How the house performs

Sorry...been really consumed by the business my wife and I started. We had so much difficulty finding Mexican tile to do our bathrooms and kitchen that we decided to start an online Mexican tile store where you can actually get what you want not what they have. We sell colonial talavera, ceramic, porcelain and stoneware tile. Check us out at Mexicantiledesigns.com. We are now one of the largest importers of Mexican tile, sinks, murals and accessories in the world. Heck, we even provided the tile for Johnny Depp's  Bahama island man cave..pretty cool!

So after seven years in our adobe house we have accumulated quite a bit of data we can share with you....

The house is all electric. No gas and we only use the fireplaces for ambiance. We didn't want the carbon foot print of a gas truck coming to fill the tank every week/month.  Our local electric utility co-op offers a "Time of use" program where we pay $0.059/ Kilowatt hour for off peak usage and pay $0.168/ kilowatt hour for on peak usage. Those not part of the program pay $0.12/ kilowatt hour. To take advantage of this, we installed a timer on our ground source heat pump so it only runs during off peak hours. The heat pump is currently set to run from 11:00pm until 7:00am. We also set the dishwasher and our washing machine to run during these hours.

Below is a photo showing electric data for the past several years. Keep in mind that we live at 7,500 ft and the temperatures in December, January and February stay pretty much below freezing  often getting down to 5 degrees and even colder. Also, my wife's father spent the winter with us after being flooded out of his assisted living facility apartment in Boulder in 2014. We had to keep the heat at about 78 degrees for him (he was 93 then).

Time of Use Electricity Data

Durango, CO Climate Data

The inner wall and the concrete slab floor store heat so well, we are able to coast through the days with the temp still being at the set temp for the house at the end of the day. The thermal T for the outer wall pretty much tempers out the high and low peaks and the 7" of perlite between the outer and inner wall (R22) isolates the inner wall from the outside weather. No need for programmable thermostats because the stored temp in the floor and walls moves so slowly that it would take weeks to change to the different settings. In March of 2013, I turned off the heat pump for a week to see what would happen. We had a winter storm hit so there was no passive solar gain and strong winds to go along with snow, hail and sleet. After a week, the temperature in the house dropped 3 degrees.

We have the option to run the heat pump as a cooling source but there is no need for this. Even though we are near 90 degrees right now, the house is seldom above 73 degrees and cools nicely in the evening with a few open windows.

We had installed a timer for the hot water tank but after one summer, we added solar hot water and disconnected the timer. The ground source heat pump preheats the water to 90 degrees in the winter but not the summer so the solar panels help during on peak hours of summer and supplements the heat pump in winter.

We wired the upper roof of the house above the two guest bedrooms for photovoltaic but the pay off for the installation of panels and inverter is too long based on what we pay for electricity. We continue to monitor this.

We did not install widow coverings. We like the light day and night and have not felt the thermal loss was that noticeable.

In general, we are extremely pleased with the energy performance of the house.  When we stay in a stick built house, we really notice the wind, the cold, the drafts, the uneven heat--things we never experience in our great earth block house!  Please feel free to comment or ask questions. I'll try to be better about responding.

Landscaping starts in a big way

The dining room viewed from the stairs.

The soaking tub in the master bath.

The master bedroom looking toward the privacy wall in the great room.

Looking at the great room from the dining room.

The great room looking from the fireplace.

One of three artists who were on site during the Parade of Homes.

A view looking west off the east end of the courtyard.

The courtyard portal off of the Garage shop.

There are many grasses in the landscaping that sway in the breeze.

The Garage shop portal. Hard to get projects done when there is a place like this to idle away the day.

The iron work in the wall notches look like candelabras. The notches were added to allow our dog Raider to look out at the world.

We were amazed at how much the flowers grew in just one season.

We had an incredible number of hummingbirds throughout the summer. We planted specifically for them.

Grasses, Penstemen, Sunflowers and more. We are thrilled with what we created.

