit the space perfectly! Like I had ordered it to do so. Very weird and fortunate.

North Bedroom Reframe

This crew was willing to make it work too. No complaints and they stayed until 7:30 that night getting the window in because we had overnight guests using the room!

We Can Do It

This window crew was the great. We were very happy with their efforts and the windows are working perfectly.

Successful Crew

Some of the windows were huge and they were able to carry them up over the back of the roof, resting as they went to get them in place.

Family Room Window Openings

And finally a panorama of the new southern window and door installation.

Southern Installation

We are not yet fully sealed up around all the perimeters where new walls were created and the crew has to return for issues with the door installs. But the new look is nice. Even our grandson approves!

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Another Distraction

Posted on April 6, 2015 by ellen

Colorado is spa country. There are several great hot springs spas in the state and we may need to visit all of them. So far we have been to three, Glenwood Hot Springs–huge pools–lots of locals; Mount Princeton Hot Springs–mostly adult access except for their public side but a very nice family cabin; and Pagosa Hot Springs, over 20 smaller soaking pools of various temperatures, plus a nice large swimming pool and all located right next to the river. Beautiful and friendly, probably my favorite so far.

So to emulate these treasures at home, many folks have hot tubs. They are to Colorado what swimming pools are to Arizona–in most backyards. I always wanted a hot tub in addition to our pool in Arizona but we never bought one. Didn’t really fit into the yard very well there but we have tons of yard in Colorado. I shopped on craigslist for a long time looking at everything from free to a fortune and got to thinking I’d like a swim spa instead of a hot tub.

The other day I was looking and saw a posting that was only an hour old–and I called. It is an exercise spa, not quite long enough to swim in but deep and with a good jet system on one side. About 20 miles away but just off the highway so not in the boonies or far up in the mountains. An elderly couple (more elderly than me) were selling their spa because the lady’s arthritis and his bad knees have meant they cannot climb into and out of it anymore. Actually buying advice for hot tubs say NEVER buy a spa that has been emptied and you can’t see operational. So that is what I am doing. There is something about this couple and this spa that seems right, despite all the effort it will take to get it moved and installed.

It is a Rio Spa–I was lucky to read the website before it went down. The founder was an early manufacturer of swim spas, Carl Meyer and his wife Carol, and claimed to have built some of the first, if not invented the concept. I found at least a couple of fiberglass pool patents under their names.

First Meyer Swim Spa circa 1968

They used to make slides and other fiberglass pool accessories but sold most of the business several years ago, retaining only the swim spas. Now there are so many other swim spas on the market and Rio stopped manufacturing sometime in the last couple of years. They don’t respond to inquiries and the website just became unavailable this week. I’ll post in resources the documents I downloaded before it went away. The Facebook page is still there and the last post is in 2012. There is another vendor online that makes Aqua Swim Spas to the same dimensions but they also didn’t respond to my inquiry. So the line is no longer made but I’m confident it was well-regarded product for a long time.

The shell is very similar to a fiberglass pool and it could be installed in the ground, but the couple purchased the support frame for above ground installation. It has a wood skirting around the frame but because it is so tall it is not the typical redwood cabinet. I tried to talk myself out of buying this spa several times but each time I kept coming back to the idea of owning it and working with the couple who I liked as soon as I met them. Today I drove out there and put down a deposit.

Rio Exercise Spa

So here is the diagram of the model. It is 9.5 x 7.5 in dimensions and about 8 x 6.75 at the water surface, it has steps on one side and slopes in so that it is a 4.5 ft. square at the bottom. Steps are integrated into the side for access and the couple has a step system to enter from the outside.

Rio Swim Spa A-9

The handrail is not included, however, this gives a good idea of the design of the spa. In 2009 when they bought the spa, the equipment it came with was made by Acura–that is a pretty good name in spa equipment. And they have an online store with replacements for anything in the mechanical system.

And this is another diagram of the interior and exterior–actually from the Aqua Swim Spa site instead of the Rio site, but the tub is the same although it does not show the filter.

APT9 Exercise Spa Diagram

Now we have to get started on the cement slab and contact the movers to set a date. Once the electrician gets the new box in and runs wire, we will have an unusual spa that I hope will last us many years.

