Stonehouse Straw House

Open House - Soon

2009-05-28T11:30:00.003-03:00

The weather is warm and life as new parents and full-time professionals leaves us with little free time. A number of folks have expressed interest in learning more about our straw bale experience and we want an opportunity to share it with you. The Plan? We'll host an open house this summer so folks can come for a tour and ask us questions. I'll post a date and time shortly.

BTW - where is that warm weather today?

A year of change

2009-01-14T10:21:00.009-04:00

A year has changed us more than we thought possible. Our first child, Noah, was born in February of 2008, evolving us from independent, career-focussed go-getters, to a home/baby-centred family unit. We've also changed some of our opinions about straw bale techniques. And for good reason.

While I was waiting for my overdue baby to be born - waddling around the house and praying for the big event to begin - severe rain, ice and wind storms kept pounding our house. With each storm, the lime plaster layer that had been applied over the clay-dirt plaster, began falling off. At first in small bits, and then in sheets. It was devastating to us and we were fraught with worry that it would cause more than cosmetic damage. Finally, with onset of yet another storm in February, my father and father-in-law braved the icy grounds and winds on ladders and installed tarps around the east and south sides of the house. It was incredibly heart-breaking to have to tarp in our beautiful home, but *such* a relief to know it was protected from the rains. Here's a pic of our tarp hell:

The good news is that the damage was only cosmetic. By poking a moisture metre in many areas of our walls, we determined that none of our straw was damaged. After having a lot of time to test plasters and examine the damage, we believe that using lime plaster over clay-dirt plaster is a bad idea. Clay-dirt alone will not hold up over time in this climate unless you have an extraordinary house design and site. Lime plaster and clay-dirt move differently with changes in temperature and humidity causing the bond to break between them. In our case, it allowed water to get in between the layers in the freeze-thaw weather and the lime plaster fell off in sheets. Here's a picture of our house once we removed the tarps:

Yes, we could have designed the house differently, but it would have to be *very* different - more than the long overhangs on the roof and a porch we incorporated. We also could have chosen an alternate site so that the Nor-easter wouldn't be able to hit the east wall, or that the So-wester wouldn't hammer the south wall, but we live in the Maritimes. And we wanted to live on a location where solar power was a good option. We are surrounded by trees, but, obviously they weren't dense enough to protect us from the elements.

Once we settled in with the baby, we began calling around for help and advice. It turns out that two of our acquaintances had the exact same occurrence in the Maritimes. We had no idea that they had suffered through such damage. Both of those home owners chose to frame up the damaged sides and apply a "rain screen", also known as siding. After many conversations and deliberations, we decided to bite the bullet and install cedar board and batten. Then the trick was to find someone who could do it for us since Straw Bale Projects was not able to return. Time was slipping away and we couldn't find anyone. After a bit of pleading, our friend Charles agreed to take on the job. We were in excellent hands. Charles spent a lot of time determining how to best design the framing, venting, and siding so that it would be incredibly solid and look great. Along the way, we also had reinforcements - our friends Phil, Lee, Kyle, Brenda, Dave, Rob and of course, family. It's amazing we still have any friends and family left! Here's a view of the framing system that Charles designed and installed to accommodate the new siding:

Here's a picture of the resulting, beautiful new face on our east side:

After spending many thousands of dollars beyond our budget and more than a year of extra construction time, what would we do differently on the plaster issue? We would go with all lime plaster next time. We would do a lot more research and testing on various recipes, especially the many tried-and-true ones that come out of Europe. We might have designed the house differently, but it's too late for that. The clay plaster was environmentally-friendly, but it had to be applied by hand requiring many extra months of labour and it is incredibly difficult to make a consistent recipe since the contents are not pure.

On top of all of this, we had issues with our stamped concrete porch that resulted in having to replace it. I'll go into that separately since I'm running out of time today.

I'll leave it there for now. We still love our straw bale home. We love the way it looks, the way it feels and we *adore* our low heating bills. We would do it over again. No question.

The biggest Christmas present...

2007-12-24T11:21:00.000-04:00

Two Fridays ago, I arrived home from a work retreat to find my crazy parents had been slaving away on their knees for many hours grouting our newly stained and sealed floor (I say "crazy" with a lot of gratitude and amazement at their energy). I quickly donned my grubby clothes and got to work - we finished that night!

We were scheduled to move in that Sunday afternoon, but the weatherman (I have several other names for him that I won't use publicly) was forecasting the storm of the century... of course. We haven't had this much snow in December in many years! We couldn't switch to Saturday because it was the only time Dave & I could get into a prenatal class before our birth due date, and lord knows we need all the help we can get in the "soon-to-be-first-time-parents" department.

Once again, my parents surprised us and moved a large load of furniture while we were tied up and helped us load up our vehicles so that we were ready to go early Sunday morning. With the help of our friends Charles and Phil, we finished moving in mid-afternoon on Sunday. And, yes, it was storming...*a lot* by that point, but we finished ahead of the dangerous part and everyone made it home safely on the snowy roads.

This week has been as hectic as ever with the usual Christmas preparations still to do - only I did them WEEKS later than I normally would have each evening after work. Note to friends: our Christmas cards will come in the form of...hmmm...well, they may not come at all, even in the the new year. Now we have to finish unpacking, preparing for baby, and making the transition to take a year off from my university gig. Dave and I have always agreed that we enjoy a challenge...good think we're both on the same page here...

Above, a glimpse of our newly arranged dining room. Still some finishing touches to do, but this gives you a view of our finished floor.

An image of our fireside seating area in the same room. Miraculously, between unpacking many, many boxes (and there are still many to go) I managed to decorate the Christmas tree after my Dad and the tree finished WWIII (hmmm... my Dad and tree stands have never gotten along well... it brought back many childhood memories of me trying to watch the classic Rudolph and Grinch cartoons amidst flying fir needles).

The artwork above the mantle and on the next wall are Bruce Stonehouse originals...couldn't resist the plug for Dad Stonehouse...

We still have much to do in preparing our other rooms for the long term, so look for more of the story to be posted in photos later this week as I work my way through each room over my holiday week (while Dave works away at the newspaper).

A Carol Taylor angel snuggled into our living room nicho seemed like an appropriate bookend for a Christmas eve blog post. Happy Holidays all!

A test: the acid stain

2007-12-07T19:50:00.000-04:00

After moving the three pets with us out to our little cottage last Sunday to enable us to finish the floors, the week brought more snow than we've seen in a long time. More snow meant we had to move back in the straw house b.c our cottage in the country would leave us in peril of not getting to work (at least not safely, or perhaps not at all). It snowed off and on all week, messing up our floor staining schedule drastically, but this week, we'll finally get things wrapped up.

Above is a pic of the acid stain test patch we mopped on with a sponge mop. I like the colour and it's a lot less messy than spraying it on with a garden sprayer.

This is the StainAstar product we're using to colour the concrete to look like tile. It runs about $65/gal which covers 400 sq ft. We'll apply a concrete sealer after we stain it, then grout the cracks. The grout is the most expensive part.

This is a test patch we did using the garden sprayer. A lot more liquid was required to cover the surface, making the overall colour much darker. Having liquid sit on the surface was bad for our wood work and plaster - it soaked right through the painter's tape and stained both surfaces.

A little view of the beauty brought by the multiple snow storms around our house.

Believe it or not, I wouldn't give up a view like this for anything. When I lived in the American South (yes, it must be cap'd), I desperately missed winter of this kind.

Here's a sneak pic of the antique wall sconces my Dad installed in our master bedroom in the little nichos we carved in the wall.

A brief update in pics before we move in...

2007-12-03T18:50:00.000-04:00

The soon-to-be new babe's room (10 weeks to go!). None of the main floor is finished yet.

Dave working the phone in the living/dining area with lots of junk piled 'round.

A partial, poorly photographed take of the kitchen. (Who has time for tripods and good composition when you're desperate to move in??)

One of our new fan fixtures installed in the loft.

The master bedroom with some wall scones still to be installed.

The west end of the loft (where we're currently sleeping). Possibly a spare bedroom or home office...or both. The debate is still on.

The east end of the loft to become our movie/reading room.

The dormer area in the loft and top of the stairs.

Dave hard at work scrubbing the concrete floors in preparation for the acid staining. Most our free time will be spent cleaning and taping off the walls and woodwork in preparation for acid staining...

Christmas is coming early

2007-11-20T17:12:00.000-04:00

I have had butterflies of excitement in anticipation of finishing the house and moving in. HUGE milestone reached this week: the last spot of mud was covered in lime plaster and the finishing touches (blending seams of plasters and touching up small spots along trim work etc.) have been mostly completed. Thanks to Charles and Phil for sticking it out with us and doing some gorgeous finish work. My trowelling and surfacing abilities are much inferior to theirs!

Charles has also been assisting us by sanding and oiling the loft floor and stairs. We are using tung oil on the floors as opposed to a varnish. It seems healthier and easy to maintain.

I had hoped we would be ready to acid stain the floors tomorrow, but there is *so* much clean up work to do! Plastering is indeed dirty work, and a year of mud and lime dirt requires a lot of vacuuming, sanding, scrubbing, sweeping....scraping....scrubbing..you get the picture.

We will likely move in with a bit of finish work left to do like filling nail holes, varnishing trims etc., but I can do a lot of that over the Christmas holidays. How different life will be not living in a construction zone....

Visions of a clean, settled home are dancing in my head...

(photos to come soon).

Pumpkins and our porch floor

2007-10-31T18:58:00.000-03:00

It's Halloween night here and we await the little gobblins of the neighbourhood. Being our first Halloween in the 'hood, we're not sure what to expect. Without subdivision masses nearby, we may have a few hundred mini candy bars and such not to feast on for the next few months!

Monday, the crew from Lafarge arrived and began preparing the base for our porch floor and main entry door step. We decided to go with stamped concrete so that it would have natural cobblestone or slate look, but without the uneven ground that stone usually offers. It's close to the same price as installing a deck, only we won't have to replace it in 10 years or less and we won't have much maintenance.

On Tuesday morning after our first snowfall, the crew poured the concrete and trowelled it smooth as you can see here above. They ran into a brief snag when the snow began running off the roof like rainwater as it melted and splashing back onto the wet concrete. Fortunately, I had some extra plastic they could use to create a barrier.

Then they applied a powder they call a "release agent" which enables them to apply a stamped pattern without pulling the concrete apart. It also colours the crevices of the concrete to give it depth.

Here's one of the stamp pads they used yesterday.

Here's a glimpse of the pattern on the porch floor before they seal it.

A wide angle view of the porch floor before it is sealed or landscaped.

And a view of the front entry before sealing and landscaping. I'm thrilled it's done before Spring! It will make the house feel so much more finished.

This week we'll be applying flashing over the exposed rigid pink insulation that wraps around our foundation. We hope to finish spraying the drywall with plaster.

And, Charles and Phil are back in town, so we're hoping to make a big dent in plaster the straw walls. The countdown in on... Can we move in before the end of November??

2007-10-24T19:20:00.000-03:00

Ah, at last. A night at home. Work has been incredibly intense for a couple of months now, sucking up all free time, but we're beginning to get back at it. Fortunately, I also seem to be moving into a "nesting" phase with more energy than I'd had earlier in my pregnancy.

We've had two friends - Charles and Phil - working on interior plaster work for more than a month, though they've both been away for the past two weeks. We decided that we couldn't handle this alone and they have been a great boost. They finished the earth plaster first and have been working on lime plaster in recent times. At top and to the right, you can see their work in the east gable end. It's amazing to me how the house has brightened up with the lime plaster. I love it. In contrast, here you can see the west gable end with the earth plaster still.

Dave and I, with my Dad and Mom in the lead, have been focussed on applying plaster to all of the interior drywall to give it a textured effect that blends it in with the style of the house more. We're more than half-way complete. Two more days of work (and most of it spent on covering wood beams, ceilings and floors to protect them from plaster drips and spray) and we'll have all of the drywall complete. Here are a few photos of the plaster before it was completely dry.

I'll share more once we've finished next week.

Here's a photo of the kitchen entry door that Charles plastered. We've put in a decorative arch to provide an interesting niche for a piece of art.

The great news of the week is that we found a company to install our porch patio on the north side and a small stamped concrete doorstep on the east side by the arch door. The better news is that they believe they'll be able to install it this week since the weather is so warm, as opposed to next Spring! A few pics of the outside.

Next up: sand and oil the loft floor, and acid stain the main floor!

Hampton EnviroFair

2007-10-10T17:41:00.000-03:00

I know, I know...I've been totally delinquent in posting updates! I will *soon* post some new photos and details. In the mean time, I'm putting together a presentation for the Hampton EnviroFair on our straw bale building experience. It's happening this Saturday, October 13th at Hampton High School. Check out the Town of Hampton website for details on presentation times and other activities at the fair: http://www.townofhampton.ca/content/17684.

Other activities at the EnviroFair:
􀂾 LIVING OFF THE GRID
􀂾 SOLAR AND WIND ENERGY IN NB
􀂾 BAKING WITH SOLAR OVENS
􀂾 BIODIESEL CONVERSION

Surprise, surprise...

2007-09-08T15:57:00.000-03:00

Nearly two years ago when we began our research into straw bale building, we noticed that there seemed to be a theme of increased fertility and little "surprises" along the way amongst the straw bale owner-builders we visited and spoke with. And...it seems we're no exception. Our little "surprise" (and it was a surprise) is due in February, so we're incredibly inspired to finish this house *immediately*!

Tomorrow, we'll be plastering fiends in hopes of making good progress. We have a lot of "fill coat" work to do on the inside with our clay-dirt plaster before we can apply a final lime plaster coat. Once we're done our plaster work, we've only the floors to finish, and the porch/patio floor to install. We're so close, but yet so far...

Volunteers welcome!

Le Grand Unveiling

2007-08-13T08:52:00.000-03:00

The outside is still being whitewashed with limewater, but we finally removed tarps on all sides except the south(!). We decided to leave the south side for another two days to be safe. Good-bye blue plastic house!

Jacob, our visiting straw bale apprentice (above), moved on to Halifax on Saturday to his next adventure before he heads home to Montreal. Rob, our resident straw bale expert, leaves today for home in Nova Scotia. That leaves just me, Dave and the pets in our home for the first time in a month!

Charles T. is seen here helping Rob M.
& Dad Wiggins remove the tarps on the east side. Charles is going to continue working with us to finish up west gable end and interior plaster.

Here's Dad throwing down the last corner of tarp.

The west side unveiled, with staging still in place to complete white washing and trim.

The east side (faces the road) sans tarps, staging and completely white washed!!

The outside plaster is done!!

2007-08-09T08:57:00.000-03:00

I know you'd expect some amazing photos of the exterior of our house with that kind of title, but the house is still covered in tarps to allow the lime plaster to dry slowly without cracking! In fact, we have to mist it two to three times a day for at least another week. The removal of tarps, or the "Grand Unveiling" as we like to call it, will be an exciting moment for us after living in a blue plastic covered house for many months.

Wicked high winds kept me awake last night as they whipped the tarps around, and brought in a cold, fall-like air. The fresh air will make a better working environment for our three crew members who have had to endure some very hot work days. Rob McLean of Straw Bale Projects in NS is still with us (Andy and Meg returned to NS for other obligations), Charles Trenholme has joined this week, and last night, Jacob L. arrived from Montreal. Jacob wants to learn how to build his own straw bale house, so he's spending a few days with Rob to learn the ropes. The guys are now working on plastering the interior gable ends. The end is in sight!

