I picked up on this quote while reading a very popular blog, Young House Love:

“When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone. Let it be such work as our descendants will thank us for; and let us think, as we lay stone on stone,that a time is to come when those stones will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that men will say, as they look upon the labor, and wrought substance of them, See! This our father did for us.”  – John Ruskin

I do not assume that any of our own children will live in this house, but I see this as advice to build for future generations, with long-lasting methods and materials that will not fall apart or rot within a few years. Again, I think of the book, “The World Without Us” by Alan Weisman. It’s a fascinating look at what would happen if all humans were suddenly not here on this earth. Within hours, without humans to control our built environment, systems would break down and there would be floods and other disasters. Certain materials (stone, ceramic, concrete) will last through millenia.

And, while we’re on this theme of building forever, this Patrick Watson (and the Cinematic Orchestra) song, introduced to me by our eldest son, comes to mind:

To Build a Home

There is a house built out of stone
Wooden floors, walls and window sills
Tables and chairs worn by all of the dust
This is a place where I don’t feel alone
This is a place where I call my home

And I built a home
For you
For me

Until it disappeared
From me
From you
And now, it’s time to leave and turn to dust
Out in the garden where we planted the seeds
There is a tree that’s old as me
Branches were sewn by the color of green

Ground had arose and passed its knees

By the cracks of the skin I climbed to the top
I climbed the tree to see the world
When the gusts came around to blow me down
I held on as tightly as you held onto me
I held on as tightly as you held onto me

And I built a home
For you
For me

Until it disappeared
From you

And me

And now, it’s time to leave and turn to dust

This hauntingly beautiful song refers to the meaning of home. We humans will leave it and turn to dust. The home will endure, if we’ve done our job right.

I hope the love (of each other, of craft, of materials, of beauty, of our planet, of work) will somehow communicate itself through the “soul” or “spirit” of this home (and of all the homes from which we salvaged materials), to all who enter here, even after we’re gone.

There’s not a whole lot new going on around here – I’m spending my time planning and shopping for future projects, cleaning, organizing, hounding tradespeople, refinishing old wood for doors and window trim, and sealing/caulking the shower in readiness for the plumber. Last weekend we had some help to build a deck and install some seasonal greens.

But, I wanted to post on 11/11/11, just because!

My sister, who writes daily on her blog about collecting and re-purposing vintage items, has dozens of related links and a whole international circle of blogging friends who have similar interests. There’s a blooming subculture of these clever DIY and shabby-chic afficionados.

I wondered if there was a similar subculture of building blogs. Maybe it’s all been written before we started our project.

So I thought I’d (belatedly) research and offer a small survey of green building case studies (new-build single family dwellings, like ours) in a journaling or blog format.

I found only two relatively non-commercial blog sites that offer perspectives on building green homes:

1.

Green Building in Denver‘s focus is “low and zero energy home design and construction for Denver. A recent post on the lighting efficiency of bulbs (itself linked from the Green Building Advisor website) offered this useful information (paraphrased):

-old incandescents provide about 15 lumens/watt

- CFLs provide an average of 54 lumens/watt

- high quality (i.e. expensive) LEDs provide an average of 60 lumens/watt

(I’ve always wondered about the comparative light output of bulbs, because there is no consistent labelling.)

GreenBuildinginDenver is the work of Kevin Dickson, a graduate in Engineering Physics.

2.

More like my blog, Our Round Green Home is a diary about a project in Nelson, British Columbia, started July 20, 2011. And it’s not commercial! No ads (except for the blogger’s husband’s business, Mandala Homes) or sales. Pretty cool. I particularly like this post: How to Design a Green Round Mandala Home. Less than 4 months, and they are already at lock-up. They used Insulated Concrete Forms for the foundation, and prefabricated panels that come with cladding and windows already installed. The blogger, Rachel, chronicles a beautiful strategy for a meeting with all the subcontractors together. Makes so much sense. Such a meeting would have pre-empted problems with scheduling and location of the mechanicals for our project.

