Day 82: Insulation, grading and garden wall

The folks from Tri County Insulation finished spraying foam insulation today. They completed a 7 inch average thickness application in the entire ceiling. The R-value of the 7 inch layer is approximately 40.

Tri County Insulation also installed UltraTouch batt insulation in the interior stud walls. This insulation will reduce sound transmission between the bedroom, bathroom and family room.

Steve continued doing a great job grading and shaping the landscape while Justin, Trevor and I built a small garden wall by the southeast corner of the home. The wall will prevent collapse of the east hillside in front of the bedroom patio door.

Green comment for today:
Consider using UltraTouch batt insulation from Bonded Logic to insulate your wall or ceiling cavities. The advantages compared to typical fiberglass batt insulation are:

• It is made from recycled cotton denim resulting in lower manufacturing embodied energy
• It emits no harmful particulate matter into the air resulting in improved indoor air quality
• You can touch it during installation without getting irritated skin

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

Day 81: Insulation, grading and site cleanup

The folks from Tri County Insulation continued spraying foam insulation today. They completed a 5-1/2 inch thick application in the ceiling over the family room.

Steve and Trevor completed placement of all the underground pipes and drain lines today. Steve began to do final site grading. It is nice to finally have a normal step down from the porch and patio doors. Here is a pic from the southwest followed by one from the west.


Raphael cut the remaining large logs on the site into smaller pieces ready to split for firewood while I sorted leftover items from construction into various piles. Thanks for reading. I appreciate your comments.

Day 80: Insulation

The folks from Tri County Insulation started spraying foam insulation in the ceiling over the kitchen. Here is a pic showing the first 5-1/2 inch thick application.

Green comment for today:
Consider using a soy based spray foam insulation like BioBased to fill your wall or ceiling cavities. Insulation R-value per inch is equal to or greater than common fiberglass batt material and air leakage is lower than with any other type of insulation. BioBased replaces a portion of the petroleum product with natural renewable oil and blows the material with water resulting in a more environmentally friendly product than common polyurethane spray foam insulation.

Thanks for reading. I enjoy your comments.

Day 79: Drainage and insulation prep

Here is a pic of Trevor and Steve on Friday installing the downspout drainage line along the west wall.

The folks from Tri County Insulation hung plastic sheet inside to protect the windows, walls and beams when insulation is blown into the ceiling next week. It gives the place an eerie slasher movie kinda feel.

Raphael cut channels in the north wall to run solar water heating and photovoltaic conduits and pipes between the roof and utility room.

With Steve on site, Gabby is never far away. Thanks for reading. Please feel free to leave a comment.