Once the plaster is done in the next couple of weeks, we'll stucco the interior walls, sand and oil our loft floors, acid stain our concrete floor and tidy up various finish jobs such as protecting the woodwork, cleaning up lime plaster splashes etc.

More pics to come!

The Things To Do or Not List Begins...

2007-08-07T09:26:00.001-03:00

A couple that participated in our workshop last year is about to begin building their house (!). In preparation, they've asked us to send them a list of what we'd do differently, and what we'd do the same. Here it is! I'll keep building on it as I think of things:

Things we would do differently:
-The top plate. It was made to be the same width of the bales. That made it stick out a lot (b.c of the irregularity of the bales) and it caused our straps (part of our compression system) to stick out. If we had made it 2 or 3 inches smaller, we wouldn't have had the same problem. We've had to use an awful lot of mud to cover that puppy up.
-The mortar mixer. We went to great lengths to try and buy a used mortar mixer (since they're so expensive new), but to no avail. Instead we rented one, but it cost a fortune too! We ended up buying a brand new cement mixer (Red Lion brand) and it worked fine for us, and it was much cheaper than a mortar mixer.
-The straps. If you don't need the straps, don't use them. They're a pain to work around. (we had to use straps b.c we were required to treat our walls as load bearing. We designed the house with the beams away from the wall so that we could plaster behind them, but it meant the bales couldn't be tied into the beams.)
-Burlap on the wood. we spent weeks trying to attach that stuff effectively (so that the mud would stick on exposed wood frames around the doors and windows), and in the end found that it wasn't all that useful. It was better to use mud with long straw on the bare wood. Some still swear by it, but it only made me swear *&%$!
-Double check the measurements that other people make. We had one door frame that was too small by several inches and several things were not plumb. It was very stressful.
-We would have had the timber frame and roof done earlier - at least a few weeks before the workshop, though we were at the timberframers whim. It was incredibly stressful having the roof not done and keeping the bales covered for months. It wasn't the plan for us, but that's how it worked out.
-Don't buy a cheap chainsaw. We went through two of them (small electric ones) b.c they're made of plastic inside and won't stand up. Consider finding yourself a good machete and keeping it super sharp (Charles taught us this!), and/or buy a decent quality chainsaw. If you have a bit of land, you'll likely need it for years to come like we do.
-We cut more than 100 alder branches for corsetting, but only used about 20. Depending on your design you might not need very many. If there are stretches of wall where the straw bales have little to attach to, estimate two every 16 inches and add a few extra to be safe.

Things we would do the same:
-Invest in an air compressor and texture sprayer (we got ours at princess auto) to spray slip.
-Screen the slip through window screening so that it doesn't clog up the sprayer
-Work parties with lots of food
-Workshop (it drew in lots of people's interest, even if they didn't get to join the workshop, and we gained a lot of long-term volunteers from it)
-Tonnes of rubber gloves in various sizes to protect hands. Purists use their bare hands, but keep in mind that gloves keep volunteers coming back b.c they're hands aren't bleeding when they leave.
-2-3 rolls of bailing twine. You won't even believe what you'll use it for.
-Dozens of buckets. You'll break some and you'll need loads to keep up with the crew.
-2-3 wheel barrels.
-**Find out about the new sprayer that Kim Thompson has from Mexico called the Tirolessa. You can buy one for $215 US online, or you can borrow hers. It could speed things up significantly. We totally underestimated how long putting mud on by hand would take (we're still not done!), but the Tirolessa sprays it on, driving it into the straw, and you simply trowel it from there. We're using it now. It's a big relief. We can also apply our final lime coat with it. This is a big point! (here's a website to check it out: http://www.northcoast.com/~tms/tiro.htm). You might need a slightly heftier air compressor, but it's worth it!**
-Lots of shovels (at least 3, maybe 5)
-Lots of barrels. We used a bunch of the usual rubbermaids, plus a number of free steel barrels. In total, we use eight - ten and could use a couple more.
-Palettes. You should be able to get these for free from a hardware store. We need them to store straw (put plastic under them so the dampness doesn't rise up though), to raise up our cement mixer, to create temporary steps, to store wood, to put under workers' tents...you name it.
-Expect to spend a lot more than you plan on trips to the hardware store. It shocked the heck out of me. We probably spent more than $500 on runs for extra screws and nails along. Thousands $$ on odds and sods of wood, and misc. supplies.
-Lots of gyproc/carpet knives (at least six). Buy at least two good quality ones for the long haul.
-Lots of basic tools (we didn't previously own a lot of power tools, and had to invest in a few hand tools as well). Skill saw, Jig saw, drills (two would be good), a paint mixer attachment of the drill to mix slip and lime, table saw (we borrowed), tin snips, the usual hammers, screwdrivers, wrenches, staple guns, mallet, nail set, a whipper snipper to trim the bales and chop straw for the finish coat (it has to be chopped for the Tirolessa too)
-Leave easy-to-see garbage collection bins for people to clean up after themselves
-Face masks to sift lime and chop straw
-Hardware cloth to make screening to sift sand & clay and attach over flashing to hold the plaster
-Tarps. You'll buy/scavenge lots. You'll need more.
-Cardboard. You'll save lots. Again, you'll need more.
-Rolls of plastic. This can work well to cover the beams, but it can also cause them to develop blue/black mold. Cardboard is better.
-Always leave yourself with enough time and energy to get the tarps back in place at the end of the day and clean up your work site. You can save yourself a lot of headaches and heart breaks.
-Remember to enjoy it! Our biggest stresses were based around sub-contractors, but the straw bale and plaster work was always enjoyable to us and a great relief from the conventional side of building. The people we met (besides the sub-contractors) also made it a real pleasure to do.

Photo update

2007-08-02T08:13:00.000-03:00

I'm back in the office job after two weeks with a mile-high stack of urgent-must-be-done-yesterday stuff, so I'll just post photos of our crew at work with some of the progress. We've enjoyed a wonderful "vacation" with the Thunderbay Stonehouses helping us (working like dogs) with the house. The outside mud is done and the lime plaster is underway! The lime should be done early next week and then we can move indoors...More to come later!

Dad Stonehouse installing flashing.

Andy Cragg hard at work with a trowel.

A first glimpse of the lime coat on the west gable end.

Rob M. at work with the Tirolessa - an adobe sprayer from Mexico.

Dad Stonehouse showing off a new tshirt.

Mom Stonehouse hard at work on the plaster.

Rob M. applying a fill coat under the porch roof.

Charles T. plastering to perfection on the west side.

Meg M. mixing the lime plaster and covered with splatter!

Beyla - an old (but young) friend.

Unexpected horticultural emergency...

2007-07-05T09:26:00.000-03:00

The sounds of dump trucks banging and excavators digging were vivid last night when I arrived home from work. As I troddled out to retrieve the mail, I discovered a road crew digging out the ditches (!). Part of my trees-for-privacy-and-beauty plan was to dig up the trees from the ditch and transplant them in a safe place. The crew stopped for the evening only metres from my property line....an incredibly close call. I dashed up for my shovel, and gear and "saved" many, many trees. About half of the spruce, cedar and tamarack are seedlings, but close to 50 are solid two to four year old trees. I successfully replanted about half of them last night until my poor back throbbed. Fortunately, the next few days are calling for rain, so they have a chance at survival. Transplanting spruce and cedar (or anything for that matter) is not the brightest idea in July. I was planning to do it in late August once we were heading for cooler, more moist weather (and finished plastering!).

And I wonder why progress on the house goes so slowly...

No longer in denial in suburbia

2007-07-04T11:12:00.000-03:00

OK, so we built in the 'burbs. But, the land for many acres around us was all treed and resident free, so it didn't feel like suburbia. Not so much now. The lot to our South sold this spring and a two story colonial is already up. The lot to our north sold last week, and the chainsaw began last night. Thankfully, most folks leave lots of trees standing, but it still reduces our privacy and the feeling that we own more land than we actually do.

At Canada Day, we were fortunate enough to be the high bidder on a number of two and three year-old spruce trees in the annual silent auction. On Sunday, Mom and Dad helped us plant the spruces, plus a maple (yet to be identified properly), and about 50 white pine seedlings! We've already planted more than 100 trees including oak, sugar maple, white and yellow birches, spruce and cedar, so we're making good progress. It's the kind of work we wanted to do *after* construction is complete, but when the opportunity arises with trees, one can't turn them down. Now, if we can just keep deer and rabbits from feasting on our tasty little seedlings...

Is Dirt the New Prozac? Another reason to go straw bale...

2007-07-03T13:59:00.001-03:00

From Discover Magazine: http://discovermagazine.com/2007/jul/raw-data-is-dirt-the-new-prozac

06.14.2007
Is Dirt the New Prozac?
Injections of soil bacteria produce serotonin—and happiness—in mice.
by Josie Glausiusz

THE STUDY “Identification of an Immune-Responsive Mesolimbocortical Serotonergic System: Potential Role in Regulation of Emotional Behavior,” by Christopher Lowry et al., published online on March 28 in Neuroscience.

THE MOTIVE Some researchers have proposed that the sharp rise in asthma and allergy cases over the past century stems, unexpectedly, from living too clean. The idea is that routine exposure to harmless microorganisms in the environment—soil bacteria, for instance—trains our immune systems to ignore benign molecules like pollen or the dandruff on a neighbor’s dog. Taking this “hygiene hypothesis” in an even more surprising direction, recent studies indicate that treatment with a specific soil bacterium, Mycobacterium vaccae, may be able to alleviate depression. For example, lung cancer patients who were injected with killed M. vaccae reported better quality of life and less nausea and pain. Now a team of neuroscientists and immunologists may have figured out why this works. The bacteria, when injected into mice, activate a set of serotonin-releasing neurons in the brain—the same nerves targeted by Prozac.

THE METHODS Some studies have found that treatment with M. vaccae, the inoffensive soil bacterium, eases skin allergies, and other reports—such as the cancer study—show that it can improve mood. Christopher Lowry, a neuroscientist at the University of Bristol in England, had a hunch about how this process might work. “What we think happens is that the bacteria activate immune cells, which release chemicals called cytokines that then act on receptors on the sensory nerves to increase their activity,” he says.

To verify this hypothesis, he and his colleagues carried out a series of experiments on mice. First, Lowry killed and broke up M. vaccae with sound waves. He then anesthetized six mice and injected the pulverized bacteria directly into their windpipes. After killing the mice, he indirectly measured the levels of cytokines in the animals’ bodies and found an increased production of these proteins in their lung tissue.

The team also looked at the mouse brains to see which neurons, if any, were activated after the bacterial injection. They found that serotonin-producing neurons in a specific region of the brain—the dorsal raphe nucleus—were more active in the treated mice. “That’s important,” Lowry says, “because cells in that part of the raphe project to parts of the brain that regulate mood, including the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus, which is also involved in mood regulation and cognitive function.” They also found increases in serotonin itself in the prefrontal cortex.

Finally, Lowry and his colleagues studied another set of mice, who were subjected to a stress-response test. They dropped each mouse into water for five minutes and timed how long it would take the animal to switch from active swimming to passive floating. Control mice swam for an average of two and a half minutes, while the M. vaccae–injected animals paddled for four. Researchers already know that antidepressants increase active swimming and decrease immobility. The bacteria “had the exact same effect as antidepressant drugs,” Lowry explains.

THE MEANING The results so far suggest that simply inhaling M. vaccae—you get a dose just by taking a walk in the wild or rooting around in the garden—could help elicit a jolly state of mind. “You can also ingest mycobacteria either through water sources or through eating plants—lettuce that you pick from the garden, or carrots,” Lowry says.

Graham Rook, an immunologist at University College London and a coauthor of the paper, adds that depression itself may be in part an inflammatory disorder. By triggering the production of immune cells that curb the inflammatory reaction typical of allergies, M. vaccae may ease that inflammation and hence depression. Therapy with M. vaccae—or with drugs based on the bacterium’s molecular components—might someday be used to treat depression. “It’s not clear to me whether the way ahead will be drugs that circumvent the use of these bugs,” Rook says, “or whether it will be easier to say, ‘The hell with it, let’s use the bugs.’”

Back to business

2007-07-02T11:01:00.000-03:00

OK, so our main goal is to get things moving at a slightly faster pace. The bank (play ominous music), who continues to mess up our paperwork and payments, would like us to finish the house within 90 days. It's no surprise - we've gained a more indepth understanding than we'd ever wanted about the big banks. It's just a reality we have to deal with. However, we're not finding ourselves with a lot of free time to speed the plaster up, so we've decided to bring back some of our friends from Straw Bale Projects in NS. They're coming in two weeks time to give us a boost(!!). At the same time, Mom & Dad Stonehouse will be visiting from Thunder Bay, so it will be a very busy little spot. I love cooking for a crowd, and I'm going to love seeing major progress on the straw shanty.

My Canada Day

2007-07-02T10:23:00.001-03:00

No, that's not me, that's a young lady who rides in the Canada Day parade every year with the same colourful enthusiasism. She's a ball of energy.

My Canada Day looks a lot like this. Each year, Dave & I go to my hometown and join in the festivities at our local park. Dave's the main volunteer photographer (ahem, I make a great assistant), so we always have lots of images.

Amidst the kids running, the band playing, the food circulating and people chatting, here's Dad. Unable to sit still. Ever the active volunteer.

And the horses ride on every year under a brilliant puffy-cloud blue sky.

My nephew Ethan waving from a float in the parade.

My nephew Nevan waving from another float (in the hockey helmut and white shirt). The theme of the parade is "A Portrait of Canada", can you tell?

My Mom presenting awards for various achievements.

Dave receiving recognition for this work as the volunteer photographer from our friend Marsha. Ha ha! He wasn't expecting it!

One of the Happy-Go-Lucky Fiddlers deep into performance mode.

And, our friend Joe. Deep in conversation with some other good folk.

And our friend Sadie, who wins the award for oldest citizen of the day again at 94 or 95 years of age! Sadie has more energy than Dave & I have combined.

Phew! A long, fun day that ended at 1am. It was a nice break from our usual Sunday plastering. We're still amazed by this tightly-knit community. We feel fortunate to be a part of it, because we know a lot of people have never experienced anything like it.

Happy Canada Day Weekend!

House art

2007-06-28T19:22:00.000-03:00

One of my favourite local artists is Christopher Hoyt. I've known him since I moved back to NB in '99 and although he moved to Halifax, we still keep in touch. From time to time, I'm even lucky enough to hire him for small projects. Chris has an amazing memory and remembered that I pointed this gorgeous piece out SEVEN years ago in his home (Chris, if you're reading this, forgive me for the terribly dark photo!). He has given it to us as a housewarming present (!!!). I'm so delighted to have a Hoyt original...now where shall we hang it?

Straw for Sale!

2007-06-17T00:03:00.000-03:00

It's quite obvious that we do not need any more straw. I had visions of building a dog house or shed...ah ha ha ha ha! Delusional! Completely. We still have a long way to go with the plaster and only a few months to get it done. So, here it is:

Straw for Sale! We've got number of bales - at least a few dozen - and we'll sell them cheap. We'd like to move them along. We paid $4.50, but we'll sell them for half price. Interested? Send me a note. Hit the word "comments" below.

