Blocks and more blocks

Sorry I haven't put many updates on here lately.  The block laying has taken us a long time and there hasn't been much to show.

The last couple weekends we have been laying block after block.  On Thanksgiving day my Dad, uncle Paul and brother-in-law, Phil, went with Jesse to work on the block (after Mom's amazing Thanksgiving brunch!).  What a blessing to have such big help.  Then Jesse's dad, Kenny, and Karl came today to help lay more block.  I had no idea the block would take this long, but we are starting to see the end in sight!!  Bear with me as I will try to get more updates and pictures to you once more things begin to happen.  This week the excavators are coming to finish backfilling and we should get a rough grade ready for the winter months.

 The master suite taking shape.

I haven't been taking my camera up to the lot lately because it is a muddy, sloppy mess.  So these pictures are taken on Jesse's phone.  Hense the side-ways picture (if any other bloggers out there know how to rotate images, let me know!)

This is Jesse attempting to stand an 18 foot pole for our temporary electricity, using a little John Deer tractor.  I have mixed feelings about this electricity thing taking place because this means we don't have the excuse, "we can't work tonight because it's dark out and we won't be able to see anything."  With this electiricy hook-up we will be working into the late hours of the night.  I guess this means things will get done faster...

We are hoping for PP&L to come out and hook everything up soon.

Why Straw Bale?

This is a question that I have been trying to have Jesse answer for quite some time!

When he first brought up the subject of building a straw bale home and made his arguments, I was NOT sold.  But, as Jesse's fashion, he worked his magic with words and convinced me that it was a great idea.  We also walked through a straw bale house in Akron, which was really helpful for me to see.  That house was in a development and looked like a 'normal' house.  All the pictures that I had seen of straw bale homes were very ecletic with blue bottles in the walls for windows and the structure of these homes were very rounded and odd-shaped.  They just looked very home-made in my eyes.  I wasn't too excited about that. BUT, Jesse is teaching me that a straw bale house doesn't have to be like that.  It can look like a well designed structure that fits the setting that it is in. 

What about the big-bad wolf?

This is probably the first question out of everyone's mouth when we tell them we are building a straw-bale house.  And actually, in the beginning, I was wondering if bales would make a house sturdy enough for high winds.  But, for this house, the straw bales are only the insulation.  There will be a wood framed structure that is infilled with bales to insulate the home.  So, no need to fret!  Us little pigs will be safe from those wolves!!

So, why build a straw bale home?

1.  It is environmentally friendly.  Who wants to breath in that nasty fiberglass insulation that is in the average home?  Fiberglass is not fun to work with, is an unnatural material and is harmful to breath in.  Since we are going to be doing most all the work ourselves, we didn't want to work with that stuff and tried to keep it all natural. 

2. We will have deep window sills! Ok, I know this might not be a huge selling point, but it was for me!!

3.  Bales provide amazing insulation levels.  We are anticipating R43 ratings for insulation which is far above the average R11.
4. Stay local.  We are purchasing the bales from a farmer friend we know and the bales will only have to travel a few miles to our lot.

Won't the bales rot or mold in the walls?

The art of building straw bale houses is more popular in the Northwest and Midwest States.  There are bale homes out there that have been standing for many, many years.  We will have pent roofs and big overhangs to help shed water away from the walls and a stone foundation to keep the bales off the ground.  PLUS we will use a lime plaster for the exterior which keeps moisture out but also allows the bales to breathe because of it's permeability.  That will keep liquid moisture out of the bales and let everything breathe so no mold or rot can form.

Mud Girl

Last Saturday we spent sun-up to sun-down laying block for the master suite foundation.

I became one with this shovel and wheelbarrow...

Let me tell you, I should have H-U-G-E arms after this project is finished!

We were so thankful that Sid Stoltzfus and Jesse's dad, Kenny, came to help with the labor. 

 Special bonding moment:

Photo credit: Kenny Pellman

We are just about half way finished laying the block and are hoping to have it completed this weekend.

What's next?  Who knows.

It's always a mystery to me!!

backfill and more footers

This week the excavator backfilled the main house and dug for the master suite footers.

Jesse poured the concrete and set the footers for the master suite.

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Still to come:

Why build a straw bale house?

(I'm still trying to find this out!)

AND

Won't the bale rot or mold inside the walls?

AND

What about that big bad wolf?!

Go Green

I realized that I haven't done a stellar job at letting you all know what we are doing differently with this house, compared to the average house. (As this is more Jesse's alley)

So, from the beginning...

-We used a 50% blend of recycled concrete for the footers, walls and slab.

-We used a concrete wall system that uses minimal concrete, as portland cement requires a high level of energy to produce and emits very high levels of carbon during it's production.  This wall system also has a really high R-value (insulation). 
**Interesting fact: "The manufacturing of Portland cement is responsible for about 5 percent of human-caused emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide." -From THIS New York Times Article.

-We have chosen to use formaldehyde free floor joints. 

-We spaced our floor joists as far apart as we could in order to use less lumber.

-We used engineered lumber (produced with leftovers from other wood productions) for the subfloor and the joists to avoid large dimensional wood, which usually comes from older, slower growing trees. It also provides for a stronger, more stable system. 
-The insulation slabs we used on the floor were all salvaged.
-We chose to use radiant heat which provides a very efficient,comfortable, low temperature heat from either a geothermal or solar system.  It is also duct-less heat so it won't blow dust or allergens throughout the house, to provide cleaner indoor air quality.

We want this house to be as healthy as possible.

Unfortunately we don't have all the money in the world so we can't do everything that we would like, but we are doing our best at making small choices that will have a big impact.

I will try to do better at informing you of these things!!

Saturday we spend the day screwing the subflooring down.

I have never used a drill that much in my entire life!

From sun-up to sun-down we were screwing these boards down.

I was so greatful that my brother-in-law, Phil, came to help because it was such a long process since every sheet needed between 25 and 30 screws.

I should have kept count of how many I did!

Cedar hanging out in the living room.

I-Joists and Subfloor

This past weekend we worked on the floor joists and subflooring.

Friday Ben and Karl were kind enough to spend the day helping us.

They also framed the basement wall that will separate mechanicals from living space.