Dig
“I`m Gonna Do some |
Dig
“I`m Gonna Do some |
First we found a home that was in need of My Expertise.
This House called 0ut to Me.
A look Around the Challenge! |
We Quickly camouflaged the home into the lot, using the colors from 80% of the area... The
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Landscaping Projects… |
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In the fall of 2002, We started a small Landscaping Project that would become Our Main Rock Garden Upon its completion.Little then did I know that on the Oppsite side of Our yard we would have another Rock Garden, using a smaller rock from our front lawn in the future.
Four very large PINE TREES were removed from around this rock, near our first project, The Grape Vien Trellace.
We dug a two foot ditch around this rock and removed all the roots, small rocks and sandy soil. We replaced it with fresh Dark Loam, for planting new garden plants.
We were unable to Completely remove the four Trunks of the Pines, but having cut all the roots, we had sufficient room to plant the new greenery for our garden, and Bordered it using small landscaping blocks.
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We had many rough Winters while studying our Projects!
Our BackYard Deck was the second project attempted. And finally completed.
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We
Had some “How`d we Did That”
0ld Woodshed. There Tanks fer LooKin ~ Ricr0c. |
Today it was on to the Next Phase`s of our Project.
Leveling Our Ground and Preparing for The Sidewalk and Entry Gardens and Bordering!
Then it was on to filling up a Sink-hole so we could plant new grass come Springtime.We needed Lots of Silt, sand and DIRT!!!
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So For now We Watch & Wait for Winter to go away before completing The next Phase...
The Walk-Way needed to be finished and the New HerB Garden needed to be constructed. |
Now with Winter Melting off we were able to Tackle 
Phase
Two
of Our Project.
We chose Red Brick to do Our Walkway, and A Brown Concrete "Perma" Block that I thought complemented Our Home was used to border both the entry-way garden and the proposed Herb garden.
… Except now the Dips and Dives were gone, the New Grass was Hydro-seeded and all we had to do was wait for it all to evolve itself into the summer months ahead!
To finish that part it all off, We leveled out Both of our Gardens, Dee planted the HerBs
and I threw a few too many Morning
Glory Seeds
into the other area, along with a few plants
and shrubs.
We mulched it, and began the leveling and raking of our front yard so we could seed it.
After dressing the walk-way with a few Solar
Lights,
Our walkway looked as if it was always there...
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Since completing that project, it was on to Starting another Roc Garden around another rock that was moved from our front yard and then a new Eastern Garden Area was Planned on the opposite side of the property. |
We plan on Wrapping this Outside Garden with the Same Brown Concrete "Perma" Blocks we used for our Front Walkway Garden, and eventually having a bricked patio with-in that Area Too. |
When you`ve returned, you can view a few slides of Our Newest Features added in `o4 & o5. Several Hemlock Trees got transplanted, way Over 70, And they also Wrap around the Acred Property as a border of sorts, and our newest flower beds.
Be sure to check back in a month or two so we can show you those results!
We hope you`ve EnJoy`ed your Visit thus far to my Hill. We`ll Be back with 0ur Construction Project that we are planning when we can Up-Date our Hill some more!
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"A passive Solar building".
Originaly in 1980, when it was erected, the design called for "Box" type windows.The glass reminded me of "shower door glass" that was frosted and almost impossible to see through. The constant condensation that appeared in-between them created its own problems, and now being twenty-six years old, I often wondered how much moisture had gathered into the bottom sills of the home. With the wall erected at that particular angle, if the rot had gone too far, the weight of the wall itself could possibly be detrimental to our home...
As you see the glass on the outside of the home, thus it is similiar on the inside, except that there is a four inch air space in-between the interior and exterior glass panels. The original builders idea being that during the dark hours, millions of tiny styrofoam balls that were stored in an attic bin would be released into the “Boxes” and insulate the airspace from the cold weather outside. During the daylight hours the little balls would be vacuumed back into their bin, thus letting the Southern exposed window Boxes receive its sunlight to help in warming the inner atmosphere of the home. I always thought it would be too expensive to replace them so it was one of the last things I chose to get into after buying the home. And That’s one of the reasons it was so cheap!
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I kept telling my wife that I would do it if we had an ocean to look at… Why did we need to see our neighbors!
But never being able to see out the front of our home was difficult. We would always have to go to the front door to see anything directly to the front. Then there were all the new Gardens and Grass and other things to look at outside lately.
Finally I agreed that things had to change!
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That House called 0ut to Me.
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Another area that had been giving us problems was the front entry-way roof and ceiling. Directly above this area was a small room that at one time contained a large copper heating unit for pre-heating hot water from the solar energy of the sun. Of course when we bought the home this was a non-functioning unit, and the large windows that were used there (The same size and type as the Front windows.) really had no other purpose. The roof itself, after these windows was modified for direct solar sighting, peaked back up about four feet, before dropping toward the front of our entry-way.
