i know how to dream

$110,000

i found this property and can't stop thinking about it

what it has:
new high efficiency gas furnace, tankless hot water heater and a R-401A air conditioner
(if you know anything about green building, you will be familiar with all of these components, which are smart additions to an energy efficient, healthy home)
someone started this project four years ago with a sustainable home in mind and must have run out of money

on original discovery, i only had the front elevation picture to gaze at
i assumed that big picture frame window was for a living room
i had plans to take that window and stick in the back for a living room that faced southwest
this way i could have a kitchen with the morning light and an eye on the neighborhood
to my surprise, i was delighted to see the back of the house (which i snuck around with my camera)
what it needs:
insulation, sheet rock, updated electrical, plumbing, electrical fixtures, kitchen, bath and windows!

So apparently FHA loans, about the only loan i could ever qualify for, does not lend for fixers
so this is a CASH only home :(
hasn't stopped me from dreaming about the 1000 people who could donate $100
or writing a grant proposal to finish this home as a green remodel case study

a little information on HUD's 203K Rehab program

welcome home

Leonora, a single mom and her three sons move in to the Women Build HOME of 2008-2009
well worth the time . . .


for more photos, check out my flickr group: habitat for humanity - portland metro/east

commute

i experienced a first tonight
riding home from work, i was not alone
dark and cold, the january air brisked my cheeks red
his blinking red light ahead, cars passed us both
no more or less vulnerable, but safer the still
we pedaled and turned, silent energy endured
we slowed and coasted to the sound of the clicking chain
down along the waterfront, we passed pedestrians
onto the hawthorne bridge, we merged with three others
we heard the row team call out commands down below
soon i peeled off onto my side street
and was home


one cool commute bike from young@art

only in portland: the number of people who commute by bike has increased to the point where no matter what time you start work or get off, no matter how cold or hot or wet, you will not be the only biker on route

progress

playing a little catch-up with the habitat house

well i've been a bit behind on the habitat build update

three weeks ago, all four exterior walls had been already raised (the previous saturday, july 19th), we accomplished two things:

1. we learned about bracing, bow bracing to be exact
2. we started laying out the interior walls and drawing the plan on the floor decking

it was super hot, in the 90's, and i think i suffered a bit from heat exhaustion - although i didn't physically feel too hot, i had a hard time following what was going on (from adding and subtracting fractions and when i went from crouching to standing - i was blacking out, something that i'm used to, but hasn't happened in awhile).

two weeks ago i missed habitat all together, due to a dentist appointment. i missed habit in more ways then one and i've realized how satisfying this build has become to me. and i made sure to get as much out of my teeth cleaning appointment as possible, if i was missing the build, that dentist better make it worth my time! :)


last week i showed up and all the interior walls had been raised. so we finished a couple of tasks:

1. we added scrap 2 x 6 to the top plate of interior walls that ran from side to side so that when the sheet rockers were putting up the ceiling, they would have something to nail into (they couldn't have more than a 4" gap between the pieces).

2. we wrapped the house in weather protection paper.

3. we plumbed all of the walls using bow braces and wall braces (i forget what they are called)
so now it is all set to have the roof trusses dropped on it tomorrow. we were actually ahead of schedule so nothing happened last saturday or today.

building a wall

work has progressed slowly which i actually benefit from because i've been able to be part of every step along the way

but the wall raising date was set months ago, july 19th

so we were determined to at least have a wall ready to be raised for the publicity event

with the floor decking only 3/4 of the way done, we started framing the north wall. work progressed smoothly and quickly and by the end of the day we had framed and sheathed the north wall in oriented strand board!

decking not quite finished

framing studs laid out

finished wall - ready to have window and door openings cut out

looks like we're back on schedule!

i'll be missing out on the wall raising event but i'll be back next friday to see what is to be done next!


last week when i showed up, half of the decking for the foundation had been laid and things looked like they were moving smoothly, but our lead had us pull up all of the decking instead of putting on the finishing pieces. pulling out work moves much faster than the actual work so once we were back to the basic foundation, work moved much slower in reinstalling the decking. we used 1 1/4" tongue and groove oriented strand board with a thick glue and 8 penny nails, or maybe they were 16 penny nails. we only laid maybe six 4' x 8' boards in the day. some extra work was needed to make some of the boards make the more than 96" stretch on a few beams, yes the foundation is that bad with pockets limiting our adjustment capabilities.


to build the walls we used 2" x 6" studs every 16" and then used king and trimmer stud pairs for framing the windows and door. the trimmers support the headers and then the cripples support the window sills. The base and top of the wall were made of 2" x 6", using three to span the length, so six all together. Then the top of the wall was covered in another 2" x 6", i wasn't part of this process so i'm not all too sure about it's name, dimensions, or purpose. I helped make our corner a "california corner" for energy efficiency so that there would be no uninsulated gaps, but there wasn't enough space to use a 2" x 6" or barely a 2" x 4" so i suggested just slipping a 2" by 6" next to (parallel) to the end stud, and Shelly (the lead) liked my idea. we covered the stud wall with oriented strand board again, this time with a cut dimension of 100 1/2" x 48". the length was determined by the height of the studs (96" - 1/2") plus the thickness of the base and top plates (4" - 1/2" - 1/2" = 3") plus the extra top plate (2" - 1/2" = 1 1/2") plus the thickness of our sill plate (1 1/2") on the foundation and the floor decking (1 1/4") plus 1/2" of overhang. and then we used 8 penny nails to put it together. i think i covered it all but i might be missing some details.

it's been hot

and i've been thinking . . .

how have civilizations stayed cool before the air conditioner or fans for that matter?
(all i have are fans - you leave all the windows open all night to let the cool breeze in and before 10 am you close all the windows and shades to keep cool and then when the cool evening breeze starts, you open all the windows and get the fans blowing the cool air in)

well, i remember hearing about ancient arab cooling chimneys, keeping interiors cool in 120 degree F summers. and this is what i found out:
these tall chimney like structures are called wind catchers or wind towers and the basic principle is that they capture the prevailing breeze above the house and since cool air is denser than warm, it subsequently falls in the chimney which is then ventilated to the house. this kept interiors cool, paired with thick walls enhancing the trombe wall effect.

there are many variations of the design, one being a solar chimney, that fit a specific microclimate's needs
i got really excited about incorporating wind towers

and then i found this project - man oh man, someone beat me to it, not just with the wind tower but the whole layout and concept - oh well . . . but the 99k house is really cool and hopefully it's being built

and then i was thinking well, how come you don't harness the convective energy with localized windmills? i surely will

hey! someone's thought of that already too and i thought this ancient technology had fallen off the grid, almost

solar updraft tower

it's just nice to know that there is a movement out there, no matter how small it is now, i know it will be obvious in the near future