Plastered, but more

2007-05-25T19:10:00.000-03:00

A productive long weekend for the Stonehouse straw house. Dave and I were a draggy pair, with little energy to spare on Saturday after our work week to prepare for the weekend. My folks arrived, with twice the energy of this pathetic pair, and put us in gear. Food was prepared for the plaster party, tools and materials were set up, and some beautiful finish work was completed in the loft.

At 10am sharp on Sunday, my god parents arrived with gloves and food for an army in hand. Carolyn & Erroll are like a foundation beneath my family - supporting us through all the tough times and buoying us further through the fun times. Likewise, Carol Taylor followed only a few minutes behind and the threesome worked like dogs through out the day, while the others came and went with young family affairs.

My folks returned late in the day to help us wrap up a plaster party supper! Thanks to all for helping us make excellent progress on our bedrooms, including Jeff, Kim and Liam, Dave Y., Tom, Ali, her sister and sister's boyfriend, Carol T., Carolyn & Erroll and Ma & Pa.

Monday, I finished up some of the plaster in the bedrooms and unveiled the south side of the house. Removing the blue tarps that have covered the outside of the house for the winter is truly dramatic! All the natural light in the house is startling. The morning after, I actually thought I'd set my alarm wrong because there was so much light in the house from unwrapping two more windows. We'll hold off on "unveiling" the gable ends until the weather is warmer and we've made more progress indoors.

We ventured up to my Mom & Dad's to help them set up a new computer (the smallest favour they can cash in on given how much we owe them! How do we ever pay either of our parents back? impossible!) Dad toured me through his gardens to show me the trees he's been saving us for the property. He hoards seedlings that pop up on his property and coaxes them along for each of us. It's a fantastic treat! We've now got four new maples, two oaks, a yellow birch and a cinnamon bush! Mom also slipped in about five kinds of hostas, some creeping sedum, creeping jenny and ajuga. Fabulous!

We're reeling from the shock of the property next door having sold and a three-week house being built. We can see the roofline through the trees, so we're suddenly feeling a bit exposed and attacked by development! Now we know how our neighbours must have felt last fall.

Plaster Party!

2007-05-14T20:50:00.000-03:00

At last, we're ready to party...

This Sunday, from 10am onward, we are hosting a plaster party. Come learn to mix and apply natural earth plaster to a straw bale wall.

...Yep, you guessed it. We're looking for free labourers. But, we're willing to take the time needed to teach newby straw balers who want to walk away with some new skills. We promise we'll offer good food and drink!

Interested? Call me...

Kara

PS: Here's Laurie Mills from the Hampton Area Environment Group trying his hand at plastering sb for the first time last week. He looks like he might be doing a little praying there to keep it on the wall...

Working against gravity

2007-04-22T22:01:00.000-03:00

And so the plastering continues. I've been working for three weekends plastering on the area above the windows. After installing wire cages stuffed with straw that make the window headers round out nicely, they have to be plastered over. Plastering against the law of gravity is not so easy. Initially, I installed wire cages made of thin chicken wire, but every time I touched it, the wire would bend and pop the plaster off. I bought harder hardware cloth and installed it over the softer chicken wire and Voila! It worked. It's still a curse to work on b.c I can only put loonie-sized bits of plaster on at a time (otherwise the weight of it is too much to withstand those dang gravitational forces). I also need to let it dry in sections so that it hardens up, but at least it's working. I'll show pics of the window headers soon. For now, here are a few update photos:

Here's an image of the kitchen au current. It feels like it's finished with all the appliances in place, but, the plaster work has yet to be done. And the backsplash. And the floor.

Here's Ma working on a treacherous stretch of plastering that kept falling off. "Soft" bales tend to bounce back afer you put on the plaster and can cause it to fall off in huge hunks. @$%&*$!

Here's Dave working away on the other side of the patio door. He's a bit more patient than the rest of us, but what else is new?

We've moved in!

2007-04-22T21:44:00.000-03:00

It's nearing the end of April and we've decided to start living in the house so that we can work on it every day.

The propane fireplace is finally trimmed up and finished. We still have to get a beam-mantle made to go above it.

An antique light fixture newly installed in our bedroom.

The main bathroom with light fixtures and cabinets installed.

A few head shots

2007-04-02T21:08:00.000-03:00

Admittedly, these photos have little to do with the technical aspect of building a straw bale house, but I couldn't resist posting them.

Mom was Spring cleaning and found this hat that someone had given Dad. Read the hat closely. It seems quite appropriate, given the stress levels Dad sustained last week while several sub-contractors swarmed about in our absence.

Here's Jake the Poser looking quite smug after munching on some styrofoam from an appliance box. Argh!

My niece, Valri, made this photo of cut daffodils in our spare room this weekend.

2007-04-02T20:26:00.000-03:00

A quick posting to add in some photos and brief updates. All of our contracting is complete now, save for a return visit from the company that installed the solar panels (Houston, we have a small problem with a sensor). I'm ready to move in! But, it is a bit dusty with all the plastering and finish work still going on, so I'll have to be patient.

Karla and Corey MacLean at work on the dining room wall....

La Commode et pedestal sink in the new upstairs bath.

The new one-piece acrylic shower stall.

Et ma maman, avec les cadeaux. Mom's birthday was yesterday, April 1, ever an April Fool. Happy Birthday, Ma.

Spring Boost

2007-03-26T10:25:00.000-03:00

Spring seems to have given me some renewed energy for this home building project. This weekend was a bit of a high with gorgeous sunshine, and lots of progress to report...

Our plumbing is complete - including the 2nd bathroom upstairs, dishwasher, kitchen sink and and first bath fixtures. The solar thermal system is working - albeit with a snag: There's a sensor malfunction to be remedied. The propane fireplace is functioning and the trim has been installed - but with the wrong decorative backing -another small snag. There's always something (!), just to keep us awake at night.

After months of worry about the possibility of a faulty installation of our radiant in-floor heating system - the system has been fixed! Many phone calls with the plumber resulted in him trying to convince us that it was because of mysterious drafts in our house, but he finally brought in the engineer who designed the system to help him identify the problem. And, shock-of-all-shocks - it wasn't mysterious drafts causing the problem! Some of the pipes were connected to the wrong parts of the sytem. What a relief. I thought we'd be dealing with this through till next Spring. The faulty hook up had made the electric boiler run non-stop for three months, but now it only turns on once or twice a day for a short period. MUCH more efficient and effective!

Dad and our cousin Arthur worked away at installing vent piping for our range hood and piping for an outdoor water tap. Dad has finished almost all of the drywall, except a few spots that had been left open for other contractors.

This week, the carpenter returns to finish installing interior doors, and hatches to access utilities i.e. electrical panel, infloor heating pipes etc. The solar company returns to fix the faulty sensor and the water softener company will complete installation of their treatment system.

Here we are two weekends ago with Janic Dupuis and one of her daughters, Carlie. Janic and her husband Serge are planning to build a SB home in Grande-Digue, NB in the near future, and have many similar design elements as we do (SB wrap around a timberframe, with infloor heating in a floating slab etc.). We compared notes and shared quite a few laughs. It's neat to watch someone else in the process now that we've been through it.

That weekend, we also had a visit from Karla & Corey McLean, who promptly returned this past weekend to try their hand at plastering. They caught on quickly and gave us a great boost with their progress on our dining room wall.

More pics to come when I remember to bring the memory card in!

Carrying on with Cabinetry

2007-03-09T12:52:00.000-04:00

After numerous evenings of fervent varnishing and cleaning, we've finally finished our kitchen cabinets! This is a sweet milestone of finish work that makes the end seem much more attainable than it did a few weeks ago. Here are a couple of rough photos. We still have to install a backsplash, and the finish work on the walls and window frame is not complete. We'll move appliances in this weekend, though we're still waiting for the sink and dishwasher hook up.

The bathroom cabinet is also complete, and I'll try to grab a quick shot of it this weekend, along with some drywall and plaster status photos.

Two interesting straw bale-related things need to happen: we need to dig a whole in the north wall to install the out-vent for the range hood, and we need a whole in the east wall to install the outdoor tap. We'll line the holes w. PVC pipe to protect the straw in the event of a leak or condensation.

Dave has been going solo on the plaster application for a few weeks now. His work is perfection, as always. I'm hoping to get my hands back into the plaster this weekend alongside him. My plaster work is quick and dirty, but definitely not perfect like Dave's (aka Bruce Stonehouse Jr. :-) Dave's Dad, Bruce, is also a perfectionist worker, which you can see clearly in his oil painting and sculpture works).

Alas, we're still waiting for the fireplace, solar panel boiler and plumbing installations to be completed. Most of the drywall work is done - save the inside of the newly-added upstairs bathroom (which cannot be completed until the plumbing is in). Might be time to become a squeaky wheel again.

A special Happy Birthday to Dad Stonehouse! We'll raise a glass to you this week!

2007-02-11T18:37:00.000-04:00

We've decided to install a bathroom upstairs in the loft after all this time. We're leaning heavily toward having our master bedroom upstairs to take full advantage of a truly gorgeous space, and that inspired the need for the 2nd bath. A bit of luxury it is, admittedly, but we know we probably won't feel comfortable making the same investment (outside of the mortgage) a few years from now. It took some thought to design the bathroom in a small [slanted] space without ruining the look of our timberframe, but we think we've got it right. I'm delighted that I finally have an excuse to install the pedestal sink I've always wanted and the old style taps to suit. Dad has almost completed framing the room, and we hope to have the plumber in this week. Pictures coming soon!

Our kitchen cabinets are underway, and we love them. Our Cabinet Maker is a Details Guy - the kind you want to do your finish work. Here's a rough picture before the doors are on.

This week, we encountered our most difficult decision in the entire construction process! Andy the Cabinet Maker decided that the formica countertop was not the right choice (thankfully) and offered to install tile instead. We were delighted! The downside was that it took many trips to several tile stores and many, many hours to come to an agreement on our tile selection. Phew! Anyone who knows Dave, knows how much he *loves* shopping, so you can imagine the pain...
I'll share pics of the tile when the cabinets are complete.

Here's a pic of the wire I'm installing over each of the doors and windows to round out the headers. This is the header over the porch door where I had to mask the vent pipe for our kitchen plumbing. I plan to build an arch into the upper area, to highlight a piece of decorative wrought iron that will be over the door. Installing the wire is not my favourite task (I'd rather be mudding), but it is satisfying to complete.

This week, we anticipate (we say "anticipate" instead of saying something will be done, b.c it generally doesn't happen as we expect it to) our new appliances will arrive, our phone and internet will be hooked up, our interior doors, kitchen countertop and bathroom vanity will be installed, and the plumber will come to replace our tub and install the 2nd bath. Our solar panel system installation should be complete, supplementing our domestic hot water, and we're hoping to have our propane fireplace [finally] done.

Straw Mallow World in KV

2007-01-25T20:47:00.000-04:00

It's a clear, starry, starry night as I write, and the reality of winter pinches your lips when you step out into the startling -15 degree temp. Alas, winter has arrived. It's a much-deserved shock to the system after such a warm early winter. More snow is on its way for tomorrow, though I expect it will be merely a dusting.

I finally crashed overnight in our newly-heated shanty in the midst of a snow storm last week. Dave, sadly, was home sick. 'Twas a bit drafty next to the bales that were unplastered on the north side [inside and out], but after I relocated to the south-west side of the loft, I found sleep easily. The radiant in-floor heat feels very luxurious and comforting, though it doesn't seem to be working well in the kitchen area. Dad speculates an air clog; We'll find out soon enough.

We've found that our tub-shower has cracks in it, so we're waiting to broach that topic with our poor plumber this week. He's in high demand, so it's going to be as frustrating to him as it is to us.

Our kitchen cabinets are now in production and we're incredibly excited. Unstained maple cabinets in a shaker style finish, with black iron pulls. The only compromise we've made is on the countertop. We've opted for a slate-look-alike formica - not so eco. But, given the seemingly insurmountable list of tasks ahead of us, we decided to go with it to avoid adding more stress at this point. A maple vanity will be in the bathroom as well.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I'm keen to spread the news of a monthly social gathering in the Valley of folks interested in sustainble living. It's an informal, fun event, prime for making new friends and learning lots. The basis is totally social, so conversations might vary from your latest food craving to the most cutting edge solar heating system on the market. If you're interested in attending, go to the website and sign up as a member to receive updates and meeting notices: Valley Greens.

The image above is of a [sadly] discarded bale on our site, covered in crispy snow-ice.

Plaster work continues, though only about 1.5 days a week. Dave and I are making plans to take a few days off work so that we can organize some plaster parties and make progress. Stay tuned!

Lugging mud

2007-01-07T21:07:00.000-04:00

Finally, we broke away from our materialistic adventures to focus back on the natural building aspect of our home. The challenging part of building with natural plaster is dealing with cold weather during construction. As you can see in this [somewhat blurry] photo, our living room has been invaded by a mud-mixing centre, complete with cement mixer, barrels of clay and sand, lime putty and straw. It's no surprise that it makes a big mess (it splatters all over) and it sucks up a lot of space. It's also tricky to keep enough supplies (clay and sand) in the house to last through a winter since the piles of dirt outside freeze solid. Spring-like temperatures (above 10 degrees C) thawed the ground enough to enable me to lug in loads and loads of sand and clay today to replenish our supplies (bring on the Robaxacet).

We're putting the push on to finish plastering the kitchen so that the cabinet maker can begin his work. As we finish the kitchen, we'll need to dig a hole for a five-inch plastic pipe to run through the wall as a channel for the range hood, and another for a smaller pipe to house the outdoor water tap. Two more pipes will need to be channeled through the utility room wall for the dryer vent and bathroom fan vent before we can complete that area. We'll use plastic piping directly against the straw to house the metal pipes in case they sweat.

Good news on the plumbing/heating front: We have heat (!) now that our radiant in-floor thermal system is running and we now have the civilized pleasure of a functioning water closet (the nicest term I could think of). The radiant heat feels luxurious and makes working around the house very comfortable.

The bad news of the week is that we have hard water, so we'll need to find a way to remove the "hardness." From what I'm reading on the CMHC website, water softeners put high levels of sodium in the water which is not great for humans (can you say, heart attack please?), and rather terrible for our water table/surrounding soil. Does anyone know if reverse osmosis can work just as well? I've heard of people using reverse osmosis in tandem with a water softener to remove the salt after it has softened the water, but that means big bucks and a lot of space taken up in our utility room that we simply cannot afford. CMHC indicates that it can remove minerals, thereby softening water, but doesn't give a definitive view on using reverse osmosis in place of a water softener. I'd prefer this route...

The other debate of the week is whether or not we should finish the wood (sanding and applications of water based protection) on our stairs and loft floor *before* we plaster upstairs or *after*...?

Lighting our way into the new year

2006-12-31T11:37:00.000-04:00

So, it seems I've become a bit of a Home Depot junky. Dave & I rambunctiously spent many, many bucks at the big, bad box store yesterday while redeeming gift certificates we received from siblings this Christmas (thank you guys!). I'm delighted with our purchases. We were short of a few light fixtures (all of our others are refurbished antique fixtures) including one for our dining room...and voila!

