Day 144 & 145: Rock wall and moving in

On Thursday and Friday, Trevor worked on construction of a rock wall along the north edge of the entry porch. The wall will facilitate drainage and add a few more square feet to the porch area. Here is a pic of the work in progress.

On Friday the crew helped us move in marking the official end of major construction and almost daily posts. There are years worth of projects ahead, and I will post them as they happen. It has been an incredible design and build experience. It will be a most memorable first Christmas in the peace and warmth of this wonderful passive solar home. We call it "casa del sol" (house of the sun). I wish you all a joyous holiday season. Thanks for reading throughout the year!

Day 142 & 143: Cabinet handles andt tile work complete

On Tuesday, Alan from Live Oak Design installed handles on the cabinets. Here is a pic of the peninsula.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Joshua completed the floor mosaic and vanity backsplash while I cleaned up in preparation for moving in. Below are pics of the tile work. Thanks for reading. Please feel free to leave a comment.

Day 140 & 141: Wood floor and other details

Last Friday, Joshua and I finished sanding the loft floor. On Saturday, Cindy and I cleaned up the house and applied a first coat of Osmo Polyx-Oil finish to the floor. Below is a pic taken from the spiral staircase. The floor is smooth and no longer gray and oxidized, but still retains much of the character from that old Oregon sawmill.

On Friday Justin completed some finish details like pocket door hardware, door strike plates and closet shelves. Below is a pic of the simple closet arrangement. Thanks for reading. I appreciate your comments.

Day 139: Floor sanding and closet shelves

On Thursday Joshua and I sanded the loft floor. Even though douglas fir is supposed to be a soft wood, this salvaged wood is harder than oak because it is so old and dry. Joshua commented that this floor is harder than oak and maple floors he sanded in the past. Below is a pic of the floor in process.

Justin continued work on the closet shelves and hangar rod. Thanks for reading. Please feel free to leave a comment.

Day 138: Mosaics , solar water heating and HERS rating

Joshua continued work on the floor mosaic on Wednesday. Below is a pic of the work in progress. It's great to see it with the paper template pieces removed. He also started work on a backsplash for the vanity countertop.

My PV solar system rebate was filed with the New Solar Homes Partnership (NSHP) program. A verification by a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) professional is needed to verify compliance with California Title 24 energy efficiency requirements. Sharon Block of Block Energy Design visited the home today to verify the performance, orientation and shading of the PV solar array.

I continued work on the solar water heating system. Thanks for reading. I appreciate your comments.

Day 137: Mosaic, closet and solar water heating

On Tuesday, Joshua continued work on the floor mosaic. Here is a pic of the work in progress.


Justin worked on closet shelves while I started laying out plumbing for the solar water heating system in the utility room. Thanks for reading. I enjoy reading your comments.

Day 135 & 136: More mosaic and wood floor patching

Last Friday, Joshua continued working on the family room floor mosaic. Here is a pic of the work in progress.

On Monday, we sanded the wood floor test patch samples from last week. The patches held up well so we proceeded to patch cracks, holes and large gaps in the wood floor of the loft. The pic below shows two of the larger cracks after filling. Thanks for reading. Please feel free to leave a comment.

Day 134: Another mosaic

On Thursday, Joshua began cutting granite material for another tile mosaic that will go in front of the large sliding glass door in the family room. Here is a pic of the work in progress.

Marty stopped by to do a few small items off the punch list. Joshua filled some cracks and holes in several pieces of the old wood tongue and groove loft floor material. He used a mix of Elmer's glue and sawdust saved from sanding beams. Once this filler dries we will test how it responds during sanding. More to come. Thanks for reading. I appreciate your comments.

Day 133: Vanity, floor heating and occupancy certificate

On Wednesday, the folks from Marble City arrived to install the granite vanity countertop and sink. The granite matches one of our favorite colors in the shower.

I got the radiant floor heating system up and running today. This will be nice for those cloudy winter days when there is not enough passive solar heat gain to keep the home comfortable.


We received a certificate of occupancy today! After a few more messy projects are completed inside, we will move in. It is a great feeling to achieve this milestone. Thanks for reading. Please feel free to comment.

Day 132: Stella status

Stella status:
It's been a while since we have seen Stella. She is nearly full grown and has an adult bark.

She also has a new little brother named Jackson.