I broke the steam generator before we had even used it once.

I haven’t told D, because I was so ashamed.

It happened like this:

In an effort to have a welcoming guest suite in time for Christmas (and, let’s face it – I wanted to have a steam shower myself in this inhospitable season), I ordered and picked up a steam generator in November. With plenty of coaxing, I managed to get our recalcitrant plumber to install the little unit under the stairs. Then, our electrician came by to bring power up to it. The plumber stayed around over the next day, preparing to finally hook up our toilets to the rainwater cistern, after many false starts and re-doing over the last year-and-a-half. And, that’s the last we saw of our plumber, in spite of many (successively angrier) phone calls and emails. Here’s what the yard looks like (and why the plumber has created a safety hazard on our walkway for the past two months):

The full-height glass shower door was installed a few days before guests arrived. I thought that, even though the shower itself wasn’t hooked up, we could at least sweat it out in the steam room and pour water over ourselves. So, I checked that the breakers on the electrical panel were on, then turned on the timer. One minute… Two minutes… No evidence of steam. And then I heard a clunk and smelled a smell. (You know that smelling a smell is a scientific way of identifying problems, don’t you?)

I immediately turned off the unit, and a shot of adrenalin blew into my head. I just knew that I had done something wrong. Then, I read the instructions. (I know, I know, you don’t need to say it.) The instructions said that warranty is void if the unit is turned on before the water supply tap is opened. Sure enough, the water supply wasn’t turned on.

I waited a few minutes for any heating element to cool down, THEN I turned on the water supply. Turned on the timer/switch again, and, happily, listened to the steam vent hiss. But, no steam, then “clunk!” It turned itself off.

Lucky I was alone at the time, because I wouldn’t have wanted anyone to know what I’d done.

I shoved the problem to the back of my mind, where it has niggled at me for more than a month. Today, I called the supplier, Leisure Baths in Burnaby, and confessed what I had done. I needed to know what to do to fix the problem, and assumed I would have to remove the unit and bring it to town to have the element replaced at my expense.

Jonathan, the technician, was as good as those gods who walk me through internet problems: patient, calm, appearing to be able to see exactly what I was seeing, and not talking down to me.

First, we took a look at the electrical. At one point he asked if I had a volt-meter. I said we had one somewhere, and I would find it. When I finally found it and opened its case, a feeling of “I can’t do this” washed over me.

It was a complicated-looking gadget that I have always let D handle. After all, he wired our first home all by himself (and it passed inspection). I am nervous about anything electrical. But, Jonathan told me exactly how to use it, and when I tested the contacts, no circuit appeared to be functioning, thus validating my assumption that I had blown an element. But, he said that there is an over-ride switch that turns off the power if no water is getting in, so unless some wire is fried (which it isn’t), electrical should be fine! Then, I noticed that I hadn’t pushed the black plug all the way in on the multimeter. When I did that, it proved that the unit was still getting power! (Happy Dance.)

But, when I turned on the water again, and then the timer/switch, no steam. Jonathan just kept on calmly trouble-shooting with me. “See that blue water connector with the brass hose bib? Unscrew the bib. BUT, first turn off the water supply! What kind of washer is in there?” “Well,” said I, “It doesn’t look like a washer at all, but a flat disk with a tiny hole in the middle.”

“I think that’s our problem,” said Jonathan. “There were two different washers included. The plumber was supposed to use the ring-shaped one that is just like a regular hose washer. Take that one out and replace it with a regular washer.”

The round black washer with the tiny hole in it is the wrong one. A regular hose washer is now inside the hose fitting.

I did that (only 1 small soaking when I had it on crooked.) Turned on the water and THEN the switch/timer.

And, glory be, the steam head hissed, AND real-live steam came out!!! Look:

So, I learned some valuable lessons:

1. Read instructions thoroughly.

2. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

3. Don’t be afraid to try new tools, especially after getting a tutorial and/or reading instructions. Read about the last time I learned to use a tool that I was afraid of, here.

4. Professional tradespeople make mistakes, too.

5. The Relax-A-Mist steam generator is well-designed, to withstand the abuse of incompetent users and tradespeople.

Now, if you’re still reading, you may be asking yourself “What does all this have to do with building green?”

Truth is, not so much. But, consider this: I am just an ordinary person who is building a green home. I’m not formally trained in anything except Home Economics and design. I am organized and persistent and can do some pretty good research.