We also decided to install fans to push the heat down from our vaulted ceilings. We've been struggling for many months to find one we liked that would also suit our light-coloured, rustic timber frame (My gawd, there are so many *ugly* ones. Hello people! Where are all the good designers in this field?).

For once, we were actually together in a hardware store at the same time, enabling us to [finally] make a decision to buy some bronzed fans with lights like this chandelier below (can't find an image of the fan itself):

We also found our bathroom vanity fixture - with a cast iron look that will blend in with all of our iron accessories [again no photo yet].

We're off today to do a little mudding at the house before we drop by to visit friends in celebration of the new year.

Here's to a safe, fun and happy New Year! I've resolved not to make any major resolutions!

Stairway to completion

2006-12-29T21:41:00.000-04:00

Just moments before we got our hands on Mike Holmes' phone number, it seemed our sub-contracting worries finally came to an end. I'll avoid the nitty gritty details since we're so relieved to have our loft and stairs finally complete. Overall, we're delighted to have a rather unique, and very solid stairway in our home. Here you can see them as they currently appear - before sanding, touch ups and varnishing begins.

Our peeled log railing is complete around the loft. We have a lot of sanding work to do on the rungs, but we're happy with the overall look.

Plastering continues once again now that Christmas is over. Here's Mom working on the kitchen so that the walls are ready for the cabinet maker to begin his work this week.

Here's Dad the Electrician finishing the wiring on the boiler that will keep our radiant in-floor [thermal] heat running.

I estimate we're looking at four more months' of work now (and a lifetime of upkeep like any home). Lots of finish work to do and mucho, mucho plaster work ahead.

An early Christmas present...

2006-12-20T21:50:00.000-04:00

We received a most delightful present recently from our friend Carol Taylor. Carol is a local visual artist/potter/volunteer who has helped us a lot with our home, particularly in plaster work. Working with a clay-based plaster was second nature to her, of course, and you can clearly see which sections of wall she worked on because they're so perfectly done. Much to our surprise, she slipped a lump of clay home with her one day from the sprawling pile of soil on our site, sculpted it into this sweet birdie and fired it in her kiln. Dave and I love her work and it's really an honour to have such a personal piece in our home. We're hoping to embed it directly in the plaster of a wall.

As we approach the Christmas holidays, we're still negotiating our way through the world of sub-contractors in hopes that we'll have most contracts near completion by end of week. Bah humbug. The final plumbing won't happen until next week with Christmas so close, and cabinet-making will begin after that. All of the added stress has us more than a little frazzled, and we're working hard to keep it from running us done completely before the holidays. I even went so far as to declare that I wouldn't be 'doing' a Christmas tree this year [the devil made me do it]. At the whisper of such nonsense, my mother promptly delivered a loaner tree to us. It's the first time we've ever had an artificial tree, but it's lovely all the same. Thanks, Ma.

This weekend, we'll take a full two-day break (since Dave has to work the rest of the holidays) before throwing ourselves back into the swing of construction. Ah, looking forward to sipping sociables by the tree...

If we make it through December...

2006-12-11T17:10:00.000-04:00

Ah, progress. Winter temperatures dropped quickly last week, making the interior of the house cold for the first time. When the temperature rose to +9 degrees Cel, my folks took it upon themselves to rush down to KV to install the last exterior door. Much to our surprise, they found that the rough door jamb was several inches too small. Many hours of labour later, [a few nerve wracking ones I should add as my folks contemplated how to adjust the door jamb] we have a gorgeous porch door. Here's a view of it from inside in the darkness of the house. We may paint it in the spring when the weather is warmer, but we're still debating over the colour.

And, a second view from the exterior. Check out our new light fixtures too!

A shot of our new one-piece tub/shower. This one involved a bit of stress last weekend. I plastered the wall in the utility room directly behind the shower before I noticed that the plumber had mistakenly installed the wrong faucet set...

Four hours of plaster work had to be removed in order to remedy the situation. Now, we've decided to cover that wall in the neighbouring utility room with tongue & groove pine. More expensive, but durable.

Here's a glimpse of the peeled-log loft railing underway. It was supposed to be complete a number of weeks ago along with the stairs, so we're hoping we'll see it done very soon.

A rough photo of one of the nichos we've carved into the wall. These are little indented shelves that we'll plaster. We used a hedge trimmer to do the cutting.

The fireplace should be complete this week; the propane has to be hooked up and the trimming has to be put around, so we're close to having that as a heat source.

Our in-floor radiant heat and solar domestic hot water should also be complete this week, as well as our bathroom plumbing (yeah, a functioning water closet!).

The electrician (aka Dad) is humming along now, with a significant amount of wiring complete. If we didn't keep distracting him with carpentry work i.e. studding, door installation and drywall, he would probably have been done weeks ago.

Confessions of a different kind

2006-11-27T21:41:00.001-04:00

It's been nearly thirty days since my last confession...er, blog post, and I truly repent. The month of November has been a hectic one for both of our jobs, so we've had very little "free" time for all of our little extras like blogging. We've worked away steadily on the house, but not for the long hours we had in the previous weeks. Even our dogs are frustrated with the current state of affairs, but we all look forward to Saturday morning [late morning, I should add], when we head down to our straw bale home for the weekend. The dogs have come to anticipate it so much that they pace back and forth all morning until we finally leave our old cottage and hit the road for KV.

Some jobs [the not-so-fun jobs] take longer than we anticipate. Take tarping, for example. It took up most of four of our weekend days this month, it cost several hundred dollars and it was rather a tricky affair high up in the air at the gable ends. God bless my father for being so brave on the extension ladders while I fussed and farted around beneath him worrying about his safety. Cleaning and organizing takes hours each weekend, but a clean site, is indeed a safer and better working site, so it's worth it (and we both actually enjoy cleaning).

OK, so onto the real progress notes. Whenever we start to feel a bit downtrodden about delays and problems, some new milestone is reached and we feel good about the house all over again. A few of our recent highlights:
~We finished putting in bales and stuffing under the porch roof.
~My parents managed to get the first coat of mud on the straw that was exposed under the porch. It's now done for the winter. (Had we known the weather would stay *so* mild, we might have put the fill coat on!).
~The insulation and interior straw flakes have been put in place on the south side of the house over the top plate, winterizing that end of the house.
~The electrical panel has been installed and now we're just waiting for the power commission to switch us from the temporary to our permanent meter.
~A lot of interior wiring has progressed.
~The exterior staining of the porch and fascia is complete.
~The garden doors on the south side have been installed (after a full day of bad words and grunting).
~The clay and sand has been brought inside.
~The interior walls have been prepped for mudding (we gave them hair cuts with the whipper snipper, rounded the corners of the window areas, pinned the strapping back and stuffed major holes).
~Our nichos have been carved in the walls (little shelves carved into the wall with a hedgetrimmer).
~The propane fireplace has been installed, though it's not hooked up yet.
~The final touch ups on the roofs are complete.
~The exterior grounds have been cleaned up for the winter, with scrap wood off to friends and family, and general debris disposed of.

and, finally, the jewel. The piece de resistance:

~The loft floor installation is complete. It's gorgeous, though our pictures aren't very clear yet (more to come). Dave and I both can't resist just hanging out up there. It's an amazing retreat space. I'm looking forward to sanding and treating it, but we're going to wait until after we're done mudding. For now, we're covering the floors up to protect them from water and clay stains.

We've actually missed having our hands in the plaster. It's such enjoyable, meditative work. We're looking forward to getting started on the inside plaster this weekend. We've moved many, many, *many* buckets of clay and sand inside to do so!

Next posting, I'll include pics of the new fireplace and our little nichos (wall carvings). I hope to also include pics of the stairs since those are underway this week as well.

This last little photo is of our new traffic-stopping snow family, made by my folks. They greet you as you drive up toward our home. I say "traffic-stopping", not just because they're so sweet, but because we nearly stopped a lot of traffic with one of them! These suckers are seriously heavy, and when my Dad tried to haul one of them up our steep bank with a dolly, she rolled off and down the driveway at high speed....thunk thunk tee thunk thunk thunk....I've never seen my Dad move so fast! Fortunately, she swerved at the last moment with the curve of the driveway and landed in the ditch! Holy snow, batman, it was a close call.

Less than one month before the big day...I think I know what I'm getting for Christmas...

2006-10-31T13:45:00.000-04:00

Phew! Winds gushed at 90km/hr knocking down massive spruce trees along our road this past weekend, and shredding some of our temporary tarps to bits on the building site. It rained for days on end, and the cold, howling wind continues still tonight. *Perfect weather* to celebrate Halloween. I can smell snow in the air too. Ah, fond memories of trick or treating and freezing my butt off are flooding back.
It's wonderful to have the main roof complete, with only minor adjustments to be made, but it didn't come easy (ask my Dad). With the dormer and roofing metal done, we can theoretically finish the final two rows of bales on the outside under the porch. We had left them unplastered b.c we felt they were too vulnerable to rain without the roof complete and we wanted to be able to replace any bales if they got damp. The main wall was well protected from the elements by a typar skirting along the top.

The days are so short and cold, that I'm beginning to wonder if we'll actually get to the plaster before Spring. We'll have time to apply the first spray slip coat, but the fill coat will require a lot more time than we probably have. We'll be tarping everything else in until Spring to protect it until we get the final plaster coat on, so we may simply cover it enough to protect it from the elements (though the porch roof should suffice for the most part). We'll be plastering it thoroughly on the inside in the coming month, so it should keep the heat in nicely anyway.

It breaks my heart to cover up our beautiful home, but we're moving into tarp-land now. Blue and silver tarps. Every where. Nasty. I just keep chanting that "it's only four to six months, it's only four to six months...for a lifetime of enjoyment..a lifetime investment that we have to do right." argh.

This isn't my Halloween costume, btw. This is me all covered in safety gear prepping some lime putty to create test patches of our finish coat to see how they work over the winter.

Visiting victims...

2006-10-31T13:34:00.000-04:00

I say, "visiting victim" because my brother flew in from Edmonton, AB a few days ahead of his partner Lyndsay for a visit, and we managed to snag him into some hard labour. My father, ever the patriarch, even organized a family-wide work party on his first weekend here. Whoo hoo!

Outside of the few days of work as a family (that's when you know blood is thick!), we took a break from the house building to enjoy this rare visit. We ate like kings for the full 10 days, even managing a seafood/lobster feast for a full east coast experience.

My Dad, with assistance from my brother and brother-in-law, worked on shingling the dormer for several days. The weather was very cold and wet, and working on such a steep metal roof left them all bruised, miserably cold and stiff. It was also very slippery - even on the wood sheathing. I'm thankful they're done (as is my Dad!) and we're thrilled with the results of Dad's perfect shingling job.

Blog Slacker

2006-10-27T14:30:00.000-03:00

Cold. Rainy. Dark. Alas, the indian summer I dreamed of never came this year, although snow has yet to fly here. We've taken a break from building this week to enjoy a few evenings with my brother Rob and his partner Lyndsay while they were visiting from Edmonton. We're still feeling a bit weary from the overload, but eager to get started on the inside. I'll take some photos this week while we're working and update everyone asap. We have a few days of outdoor work that has to be done to plaster those bales under the porch roof, so cross your fingers for sunshine...

Waste Not...

2006-10-17T13:22:00.000-03:00

Stricken [love the dramatic word] with a cold-flu bug, I'm desperately searching for some positive thoughts. The past week brought a lot of extra demands - we'd pushed hard on the long weekend to get the exterior fill coat of plaster done, our jobs were particularly demanding and, in the midst of it all, a dear friend of ours passed on. It helped shake us from the surreal world of building a house briefly. The extra pressures bored through our stamina a bit, hence my cold (despite my stellar immune system) and Dave strained his back during some plaster mixing on Sunday. We'll bounce back in a few days time, but in the mean time, here's my positive, uplifting note for the day:

People have remarked on the small amount of construction waste a straw bale home produces. In total, we'll take about a dozen bags of bits and pieces of foam, metal, packaging and general every day waste (including food packaging...yuck) off our site from several months' work. Wood pieces leftover from cuts are given to family and friends for home heating fuel. Trees that were salvaged from the site will be used as fence posts and some have been given to friends for milling. Leftover soil and rocks will be used for landscaping. After that, all we have left is our composting straw. No need to rent a dumpster!

Excavation will be complete today, so photos will follow once I'm back on my feet.

Plaster, plaster and more plaster...

2006-10-10T15:26:00.000-03:00

The lean, mean excavating machine did its damage (or good work, depending on your perspective on large machines) on the weekend. Mark the Excavator created a huge trench to enable the plumber to run wiring and pipes from the well to the house on the north side. We now have running water indoors(!).

As of today, we should have a functioning septic bed on the south side of the house though we don't have our bathroom fixtures installed on the interior yet (can't wait for that! *Good bye* little blue, nasty chemical outhouse).
We plastered our pants off on this three-day, Thanksgiving weekend. The weather worked in our favour and we had a hard working crew. Here's my [newly red-headed] niece Val up on the staging pitching in. With the assistance of my folks, Jozef, and Val, we finished the west gable end fill coat, and the east gable end will likely be completed today. We still have some fill coat to do under the porch, but that's all.

We're hoping we might even be able to apply some of the finish coat since the temperatures are still warm. This will enable us to see how it performs for the winter and make adjustments for the finishing touches in the Spring.

In the spirit of the holiday, my sister twisted our rubber arms and convinced us to join her family for Thanksgiving turkey on Saturday night - a fabulous treat and a much needed break. This week, our driveway will become more drivable when Mark the Excavator breaks up some of the rock and cuts down some of the steepness. Mark will also backfill around the house hiding most of that pepto-bismol-pink insulation (GAWD, I hate pink) that wraps around our foundation. Our soffits and fascia will finally be complete, and we'll hopefully be able to finish the dormer shingling, if we're not too tied up w. our plastering.

Where are the flamingos?

2006-10-05T16:50:00.000-03:00

It was "A wild, wild party," said Kim Mitchell, but he didn't attend this wild one. Dave S. turned FORTY this week and celebrated this event with a single cool, tall one (a beer, that is), and an enormous piece of our secret-family-recipe carrot cake.

Party guests celebrated in style, with the finest of mud-stained clothes (so avant garde), and thematic decor of retro latex balloons and "over-the-hill" motif.

Far too much Chinese take-out was had by all, and far too little beer was consumed.

My gawd, we're getting old.

Happy 40th, Dave!

Not House & Home magazine material...yet

2006-10-05T16:11:00.000-03:00

A few photos to give you a glimpse of our progress this week:

Dad has finished shingling the front of the dormer. The roofers have finished that section of the roof now, so we'll be able to complete the sides soon as well. The soffits and fascia aren't in this photos, but they are complete on the dormer now.

Here's a glimpse of Gerald from Atlantic Post & Beam working on our soffits and fascia on the west side of the house. We still have some mudding to do up in the gable end and I am *so* not loving working high up on staging...especially when the wind gusts! We're considering keeping this side tarped for the winter for protection 'til we put the finish coat on in late Spring (until the wind shreds the tarps to bits).

This is the north side of the house taken during a very dark morning before I left for work. The roof is almost complete, except the section over the porch. We're anxious to get it complete to ensure our bales don't get soggy. For now, we've stapled tyvek there to prevent leaks. We've finished putting the last row of bales up under the porch rafters, but have to stuff them and put the first two layers of plaster on them.