This presented problems in the winter months because the snow and ice formed and stayed throughout the winter on this area, eventually leaking into the inside of the entry area. It would also build up quite a bit of heat on the inside, forming condensation and other problems that needed attention. I painted the windows to match the roof area a few years after buying this home, but that only temporarily fixed the problem. This would be another area that would take some consideration, as well as replacing the rest of the shingles on the home.
Next Phase!!!
WE were GO for Operation Stand Up by January of 2oo6. |
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He simply said, " Have you ever considered standing the front wall up?"
It turned out to become quite a challenge while getting different contractors to bid this job and/or figure out how these problems should be attempted. We almost got scared away at the cost some of them suggested it might be, and others didn`t even want to attempt such a task, While still others shared ideas and solutions with us as we decided what was to be attempted.
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The hired carpenter was a friend of Marks and I was the Main contractor and the poor fool that had to both live in the house while it was being re-constructed and pay for the expenses of completing the project.
I declined the idea quickly at first because in the lower section of the home was a bricked floor area, and that served as an inside greenhouse. It really did well for us with the solar angle of the lower windows, and also was a very focal point in the home and I didn`t want to change the atmosphere of the room nor the envelope concept inside of it.I thought standing the wall up would ruin the concept, but I also began thinking about it more and more in the up coming weeks and surmised that If I chose larger windows down stairs and smaller ones upstairs that it might just work.
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My solution certainly did fit into solving the ongoing problems.
First, we would encounter the suspected rot in the base of the large window BoXes. I was still particularly worried about that sill below the six lower Windows because they had been starting to leak, even though I had siliconed the area some five years ago. The base of the footing was in good shape to support a structured wall.
So after thinking it over for awhile, I let my neighbor bring in another contractor to see if it was a feasible and Do-able project.
After hearing and declining all our other solutions and considerations, I went with the Idea of Standing The Front Wall up and extending the new roof to meet this new front wall. Hopefully, we could also extend and follow the same roof-line in front with the odd roof over the entry-way, and get rid of those two large Purposeless & Problematic windows, while at the same time installing some new roof ventilation. |
I also wanted to install a few Venting Roof Windows in the main part of the new roof. That would solve an over heating problem we may deal with in the hotter summer months.
We also went through many, many blades for the saws-all. The old house was stubborn about letting itself get torn up, but we got the best of her eventually. We also added some extra secure ceiling joist all along the upper ceilings and roof rafter extensions to further deal with added weight in the case of extra snow in the winter months. |
I couldn`t wait to see how it came out. |
"An envelope building".
After our laborers got everything sealed from the mild winter weather and most of the new walls and rafters were insulated, they sheet-rocked what was needed inside. Then it was back to the outside to install the windows and put the siding on the two new walls.
You Guessed it…
Also thousands of tiny Styrofoam balls greeted us as we first broke into the leaning outside/inside wall. It felt like we were in a snow storm after getting into them. In-between the large window boxes we found PVC piping that connected the Styrofoam bin in the attic to these windows and figured out the concept behind this particular type of construction. Later while working in the attic I found the bin for the storage of these balls. My Brother In-law also found an article in his local library about envelope building construction and that helped to explain what we were seeing in our walls.
Mark also got the bid to strip off all the old roof coverings (There
was two layers of asphalt.)
and replace both the old and new surfaces with new shingles. I would later finish the
project by painting and installing the gutters and dressing up the outside areas.
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As you enter our front door, you are greeted by a 12 foot wide 28 foot, bricked floor greenhouse that is directly on the right.
Your in a small area but visually you just entered a unique home. To the front of you and ten feet away is the doorway that leads into the kitchen, dining room and living area, that is the part that is the homes shell. Directly above this area are the upper three bedrooms that all have their own Sliding glass doors facing the south. The old construction put these doors about five feet from the original upper windows, with a walk-way at the top stairs that led to each of the rooms and a bathroom at its end. That was the “inner” home within the shell.
The newer construction placed these three sliding glass doors doors 12 feet away from the new smaller front upper windows. That allowed us to put a new office area and significantly larger walk-way to the other bedrooms and bathroom, except now we had this library area and plenty of new storage plus a small reading room. All these areas became part of the “outer” home above the greenhouse. We gained more square footage and more modern Argiled gas, double panneled windows on the front wall, still facing south. Our Front Door
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The LibraryAreA During the re-construction of our second floor, that now would be doubled ( Because our wall stood up, instead of the angle it had been originally built at…), we decided to go with new lumber through-out. We stripped off much of the old floor and almost doubled the area we once had.
I used the old floor boards that we riPPed up in the back corner library as shelves for our books, DVD`s, VHS Tapes, and organization of other items. That seemed to give the small ventilated area, with an opening vent directly above this in the ceiling, a purpose. Before consrtuction the area was wasted behind the bath-room and under those outside windows that once worked as solar magnifiers. The vent (a wooden shutter) in the floor below these shelve appears in the ceiling just Above our Front door, allowing inside air to circulate through-out the house layers, keeping the enveloped concept.
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Other Bunker ~
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DRGrafiX
Vote DR
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Musical Selection: Hoy Joy... Little Feat~
More Work Here…"
There!
Destinations:
GrafiX
06
~7.