The purpose of this blog is to help anyone who is interested in building green gain insight into the mechanics, technicalities, philosophy, costs, and processes involved. I want to make it easier for people to build the way we all should be building (OK, preachy, I know.) I wish I had such a blog to read before we started this project 2.5 years ago. I have approached this massive task as an ignorant person who can be stubborn and get things done, sometimes by myself. In these pages you can read about all my relevant research and far too many mistakes. I hope it will encourage anyone to be courageous and try new things.

And, by the way, I looked up the current Hydro rates and calculated how much it costs to run the steam shower for 30 minutes. $0.29! (and that’s at the higher BC Hydro “step.”) So, not such an energy hog as you might expect.

Loveseat BEFORE

Linking with: Primitive and Proper

(Warning: this is a long technical post about DIY decor. Not suitable for all audiences. You’re forgiven for your eyes glazing over if you’re not into it!)

My sister Joy, who has booths in the Village Antiques Mall in Fort Langley, generously gave me this stripped loveseat for a nook in our entryway. It needs to be upholstered, but how to do it when neither of us knows how it might have looked before it was stripped?

The only clues are some holes left by the tacks on the underside of the frame.

With Joy’s suggestion, I sanded the visible parts, then treated them to paste wax to help preserve them.

Next, to cover the springs to protect the foam, I put a stiffener inside the folded-under edge of some canvas I had kicking around, then stapled it on to the wooden frame.

I found a loveseat cushion at the recycling depot, ripped off the ugly 70s cover and batting, then thoroughly vacuumed the 4.5″ foam. It is still in very good shape, especially after airing in the breeze for a spell as extra insurance.

I made a paper pattern for the seat cushion, then marked it in felt pen onto the foam.

My (real) upholsterer, Tibor, who lives just down the hill, suggested that an electric knife works well to cut foam, and I found one at the thrift store!

Next, I trimmed some edges to soften them.

I had wool quilt batting on hand, so decided to use that to cover and soften the cushion before covering it.

Then, in the absence of any real plan (!) about how to do the back of the cushion, I air-tacked a narrow strip of veneer over the edge of my upholstery fabric.

This might be a good time to confess that, until last weekend, I had never had the courage to use any air-tools (requiring the use of an air compressor.) Most of the other power tools I will use (not always efficiently.) My father has given me some well-supervised instruction, and I will get little lessons from D from time-to-time.

But, I screwed up my courage and asked D for a tutorial on how to use the air tools. He patiently explained the technique, safety precautions, and oiling. It’s a revelation! Makes most jobs go like a dream.

I put a strip of construction foam and batting over the front edge of the wooden frame, so that there wouldn’t be constant abrasion of the fabric from the sharp wood edge.

I cut a slit to allow a wrap around each arm support,

then hand-stitched it closed before I started stapling.

Starting with the middle, I pulled the fabric to the underside as tightly as I could (rubber gloves helped these arthritic hands to grip the fabric.)

Tibor was very kind to lend me his air stapler. I stapled the front centre first, then both side centres. Continuing from the centres to the corners, I stapled every 1.5″.

I gathered or tucked the corners before stapling.

After it was all stapled, I trimmed the messy hangy-down-bits, then applied some tacky glue to keep the frays at bay.

To make the cushions for the seat backs, I again made a pattern, then cut 1″ foam and the upholstery fabric (reversible, so one side is a grey hop-sacking.)

Covered the foam with the wool batting, this time stitching it together so it wouldn’t distort when I stuffed it into the casing.

Stitched up a loop of fabric for each top corner, and basted it onto the right side.

Placing right sides together, I stitched the cushion covers together, then turned them right side out.

I eased and coaxed the foam/batting assembly into the covers, then hand-stitched the openings closed.

Here’s the final “look.”

And, in its spot in the entry across from the fireplace. I can see this as a nice place to read, with my feet up on a footstool.

By the way, I made the grey cushions with $6 feather pillows from IKEA (what value!) I printed cedar prints with gold acrylic paint.

Total cost to upholster the loveseat: $48 (1.5 yards fabric 20% off @ $38 plus 1″ foam @ $10)

The day has finally come to pour the driveway. For two years, we have endured loads of fill and gravel, mud, vehicles getting stuck, mud, gravel getting tracked onto our beautiful fir floors on dog’s (and other mammals’) paws, and did I mention mud?

Level access area "BEFORE"

We debated (oh, okay, I debated with myself) the issue of building green by using permeable concrete which allows rain to percolate into the ground below, to avoid flooding the neighbours’ yards and causing erosion. Permeable concrete incorporates a different gravel and concrete mix which is very dry, and involves much more tooling to finish properly. Denis, the concrete guru, says it would cost about 50% more. He has designed the driveway to drain into the storm sewer and along the bank side of the driveway.

