One of the most wonderful accents that an designer/builder can employ is the use of outside light let into the somber and dark interior of a building, punch it up with energy! I had predicted that I had a problem spot in the middle of my entry area of my new home. Then I eliminated…
We say in the home trade that the roof is the frosting on the cake. We sweat the floor arrangement, and the individual room plans, and not so much the roof design. However as builders, we know that the cascades of different roof planes, are what stimulate people’s interest, and causes them to get out…
The third dimension has finally become reality. I’ve been living in 2 dimensions for over four years. The paper plans of 24″ X 36″ pages, have been cut apart and taped back together on many occasions. The closest I’ve come before, has been putting masking tape on the floor of large garages with wood stakes…
Building my New Cottage in the Woods has been one of the most difficult processes I’ve gone through. Part of my problem is that I’m aware of all the problems resulting from less then a thorough analysis of the positioning of the foundation. Is the home going to sit in a mud puddle for all…
The real test of my education in Landscape Architecture has arrived. The ground work surrounding and within the foundation is done. Now it’s time to grade the earth back fill, so that it looks like a twin rotor Huey helicopter dropped the home lightly in place, while not disturbing the existing conditions. Sure…keep in mind…
For the back filling of my foundation, I knew we needed a rubber tired loader for efficiency. I talked my neighbor in to lending his TEREX machine. . . little did I know this was a piece of equipment, which had been used in the original development of the Alaska Tundra. Okay maybe not, but…
Reality has hit in the world of 3/4 minus rock for fill in my three car garage. Some of the flat floor has four to six foot drops to existing grades. We brought in rock and dozed it relatively flat. Then to test the output of my well, we dropped an appropriately sized submersible pump…
This week was a dynamic step forward in establishing the reality of the dream being real. In December of last year I wrote a check for almost $7,000 to PGE, our local utility company, for power service line extension. I was reluctant to blow the underground conduit with power cable. There would be no turning…
This always seems to be the war cry, whenever we bring new products to the market, or at least they will reduce resource consumption. Seems like a good deal, no? Well to be quite frank, more often then not the idea is in evolution. Remember low gallon flush toilets? Yes, all you had to do…
After a long verbal training session with Ryan Shanahan of Earth Advantage, it turns out that I should update my thinking concerning energy consumption. I’ve heard over and over again that contractors tend to overlook the efficiency that we are capable of building into our new high performance buildings, and Ryan assured me that I’m…
New Cottage In The Woods 