A cropped glimpse of the east side of our house from under the tarps. You can see the completed soffits along the roofline. We still have some mudding to do on this end, though Mom and Carol Taylor made some more great progress yesterday, building off of the work Dave S., Carolyn & Erroll Hatfield and Frank & Kathy Rutherford did over the last two weeks. Dad has finished installing the arched-top door on this side, but I don't have a current photo.

And...the south side of our home. You can see the roof is pretty much done, and the solar panels are in place. The fireplace will have an "out" vent pipe on this side as well, but that's still to come. The mudding is pretty much done on this side for the winter. It remains well protected by the overhang and the low profile of the wall. Our garden doors have arrived (we have fortress-like plywood doors in for protection against the elements right now), and our porch entry door is also ready for installation. We'll wait until the subs bring in the materials for the stairs and the main plumbing fixtures before we install them.

Mud love

2006-09-29T17:03:00.000-03:00

Mudding can inspire a certain amount of mischief, we've discovered. It tends to meld the old with the young and the mud with the tongue (or the back, or the cheek)!

It's not unusual to see hand-shaped mud imprints on the back of a fellow mudder - not self-imposed!
And, lately, we've even noticed muddy hand prints on a few faces...

We're putting up our interior partitions this week, putting cedar shakes on the dormer (the roof splashes too much to put plaster up there) and plastering, plastering, plastering....

Mark the Excavator returns to install our septic system, backfill the foundation and dig trenches for the water line and electrical service. I might snag him into moving some of the beautiful lime boulders around while he's here...(I'm so my mother's daughter).

The roof metal should be complete, the soffits and fascia should be done, and our doors will hopefully be installed!

With a little help from my friends

2006-09-29T16:33:00.000-03:00

It has been an intense week with weird issues arising with our bank, our insurer and contractors - but they're all resolved now (what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right????). All of the issues were unrelated, but all incredibly frustrating).

The bright side is our friends - some old, some new. Here are a few of the great folks who've joined our straw bale hall of fame this month:

Carolyn & Erroll Hatfield, Carol Ann Taylor, Frank & Kathy Rutherford, The Young Family (Dave, Brenda, Callum, Ben, Maris - and Julien - an exchange student), Marty White, Janine Van Winssen, Kerry Jo Parker,Debbie & JP Maillet, Derrian Smith and her friend Kathleen, Phil Savage, Ali Murhpy and her partner Lee, Kyle Whittaker, ...

I know I've forgotten someone (and I don't have photos of everyone, but know that we're so incredibly thankful to you.

I estimate that we have a week's worth of plastering to finish the 2nd coat (aka the "fill coat") on the exteriour.
This will protect us for the winter. We will likely wait until Spring to apply the beautiful, smooth plaster finish since this one probably won't be dry in time before the temperature drops. This mean our neighbours have to live with our mud hut look for the next six months or so, but we'll do our best...

A Room With A View and Bale Friends

2006-09-24T07:57:00.000-03:00

We're delighted that our site and design enable us to view trees from every window. What could be better?

Post workshop, we were relieved that some of our straw bale crew from Straw Bale Projects in NS could stay on with us for varying lengths of time. Kim departed on Monday eve to head back to begin teaching at Dalhousie University again. Zak went back Wednesday to prepare for a workshop on Living Roofs. We were lucky enough to keep Jeffrey on until Sunday and Rob, Meg and their beautiful new puppy, Bayla until Wednesday.

This crew works like dogs for *way* past an eight hour work day. More important, they made this project possible for us. There would have been tears and screaming, I'm certain, if they had not been there to help us solve problems and tackle areas that might have been impossible for us to handle. We had a ball together, and each time one of them left, it felt like a dear old friend was leaving us, even though we'd only recently become acquainted. I'd recommend Straw Bale Projects to anyone.

All in the Family

2006-09-21T12:36:00.000-03:00

Ah, but blood is thick! There's no way to ever repay the amount of support and help we've received from family during the planning and construction of our house.

Mom has kept us fuelled throughout the project with amazing meals. Feeding and cleaning up after 25 people during the workshop with limited kitchen tools was an amazing feat, and her support continues.

Dad has worked tirelessly to ensure things keep moving, tools are in place, windows are installed and proper materials are purchased. His commitment hasn't stopped at the electrical installation, that's for certain.

Jozef, Krista and the kids keep popping in here and there despite heavy family and volunteer commitments.

Joe has even been engineering new straw bale tools. He built two PERSUADERS (the giant wooden hammers to beat bales into place) and designed a cobber's tool - though he's still at work on that one, and the finest pair of bale needs I've seen yet.

The Nyenhuis' have also sourced a number of free materials like steel barrels and palettes.

And the boys...well, boys will be boys....

Special thanks to my Aunt Jeanie for the surprise treats and meals and to my niece Val for cookies!

Workshop Day III

2006-09-21T08:05:00.000-03:00

The final day of the workshop was dedicated to mud. It brings back good memories of mud pies and dinky toys in puddles. I find the plaster work meditative (except running a 9 cu-ft mortar mixer - the sound of that puppy isn't so!).

The beautiful thing about bringing a dozen or so people together who were previously unacquainted is that you'll always have this unique experience to share. We came from very different backgrounds with various goals, but we all had a common element and that's part of what made the group jive together amazingly well.

A brief recap of the day in photos: You can see Kim giving a tarp dance demo (that's the manual way of mixing the fill coat - FAR too much twist & shout action required to build a house...hence the mortar mixer rental...but it would be a great weight loss plan!).
My nephew Ethan quite liked getting into the mud - he's seen above preparing clay slurry by hand in a bucket (it can also be done in the masterful mortar mixer - but you end up with mud splashed on you from head to toe!). Here also is Annabelle using our texture sprayer with an air compressor attached to it to apply the first coat to the wall (the other two coats are applied manually). Who needs to pay for a spa! We can offer clay baths anytime!

Alas, at the end of the day, we were incredibly pleased with the results of the workshop. You can see in the picture at the top that our home had advanced significantly in three days, and we had a blast doing it. It was a lot of work to prepare for the workshop, but I would recommend it to anyone.

Workshop Day II

2006-09-20T13:36:00.000-03:00

Day II began again with breakfast in the sunshine, and bale raising to complete the rest of the main floor wall. At the end of the day, the group worked together to raise the top plate (the wood structure that sits on top of the wall to serve as a key compression point). An exciting milestone to hit!

These are just a few of the photos. I'll add more to my Flickr.com file later so that workshop friends can download them (since it takes so long to upload them to the main blog). Mitchell is seen crouching high on top of the portion of wall that he and Charles masterfully assembled. Annabelle is seen looking like some sort of urban-meets-rural super hero with a chainsaw. She's cutting channels in the walls so that we can add external pins to provide additional support to the wall. Dave M. is seen using THE PERSUADER to beat bales back into place.

Workshop Day I

2006-09-19T12:40:00.000-03:00

We had ten newbies stay on to participate in the full three-day workshop - a wonderfully diverse mix of hard workers. Workshop participants were joined by professional straw balers - Zak Miller, Rob McLean, Meghan MacCulloch, Jeffrey Ponsford and presenter, Kim Thompson.

Participants came from various parts of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia - and all are keen to build or renovate with straw bale in the future.

We kicked off each day with breakfast together as a group. Meals together made for great bonding and information sharing time - one of my favourite parts (well, food and fun are always a priority!). After breakfast on Day One, we spent a few hours learning about each other's straw bale plans and discussing straw bale principles and techniques. Before lunch, we began laying bales in a running bond around the perimeter of the house. Much time was spent on notching bales to fit around window and door openings and tying them to one another for additional security.
By the end of the day (as you can see in the photo of the house), we had most of the main floor wall up and the group was in a fine groove. I'm amazed at how quickly everyone caught on and how much they accomplished in a short period of time. Wunderbar!

Friday Talk

2006-09-19T08:06:00.000-03:00

Our workshop weekend began with a warm crowd of folks attending a public lecture by Kim Thompson of Straw Bale Projects in Halifax and Nader Naderi of Atlantic Post & Beam in Fredericton. This part was free and open to the public. We're keen to see more people involved in natural building, so Dave & I jumped on the idea when Kim Thompson suggested a public talk.

Pre-Workshop Work

2006-09-18T12:45:00.000-03:00

My three week vacation is over, so I'm back in my cave at a computer. It's a good job, but I *so* loved being outdoors working on the house every day. Over the coming days, I'll attempt to bring the blog up to date during my lunch break to share the progress of our home. Here is our home, just before the workshop.

Here also you can see my Mom & Dad working on installing the curb on which the straw bales will be placed. Jeffrey Ponsford is in the orange shirt. He hails from Ontario, but we definitely consider him to be an honorary Maritimer. Jeffrey is a professional straw baler, and came a few days in advance to help us prepare the house for the workshop. His sense of humour and hard work ethic are amazing - it made tough times seem easy for us. Jeffrey was later joined by other professional balers, but I'll get to that in another posting.

It was a hectic week preparing for our workshop, but it all came together in time for Friday (Sept 1) night's kick off and public lecture.

A Pause in Posting

2006-09-12T08:44:00.000-03:00

A quick note to say that all is well in our straw bale world. We'll update the blog next week with photos and tidbits when we have access to high speed internet again. In the mean time, know that we're having the time of our lives! The walls are up and the plaster is going full tilt.

I have to take this opportunity to send our thanks to Derrian Smith of Dressed to Sell Inc. (a brilliant business that helps you dress your house to achieve your goals in the real estate market). Derrian has kept us from going off the deep end with boosts of enthusiasm, tonnes of volunteer work on the house and AMAZING meals prepared by her chef friend, Linda (Derrian, We MUST have her number). Thank you!

Here we are two Saturdays ago during the ceremonial laying of the first bale. Back to the mud!

Timber Frame Talk

2006-08-27T12:12:00.000-03:00

Our straw bale workshop spots are almost filled for next weekend. It seems like we have a delightful group of people coming. The social aspect of all of this is astounding.

Friday night's presentation is free and open to the public. It will run from approx. 6:30 till 9:30 pm. Here's what will happen in a nut shell:

-Timber framing techniques – presentation by Nader Naderi of Atlantic Post & Beam
-Group slide show: intro. to SB (history, benefits, essentials ) by Kim Thompson and Straw Bale Projects
-Look at site plans, give outline for weekend
-Review resource materials

If it rains, we'll still host the presentation on site. We hope/expect to have the roof on our house at that point, so we should be fine. Parking will be available a few hundred feet down the road in the empty lot on the right (thanks to the McMahon family), immediately after you cross the bridge (it's a highway overpass), *before* you arrive at our property.

**Please also note that Saturday, Sunday and Monday (Sept 2-4) will be available for workshop participants and helpers only. We kindly ask that you drop by and see us another time if you can't make it on Friday night.**

Bales and Bales and More Bales

2006-08-27T10:50:00.000-03:00

640 bales of straw on the wall, 640 bales of straw. You take one down and pass it around. 639 bales of straw on the wall...

Early yesterday morning, Craig the Farmer arrived with 540 full and 100 half bales of freshly cut oat straw. We learned that oat straw is longer and less dusty than others like wheat or barley to use. Craig had thought he could rebale last year's round bales into square bales, but it didn't work well because the straw became too short in the process. He baled the new ones on Friday using newly cut straw, but it has only about 11% moisture content (not including the fog that clung to its edges this morning on the way down from the Woodstock area). Craig had an 18-wheeler packed full, but couldn't make it up our driveway. A neighbour kindly allowed him to park in their yard while we proceeded to load and unload about 20-25 pick up truckloads back and forth. It took us four hours of grunting and sweating, but we did it. The thing that amazed us all the most was that Craig could stand on top of his transport truck and launch bales onto our pick up trucks in precisely the place they needed to be to interlock properly for safe travel to our site. How he could manage to land a forth bale tightly between three other bales on edge from the top of that rig is beyond me. I'd like to see him with a lasso.
We really enjoyed chatting it up with our new farmer friend in person, and found we knew many of the same people - including my best friend's husband in Maine!

Tarping the bales took us all afternoon because we tied and sealed all the tarps together. After that, Dave & I mopped another coat of iron sulfate on the slab to help us stain it a mottled light brown. Check out the scoring in this photo.

Our article in KV Style hit suburbia yesterday, and attracted many drop ins to our site. It was great to meet neighbours and area residents, though we found it hard to keep up the work pace. We haven't seen the feature yet, so here's hoping the pitch forks and torches don't show up to send us packing...

BTW - the interviews that Kim Thompson and I did with CBC Radio One this week can be found online at: http://www.cbc.ca/shift/interviews.html

Well Now

2006-08-26T20:54:00.000-03:00

It was exciting to see the water gushing and the lime sludge oozing down the driveway, when Mike the Well Driller hit gold. It only took about three hours and he found the vein with the pressure we needed at 165 feet. Rumour had it that some of our neighbours' wells ran as deep as 450 ft, so we were sweating bullets for a while.

We worked late into the night last night staining our floor and laying out heavy palettes that will keep the straw off the damp ground. We're so thankful my brother-in-law and sister could join my Mom & Dad to help us this weekend. Everyone worked till their bones hurt.
I included this last picture of the well drilling rig because I'm fascinated by the idea that its front end was jacked up several feet in the area with what I assume is a hydraulic jack built into the front end of the truck. It's all new to me....

Posts and Beams Unite

2006-08-24T21:59:00.000-03:00

The smell of our tamarack posts is delightful. It's like sugar plums dancing in our dreams, only better. The first of many timbers were installed today. Here's Dapper Dave after a long day at the office checking out the scene.

This morning, the concrete floor was scored to ressemble tile after setting for only one day. Some scoring was necessary around the beams, so we asked the contractor to continue the design in a tile design. It turned out great. The foundation has set nicely without cracking. The cool evening temperatures and not-so-hot days are probably due credit. We didn't begin staining the concrete after all, because Nader the Post & Beam Guy was in the midst of framing. Wouldn't want to stain those beautiful timbers with my floor colouring.

The posts & beams are expected to be complete this weekend. The well will be drilled tomorrow and the roof goes up Monday. More to come!

Foundations and Fame

2006-08-23T16:36:00.000-03:00

In the weather forecast for the next five days, expect sunny skies with some cloudy periods. Highs of 21.

At last, the concrete has been poured. It will be finished tomorrow am and posts & beams will go up later this week. Tomorrow I begin staining the slab.

In this photo, you can see the radiant in-floor heating pipes laid out on mesh, and square patches of rebar where the posts will stand.

More opportunities to promote natural building keep popping up. This afternoon, CBC Radio One will air an interview recorded earlier today about our straw bale home. Kim Thompson of Nova Scotia's Straw Bale Projects is also expected to be featured.

Autographs are available for a small fee...

Green Acres

2006-08-22T12:18:00.000-03:00

Since the rain has delayed our foundation work, I'm looking for ways to make myself feel better about this house. Therapy is a must, I say.

