Solar Panels Installed

 Last fall ( August- October 2022) we cleared trees on the south side of our house to install solar panels.  The installation of the ground mounted panels was completed in early January 2023.  Our plan was to  live in the house for a few years to develop an understanding of the total energy use with the ground source heat pumps and the electric car.   

We ended up with a 14.8 Kw system that has 40 panels.  The system is ground mounted at the edge of the field to make maintenance easier.  We are in the net metering program with our local power company.  In March our account will reset to 0.  The life time production ( January 1- December 15, 2023) is 21.2 MWH.  We will find in March if we surplus energy production that will go back to the utility.  One of our bigger loads is our Chevy Volt. The car is charged up at home and most of the driving with the car is on battery.

The next step will be to install battery backup at the house.

  

leaded glass window and final coat of stucco

  Started working on those four leaded glass windows last christmas. They are now assembled and installed.  They let light into our bathrooms from the laundry room.   Have never made anything like this, took lots of time and patience to get everything to fit.  Trust me each window has its own mistakes that i can see but sometime its just close enough.    With a great amount of help we finished up the stucco before the rain starts.So,  now two coats of sealer and the window trim can go on. We are hoping to get concrete poured before the fall steady rains start and I will be very happy.    We just ordered the window treatments which will be roller blinds with a chain drive lift .  They will be mounted in a box tucked in the top inside of the window sill. 

Stucco- Last coat the movie

Good, bad or indifferent that is the color and texture the house will be.  This is me spraying on cement stucco. This is the old school style. Made with portland cement, lime , sand and dye for the color.   Mixed in a mortar mixture 300 lbs at a time. Getting roughly 10-15 feet of wall done a day.  We spray the stucco on and then smooth it out.  Wait for it to dry a little and  press any cracks out.  Once the Stucco is done we will put the juniper trim on around the doors and windows.

Finishing up some inside details

   Working on finish work.    Here are some photos of the closets we finished.  Still have closet doors to make for the closet in our bedroom.  We are planning on a knotty alder barn doors.  The other closet is off our bathroom with a door to the laundry room.     The laundry room window was our first window to finish.  We did this so we could figure out what we were doing.  We are very happy with the way it turned out, only 10 more to go.   The stain and the knotty alder match the trim and the doors.   Lastly, I soldered up the first leaded glass window , to go between the bathroom and laundry/entry.  They let light in and give some privacy.  Took forever in the evenings and off time to figure out the thing but there it is.  Kinda matches the glasswork in the entry doors.  They measure 16 x 32 inches  one down three more to go. hopefully they all match,  more or less.. 


 

Live in the New House has Started

We have been in the house 4 months now , sure is nice to have a house again.  Still working on a lot of projects for the house.

Lately it has been linen closets and clothes closets.   We lined the linen closets with wood and made adjustable shelving.  With those done we will start this week on the clothes closets.  

We have had a few bugs to work out of the ground source heat pump system but, they will get resolved and with Goejerry's help we will get the kinks out over the winter.  Sure is nice to have heated floors the room stays warm down by the floor. The air at the top of the vaulted ceilings isn't much warmer than the room, only degree or two warmer.  

As in this photo we fired up the wood stove just for fun this weekend nothing beats the heat off a wood stove.   We installed the baseboard downstairs and will install window trim when done with the closets,  this will take some time with the width of the window sill. We will join 3, 4inch wide boards together to try and control warpage.

With our first Thanksgiving and Christmas behind us now looking forward to making great memories.   In the spring we will finish up the stucco and outside window trim and get the porch and sidewalks poured.

Coming Together

Fall is coming fast so before the endless rain gets here we are working on the big parts of the house that don't yet have juniper siding on them.  Getting true board and batten siding up takes alot of time I am sure glad our old boom ladder is holding on makes it much easier to get up there than the ladder  or scaffolding.   We bring juniper up from the barn where it is been waiting for the last year or two and paint all sides with a rosewood oil then measure cut and drill the attaching holes so it doesn't crack as bad.  We are done with the east, we are done with the west, almost done with the south side. Then off to the north side where the carport is.   It has been a real learning curve alot of fitting around things.  but I see the end of it in sight if the weather holds out.   Next spring we will add the last coat of stucco then the juniper window and door trim outside.

Thought I would ad some photo's of the mechanical room still working out some bugs but we now have heating and cooling all supplied with the two ground source heat pumps,  the radiant floor heat is also up and running sure is nice to have a working thermostat.   Lots of piping in  the mechanical room.

 

Still Finishing

June 14, 2017


The loft floor is complete and looks really good.  We used a solid bamboo.  Tough stuff the bamboo is shreaded then cooked to give it is brown color then added resin and pressed into a harder than wood product.  It is bamboo all the way through meaning in the future it could be sanded and  refinished.    the floor-wall trim is all that is left to do upstairs. The trim is alder stained to come close to the other  wood work in the house..


  We chose oak stairs over bamboo because the oak was seventy percent cheaper and is a nice product to work with .  We didn't use any moldings on the stair or risers where they meet the walls to give it a simple clean look.  We used the same stain as everything else so the look would come out close to the other woodwork in the house.    The handrail will go up next just a round piece of oak with stainless steel brackets.


The bathrooms now have the toilets installed and the cabinets , countertops and sinks are done.  We used Formica with wood trim on the countertops.   Still have not turned the water on will do that on a day I feel like chasing drips.


Still refinishing the concrete floors to try and get back the original finish.  So with gloves and a mask on I scrub the old wax and sealer until it becomes clear then I reseal where needed and two coats of wax  looks pretty good.


With pouring some samples of concrete countertop I was not satisfied with the finish. So, we decided to use the same green colored Formica on the kitchen countertops with the alder trim  that we had used in the bathrooms. In the kitchen we made the Formica backsplash go from the countertop to the base of the upper cabinets .   We are very happy with the results.    


A little more work in the mechanical room and the hot water hearer should get fired up. Not to far off to an inspection.