Apart from these two examples,  there are a few more sites that could be useful:

Another web site with a blog is greenbuilding.com. Its stated purpose is “to help separate the real green products, professionals and procedures from all the green-washing …” It provides architect and builder referrals. Its author, David Johnston, offers comprehensive advice, as well as his e-book and his lectures. One of his links, Chapter 1 – The Building Envelope (download chapter for free) doesn’t seem to be working. The site includes an article on a Boulder, Colorado home case study. It lists the processes and technology used in this net-zero home.

A huge website called buildinggreen.com has short synopses of case studies. It describes itself as “an independent publishing company committed to bringing our members accurate unbiased and timely green design information.”

Sustainability advice from Canadian Peter Parsons, who is “pursuing a masters in electrical engineering” on his site, nlcpr.com includes some interesting headings, such as “deceptions,” a “scam-busting section.” He says his “main focus is in the underpinnings of a sustainable society which includes housing design, cooperative enterprises and alternate energy.” A recent entry in his associated blog, “Voice of Reason” shows a Student Loan Debt Clock ticking furiously.

I have linked to the Green Builders’ Talk Forums before, whence came many of my early statistics and building decisions. Although it was helpful, there are so many conflicting opinions and people promoting their own products, that it’s hard find the cream that rises to the top for our project.

So, faithful readers, that’s my survey of useful/interesting sites for building a green home. Not a huge circle of bloggers. I guess all those green home builders are doing it instead of writing about it.

Kitty sometimes tries to stay out of the way, and sometimes walks right in front of the excavator.

I love the juxtapositions this job brings: the sound of stones dumped from a truck vs. the sound of wing beats as a murder of crows passes overhead. The look of mud squishing under my (inadequate) shoes vs. the new rainbow when I cast my eyes up. The stink of diesel vs. the aroma of sweet peas and roses from the garden. The gritty corrosiveness of mortar and grout vs. the velvet of my bench upholstery.

This week brought a delightful juxtaposition.

Some time ago, Joy generously commented on my tiling the shower post, that it looked like art, and I responded “speaking of a painting, stay tuned for a bathroom surprise!”

My post, Art and Electricity, exposes some of my prickly points about making a living as an artist.

This week, two of our trades on site were Dave, the excavator (M&M Excavating) and Jose Ventura, the artist, who is also a neighbour.

I love that both “trades” are, in my mind, essential for this project, and both are being paid fairly. In fact, I invited Dave (and any other specialists on site) to come in to see the painting:

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.

BEFORE retaining wall

AFTER

This past week, we have imported seven truck loads of locally-quarried granite from Cloutier Holdings. Daniel Cloutier has been doing some “hand”-picking of stones for building retaining walls in the front yard and the back.

Dave, from M&M Excavating, has planted them where they’ll likely stay forever. He’s an efficient worker, and has a great eye for rock placement. As well as retaining walls, he built 4 sets of stone stairs.

The maximum allowable height of un-engineered retaining walls is four feet. In order to retain a higher level of soil, he stepped back in a couple of places to make two four-foot walls (separated by 4 feet).

To save us a bunch of weeding in the future, I tried to place the big pieces of plastic lumber-wrap (I’ve been saving since the lumber/plywood was delivered) under/behind the stones. Dave often had to tear it when placing rocks, and didn’t remember to replace it sometimes.

Whenever I have some mortar left over at the end of a work day, I paste it into one of our rock wall crevices, to prevent weeds from taking over there (that’s the theory!)

This huge expanse of stone needs softening. I think we have enough stone in this house and yard now. Thirty years ago, when this lot was just a twinkle in our eyes, I collected English ivy from just across the street here to cover the ground of our first home we built in North Vancouver. Karma?

I plan to plant the nooks and crannies with ivy and Virginia Creeper. I would love to cover rocks with moss, too, and have read of a recipe to grow moss: “In a blender, mix a handful of moss with 1 cup of buttermilk or yogurt. Paint it onto the rocks.” Worth a try.

Keeping in mind that we want our home and yard to be light on maintenance and light on the environment, we plan to have a xeriscaped yard (growing indigenous species with low water needs) and no lawn to mow and water. There will be a tiny patch of eco-grass (slow-growing and low water needs) for picnics, and patios and pathways covered with gravel, flagstone, and wood mulch.