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iConf

Posted on April 5, 2015 by ellen

iConf Logo

I thought this was a cool way of “checking in” attendees to the conference sessions. Continuing education is important in all fields these days and in order to get the credit for being at the sessions, the attendees were checked in at the door by scanning a “data matrix” barcode on the conference badge.

iConf is an iPhone app so volunteers used their own ipad or iphone to help with tracking conference attendees. The app download is free and the organization pays for an online account to collect the data and read reports.

Ellen Dibble Matrix Barcode

I thought it was an interesting use of the internet and technology for conferences.

Posted in Green Building Interests, Tools | Comments Off

I meet Peter Ellis!

Posted on April 5, 2015 by ellen

Peter Ellis

This is a bit embarrassing because I was kind of a groupie fan when I met this man at Rocky Mountain Green. When I found out he was registered for the conference I was hoping I would meet him. Then it kind of became my goal for the day.

I met one of his employees who told me he would be there later in the day. I asked Mandy who had told me she knew him to scout him out for me, but then I also went around at happy hour looking for him and finally I read his name tag and introduced myself! Mandy had told him I was looking for him, so at least he had some warning.

Peter did his undergrad work at Carleton College (1995). This is one of those very good small schools across the USA that has a balanced liberal arts and science curriculum. We have a very good friend who also graduated from there in the late 60’s. And our son-in-law went to Grinnell in Iowa, a similar great school.

Peter Ellis wrote an excellent paper about trombe walls for his Master’s Thesis at University of Illinois in 2003. He compared the data from the seminal Los Alamos Trombe wall experiments in the late 70’s with the models in Energy Plus. (which he pronounces TROMB–how I originally thought it was pronounced but was corrected, he said it is French and he is pretty sure it would not have a BEE at the end!)

Energy Plus is energy modeling tool from NREL. He chose data from the Los Alamos experiments by narrowing it to just four consecutive days of sunny weather and reproduced the outcomes with the analysis provided by the Energy Plus software thus verifying both the software model with real data and the energy performance value of Trombe walls.

The paper is so well written that a non-scientist can follow it and understand the importance of the verification process and outcomes. He concentrated on unvented walls and showed that these walls do indeed work to capture indirect heat. I told him about our wall, that it had the selective surface but it has the same problem as the Los Alamos walls in that the surface is not as well adhered as it should be. He said we could eliminate the selective surface but I told him that would mean we would have to buy double glazing. He laughed and said I might know the paper better now than he did!

But not only did he write this great paper on Trombe walls, later when he was employed by NREL, he co-wrote a handbook for Design Charrettes and what makes them successful. Since I kind of considered my design charrette a bit of a failure, this was also a very interesting paper. Also at NREL, he was the principal developer of Open Source. Released in 2008, the program integrated Energy Plus with Google’s Sketch Up to allow modeling with architectural renderings. It is the front end used now for Energy Plus modeling.

Open Studio 2009

Not too shabby! He started a software company in Denver that helps people use and interpret the data from the Energy Plus software called Big Ladder Software. And because of Rocky Mountain Green 2015 I was able to meet him.

Posted in Green Building Interests, Trombe Wall | Comments Off

Rocky Mountain Green 2015

Posted on April 5, 2015 by ellen

April 2, 2015. I really can’t help loving this conference. Even though it is really aimed at planners, architects, and commercial buildings, it is exciting to hear the youthful, intelligent, talented people involved in the energy efficient building movement.

The conference was very well attended and all of the sessions I helped with were full to overflowing. I only attended the first day. This one was about Greening the New Marijuana Industry in Colorado.

Full Session

I also attended most of the track one sessions–skipping out for just a bit to look more closely at the vendors.
Secrets of Successful Monitoring and Verification (for commercial buildings)
The Boulder Path to Net Zero (path to more and more stringent energy building codes–reminded me of No child left behind though–good idea but difficult to balance with other building needs.)
10 Bad Decisions You’re Making from Energy Analysis. I didn’t write these down but this was a true to life scenario of how data can close its eyes to reality by failing to consider human behavior etc.
The Vendors had cool stuff–new LED lighting, lots of consultants, SIGA membranes and tapes had a booth. A power fan for de-stratification in large warehouses. Some interesting window ideas that I thought to photograph.