Here are a few pro-environmental choices we have made:

1. Low-e coating and argon gas windows for energy efficiency.
2. Passive solar elements - facing most of glazing south with a roof overhang that will block the hot, high summer sun, and welcome the low, warm winter sun. It will heat the concrete floor during the day, which will help keep the house warm during the cold nights.
3. Straw bale walls are R32-R50, making them very energy efficient. PLUS, straw is an annually renewable resource that is a bi-product of grain production.
4. Our insulated roof panels are R-40, complimenting our straw bale insulation.
5. Recycled materials will be used where possible - antique light fixtures, an exteriour door, building materials like boards, misc tools etc.
6. In-floor radiant heat will heat the thermal mass of our house (our slab floor), and reduce long-term heating costs.
7. The timber frame is not an annually renewable resource, but we are using underutilized local wood species, rather than shipping Douglas Fir in from BC.
8. Solar thermal panels are being installed to supplement our domestic hot water heating.
9. Local clay and sand will be used for our earth plasters rather than cement, which is created using energy-intensive production techniques.
10. Minimal glazing will be featured on the north side of the house, reducing cold during the winter months.
11. A covered porch on the north side of the house creates a rain screen effect, shielding the house from harsh winter weather.
12. A shallow frost-free monolithic slab will serve as our foundation, using significantly less concrete than a four-ft stem wall or a basement. Plus, it's well insulated on the outside edge and underneath, so less heat will escape.
13. Metal roofing will be installed so that we can collect rain water for use in our gardens.
14. Natural silicate and casein paints will be used instead of latex paints. These options do not "off-gas" the chemicals of latex paints into a household environment, plus they ensure that the straw still "breathes" properly.
15. Native plants will be used for landscaping and minimal grass will be incorporated to remove our need for an electric or gas lawnmower. We've also transplanted tonnes of trees ahead of the destruction of excavation.
16. The location puts us 2/3 closer to work, reducing our gasoline consumption equally and placing us on a new public transit route.

On the other side of the fence

2006-08-19T11:27:00.000-03:00

I work in communications & marketing, so I have the privilege of art directing photo shoots and publications as well as writing and editing copy in order to tell stories - nearly every day. When I'm in the midst of a photo shoot, I cringe when I can tell one of the models is feeling uncomfortable b.c I know they'll look uncomfortable in the final product. I can't even stand being in the photographer's test shot myself, but every once in a while, I end up on the other side of the fence. The story of our straw bale home construction will be featured in a local suburbian lifestyle mag, called KV Style. The journalist/editor, Paula White, was incredibly kind and laughed when I indicated I'd do it if she could make me look as good as a young Demi Moore. We all know *that's not* going to happen, but it's a great opportunity to promote natural building to a whole new audience and to raise awareness for our workshops. Stay tuned for the August 26th release.

Yesterday was a rough day for construction. A few misunderstandings and on-the-spot decisions had to be taken care of in the middle of a tough day at the office. It's what I expected it would be like, but it doesn't make it any easier to deal with. Dave and I feel hung over after such a long, hard day (he got home from work at 1am).

Today is my father's birthday. The big 6-5! Happy Birthday, Pops. We're preparing for a party with his friends in the local community. It'll be a delightful break from the bustle of construction.

This is a nice shot of the sun setting behind the cedars that Dave took last week on the property.

Camper Comfort

2006-08-17T09:05:00.000-03:00

Have I mentioned how much we love our 1977 twenty-two foot camper trailer? Just knowing we have a place to eat, sleep and stay dry removes a lot of stress from our construction experience, and frankly, I need comfort right now. We use it every day now, even if we're not sleeping on site. It's a warm, cozy place for a family picnic, or a romantic dinner for two. It has oft been cold, windy and rainy in the past week (Fall in August!), so our gratitude has escalated.

On a separate note, Dave & I enjoyed a free concert in Quispamsis by Nathan Wiley last night. He produces any amazingly rich sound, even without his band. It was a delightful treat, and we had a chance to check out the community vibe a bit. Tonight, local blues boy Matt Anderson is playing in our neighbouring Rothesay Commons. Hmmm, seems a bit regal to go to two shows in a row these days, but it would be a shame to miss this guy in action...

Cookin' with Gas

2006-08-16T22:41:00.000-03:00

Now it's full speed ahead, Cap'n.

Ready for this? Here's a snapshot of what's going on: Bob the Plumber and Bob the Electrician have been busy putting in the rough pipes that go under the shallow frost slab. Bob the Builder, I mean Plumber, found digging in the compacted soil incredibly difficult, even with a pick axe. Mark the Excavator has leveled out the ground for the rigid foam insulation skirting the slab. Nader, the Post & Beam Guy, arrives tomorrow to place the foundation forms. Mark the Excavator will place sand, and the footing tubes for the veranda and then he'll break up the lime rock we need to remove (we're only breaking what we need to b.c it's so beautiful and we're keeping it all - except what my Mom pilfers for her garden - to incorporate it back into the site). Then Nader the Post & Beam Guy will place rebar and mesh within the slab forms. Friday, Bob the plumber returns to put in the radiant in-floor heating pipes. The slab will be poured Monday & Tuesday. Mike the Well Driller comes Thursday. The power company has installed our pole (we don't know their names), but still we have no temporary power hook up. (I'm told you can't rush these things). We switched our window order from single hung to casement-style for our clear-viewing and easy-cleaning pleasure. We picked out our metal roof colour (tan). We received the shipment of our floor stain (ferrous sulfate). We've been cooking meals ahead to put in the freezer. We've found a mortar mixer. We've nearly finished building a tool shed with the help of my folks. We've rented a port-a-potty (a must, but awkward to discuss) and have leveled a safe path whereby we'll use it. Now we're advertising our Labour Day Weekend Workshops, and are receiving registrations. Next up we need to test our clay soil content to prepare for plastering. We need to reconfirm our straw delivery date. We need to make arrangements for our solar thermal panel order and our air exchange unit. Building materials need to be ordered in bulk. Our dog-run area needs to be built. Our electrical and water need to be set up so we can use both in the trailer and on the site. PHEW! OK, this was an obnoxious posting for certain, but a good representation of the daily stream of consciousness I'm experiencing right now. Did I miss anything?

Bale ON

2006-08-12T10:46:00.000-03:00

According to many Maritimers, Ontario is equivalent to the Gates of Hell, especially Toronto. "Ah, he's from the centre of the universe," we joke when we find someone from away. "You know, Onterrible."

I feel compelled to come to ON's defense b.c I'm impressed by the level of organization I'm seeing in their straw bale community (plus Dave's from ON). Check out the lastest newsletter from the Ontario Straw Bale Builders Coalition (OSBBC). Each year, this group organizes tours of straw bale homes in various regions in ON, and they co-operatively advertise tonnes of professional development opportunities. There are even formal college programs to learn natural building techniques. ON is also hosting this year's International Straw Bale Building Conference.

There is a group of professional builders and consultants in the Maritimes and they too are working to formalize the network and to build tools like websites etc. In some ways, the Maritime group has long been ahead of peers in other provinces by experimenting with techniques that are becoming convention. Kim Thompson, our consultant was the first to build a two storey load-bearing home in Canada, I believe. She has adapted many techniques from other professionals around the world to suit our climate and available resources. More and more people are getting involved every year. As far as I know, we don't have a professional consultant in NB yet, but I suspect we will very soon. As the core group grows, I believe we'll quickly see a similar level of organization that exists in the centre of the universe - only we call this God's country.

Feels like a snail's pace in a rat's race

2006-08-11T22:27:00.000-03:00

My sense of humour has faded slightly with fatigue; Although something changes every day, it's not as quickly as I'd like. The foundation has still not been poured. The excavation ran a day or two later than I'd hoped, the plumber is several days later than I'd requested, and so the electrical and cement is delayed. *Argh.* I'm a home construction cliche. There's not a lot of breathing room, so I'm going to have to monitor this part a lot closer than I'd planned. It needs to be ready, so that the timber frame and roof will be complete before our workshops in a few weeks. On the positive side, all the subs seem to be on board so far, and I feel like we've made the right choices.

We've ordered the iron sulfate that we'll use to stain the slab floors from Cavendish-Agri in Salisbury, NB. Their price is much cheaper than ones we found online. Turns out that they're owned by JD Irving - it's good to keep it in the family. Once the slab has cured for about four days, we should be able to apply this stain.

Tomorrow, we'll need to pick out our metal roof colour and set up our account at the hardware store. We'll also begin to prepare meals for the workers that can be frozen for a few weeks. We'll look at setting up camping sites, eating areas, toilets, washing stations etc. The more we can get done in advance, the better.

Kudos to freecyle for some great finds this month. I have acquired a used fridge (which will work just fine until we can afford a new one), a dishwasher (for our cottage), and our patio stones. It's an amazing resource to acquire and discard things. It really helps in a pinch.

Workshop Details

2006-08-10T12:05:00.000-03:00

Straw Bale Construction: A 3-Day WorkshopSeptember 1-4, 2006
Quispamsis, New Brunswick

Register now for a three-day straw bale construction workshop with veteran natural building educator, Kim Thompson. This workshop will focus on the fundamentals of straw bale construction with a hands-on approach. It is geared to all levels of experience and ability.

Participate in a full bale-raising experience, and learn the essentials of natural plaster. Straw bale construction offers many benefits – it’s extremely energy efficient, aesthetically beautiful and relatively easy to do.

Schedule:
Friday
Participants arrive late afternoon and settle in their lodgings/camping
6:30 -9:30 pm.
- Group slide show: intro. to SB (history, benefits, essentials
- Look at site plans, give outline for weekend.
- Review resource materials.

Note: Friday evening activities will be open to the local community as well.

Saturday, Sunday, Monday afternoon
Topics to be covered: siting, design, permitting, foundations, wall systems, roofing systems, stucco/plaster/wood/gyproc finishes, wiring, plumbing, tools
Hands on: raising walls, half bale manufacture, stuffing with light straw clay, window/door bucks, plastering, shaping bales or cob for niches or bevels, etc

Cost: $225 includes meals, snacks and beverages.
Accommodations: On-site camping available (free, but rustic). Other accommodations at participants’ own expense: B&Bs 10 minutes away. Motels within 15 minutes.

To register, contact: Kara Stonehouse, karawiggins@yahoo.ca or (506) 432.1530 evenings.
Space is limited.

Workshop Dates - Mark Your Calendar

2006-08-07T22:16:00.000-03:00

If you're interested in registering for a three-day strawbale workshop with veteran strawbale builder Kim Thompson, mark your calendar for the first weekend in September - Labour Day weekend (there's a fee). This will be incredibly useful for anyone considering building strawbale in future because Kim's workshops are very thorough. I will follow up with more details in the next few days on fees, accommodations, registration contacts etc.

If you are a friend/supporter of ours, but not interested in a detailed workshop, we'll need loads of support after the Labour Day weekend during the month of September, and we welcome any time you can spare to lend us a hand.

Before and After

2006-08-07T20:44:00.000-03:00

Before the machines

...and after

Excavation began in a big way today. Stumps were pulled and the machine dug a lot more clay-rich soil than we thought possible from this lime rock bed. We have some beautiful lime rock boulders to use in our gardens (!) and tonnes a crumbly clay-soil for landscaping, and for use in our plaster (only if we run out of the nicely screened stuff). The stumps have to be shipped out of here, and some rock has to be broken in places. We need to level some of the extra soil because we need an out-of-the-way place to store our strawbales when they're delivered later this week.

Thanks to the folks for helping us tonight again and for lending us their dig. camera for a couple of days.

Power to the People

2006-08-07T12:16:00.000-03:00

Well, at least there's power for Dave and me. Dad and his friend Donnie Stevens set up our temporary power service Friday night and the power commission is scheduled to install our permanent pole early this week.

Speaking of power, I attended an auction in LA (lower Apohaqui) with my folks at a neighbour's 200 yr-old field stone house. Talk about power! Holding that auction bidding card in my hand created the greatest adrenaline rush! The auctioneer was fast, and the people-watching was more than a little distracting, but amazing deals were had by all. We were lucky enough to get a sneak peek at everything the night before, thanks to our connections, or we might not have been as savvy as we were. I got a few dozen full-size pine boards for TWO DOLLARS, a just-like-new wheelbarrow full of tools and interesting what-nots for $25, a 7 ft high x 4 ft wide antique kitchen cupboard for $175 (it's beautiful - this was the big steal of the day), two antique iron light fixtures and two 30's glass lamps for $10 and a scythe for $3. It's like Christmas times two. I'm still excited two days after.

Yesterday, I spent the day cutting alders to use as external pins. ONE HUNDRED alders later, and I have enough. The folks came out and gave us a boost late last night and trimmed the limbs off them for us while Dave & I finished other chores. Phew! My arms still ache from so much hand-saw action. Today, our excavator is pulling stumps, moving top soil and leveling the site out. We're going down tonight to drop off some supplies and prepare a foundation of wooden palettes in anticipation of the farmer delivering our straw this week. We also have to assemble the tool shed, and a fenced in play area for the pooches to reside safely while we're building. Much to do, but this is the part I enjoy...rolling up the sleeves and getting some things done. No more paperwork!

The Day After Today

2006-08-03T17:51:00.000-03:00

Next week we begin installation of our shallow frost-free slab. Yes, it was supposed to be this week, no - last week, no - the week before last week. But, now we actually have some progress. Tomorrow, the engineering firm that has to approve our "compaction" - the gravel/fill compacted under our slab - will be on site with our excavator doing soil tests and preparing for the big dig. Well, the dig won't be all that big because we're putting in a floating slab (no stem walls), but all the same, the results will be a bit dramatic. This image (above) is of our house site this past week. Roaming wild raspberry canes have popped up everywhere and a few poor little trees & bushes are ready for the sacrifice.
The weather has been beautiful, with rain at night and hot, sunny days. I thought we'd be buried in cob by now, but here you can see some photos (taken by Lisa C) from a sailing voyage up the Kennebecasis River last night with some of my colleagues from the university. The Kennebecasis River Valley is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Although some say there are only two seasons: Winter and July.

Trailer Park Boy

2006-08-01T13:11:00.000-03:00

One of our challenges in planning was figuring out where we were going to crash every night after working on the house. Tents are only great for the first couple of nights...and they're not cool at all with two large, smelly, panting dogs on a stifling hot summer night.

Just before the home show this spring, we made a quick run to Lorneville, a little coastal village outside Saint John, to respond to a "For Sale" ad in the Buyer Flyer. Some intense negotiations ensued between me and an elder longshoreman, and voila: we became the proud owners of this baby - a 1977 22-ft Shasta camper trailer. Now we just need some patio lights.

Here's Dave after a long afternoon of scrubbing it up in preparation for our move in date.

House Porn

2006-07-31T16:11:00.000-03:00

House Porn n. (houz pôrn) A term borrowed from Glen Hunter to describe books and periodicals on home design and craftsmanship that are, shall we say, exciting. The centrefolds are the best.

(I hope Mom doesn't mind the title)

A year and a half of researching natural and conventional building techniques has added a number of delightful publications to our library. Some can definitely be categorized as pure house porn, others are just useful tools that I feel compelled to mention. Allow me to introduce a few.

1. More Straw Bale Building by Chris Magwood, Peter Mack and Tina Therrien. This trio of Ontario-based professional straw balers has become an icon for the success of straw bale. They build solid, creative homes to suit our wild, four-season climate and they illustrate their techniques rather thoroughly in this second edition. The diversity of photographs is great. We keep it on hand at all times as a quick reference guide.

2. Straw Bale Details by Chris Magwood. Your source for the essential details of straw bale building, all in one place. We borrowed it from the NB Public Libraries system. Your designer, engineer and building inspector will be relieved to see it because it takes away most of the guess work if you're new to the game. You may actually survive the design & approval process if you have it on hand.