When I started this blog, I described my process of decision-making as balancing cost with green-ness. Almost all our decisions were controlled by these parameters (plus our sense of aesthetics, of course, which has lead to a considerably higher cost than a plainer house would have.)

The driveway is already a huge expense, involving some 30 meters of fly-ash concrete. (Fly-ash is a waste product from industry, used in the concrete mix, so that’s the green angle here.) FYI, we’re talking $15,000 in this area of the world.

The driveway is also a huge expanse. Again, our philosophy of green-ness lead to a little debate about its size. (Are we paving paradise, putting up a parking lot?) As with our perhaps excessive use of stone, our desire to make this an easy-to-care-for xeriscaped yard has dictated this mix of concrete and strategically-placed planting areas. We know the spring will bring a huge effort on our part to tame this large yard, then make it “wild” (sustainable) again!

Denis and his huge crew arrived about 1:30. The rainy, windy weather of late means they have to do all their pours when suitable weather arrives. Dark comes at 4:30.

Pouring a greenhouse pad

They worked feverishly into the evening hours, then Denis and Harry came back after dinner to finish smoothing the driveway, using worklights and flashlights to see what they were doing. There’s no rest or coming back tomorrow when you’re pouring concrete. The job has to be finished in one go. I think they did a beautiful job.

Level access "AFTER"

In my insomnia-induced delirium the night before the pour, I conceived of this idea for finishing the stair treads:

The forms are stripped four days later. Here are photos:

An example of how the stones blend with the concrete

So, that’s the driveway.

We’re working away on various finishing tasks. On nice-weather days, we joyously go outside to work.

Lately, it’s been flagstone pavers in the front yard. An updated photo:

I started filling the joints with polymeric sand today, since the rain is supposed to hold off for at least 18 hours. To use this product, the stones and even the sides of the stones must be perfectly dry, because it’s moisture that activates the polymer product. Polymeric sand has a binder added to it to make the joints solid and long-lasting. In my quest to keep maintenance to a minimum, using this joint-filler is supposed to prevent weeds and grasses from gaining a foothold in the joints. However, the Century polymeric sand I bought from Home Depot was ridiculously expensive (I recollect $40-50 for a 35 lb pail, but can’t find the receipt easily.)

I have decided to use it only on the most-used walkways, and encourage moss-growth in the other joints.

This is how I did it (according to printed instructions):

1. I compacted the existing sand in the joints with various tools, including my fingers!

2. Using a spade and funnels, I directed the smooth-flowing sand into the joints.

Where the sand overshot its crevice, I brushed it back into the joint with a broom then a paintbrush.

This step took a lot of patience, but it is necessary to clean the sand off the face of the stone, since it will adhere permanently if wet but not washed off  the stone’s surface. The instructions suggest using a compactor to shake the sand into voids and a leaf-blower to clear off the face of the stones, but I do not own these and think it’s overkill. We use a 4×4 post to pound the stones into their places.

3. Using a gentle spray on the hose, I wet the sand for about 10 seconds.

Waited 3 minutes, then wet it again, and a final 3 minutes wait and a final wetting.

4. I used a rag to clean the few stone faces that had some sand on them still.

5. Leave it to cure for 18 hours. Keep the dog off. (Not.)

When I work with the stone, I am occasionally caught off-guard, and my mind wanders away from my task. With this work in particular, I might be suddenly taken with the texture, colour, or mineral content of the stone.

I can’t help feeling very lucky indeed that I get to look at this stone every day for the rest of my life.

One day last year, while D was working alongside our stonemason, he overheard a visitor to the site (a new tradesperson) comment to the stonemason, almost bitterly, “What do you care, you’re working on a million-dollar house?”

We had never thought of it as a million-dollar house. It’s just our home, the last home we will live in, if we have the freedom to choose where we live in our dotage. If you’ve been following the “Spending and Saving” page, though, it would appear that this IS a million-dollar house, especially if you include in its value the “Saving” contributions we’ve made.

When we worked on the design, more than two years ago, we were asked by architects and the regional district building department, what our budget was, and we had no idea. We have just been building as we can afford it (with help from the local credit union!)

Interestingly, from my point-of-view, a homeowner-built house is assessed lower than a professionally-built home and its green features don’t appear to be a factor in its assessment (this I gather from talking to the assessor who came around to determine a value.) I could be wrong about this. If any reader knows better, let me know, please. When the assessment notices come out, the neighbourhood’s property values seem to be based on square footage and number of bedrooms (we have a smaller square footage than the homes in our area and only two bedrooms.)