Over the years, as an artist and as the executive director of an arts council, I have been an observer of and a participant in many a discussion about art as a livelihood. One of my favourite quotes from an artist is, “Parking meters make more per hour than artists.” It’s true. When I was working from a Granville Island studio, so many people who came in raved about my art quilts and stitched landscapes. I thought that if I had a nickel for every compliment, I could make the rent. (Maybe artists should put out a tip jar, so that people could add a token monetary value to their generous thoughts about our work!)

Charity auctions and even gallery fundraisers solicit donations of art from artists. I used to donate a piece of art when asked, for the “exposure” (Another quote, “You can die from exposure.”) After some time, it dawned on me that  the charity wouldn’t ask the electrician to donate his time when making a service call. The concrete finisher wouldn’t build the charity’s sidewalk for free. The poor artist is the last person who should be donating work.

Why am I bringing up this topic? Well, it’s because building this house ourselves (especially as I am doing the general contracting) saves, as it turns out, at least $75,000 a year. There’s no way I’ll ever earn $75,000 a year doing my art. I don’t have to pay income tax on that “salary.” We don’t have to pay the HST on all the trades we’re doing ourselves or on the general contractor’s overhead. Instead of paying the stonemason $60 an hour, I’m saving that AND learning a new skill.

This value is well worth the suspension of my art practice for a couple of years. The thing about artists is, we are compelled to make art. It is our passion. I will return to the studio when this house is done, and it will be all the sweeter for the great experience I’ve had building the house, and the knowledge that I have contributed to the household “income” in this way.

On the last few weekends, D has been applying the last shingles.  I stained 10 bundles a couple of weeks ago. When they’re all applied, I will report on quantities used and the cost of shingling.

For the past 9 days I have been working on the 4 stone pillars at the front entry. We are using real stone, cut into ¾” – 2” flats and cornerstones. Some months ago our second stonemason, Serge, prepared the pillars with rainscreen and scratch-coat and gave me a few pointers.

Now I’m on my own with this task that, like every other task, takes much longer than I expect.

Here’s the how-to, as I experience it:

1. We put a piece of ¾” plywood along the bottom of the wall to allow spacing for the flagstone that I will install later and any captured water can escape out the bottom, through the bug screen.

Starting at the bottom of a section, select a stone. I prefer to start with a corner stone, because fitting a corner is fraught with the potential for spacing error on two adjacent stones.

It’s a rare stone that doesn’t need some trimming, but the very first stones just need a flat bottom. Because the stones support the weight of the course above them, I generally apply a single course on all pillars, then let them cure for 18 or so hours before applying the next course. I have worked nine 7 or 8-hour days and applied an average of 26 stones per day – I’m 2/3rds done.

2. Mark the stone on the face where it needs to be trimmed to fit (leaving about ½ – ¾” space between stones.) I used chalk until it reduced to nubbins, then bought carpenter’s wax markers.

I learned the hard way not to use permanent felt markers: marks don’t come out nohow. Our first mason made cardboard templates, but I have found that “eyeing it” works well.

Transfer the mark to the back by eye.

3. Cut the stone:

With earplugs, a fine-particle mask (absolutely necessary – you don’t want to breathe any rock dust because, over time, it leads to death by silicosis) and safety goggles (regular glasses will not protect your eyes from rock chips) and using an angle-grinder equipped with a stone/concrete blade, cut along the mark, partway through the back of the stone.

Then, with the mason’s hammer, a sharp hit breaks the stone, (placed just over the edge of the mason’s bench), usually at the cut (but not always! This is natural stone, with its natural faults, and it will break where it has the least resistance. Corner-cut rocks are particularly vulnerable to breaking along the saw cuts, at the corner.) On corner rocks, it is sometimes necessary to cut from the top of the stone, but this produces a less natural-looking edge. Corners need to be placed around the corner of the mason’s bench to hit the rock.