3. The Natural Plaster Book by Cedar Rose Guelberth and Dan Chiras. This is the bible of natural plaster. I finally understand it and feel completely comfortable with plasters, even though I haven't had extensive hands on experience yet. It's worth the investment.

4. Building a Straw Bale House : The Red Feather Construction Handbook by Nathaniel Corum. I'm a bit of a design snob, so this book had me hooked at page one. Red Feather is a non-profit organization that builds affordable, energy-efficient homes for American Indians with minimal impact on the environment. This book takes you step-by-step through the process of building a straw bale home, using brilliant illustrations, strong photography and solid typography to keep you engaged. I don't subscribe to all of their methods, but I learned a lot..and I just like to hold it. Even the book's size and paperstock are great.

5. Serious Straw Bale: A Construction Guide for All Climates by Paul Lacinski and Michel Bergeron. I became irritated as I read this book. The authors do not advocate load bearing straw bale buildings in our climate, yet they suggest putting bales under ground in the foundation. I don't get it. I did find it very informative and I was enlightened to see images and read case studies of many gorgeous buildings that have been built by these two, particularly in Quebec.

6. The Beauty of Straw Bale Homes by Athena and Bill Steen. As leaders of The Canelo Project, and authors of The Straw Bale House, these two have become natural building legends for all to learn from. This is a coffee table book to keep you inspired. I carry it along for family and friends, to help fill the void of those awkward conversations full of doubt about our plans. I'd be interested in reading anything this pair produces.

7. A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander et al. After thirty years on the market, this one still fascinates designers, architects and planners. It is an 1171-page review of design theories for municipalities, street plans, homes and workplaces. We haven't adopted all of the principles of design it suggests, but it makes you think carefully about how your design will affect the way you interact with one another. It's at the NB Public Library, but the waiting list can be frustrating.

8. The Not So Big House Collection by Sarah Susanka. Sarah proves that bigger isn't better. The quality of design and materials matter. Her suggestions are practical and her books are beautiful. You can buy them apart or in a collection.

9. Fine Home Building. True house porn. Great homes, easy to understand techniques. It sucks you in, even if you're not building a house. They also have great annuals.

10. The New Straw Bale Home by Catherine Wanek. We don't own this one, but I thought I'd round it up to ten. I've perused it several times, and haven't bought it because it is so luxurious. It doesn't provide a lot of instruction, but it's an amazing coffee table book.

Enjoy.

Breaking News

2006-07-28T20:38:00.000-03:00

After six+ months of design and contracting leg work, we have a building permit(!). Dave is so excited, I think he might be considering having it bronzed.

We've had a very positive experience with our building official in Quispamsis, and no issues with obtaining the building permit at all. The only snag that I will mention for anyone in NB who might be considering building, is that you need a septic permit from the Department of Public Health *before* the main building permit can be issued from your municipality. I assumed it came after, simply because all of the others come after the main one is issued (electrical, well etc.).

Another bonus this week: the new design of our home (no garage, no basement) made the permit $1,000 less than we originally expected. Whew! Big savings for small fish like us.

The electrical permit will be filed Monday morning, the power company comes in to put up a new pole, temporary service will be installed, excavation will begin, well drilling, plumbing, septic, etc. will then come in to play...and the race is on.

The photo, above, is of Mom & Dad Wiggins rowing in the new boat that Dad built this year, just off the shore of our current home.

On a final note for the day, our digital SLR camera is still not working, so we may be a little slow to obtain new photos now that we're relying on film. Who has time to get film developed these days? It's *so* last century.

International Strawbale Conference in Ontario

2006-07-24T13:09:00.001-03:00

We'll be in the midst of drowning each other in a pit of plaster this September, so Dave & I won't be able to go to the International Strawbale Conference at Camp Kawartha this fall, but for anyone who might be interested in this, check out this conference poster or go to www.strawbalebuilding.ca

Top five reasons to go strawbale

2006-07-20T11:18:00.000-03:00

5. Conserve energy and reduce heating bills. Strawbale homes have amazing insulative values (somewhere between R30 and R52 for those who understand those numbers).

4. Hug a tree and help save the environment. Straw is the waste product when you grow wheat, barley, rice, etc. - all annually renewable crops - so you're not cutting down more trees.

3. Create a healthy environment with clean air in your home. Straw does not contain all the nasty toxins that are in other conventional materials.

2. Make it beautiful and unique. Aesthetics matter.

1. Build a bullet-proof shelter. Whoaaaa, Nellie. [Cue western movie theme.]

Of course, that doesn't help you if the guns are on the inside, but that's a different topic I won't delve into. Treehugger.com reports that two new police stations are being built in a California city with the benefit of providing "ballistics and blast resistance."

I have a few relatives who may want a test run...

StrawbaleRedux

2006-07-19T21:39:00.000-03:00

Blogging has put me in touch with people I'd otherwise never know, simply because it tears down borders. A gal under the pseudonym StrawBoss posted comments over the past weeks, and I've since discovered that she is an owner-builder based in Arizona. She and her family have been through some of the same trials (sourcing materials, contractors etc.) and fun (in a good way) that we are experiencing. Check out the images of her desert home in progress to get a quick glimpse of what's ahead for us these next few months.

Alternatively, blogs suck up time, and invite unwanted visitors (spammers) as well. In a perfect world, one shouldn't have to moderate comments, but I keep receiving nasty spam.

Update on construction: The septic permit will be filed tomorrow, and hopefully we'll have our general building permit by Monday...

The lines of credit and mortgage papers are almost wrapped up and we'll begin digging the lot next week(!). This is starting to seem like fun again.

Paying to play

2006-07-17T16:52:00.000-03:00

The kicker for the newbie builder is that pay out schedules for construction mortgages provided by banks do not match industry standards for the payments required by contractors.

Not even close.

Many of the books we've read in preparation mentioned owner-builders who used lines-of-credit and credit cards to finance their home construction, but the reality of *why* didn't sink in until recently for me. The only way to get through it (if you're not independently wealthy) is to juggle balances between lines of credit & credit cards, and then pay them off as you reach each stage of pay out with the bank. It sounds frightening, and I'm definitely not looking forward to it. Fortunately, we've set up our accounts and are ready to go.

Fostering relationships with trades

2006-07-15T10:37:00.000-03:00

The plans are stamped and the permit app. will be filed Monday am. *Exhale.* Our timber framer, who coaches us along politely and gently, tells me that after the permit is received, things will fly into action. I'm looking forward to that... mostly. The challenge for us is balancing our day jobs, of course. My colleagues have witnessed *way* more of this process than they ever cared to. Heated conversations with potential builders, coaxing phone calls to sub-trades (begging for quotes), and head-in-hands groans. Who needs a lunch break when you can spend your time practicing the delicate art of wrestling with the trades? And, for Dave, his work day starts at 8am and sometimes doesn't end until midnight. This could be quite rough for him.

Contractors/vendors are key to the success of the communications & marketing department I work in, so we spend a lot of time on fostering and managing relationships carefully. We even go so far as baking cookies at Christmas. We give a little and get a lot in return. I would suggest the same philosophy is important in home construction. Give a little breathing room on a few deliverables, remember to show your gratitude (food works for the trades too) and, in return, build a great relationship with a tradesperson who will produce a quality product for you. Don't forget to openly admire work that deserves admiration and spread the word to help build their reputation.

Cross-border shopping deals

2006-07-12T17:57:00.000-03:00

A weekend adventure in Maine for a wedding enabled us to do a little cross-border shopping for house supplies. Mardens offers a number of deals i.e. gigantic, heavy duty tarps go for 1/10th of the price. Amazingly, we may return to Home Depot in Bangor, though it's not normally my destination of choice. To give you an example, selections of ceiling fans were very different and much cheaper. We purchased our bathroom faucets there and got the best deal yet. (Check out the sink faucet pic). These suggestions are only good when the Canadian dollar is high, of course, as it was last weekend.

Now back to reality. We'll be tying up our mortgage papers, filing for the building permit, and working on the lot this week. This part is a bit nerve wracking. As soon as we get the permit, we launch into excavation, temporary electrical service installation, well-drilling, setting up our living quarters, assembling our storage shed, a dog kennel (to keep the puppies safe), and putting in the slab with wiring, plumbing, in-floor radiant etc. all roughed in. Full speed ahead. Hopefully.

Almost breaking ground

2006-07-06T11:39:00.000-03:00

At last, we can share some images of our plans. You'll notice they don't include all the engineering details. Those are hopefully underway (or better, completed) with an engineer in preparation for a stamp and building permit application. Click on the images if you'd like to take a closer look at them. I'm having some trouble with blogger, so I think the only option is to post them separately.

We began with a one-storey mock cape cod style home with a basement in January. Dave was laughing the other day, because a year ago, we were sitting around a camp fire at our home on Cassidy Lake, sketching out possible layouts, making lists of things we wanted and dreaming big. It seems like a decade ago. We didn't expect this part would take so long, but it's worth it. (Just keep telling yourself that.) All joking aside, we're incredibly happy with the design.

Now, we have a one & 2/3 storey on a slab. During this past year, we've learned a lot about different building materials, methods and costs. When you're building a timber frame, it is very practical to include a loft. The extra space costs about $10 per square foot. A lot cheaper than enlargening house dimensions. The tongue & groove ceiling for the main floor is also the floor of the loft. We scrapped gable dormers for a shed dormer for better usage of space. We've seen some incredibly unattractive shed dormers, so I was concerned, but the idea has really grown on me. The loft space will have an amazing airy feeling with the large windows on each end. We'll keep it open for now, and use it for a movie-watching lounge and office space. In future, we'll build a bath and bedroom. The edges where the roofline meets the loft floor will be made into storage spaces.

The principles of the living space layout have remained the same throughout the year. Concepts like keeping the bedrooms away from the daytime spaces, having an open living/dining room for entertaining and making it family-friendly overall are important to us. On the technical side, centralizing plumbing to run more efficient systems and making sure we maintained good insulative values while still having enough glazing (windows) were a priority. I think we've done it!

Loft Plan

2006-07-06T11:33:00.000-03:00

The loft is two-thirds of our house size, leaving only the living room and dining room open to the rafters. Click on the image if you want to see the details on a larger scale.

Main Floor Plan

2006-07-06T11:21:00.000-03:00

2006-06-30T16:24:00.000-03:00

The timbers have been cut, the tongue & groove flooring is in the kiln, the electrical plan is roughly mapped out and the plans are off to an engineer to be stamped. At last! We can apply for a building permit next week. I will be blushing with shame when I take our application to the building inspector. *FIVE* months ago, I smugly told him, "You'll see it within a few weeks. We won't wait until the height of the building season to apply for our permit." Nooo, not us. ARGH. But, all this research and change will be worth it. Look for floor plans and elevations to be posted next week (We only have AUTOCAD drawings right now).

This weekend, we want to finalize our subcontracting details, get our driveway excavation underway, request new window quotes and clean up some things on the property. Tomorrow is July. Who knew we'd be so far behind? I'm confident we're still going to be able to get in before winter (Dave on the other hand...not so much). Of course, no one tells me I'm a realist these days. It's a coping method - what can I say?

Calling All You Retired Masons Out There

2006-06-21T20:54:00.000-03:00

And not Masons...like the Free Masons, but Masons, as in layers of brick, masters of mortar. We need a used mortar mixer for a good deal. Mortar mixers will mix cob (straw, clay, sand, lime etc.) without seizing up. A new one can easily cost $2500. We're looking for a *used* one. I've heard of people getting them for $200 or less. We've posted in the "wanted" section of the Buyer Flyer (for you non-NBers, this is the bible for buying and selling junk that can be found on newstands every Thursday). The great news of the week is that we've found our source for clay-rich soil and mixing sand - and it's right at the foot of our road!

Storage was also on the to-do list: we've been concerned about finding storage for our straw because our construction schedule is off by two or three months for the straw building part and our farmer wants to unload the straw to make room for hay. argh. We considered renting truck trailers, but we have no place to put trailers of that size. We also considered leasing barn space, but haven't researched that very thoroughly. Now, I think we've resolved to collect enough pallets to keep them off the ground and gigantic tarps to cover them on site. If we stack the piles in pyramid shapes, the water should run off the tarps instead of collecting on top.

Back to the subject of tools we need, my brother-in-law, Jozef, is a master welder, so he has agreed to make us some bale needles (click to see a full picture in a previous posting), which we'll need to tie pins to opposing sides of the straw walls to keep them somewhat flush.

More on Floor Treatments and Heating

2006-06-19T11:16:00.000-03:00

I think we have it! Ferrous Sulfate (aka fertilizer for all you farmers out there) is perfect for staining concrete floors. It works much the same as acid staining, only it costs about $10 instead of $1500+, plus the cost of a sealing product such as Seal-Krete.

I've been researching the terrazzo-like glass aggregate idea I mentioned in a previous posting more, and it can be quite problematic. Some concrete mixtures can react negatively with the glass...making the glass easy to chip away. There's an additive that can help prevent it, but it's a risk I'd rather take on a smaller scale project.

The ferrous sulfate idea is often used to paint strawbale homes, but I didn't know it would work on the floors. I've been learning from a number of folks who have tried it on this greenbuilding discussion group I'm subscribed to. Check out Cathy Moore's site where she describes her floor staining in detail. This photo with the dog is from her site.

Heating is truly a hot topic these days given the rising cost of any form of home heating. Dave and I are partial to the atmosphere of wood heating, but the reality is that we hate the maintenance of wood heating (it's dirty, it's hard to get dry wood when you need it and you actually have to keep putting wood in the fire if you expect to keep warm). Masonry stoves are very efficient and relatively environmentally friendly wood-burning heat sources, but finding someone to build it around here is a bit challenging.

After much debate and research, we've settled on in-floor thermal radiant heat (hot water pipes rather than heating cables). It will make the concrete floor delightfully comfortable. We'll also put in a propane fireplace to provide the quick blast of heat we sometimes need to take a chill off and for power outages. I doubt we'll find many fluctuations in temperature with our 22" thick walls, but we've had a number of power outages during winter storms. A New Brunswick-based strawbale owner who has infloor radiant, told us that his house only lost two degrees of heat during a winter power outage that lasted several days.

No matter, we all know that those damp, rainy days in early spring can be uncomfortable in most any home, but I can say with some smugness that I don't think we'll feel it like we do in our current shanty.

Reuse, Recycle...

2006-06-16T16:06:00.000-03:00

Ever heard of the Habitat for Humanity's Restore? Restore is a non profit chain that carries used building supplies, household appliances and furniture. The stores are run primarily by volunteers and the profits go back to Habitat. I knew they were in Toronto and many other metropolitan areas, but didn't know that we have some in good ole New Brunswick. I found the Restore in Moncton after a day traveling to other shops in Moncton. My Mom and I were in our glory on such a big treasure hunt... We didn't have a *particular* treasure in mind, but that made it even more exciting. My dear old Dad put up with us for a whole day, but Dave was stuck at home working on a feature for the Sydney Morning Herald. I could almost feel tears of sympathy well up, except I know that Dave was relieved to avoid a day of the junk shopping jungle. The result of our treasure hunting? Two stained glass church windows from an antique shop, one hobbit-ish arched-top door from Happy Harry's (a for-profit used building supply store) and a very cool wooden Frank-Lloyd-Wright-ish lamp from the Farmer's Market. Dave might hate the shopping, but we both love having unique elements in our home.

