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 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.

Salvaging wood

On Saturday, Cindy and I went to Heritage Salvage in Petaluma, CA. We were searching for wood that will be exposed in various places in the home. The visit turned out to be one stop shopping. Bug, the owner, was very helpful in locating all of the various types and sizes we needed. He was also very generous in putting together a deal that met our budget and time constraints. Bug knows every piece of wood on the lot, and he tells you the story behind it. I would highly recommend a visit to Heritage Salvage.

The drivers performed amazing acrobatics moving tons of beams over 20 feet long balanced only on the forks of the lift truck. In the end we loaded over 1,100 board feet of douglas fir beams and 1,000 square feet of fir and redwood flooring into a rental U-haul. Here is a pic of Bug during loading of the beams followed by a pic of the U-haul with our load. I really look forward to installing this wood in the home.


Green comment for today:
Consider using salvaged rather than new wood in your home - especially in locations where it will be exposed. You will be rewarded with beautiful material that has character unmatched by new wood. You will also be keeping a piece of history alive.

Thanks for reading. Feel free to comment.

Day 18: Ready for pro beach vollyball

Today we placed the remainder of the Insul-Tarp and spread approximately 2” of sand over the top. The inside of the house looked like a beach at the end of the day – see pic below. It spread much more easily than the gravel.

The use of sand is questioned given results of the "sand under concrete slab" search I did. Nonetheless, it is required per California Building Code.

Some other tasks completed today:

• The remainder of gravel was spread in the utility room.
• A vapor barrier was placed over the gravel in the utility room. Insulation is not required because the room is not heated.
• Sand was placed over the vapor barrier in the utility room.
• 5 inch diameter joles were drilled at the top of the 1st course of APEX block at every other vertical core where a rebar will connect to the concrete slab – see pic above.
• Big Creek Lumber dropped off the window buck material – see vid below. The window bucks for my home are pressure treated 3X8 douglas fir beams that will frame the window and door openings. They provide a stable surface to attach the windows and doors.

Green comment for today:
When designing a home in a winter heating season climate, place the majority of properly shaded window surface area on the south wall in the northern hemisphere, and on the north wall in the southern hemisphere. This will take advantage of free winter heat from the sun. This is one of the fundamental concepts of Passive Solar Design. Start with a value of 50% to 75% of your total window area. Then use a building energy analysis tool like HEED to compare designs with more and less window area with your starting point. You will find a percentage that provides the lowest heating energy need annually. This percentage is the most thermally efficient for your home. There may be reasons other than energy efficiency to increase or decrease the window surface area, but at least you will have a starting point to deviate from.

Thanks for reading. Please leave a comment if you like.