To readers who may be interested in building green but are discouraged by its high cost, I have some comments and suggestions which may encourage you:

1. The actual cost to build our home is closer to $660,000, or $244 per square foot, after I deduct the cost to build the studio and the landscaping/land-shaping/garden.

2. The studio, using insulated concrete forms (ICFs), has been a bargain to build (and it’s green-to-the-bones!) It weighs in at $94 per square foot. I know that it doesn’t have a kitchen or a bathroom, but it is a basic, well-insulated building that would pass the EnergyGuide 80+ratings.  If we did it over again, I would seriously consider building the whole house with ICFs, then just use the expensive spray foam insulation in the ceiling. That way, you could avoid the whole rainscreen headache and cost. The thing is, you’d have to be sure of your design – not so easy to alter this building material once it’s built. On the other hand, ICFs are just Lego blocks, that come with excellent instructions, and a careful, logical homeowner with more time than we had, could build with this product him/herself.

3. If you build on a level lot, the foundation would cost about $60, 000 less.

4. Our rentals (forms/scaffolding/toilet/storage bin/generator) cost over $16,000. If we were smarter about this building stuff,  we would have bought a generator (or got a temporary pole for Hydro hookup) and a simple two-stage scaffolding to move around the house as needed. Both could be sold afterward. We also could have built a bigger storage shed and biffy for the framing crew, rather than renting a bin and toilet. And, if we had used ICFs (see #2 above) no forms would need to be rented or taken apart after the pour.

If we had taken this advice before WE started building, we could have built just as green, but for $191/square foot. Mind you, if you build before the reversal of the HST in 2013 (with its additional 7% sales tax on labour) it will cost you at least $18000 more. If you’re contemplating building in BC, I would recommend waiting until after the HST is reversed.

Recently I attended a Green Builders Forum offered by the Sunshine Coast Regional District for  builders, developers, realtors or anyone contemplating building a new home as a ‘homeowner builder’. It provided an opportunity to:
1.       Discuss 2012 Building Code changes – a significant shift in building requirements across the province
2.       See a hands-on demonstration of air leakage testing
3.       Review important new building techniques to save time and money
4.       Learn about new guidelines for EnerGuide and Energy Star

Murray Frank, from Constructive Home Solutions for the Homeowner Protection Office, gave a fast-paced and most informative rundown of the new Energuide requirements. The salient point he made was that, to raise the Energuide rating to the soon-to-be-required 80+ level for new homes, it will cost the builder an average of only $8000 more than it currently costs. This estimate was based on sample homes constructed in (if I remember correctly) Edmonton, Kelowna and Vancouver, and it can vary depending on labour costs.

Since it has cost us considerably more to build green (I estimate at least $60,000), I was skeptical about this claim, until he explained that it’s just the airtight, well-insulated building envelope (including non-thermal-bridging structure and windows and doors) that can bring the home to 80+. These are the essentials the builder invests in at the outset, steps that would be difficult and expensive to remediate after the house is built. Other energy-saving strategies, such as energy-star appliances, heat recovery ventilation, air source heat pump and solar or on-demand hot water for example, can be added on in later years to improve the rating even more.

I also learned that Fortis, BC Hydro, Federal and Provincial governments, and the regional district are providing incentives for building to this Energuide level now. Up to $2200 in rebates from BC Hydro, a deduction from the cost of a building permit, and, as before, considerable grants to retrofit existing homes. Some examples: furnace replacement – up to $1290; air source heat pump- up to $2790; tankless hot water heater – up to $675; Energy Star windows and doors – up to $100 ea ($3500 worth in our house); insulation in attic, exterior walls, basement and crawlspace – up to $4425; heat recovery ventilator – up to $1175; energy star appliances – up to $200. I listed those particular examples because that’s what we have included in our home. However, we do not qualify for ANY of those incentives – up to $16855(!) because we have already built, and this applies to new building permits (or existing home retrofits.) Once again, our project falls between the cracks. Do I sound bitter? We did get a provincial government rebate to the tune of $200 for our energy-star-rated dishwasher and clothes-washer.

I guess I just have to remind myself why we wanted to build green in the first place, and be happy that many others are being “incentivized.” But it’s kind-of hard to take.

The studio finally gets some attention. Its finish is stucco. The good thing about ICFs is that the exterior finish does not need a rainscreen, as there’s nothing to rot, nor any way for water to get in. Regular “stick” construction would require the building paper, then rainscreen, then expanded metal lathe, then a scratch coat of about 3/8” mortar, then the acrylic stucco.

