Father's Day and we are at the sheetrock wallboard stage

Dad out for dinner, Father's Day 2011 at the Bee's Knee's, Morrisville, VT

Fleta oversees everything and everyone on the job, assistant to the general contractor.

The space above the stairs to the second floor will be for art materials.

Looking from dad's studio through the half bath - into the entryway, stairs and caregiver/guest room on left.

Summer has arrived and we are feeling the pinch, trying to work as fast as possible without making mistakes. The building took about 4 weeks to insulate using cellulose, blown in. Doug did most of the work himself, a one man job. it was done in three stages- loose fill, then dense pack, then wet pack for sound deadening, in places where sound transference would make a difference.
The handicap shower was fitted for valves and hardware,and sheet-rock wallboard has been hung on the first floor. Insulation will be packed behind the valve in the wall cavity. Taping and joint compound will start this next week. It is always interesting to see the seasons change. The building remains wonderfully cool, despite the heat outdoors and fluctuates only 10 degrees or so. Still, the building needs doors to replace the temporary ones, and flooring, carpeting and paint next.

Looking for a creative boost? 9 unusual ways to become more creative

Looking for a creative boost? 9 unusual ways to become more creative

More photo's of second floor studio flooring

Met with Andrew Meyer today, owner of Vermont Natural Coatings, in Hardwick, VT to discuss my studio flooring color. I am looking to add color and protection to the new spruce flooring for my studio and I would love to have the floor be a spring green color, like new grass- refreshing and light. Initially I researched staining the floor but there is not a company that makes a translucent stain in a light lime like green color in a water soluable base. I looked into earth pigment powders that are mineral based- and thought about staining the floor myself, then coating it with some sort of sealer.
Vermont Natural Coatings is a new start up company, a spin off from Vermont Soy based here in Hardwick, and they are making floor and furniture finishes that are water soluable and no VOC from cast off whey product from Cabot Creamery. They are just beginning to offer a line of tinted Poly-Soy finishes. Andrew was very knowledgeable about how finishes work on wood, penetrations of material and how they wear. I brought a small sample of watercolor colored spruce and we looked at a Pantone colors on the computer. I will research what color comes closest to what I want to achieve and get back to them. I am happy and honored that such a company is so near to us, and am excited to be working with them for this venue.

Upstairs Studio Flooring and January Update.

As slow as it seems, there are tiny important incremental changes going on in the building. The central vacuum is in as well as the emergency pull station connections, and a sprinkler system.
On the second floor studio, the flooring is going down- Siberian Spruce, rough cut, like a barn floor. I still have to experiment with semi transparent stains- as I would like the floor to have some color, most likely a soft light green tint. The floor will get a little sanding, as it is so rough it would hold all the sawdust, plaster dust etc. 60-80 grit should do it.
We had approximately nine visitors from Yestermorrow Design Build School, in Warren, VT visit last week, with a thermal imaging camera and lots of questions. It was fun to show off our energy efficient building choices and they seemed very impressed! http://www.yestermorrow.org/

Next up will be finishing loose ends so we can insulate the entire building; i.e pressure testing the upstairs floor radiant and getting some heat upstairs into the tubing, a thousand loose ends. All this must be done before the insulation is pumped in, since the ceiling and walls will not be accessible after that. We are not happy with the pace, but the holidays came into play, a trip to NY to clear snow and check on the house, and Doug has been working other jobs. It is what it is. Rushing any faster would inevitably cause some mistakes to be made.

December 14, 2010
Winter has arrived in Walden and work continues on the building, despite delays. The tubing, back ordered and late, finally arrived! Weather was one delay factor and the freight company made two attempts to deliver to the Bayley-Hazen Road in Hardwick and in East Hardwick, and despite being told that our postal address is not our actual address.

Finally! The truck unloaded at the bottom of our driveway. Tractor trailers cannot make the hairpin turn or get around the sharp middle curve of our driveway. So, we busted open the pallets and loaded our Subaru cars for the trip up to the building.
The tubing has been delayed for more than four weeks and we are quickly putting it down upstairs. Next comes the wood flooring in my studio. The sprinkler system and a few central vacuum lines are being finished in the ceiling and once the flooring has been laid we can move into the insulation phase and progress will be seen again. The insulation will be in between the floors and around the trusses, so everything that is in the ceilings must be done before any insulation can take place.The interior entrance"tokonoma" is framed and the walls are now plywood ready awaiting drywall. The Garn wood boiler, attached to our home in it's own building, provides plenty of heat for the building despite the near zero temperatures, plywood doors and lack of insulation! It is cozy and warm and comfortable.

We have missed the Fall and Christmas deadlines for getting Peter into his space despite our best efforts to keep delays from happening, what happens, happens. The light shifts, reflecting off the snow and the building's atmosphere changes along with color and quality of the light inside the building. We pause to reflect the changes that both we, and nature imposes on this new structure and space. A work in progress.
Viewing linoleum flooring samples in the fading light of the afternoon, we realize that we have just passed the one year anniversary of this building construction.
It is amazing how far we have come, but how far we have yet to go.

Update October 2010

October 2010 - that is NOT snow on the roof behind him!

The view from Dad's current home in Vermont.

The crisp fall air is driving us to try our best to quickly finish up dad's first floor space as fast as we can and get him moved in. We have seen a few snow flurries, and are thankful for even the short remaining warmer days.
The heat in on the the building's first floor, and insulating and flooring systems are to be finished SOON. At the moment I am considering Marmoleum, or real linoleum flooring for the kitchen, dining room, front entry way and two bathrooms - one is the half bath between the studio and the caregiver/guest room, the other for dad's fully handicapped bath. Marmoleum has fabulous color and is easy to clean, and hold up to wear and tear. However color schemes and choices seem harder than I thought it would be! Paint color, flooring choices and colors, cabinetry, lighting - so many decisions! We seem to be researching and looking for distributors and information for hours each day. Dad seems to enjoy visiting, although we have spent more time out and enjoying drives with us enjoying the foliage colors and local fare dinners now and then. I love going for walks with him, encouraging him to get out and exercise by walking outdoors.

The Garn wood boiler's first lighting and fire. The boiler will heat both the 3200 sf studio/living space for dad, and eventually, our home. We love that it has low smoke and particulate emissions and that it does not smolder. It burns clean and even and lives in it's own little building. We still have to insulate up around the Garn boiler itself, which will happen when the insulators are here.
To find out more about this amazing energy efficient boiler see this link on GARN:
http://www.garn.com/index.wml

Work continues on the studio/living space for dad this Fall. Trying to get all the mechanical systems into the ceilings: (electrical, communication/life safety and building security lines, plumbing, ac lines and drains, heat recovery ventilator, floor radiant tuning, central vac) all must be put in before insulating is a major undertaking. Access to the mechanical in the ceilings is non-existant once the insulation has been installed between floors and into the second floor ceiling/roof.

Doug using expandable foam around the windows to sealing any air penetration gaps before the cellulose insulation starts. We are quite happy with our Serious Glass windows and are amazed every day with how they are performing. I have stood on the floor with bare feet, with one foot in the sun, and one foot in the shade and have not felt any noticeable temperature difference. We are getting R-11 in our fixed windows, with 99.5% UV protection. We really love the windows!

To find out more about our energy efficient windows and Serious Glass and Serious Materials click on this link:
http://www.seriouswindows.com/
and/or
http://www.seriouswindows.com/html/technology.html