I cut all the stones for the single course I might be able to apply in a day, before I prepare the mortar. I place the cut stones at the bottom of the wall in their approximate and relative locations above.

4. Mix the mortar: I am using masonry sand, potable water, and S-type concrete mix. This mixture remains usable for the 3 hours it takes me to apply the stones. The bag instructions suggest: mix ¾ of the water you’ll need (doesn’t specify how much!) with ½ the masonry sand (2 ¼ – 3 ½ parts to one part of the concrete mix), and all of the S-type. Then, after mixing for 3-5 minutes (I use the rounded-edge shovel, and two types of garden hoes, but a mixer drill-bit on a ½” drill in a pail works, too) add the remaining sand and water. The key is to end up with a dry-looking mix with low slump. (The mortar should stick to the upside-down trowel for a second before falling off.)

One rainy day, my sand was so wet, in spite of being protected by a tarp, that I hardly needed any water. The mix was far too runny, so I used most of it to fill in spaces in my rockery, and mixed another batch to apply the stones.

FYI, I have used close to 3 fifty-pound bags of S-type to cement about 200 square feet of stone.

5. Apply the stones: Wet the scratch-coat on the wall and the back of the stone. I have occasionally forgotten this step, and stones fell off the wall because of my oversight.

With a masonry trowel, butter the back of the stone with a generous amount of mortar (maybe ½ – ¾”). Press firmly into the stone. Get spacer stone chips ready nearby. Then, with an angle approach, slowly ease the stone onto the wall. When it’s vertical, push hard while wiggling the stone, squeezing the mortar out the edges. Lots of mortar will fall onto the ground, but you have to try to push it back behind the stone. I want 100% coverage on the back of the stone.

Although I started this work wearing gloves (albeit with some holes in them), the gloves quickly got in the way. So, for 3+ days I pushed mortar in with my bare hands. Concrete is corrosive, not-to-mention repeatedly brushing your fingers against stone and hard scratch coat.

I am suffering and have to take a break to heal the fingertips with Vitamin E salve. Even typing this is painful. I bought a new pair of tight-fitting gloves that don’t get in my way as much, and that is working much better.

Try to get a 90 degree angle of mortar/stone to the wall. This helps to seat the stone, and provides a more stable base for the next row. (I learned this several days into the job.)

Insert spacer chips to stabilize each stone about ½” away from the stone below. Carefully brush off loose mortar, then leave it alone for a few hours. Even tapping a nearby stone can cause a stone to simply fall off before it has cured enough to secure it.

Here’s what the wall looks like now:

6. Clean up: Clean the mortar from the tools and mixing container with water spray. Clear the mortar away from the bottom of the wall, so you can put the next batch of stones there (and so you can re-use clean dropped mortar if you’re as conserving as I am.)

Update July 26: The job has taken 14 days to apply the stones. Interestingly, I think, with the very last stone, this is the amount of mortar I had left:

And the mortar bag is empty!

This is what the stone pillars look like now:

7. Grout the spaces: After 3 days of curing, use a mortar bag (like a big cake-icing bag) filled with the same mortar mix, to squeeze mortar into the spaces.

I push the mortar into the spaces with my gloved hand: 

After maybe 1/2 hour, smooth the grout with a pointing tool: 

With a whisk broom, brush off any loose mortar:

"Grout" smoothed on the right.

The mortar will lighten as it dries

Let the wall cure for 3 days before sealing with a stone sealer, if desired. It can be sprayed or brushed on. Sealing brings out the colour somewhat.

Slightly removed from our building project, but building green in BC for $85 total (for nails and screws, 4×4 bed posts and roof cap), our daughter has built this charming 12×16 cabin mostly by herself:

The plywood and 2×4 are denailed and re-used from old staging. The metal roof is salvaged from a local re-roofed community building. The building paper leftover from This Green House. The door and windows salvaged from the local landfill. The flooring from a remodelled condo in Vancouver. The rounds used for “siding” cut from dead standing trees.

Even the little “artwork” seen in the broken window is a piece of rusty tin found on a walk.

How cool is this?