With ICFs, the process is much simpler (and cheaper):

1. Fill any holes/depressions in the Styrofoam with a can of spray foam.  Trim it flush with the rest of the surface.
2. With a rasp or wire brush or sander, brush away the powdery coating and dirt so that the base coat will have traction.
3. Apply the base coat (we’re using Sto BTS-Plus) with a metal trowel. Embed nylon mesh into the base coat (It strengthens the base coat to prevent damage from impact.)
4. Apply a sanded primer with a roller.
5. We painted on the stucco with a 4″ brush (we’re using StoLit Lotusan, which is advertised as water/dirt-shedding, like the lotus leaf.) We auditioned 3 colours first: Then we “smoothed” the  stucco with a plastic float. It’s recommended to work on a 40” wide section at a time, for quality control. We learned that it’s critical to smooth the stucco immediately after applying it – makes it a two-person job.

The material for this approximately 400 square foot surface cost only about $1000. This is good value.

Our first summer in the garden, and it proved its worth: each broccoli and carrot is worth about $100, if the cost to install the structure and soil is taken into account! But, hey, that’s not what it’s about. It’s about a connection to the earth, about feeling good about self-sufficiency, about knowing what you’re putting into your body, right?

The rooftop site is windy, but gets 12 daily hours of sunlight all summer. The hot-weather crops like peppers, beans, cucumber and tomatoes were partly successful, but I will protect them from the wind better next year, and move them to a different location. Powdery mildew attacked the brassicas and cucumber, even though we water with drip irrigation.

Pests were few. The worst one was our dog, Kitty, who liked to dig in the fresh compost early in the season, and has lately taken to feasting on our peas, trampling over the beets in the process. We have to remember to close the gates. The cabbage moth found the brassicas, but they were mature by that time, so not much damage. The root barrier mat did its job for several plants. A small infestation of black aphids found the beans. There are plenty of ladybugs and bees around this year. Not a single slug or deer was observed in the garden.

I was able to grow oddball crops like artichoke and kohlrabi. I am a huge fan of Sea Soil, a new variety of which is now available nearby. I will top-dress with it next year.

As an idealistic new-ish gardener (haven’t had much of a garden at any of our homes yet, although we keep trying), I have kept a good journal.

As I headed out to pick blueberries in Delta yesterday, I fortuitously passed the West Coast Seeds (organic) retail outlet. Screeched to a halt, and stocked up on fall seeds (little Tokyo Cross turnips, spinach and lettuce) and cover plants (fall rye and hairy vetch), Serenade for the powdery mildew,  and edamame (soy) seeds, for next year’s garden (couldn’t find them this year.)

We have been feasting on fresh harvest every day, and keeping the house filled with fresh cut flowers.

I declare the garden a success.

The roof garden needs pathways between the beds. Spilled dirt has been host to weeds, right through the heavy-duty weed barrier! And, although the roof was designed to take the weight of a 14″ deep soil bed, I  choose to keep the weight down, making 2″concrete pavers unreasonable.

I had seen recycled tire pavers in the Rona store, but they were expensive (How can that be? Old tires are free) and then they disappeared from the stores.  I searched online, to find that the US manufacturers of the product were even more expensive – $23 per 24″ paver, not including shipping!

Then, lo and behold, our local building store, Gibsons Building Supply, brought in a small supply of them at a more reasonable price. I bought 52 of them, in two colours, and fit them around the garden boxes. Unfortunately, they are manufactured in China!! There goes the green benefit.

Today I took the protective plastic off the front door windows. (not easy – it’s been there for about 18 months.) During the task, I was thinking that removing and disposing/recycling of all the wrapping and stickers on new goods was yet another reason to buy used. Updates to the BC Building Code, however, require that Low-E, argon-filled windows be installed on our new home. So all the  windows, even on a door, need to be new.

After all the exterior machine work and stone-cutting, the door was filthy, so I cleaned it. I gave it another coat of water-based Varathane.

Two applications of sealer were applied to the flagstones on the doorstep. I found a sealer and enhancer at the building supply store that was $90 for a quart. I brought it home, but just choked on the price, so I  returned it to the store without satisfying my curiosity about its enhanced look. Instead, I used the same Broda Clarity that I’ve used on all the concrete and stone. See the before and after photos on this post.

Now that the windows are transparent, I feel exposed. I’m sure I’ll get used to it. After all, the entry as a whole speaks “Welcome,” I hope.

p.s. then I walked right out that door and picked my first bucket of blackberries for the season. Blackberry ice cream, anyone?