Parade of Homes
In April we decided to collaborate with 4Core (Four Corners Office for Resource Efficiency) to enter our house in the Durango Home Builders Parade of Homes as a demonstration house for sustainable building and energy use. The Energy Tour was a great success but we felt we were preaching to the choir in that tour. The Parade of Homes would allow us to reach folks who may never given energy conservation a second thought. The Parade of Homes was scheduled for two weekends in early October. We still had a lot of detailing to complete over the summer so when the snow melted, we went to work. We planted our fruit tree orchard and then went to work on filling out the landscaping in he courtyard.

I completed welding the iron work in the courtyard wall and installed the sections in place. The Courtyard wall was now officially finished. We added two solar hot water panels in August. (I will add a post about the mechanical system later that will explain the decision to add solar hot water.) John Ford came back to finish out the Master closet while we scrambled to complete other details and to finish prepping the house for winter. By September the landscaping was amazing. We were as ready as we were ever going to be.

The Parade of Homes was a huge success. We had four volunteers on site at all times to answer questions. 600 people toured the house.  Jenny had created printed bullet points about energy features throughout. We were happy that the vast majority of folks who were on the tour took the time to read all of the bullet points and most wanted to engage in conversation about what they were seeing. 4Core told us they'd never had an event that was so well attended. It was a huge success for them as well. We were told over and over again that it was by far the best home on the tour. The judges raved about what a fabulous house it was. After the votes were counted for the award presentation we were disqualified from the competition because we were not members of the Home Builders Association. I guess they didn't want a first time home builder/owner to sweep the awards. We were at peace with this and had actually thought, early on, that this might happen. Our award was all the wonderful praise we received over the four day event. It was a nice way to bring the project to a close.

Courtyard adobe wall goes up

Our sons Forrest (foreground) and Cameron help pour the concrete bond beam that caps the adobe wall.

Cameron and I leveling the concrete

Filling in the forms with concrete up over the entry. Lyle (not visible in this photo hoisted over 5,000 lbs of dry concrete mix over the course of the day. He wasn't tired until I shared this info with him.

Me, the entry gates and a lot of snow.

Entry gates looking from the outside of the courtyard.

The Courtyard wall
In late June we began work on the courtyard wall. We had enough 7" blocks from the house build to complete this project. Lyle stayed on to construct the wall and to help with the bond beam. Our sons came for a visit in July and we put them to work on the bond beam as well. The wall was complete (less iron work and entry gate) by mid August. Jenny went straight to work planting the courtyard to get things started before the cold weather arrived.

The Energy Tour
In September, we volunteered to put the house on a tour of homes that demonstrated low carbon footprint energy use.  The geothermal heat pump, adobe thermal storage, passive solar design, CFL lighting, and energy star appliances throughout were the story for our presentation. It was a fun event...but exhausting!

The entry gates
I designed and built the entry gates through the winter and installed them in February. With just a vague initial idea of what they should look like, they took on a life of their own. We were pleased with the results.

The earth plaster color coat goes on.

Thomas mixes finish coat plaster

Jody and Jen detailing one of the Nichos

The final plaster crew: Jen, Corey, Jody, Kevin, Thomas, and Griffin

The light fixture in the office. What a great place to work!

Curt Nelson lending a hand in getting the wiring completed

The Master bedroom fireplace is finished.

The Saltillo tile and decorative tile on the stairs are finished.

A glimpse into the powder room.

 
Color coat interior plaster
The color coat was applied over a one month period. Griffin worked some days on his own tackling small places like closets. Some days there would be one or two of the crew available and when we got to big rooms like the great room we had five on the plaster team. It was an amazing transition. The brown coat reflected little light so as a result the rooms seemed dark. When the color coat was applied the rooms were full of light. All the agonizing over colors vanished as the team moved from room to room. All the colors were beautiful.