And you thought plastered strawbale walls and post & beam structures were unique enough? My folks also refinished some stellar antique light fixtures and gave them to us for Christmas (check this one out in the picture below out).

Another great place to find used building supplies is on the freecycle groups. These are online groups where you post items you have to give away for free, and you can post items you need (and receive them for free if someone has what you need). I recently landed some patio blocks on the freecycle Saint John group. Try it out. There are specific groups for most towns and cities.

Floor Fashions

2006-06-13T16:33:00.000-03:00

Our design includes passive solar elements: the house faces south, most of the "glazing" (windows) is on the south, and we have a significant overhang on our roof (24"). The overhang blocks the hot, high-in-the-sky summer sun, and lets in the lower-angled winter sun to warm the house when we most need it. In its simplest form, a passive solar home should have enough "thermal mass" to collect the heat from the sun naturally during the day and radiate that heat in the night to save on heating bills. Our "thermal mass" is our slab floor. We had thought about putting in wood floors over the slab because we like wood (aesthetically pleasing and not so hard), but, it means we lose a lot of the passive solar benefits of the slab being heated by the sun *and* our dogs are going to scratch the heck out of wood floors (unless I find the doggie HAZMAT suits I often dream of while I'm sweeping up all the hair and looking at the scratches on our floor now). We're not in love with the basement look, so we're considering options to make the slab floor look better. Acid-staining can be attractive, but it's not cheap (we'd be looking at $1500 or more). Also, it's not permanent. Tinting is ok, but it doesn't make a huge difference in the look. Painting requires too much maintenance. Concrete engraving can look interesting, but it collects dirt (I mentioned we have dogs, right?). Now, my thoughts are leaning toward adding shards of glass to the final layer and polishing the surface to create a terrazzo tile-like finish. Durable, classic and relatively cheap, or so we think.

Rain, Rain Go Away

2006-06-11T10:43:00.000-03:00

It has been raining for what seems like months. I wonder if we'll ever get back to working on our building site. Our lake is much higher than Spring thaw levels, and our lawn and perennials ressemble a healthy section of rain forest. David Suzuki would be proud to see this healthy lake environment full of fish (and you can literally see catfish fins coming out of the water in our cove as they continue to spawn) and waterfowl.

Speaking of Suzuki, I had the pleasure of being a part of bringing him to Saint John for his book tour Friday night at the University of New Brunswick Saint John. We enjoyed a full house of ~1600 people of all different walks of life, and the crowd seemed thrilled to hear him tell tales of his seventy years on earth. He wrapped up with a rousing pitch to take action to curb our grotesque over-consumption of resources in Canada. We all know that's top of mind for Prime Minister Harper these days...right?

I continue to carry around an obese manilla file folder of quotes, drawings and notes on our house. We have signed on with Atlantic Post & Beam and are just waiting on the revised house plans. We've made a lot of changes and compromises, but we're still very excited about the design.

Posts. And Beams. Hopefully.

2006-06-06T17:05:00.000-03:00

Our designer, Peter Carr, commented recently that contractors are in high demand now, but in a few years the demand won't be so great. He's right. Economies change. Interest rates rise and fall. Those contractors who are providing poor service and low quality products in this economy are going to disappear when the demand decreases. Until then, we're in a market where the demand is incredibly high, so we're dealing with a boatload of companies who simply don't *need* to return our call. Argh. I know I'm repeating myself, but it's a very large, looming issue at the moment. How many times should I call? Will I completely tick the guy off (and they're all guys)? Do I need to start talking tough? (Everyone *knows* I can hold my own in terms of using profanity.) Should I lean on that crutch? Is it like every single time I've tried to buy a car: Should I get a MAN to call? Ah, forget it. Suck it up boys and call me back. Pronto.

On the bright side, we've found people like Peter Carr, who are responsive, professional and very skilled. I've known Peter from my hometown for many years, but didn't know until recently that he has designed thousands of homes of many different types around the world and continues to do so in his "retirement." I'll share the plans he has designed for us in a future post.

These are a few images from the homes we visited with the timber framer this Spring.

Several sub-contractors are still not in place, but we're scheduled to begin right away. The strawbale part of our home won't actually start until September because it takes several months to prepare the timberframe. Patience. Patience. Patience.

I wonder why I keep waking up at 2am?

Maritime Strawbale Building Gathering

2006-06-02T12:53:00.000-03:00

The silence hurt my ears when I asked Dave if he was interested in spending the May 24 weekend at a Maritime gathering of strawbale builders near Halifax, NS. He knows saying, "no" could be perilous, but that his work life is a bit too overwhelming right now to think about anything else. "This is perfect," I was thinking. I can get him away from it all and focus on our house plans.

Indeed, our newly corporatized-Dave left his computer and finely-pressed shirts, suspenders & neckties behind, and jumped into our Civic full of sleeping bags, toxin-free bug sprays and a cooler full of gods-know-what-kind-of-organic-veggie-mystery-foods. We all know he's a hippy wanna-be underneath that conventional exteriour.

Kim Thompson, the consultant we've been working with to learn about strawbale building, has completed a research project for CMHC that involves documenting all of the strawbale buildings in the Maritimes. There are at least 55, if you can believe it, and more than a dozen others planned for construction this year. To cap off her research, Kim invited all of the folks who currently own strawbale homes, plus a few industry contacts (architects, designers, builders), and a number of soon-to-be builders like us to a weekend camping at Ship Harbour.

We toured Kim's home and property nearby - check out the cool smurf-like cob house with the thatch roof, her tool shed and the shot of her kitchen window sill.
We learned about yurts (the photo of the white tent-like structure) and how to build them using local greenwood (like fresh cut spruce). These originate in Mongolia and people still live in these in climates where the temperature drops below 40 degrees C.

Food, food and more food kept us fueled through the weekend, with each meal being a potluck adventure of tasty vegetarian salads, pastas and the like.

We made the best of every moment, talking to each homeowner and professional about their experiences, best practices, and our house plans. Decisions that have been up in the air for us for many months were finally made, and a rush of new ideas streamed into our notebooks. Valuable contacts were made, and, I believe some new friendships were created.

The Truck

2006-06-02T12:32:00.000-03:00

Every new job brings its ups and downs. Dave's new job means some extraordinarily long hours. Since we carpool together into the city (about 45 mins each way), I've had to endure the "downs" with him. The "downs" sometimes amount to sixteen hour work days. As you can see, we've had to break our environmentally-friendly-economically-astute rules, and take on a second vehicle (We've become an insurance company's dream client). The ultimate truck. We picked this baby up from an old chap around the corner from our new site. It has a dent in the side of it that's approximately the same size as a small country in the former Soviet Union, and it *smells* like an old man who likes to repair vehicles and smokes from time to time. mmmmm. It's all part of the charm. So far it has trucked hundreds of pounds of concrete patio blocks, a new storage shed, and antique stained-glass windows for our new house. Not bad. I just hope you're not the one behind me inhaling the fumes.

Details, details

2006-06-01T18:28:00.000-03:00

So, back to the house. We've spent the winter and first days of spring finalizing our plans (they're not yet final, but I'll get to that in future posts) and picking out all the features. Here you can see the shaker-style kitchen cupboard door design we like and the u-shaped kitchen we will use. We're still waiting on quotes from vendors... I feel like all we do is wait sometimes. Contractors are just too busy to care. And then there are those who are just bad at managing customers. That's not to say we haven't encountered some fabulous contractors and sales people...it's about 50-50. Finding the *right* one for us seems to be the key.

Hollywood Fame

2006-06-01T18:09:00.000-03:00

In the midst of all of our house building chaos, one of the things we've forgotten to tell everyone is that Jake, our collie, is famous. Well, at least he was featured in a Famous Players movie magazine for kids this Spring in theatres across Canada. Dave has a friend who is currently the editor of this magazine, and she had met Jake previously. It was his lucky break. If only he would cough up the dough and contribute to the down payment for the house. In the spirit of equality, I'm including Molly, our mutt. The cat is excluded, b.c he keeps waking us up at 4am, so I'm not inclined to care if he's left out. grrr..

Driving into the new year

2006-06-01T16:46:00.000-03:00

We had an incredibly mild winter, with little snow. It was so mild that our excavation contractor (Mark McKinnon, a family friend) was able to put in a driveway. We were able to spend some time clearing dead trees and the like as well, with the help of Mom & Dad Wiggins. Joe Nyenhuis, my sister's husband, also helped out with cutting trees. We found cutting trees a bit nerve-wracking, given the danger of hurting one's self. It seems testosterone-filled human beings prefer not to use safety ropes and other such precautions, but we all survived. Here you can see how we've carved out our little spot in the lot for the house. This is looking North. We're planning to face our house true South to take advantage of passive solar heat gains in the winter.

Christmas with the Thunder Bay Stonehouses

2006-06-01T15:12:00.000-03:00

Over the holidays, we were thankful to have Mom & Dad Stonehouse with us. Carol & Bruce were instrumental in helping us develop our floor plans and elevations - probably because they've lived in so many homes themselves (Dave still seem unsure of where his "hometown" is) and have experience in building an unconventional house. A few years back, they built a log home just outside Thunder Bay. Log homes *seem* straight forward, but it sounds like they had similar problems with conventional builders not wanting to deal with something "different."

Here we are on the property (picture of Bruce, Carol & Dave) in the snow in late December. It was raining that day, so our tour was short, but sweet. Carol generously brought her dowsing tools with her (L-rods, I believe they're called) to check out the water situation on the lot, although we didn't have enough time to really delve into it. We've been unable to find a local dowser to date. Here's hoping the welldriller hits gold before 250 feet.

Forgetfulness has set in

2006-06-01T13:30:00.000-03:00

So, the domestic agreements of the Stonehouse household (the Cassidy Lake Stonehouses, that is) include Dave primarily managing financial-related chores(I think he actually enjoys it, bless him) and me taking care of special occasion-related chores (birthdays, Christmas etc.). Both have fallen slightly off track in the midst of all this house-building excitment, plus Dave's new job involves long hours and less flexibility. Well, in my case, things have gone waaaaaay off track, to the extent that I'm not sure what I've missed and what I haven't. Please grant us an extended grace period...things are only going to get worse until this puppy is built. Can we make it up next year?

Here's Dave clowning around last fall after a long afternoon of hauling brush...Wait till you see him with a backhoe!

Our picnics

2006-06-01T10:03:00.000-03:00

Planning a good work party is essential. You need good food, lots of water, seating, shade and somewhat frequent breaks to keep the energy level up. Sometimes I feel like we're taking more time for breaks than work, but it's essential. A few photos of our friends and family from last fall. Dave must be taking these photos since he's not in them.

Preparing the land

2006-05-31T18:06:00.000-03:00

In the fall, we spent a lot of time on our new land preparing it for building. The land was owned by a woodsman before us, so there was an unbelievable amount of "slash" (branches left behind), and ice storms had brought down many trees. My Dad & Mom spent a lot of time helping us through these months with Dad's chainsaw in full gear (not my favourite tool) to remove the debris. We enjoyed many fine picnics (ask me about spilling an entire meal on the ground, while surrounded by starving volunteers), and lots of laughs. We transplanted a lot of seedlings from the areas where the excavator would wage war - mostly cedar and spruce. Fortunately, we found homes for many young trees amongst friends and family as well.

Please note: I'm still new to this format and I haven't written html in the last 10 years, so I'm having trouble making multiple photos appear in the blog as I would like...I welcome assistance from anyone who knows how I can make that look better (besides using just one photo per posting).

Workshops...find out if you like it first

2006-05-31T17:06:00.000-03:00

We can't recommend strawbale workshops enough. It will really help you figure out if you will enjoy building a strawbale building. We met Kim Thompson and joined one of her workshops last August to build Matt Black's greenhouse (he's pictured above with his greenhouse timberframe near Antigonish, NS as we were in the midst of raising the bale walls). Matt's wife was also present with their new baby, Sage. We have found that strawbale building is almost always a family affair. People of all ages can participate. The folks we met were loads of fun, the food was fabulous (that's a key to a good working party, btw), and we learned a tonne.

Matt used an existing concrete pad he has on his property, but it was too close to the ground to place the strawbales directly on (if they get wet from snow and back splashing rain, they mold and rot). We filled polypropelyne bags with clay rich soil, closed them using nails as pins, laid them flat around the perimeter and then tamped them down using a wide, homemade wooden hammer. These are called "earth bags." We only built a raised foundation, but many have built entire homes out of these bags and plastered them - they can look amazing. After that, we began using the strawbales. Here you can see an image from our workshop of a mixing pit. Using strawbales covered in a hole-free tarp, you can create multiple pits in convenient locations to mix the clay slip you coat the bales with. We used the "french dip" method to coat the sides of the bales in the pits before we laid them on the foundation. A thorough coating of this milkshake-like clay mix on the straw is important to enable the next layer of thicker earth plaster to stick.You can also spray on the slip, if you can create or find an appropriate tool to do so (I mentioned the auto undercoating spray gun in a previous posting).

We stuffed clay-dipped bundles of straw in any gaps and tied each bale to the other bales beside it using poly-twine (much easier to work with than sisal twine). External "pins" are added to strength the wall about every three feet. We notched lines into the wall vertically on opposing sides of the bale, then placed alder branches in the notches that we tied with poly-twine. Check out the picture of the bale-needle we used to tie them with. From there we made the scratch coat of earth plaster. This is done using a mix of chopped straw, clay-rich soil and sand. I'll add photos to my next posting. The romantic part of this stage is "the dance." One of the ways people mix this plaster is to roll the ingredients together on a tarp and then have people "dance" on it - kind of like the grape-crushing traditions of vineyards - only muddy. And no wine afterwards. Well, lots of w-h-i-n-e if you try to do a large structure this way because the romance wears off after a while. Most folks use a mortar mixer for larger structures. This layer is about an inch thick, and must only be applied if the layer of clay slip on the bales is moist (usually spritzed with water). If I remember correctly, you should "key" the surface in, creating divets to allow the next layer to adhere to it. We will be applying a final lime-earth mix to our home to protect it from the elements.
We didn't have time to finish all of Matt's greenhouse, but it was an enlightening experience.

Maria Recchia's house

2006-05-31T16:52:00.000-03:00

Our next stop: Maria Recchia's home. Maria works with the Centre for Community-Based Resource Management in St. Andrews and is an avid organic gardener. She has nearly finished building this gorgeous strawbale home. Here she is with Dave in this photo outside her home. We spent a fun afternoon with Maria, during which she patiently showed us how to work with earth plaster and filled us in on lots of resources and building tips. This is a timber frame (non load bearing) structure with strawbale exteriour walls. She has an excellent composting toilet system and plans to install solar panels in future. Her greenhouse (the wooden-sided windowed part that's sticking out here), can provide extra passive solar heat to the interiour of the home, or the heat can be blocked out simply by leaving the inside greenhouse door shut. The clay earth for the plaster was taken from the excavation on site, and sifted by hand at first until a neighbour made a gas-powered sifter (using a washing machine motor I think?). Lots of innovative tools are made to make strawbale building more efficient. Did you know that the spray gun that auto shops use to undercoat cars & trucks can be used to spray on the clay slip? Brilliant! Now, we have to figure out where to get one...