Automatic Shading

Translucent glazing

Variable Tinting

After the sessions, there was a nice happy hour with great finger food. Folks seemed to really be enjoying catching up with one another. These are very hard working people who are trying to change their corner of the world and there is comfort in seeing others working toward the same goals. I thought I might like to do energy modeling. I find it fascinating. But I would need a better PC computer. My mac doesn’t run most of the programs that are used in the field.
So great to be there. I told Mandy, an engineer I met who presented at the last session that I would like to help with next year’s conference. As a USGBC Colorado board member, she told me she is the chair next year.

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Windows Arrived

Posted on April 5, 2015 by ellen

The windows and doors arrived on March 30th just one week later than the original date .

Alpen Truck

Although they didn’t fill up the truck, the unloaded windows took up pretty much space in the garage.

Window Load

Windows in Garage

Three guys took about an hour to unload them all.

Unloading

And the performance stickers are impressive!

Performance Sticker

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Anatomy of our Trombe Wall

Posted on March 29, 2015 by ellen

We removed the battens and glass from the large thermal mass wall on the south side of the house to get ready for the new window install. This Trombe wall had a solar glass covering that was deteriorated and needs to be rebuilt.

Glazing Removed

The question has been whether rebuilding as a trombe wall is energy efficient. We had the architect use a stone covering in his drawing to imagine what that might look like instead of the glazing.

Dibble Residence with Stone Facing

After visiting Amory Lovins house in December, I did some research on the thermal mass wall to determine what “effective R value” the mass wall would have vs. just the actual R value from the masonry. The south facing passive solar windows in the Lovins house are in a deep masonry wall that has a lining of insulation in the middle so we could add insulation to our wall and side it. With or without insulation, the total “effective R value” of a thermal mass wall is more than the sum of its parts due to the heat holding capacity of the masonry.

A trombe (TROM–Not trom-BEE) wall is an indirect passive solar device (as opposed to direct, where the sun shines through south facing windows and directly heats the space) that has glazing on the south facing surface to increase the heating capacity of the thermal mass wall. The heat slowly travels to the cooler side of the wall and releases its heat into the building. That balances the direct solar heat and delays the indirect heat for several hours. The thermal wall is usually masonry but water and phase changing walls have also been used.

Trombe and a fellow researcher, Michel, built several of these walls into residences in France in the early 70’s. The original design was vented with openings at the bottom and top of the thermal mass wall so air would flow by convection into the heating chamber and back into the house. Later, it was found that the air flow did not add significantly to the total heat capacity and unvented walls were recommended.

Many trombe walls in the literature are still described and tested with venting, but our house has an unvented wall. So I concentrated on literature that covered this type.

Vented Trombe Wall

Unvented Trombe Wall

Not only is the wall unvented but it only had a single layer of glazing. Normally the wall is painted flat black and a double pane glazing is installed, but a study in Los Alamos in the early 80’s determined that a “selective surface” on the wall with a single layer of glazing was more efficient.

Selective surface membrane damaged

This is a metal, which may be a thin copper or other metal membrane that is coated with a “blackbox” coating. The coating has high emissivity so light is not reflected back to the glass and it absorbs most of the light that shines on it. Selective surfaces are still made by MTI Solar in New Jersey. The membrane was coated with an adhesive on the back and should make very close contact with the wall. Our membrane is dusty because the glass had lost its airtightness. We need to clean and reglue the membrane where it is loose, replace a missing pane, and re-install the glazing with an airtight space between the glass and the wall.

Solar Glass from Trombe Wall

Piece of Gasket used on Glazing

I am also looking for a sleeker looking glazing system for the reinstalled glass. I have found two that I will investigate, Conservation Technologies glazing gaskets and US Sky Sure Seal.
Even though there is a lot of debate about the effectiveness of indirect passive solar heating in the form of trombe walls, from the research I have found the design, well executed, will model as a net energy gain for the house which should help with our HERS rating.

Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, Trombe Wall | Comments Off