Some months ago, we picked up 94 lineal feet of wrought iron fencing (Craigslist – Langley). It was heavy, but the Toyota was up to it. With helpful strong men (and one woman) we moved it to the house, then to the sand-blaster, then to the studio roof, then to the grassy knoll by the garden. You’re getting a picture that this stuff is being shoved around, with some effort and expense. Finally, this week, the rusty-again wrought iron has been extricated from the weeds, and pressed into its second life as our garden fence. Here’s the “Before” photo:

A careful plan was drafted to use the fence to its maximum. I designed, ordered, and painted, and D installed 14 post brackets and posts alongside the garden’s perimeter box.

Kim, the welder, adjusted the posts for plumb with plastic shims and set screws in the brackets. Then, he cut and welded the sections according to my plan. That took him about 12 hours. This is all the railing that was left over:

I treated the rust with Rustmort (above), let it do its chemical thing for 24 hours, then rinsed the fence panels. (1.5 litres of Rustmort.)

Next, a rather painstaking primer application.

By trial-and-error, I learned a few techniques. Regular nap rollers do not bend around the twists and curlicues. I found that the cheap foam roller got around the curves much better, but lasted about 2 minutes:

I have read that a tube sock over a rubber glove is a good way to paint wrought iron. But…messy.

Then, because the stores were closed by this time, I found a piece of (free) foam in my art supplies. I scrunched it up, dipped it into the primer and it worked great. It held lots of paint and got into those small spaces.

Then, a thick coat of paint with a water-based rust paint. Because the paint was thinner than the primer the foam roller and an ordinary brush worked better.

It took me a whole week of 12-hour days to paint the wrought iron, and I am soooo tired of painting. (Quantities used: 2.5 litres primer and 3 litres paint.)

Kim and Dave lifted the sections into place, and hung them on a clamped-on bracket to tack then weld the sections to the posts, taking great care not to step on the plants.

This photo shows the majority of the railing installed.

The pole beans and sunflowers will be very happy to have a fence to finally climb/grow against:

I know we should have installed the fence BEFORE planting the garden, but time happened to be marching on.

And, by the way, would you like to see one of our cauliflowers?

We have already harvested 2 broccoli, all our spinach and most of the lettuce, swiss chard, and given away those plus cilantro and parsley. I’m loving the organic pest-free garden (the pests haven’t discovered it yet.)

Update July 22: The cabbageworm found the brassicas after all! I deleafed them and crushed the larvae, as well as harvesting most of the broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage. The threat seems abated.

Also today, Kim the welder finished installing the railing.

I’m getting bored of filling, sanding, and finishing old wood. It seems neverending. And, even though it’s comforting to know that my labour is “free,” am I reaching my limit of tolerance?

As I’m doing this dusty and mindless work, my mind wanders. I wonder where this beautiful piece of clear fir might have been harvested 80-100 years ago. (Guessing within 100 miles of my workshop, as it comes from a Vancouver house.) Is the mill still in operation? Was it installed by the homeowner, or by a builder? How much would this piece of wood sell for in, say, 1920? Was it considered a cheap floor finish because it was a common softwood sourced locally? How soon was it covered up by the newest fashion: first, linoleum then wall-to-wall carpeting? And, isn’t it interesting how home fashion recycles?

To help distract and entertain myself (besides listening to CBC, a habit I’ve had for 35 years), I look down at the floor (and every surface, really). Fellow artists and my dad have told me they can measure their progress by the height of the pile of shavings/sawdust/thread/chips they have produced. Then, I realize my vision is obscured by the thick coating of sawdust on my glasses. That reminds me of my frequent visits to my father’s backyard workshop when I was a teenager. I swept his sawdust while I told him all my “troubles.” He listened patiently while doing his lifelong hobby of carpentry. Mostly he was fixing or building something for someone else. I occasionally took his glasses off his face, and cleaned the lenses. I treasure those times of closeness with my father, and now those memories help me feel as though I have his company during this tedious work.

So, I guess I have not reached my limit. I still have these distraction devices and the knowledge that I am making these piles of sawdust on the floor. I have “company.” I am lucky that I can clean my eyeglasses and do this work.