Moving in...early
Our lease on the house we were renting expired on the last day of May so we moved our belongings into the garage of the new house and set up a bedroom in one of the upstairs bedrooms that was complete. We had water but no electricity. We completed the wiring in the upstairs and kitchen over the following week.

Lighting goes in
We gave each room a week to dry before I completed the installation of lights and switches. Master electrician Curt Nelson stopped by to give a hand when he was free. His help was greatly appreciated.

Certificate of Occupancy
We called for our final inspection and on June 20th we received our "Certificate of Occupancy". It was a great moment and Jenny, being Jenny, made it a wonderful celebration with flowers, champagne and a framed certificate. We still had much work to do to truly complete the house but the bulk of the work was done and it felt like home. The master bath tile was delayed from Mexico and would not be installed until October. The guest bath and the powder room were complete so the delay was only a minor annoyance.

Returning to the blog

I have been bad about adding entries to this blog. Seems that life after building has kept me very busy. There is much to share about the rest of the house project including pictures of the finished project. So here are the rest of the entries.

Stucco and flagstone are complete and work progresses inside

The stucco color coat is complete. A sealer will be applied to the stucco and flagstone to repel moisture. This will darken the color slightly.


This is the view from the east end of the house looking at the master bedroom portal and the east guest bedroom portal.


This is the view from the west end of the house looking at the garage, kitchen portal, and the west guest bedroom. The second garage opening is not visible as it is set back from the first opening.


The entry door from Santa Fe Doors and the flagstone work by Little Guy Masonry. Copper drains pipes will be added to the front posts and and a doorbell then this area will be complete.


Jenny's efforts at site restoration have paid off!! The native grass and wildflowers are up and getting taller everyday.

This is the tile pattern in the laundry room.

This is the utility sink in the laundry room. The brown coat has been added up to the grout around the tile work.

This is the powder room vanity. It is the wildest of the color schemes. We found this sink several years ago and have been dragging it around in anticipation of building a house. It has finally found its place.

Flagstone work
Little Guys Masonry wrapped up work on the Portals and around the garage this past week. As with all their work, they did a wonderful job. We had them add some additional stone details in the interior which turned out nicely. The exterior stone will get sealed when we seal the stucco.

Stucco color coat is complete

The stucco crew returned on Friday, May 8th and finished the exterior color coat. They had already applied the color coat to the walls that did not have flagstone details (which had not yet been completed) but we kept them at bay until all the stone work was completed to assure that the two tied together well. The completion of the color coat completes the exterior of the house and we will now bring in the excavators to complete final grading around the house and dig the trench for the patio wall.

John and Griffin finish the brown coat

All the interior walls (with the exception of the guest and master bath) have a brown coat of earth plaster and are ready for the color coat. The brown coat took almost 4 weeks to complete. Griffin has been working with Jenny in mixing and selecting colors for the final finish coat. I picked up a load of Kaolin clay in Albuquerque while on a tile buying trip. We are ready to begin.

Tile and sinks

Since the earth plaster must butt up against the tile on the cabinets, I have been focused on getting the tile set and grouted. I completed the laundry room, powder room and guest bath vanity and tub. Jenny found several beautiful Talavera painted sinks for the guest, and master bath as well as the powder room. I set them after the tile was in place and then grouted around them. The faucets she selected are perfect. These rooms will be stunning when we are finished.

Lael is working on the granite tiles in the kitchen and I am setting the Saltillo tile on the stairs. Lael was part of the original Earth Block crew, who I have hired to help with other miscellaneous task. He is a very skilled craftsman who is versed in many trades. The master bath tile is delayed because the factory in Mexico that makes them was shut down with the swine flu outbreak. I did plumb and set the master soaking tub. We were missing a cabinet for the master bath vanity and, after waiting 4 weeks for it to arrive find that it was destroyed in transit. Getting things here in one piece has been a challenge. The tally to date for damaged items shipped to net one good item is as follows:

2 geothermal heat pumps

3 geothermal hot water storage tanks

2 geothermal pump systems

4 toilets to net three

2 vanity cabinets (assuming the next one is in one piece)

Appliances and the garage doors have yet to arrive... I have my fingers crossed.

