Day 108: Ceiling paint and soffits

On Monday, Marty sprayed the ceilings with 2 coats of zero Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) paint (he sprayed the ceilings on Sunday with zero VOC primer). Here is a pic of the ceiling over the kitchen.

Justin, Marty, Raphael, Georg and I installed corrugated metal soffit material around the perimeter of the home. We are pleased with the results. Here is a pic of the northwest corner soffit.

Green comments for today:

• Consider low or zero VOC primers and paints for improved indoor air quality compared to common products.
• Where appropriate, choose finish materials that are durable and recyclable. For example, my soffit material is galvanized steel. It should require little to no maintenance over the life of the home. The steel can be recycled or salvaged when the home is someday deconstructed (hopefully long after I am gone).

Thanks for reading. Please feel free to leave a comment.

Day 72: Details

Tasks completed or started today.

• Joshua coated the interior exposed wood on all but 1 window with 2 coats of AFM Safecoat Naturals Clear Penetrating Oil - a low VOC sealer that will protect the wood. The windows really look nice.
• The folks from Wildcat Metals installed trim and flashing material.
• Trevor applied mortar to the seams between Apex blocks that will be underground.
• Justin put the finishing touches on the framing in the bedroom, closet and bathroom.
• Erik returned from summer vacation and continued rough electrical work.

Stella status:
She is about twice as big as she was at the start of the project. Thanks for reading. Please feel free to leave a comment.

Day 43: Loft floor

Several weeks ago, I picked up a variety of wood materials from Heritage Salvage in Petaluma, CA. Part of that purchase was 1-1/2 inch thick douglas fir tongue and groove from the floor of the dismantled Fort Hill Lumber Company sawmill in Grand Ronde, OR. The wood is dry, brittle, battered, beaten and torn. In other words, it has lots of character.

On Friday, Joshua did a great job selecting nice looking pieces and cutting them to length. Justin did a great job persuading the boards to line up and nailing them home. We drilled holes in the boards for each nail to prevent splitting. Screw nails were used since they resist backing out. Subfloor adhesive was applied between the rafters and floor boards to provide additional strength and prevent squeaking. Anyone trying to remove this floor in the future will invent some new swear words. Here is a pic of part of the floor, some nails, a big hammer, and a bigger hammer. Sometimes the boards need much persuasion.

Here is a pic of Cindy on a sunny part of the 40% complete floor. It looks awesome (she does too). I can't wait to see it sanded and oiled.

Green comment for today:
Use low VOC adhesives for improved indoor air quality compared to more commonly available adhesives. We used OSI Greenseries subfloor adhesive. I hope that low VOC adhesives soon become the common or only choice. Thanks for reading. I appreciate your comments.