Heading towards our CO (certificate of occupancy)

We are focused on wrapping up work required for a CO around the end of May. There is still a long list of tasks to complete but we will continue to work seven days a week until they are finished. The house just gets more beautiful everyday and all those who work on it or come visit have said how much they love it. The local paper used three color pictures of the interior work for an article about the spring green living expo in early April. The reporter wants to do a more in depth article once we are completely finished.

Stucco gets a brown coat and the fireplaces get a coat of mud

This is a view of the house from the lower Gulch loop road. The brown coat of stucco is complete and will cure before applying the final color coat.



This is a view of the house from higher up on the lower gulch loop road.


This is the fireplace in the great room. The scratch coat of clay, sand, and chopped straw has been applied to the expanded metal lath. A second coat of this mixture will be applied once the first coat is completely dry.



This is the fireplace in the master bedroom. It reminds me of a Mexican bread oven. The scratch coat is still wet in some places.


Ben has joined the plaster team and is prepping the door openings by working a clay, sand, and chopped straw mix into the metal lath that has been attached to the wall and rolled into the door jamb.


The entry portal with it's copper flashing. The copper will oxidize to the color of an old penny in a few months.

Stucco brown coat goes on
After completing the scratch coat, the stucco crew started in on the brown coat. The scratch coat is put on fairly thin and then roughed up with a hand-held rake to give the brown coat something to cling to. The brown coat is not brown. It is a fibered cement product that is put on more thickly than the scratch coat and is worked to a flat sandy surface with a sponge trowel. The final coat will be the color coat and it is applied about 1/8 inch thick. We are going to hold off on the final color coat for awhile to let the first coats dry thoroughly.

Interior doors are installed
John and Griffin have been finishing up the installation of the interior doors. Once the jambs were anchored in place the doors were removed and taken to the garage which Jenny just finished painting. The doors will be stored there until the walls are plastered. The guys have been stapling expanded metal lath to the drywall around the door jambs and to give the plaster a strong surface to bond to.

We have heat!
Dave Himes has been working on the geothermal system and we now have heat. All the zones are wired together and a thermostat has been mounted in the office to regulate the temperature. Dave also got the domestic water plumbed and we can now use the hose bibs on the outside of the house to draw water. It will be great to pull the little sump pump from the cistern and secure the lid. I worried about critters falling into our drinking water.

The fireplaces get a first coat of earth plaster
I have been working on covering the expanded metal lath on the fireplaces with a mix of sand, clay, and finely chopped straw. The straw was placed in a large plastic drum and chopped fine with a weed eater. This mix was worked into the metal lath to assure that about 1/4 inch of it penetrated to the other side of the lath. When it dried, the surface was very firm and well anchored to the lath. I will add another layer of this mix to the first layer before we use a brown coat. The total thickness will be about one inch of material. I am very impressed with the strength of the earth plaster mix and like the idea that it is very low in embodied energy.

Electrical panels are powered up
I flipped the main breaker on the electrical panel that powers the heated space and also installed temporary receptacles in the bathroom dedicated circuits to have a good distribution of power throughout the house for the crew. It will be nice not to be dragging long extension cords all over. With the door jambs in place we need to avoid pulling extension cords around as it would damage their finish.

The entry and vigas are capped in copper
I had copper panels cut for the tops of the exposed vigas to prevent water damage to the wood. They are just wide enough to cover the top where snow would sit. The copper will heat up with the sun exposure and the snow will melt and slide off. The copper flashing wrapped around the entry portal turned out really well. The copper is very shiny right now but it will turn the color of a penny very soon.

We continue to make good progress and are getting closer to putting the brown coat on the interior walls. That will be another milestone for this project.