# Earth Berm House Progress (Picture Intensive)



## Mallow

Well I thought it was time to start a new thread showing my progress so far. The other thread has started getting long and some pretty old pictures. It is located at: 

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=158649&page=1&pp=30

Anyways here is what the house is looking like from the outside:










That is how it will basically stay till spring when we put the stone on the outside of the house.

Below is a picture of the radiant floor heating manifold:










That was a complete nightmare but after 3 days of plumbing that small section is done. We turned on the well pump today and only found one leak in the entire house and it was due to the well installer.

Propane lines coming into the house. Tank isn't filled but soon will be so we can heat the house for finishing drywall:










Random photos of the drywall and inside as of today. Don't mind the mess or confusion but lots of things have been going on and cleaning isn't a top priority till we start finishing drywall:

Living room/dining room:



















Kitchen/Pantry



















Master Bedroom:










2nd Bedroom:










Anyways as you can see things are moving along and drywall is going up. We had to wait till after the plumbing was tested and the propane lines were in before putting up the final pieces. Hopefully it all will be up by the end of next weekend. That about sums up what has been occomplished so far. I will update again after the rest of the drywall is up but people have been asking for more pictures  I would like to thank everyone for their encouraging words also. It is a long slow process thats for sure but always good to have some encouragement.


-Mallow


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## Rocky Fields

Hey.

Superb view.

You need to know electric box below water junctions is a no-no, especially without GFI. Metal water pipe sweats and drips...

Long runs of plastic pipe should be supported with plastic two hole support brackets...

Drywall crane is worth it's weight in gold.

RF


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## Mallow

Rocky Fields said:


> Hey.
> 
> Superb view.
> 
> You need to know electric box below water junctions is a no-no, especially without GFI. Metal water pipe sweats and drips...
> 
> Long runs of plastic pipe should be supported with plastic two hole support brackets...
> 
> Drywall crane is worth it's weight in gold.
> 
> RF


The big grey wire is outdoor rated for the well pump/pressure tank and the other outlet is just a temp one. I do need to add some supports though to a couple of pipe runs in the utility room but haven't gotten to it. As for the drywall crane...best 250 ive ever spent even if its cheap chinese crap lol.


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## ericjeeper

Just my opinion. But I would have fed the manifold from one end. That way you would feed lines #1#2#3#4 then on the return it would be #4#3#2#1 that way all lines providing they are all exactly the same length would flow the pretty close to exact amount each. Looks like 5/8 barrier pex?
The way it is set to flow now the line with the least amount of resistance is going to flow the most.
How many square feet is the four loops heating?


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## whitesidewalls

As mentioned previously, water + electric is a no-no. Also propane and electric is a no-no. That is just from photo 1 and 2. The house looks great. Keep up the good work, just look int these items before finishing the walls.


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## Mallow

ericjeeper said:


> Just my opinion. But I would have fed the manifold from one end. That way you would feed lines #1#2#3#4 then on the return it would be #4#3#2#1 that way all lines providing they are all exactly the same length would flow the pretty close to exact amount each. Looks like 5/8 barrier pex?
> The way it is set to flow now the line with the least amount of resistance is going to flow the most.
> How many square feet is the four loops heating?


Actually its 5 heating loops and inside square feet is around 1650 that its heating. I layed them out according to the company specs of keeping the loops the same length. The outside loop goes to the opposite end of the house and keeps working its way back towards the manifold for the inner loops. It is also 7/8ths pex which was a pain to put on 16" centers.


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## TNHermit

How are you hanging your drywall? Nails and glue, screws and glue, or just nails or screws. Just off the pic it looks like the drywall needs a few more thorns in it. Looks good other than that


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## Mallow

TNHermit said:


> How are you hanging your drywall? Nails and glue, screws and glue, or just nails or screws. Just off the pic it looks like the drywall needs a few more thorns in it. Looks good other than that


Glued and screwed. I've helped with 3 houses so far this route and no issues. Just a little messy lol.


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## TNHermit

Mallow said:


> Glued and screwed. I've helped with 3 houses so far this route and no issues. Just a little messy lol.


IT will be worth it. I like the glue and screw. Helps with any voids or hollows . Makes for flatter walls 

So Ok you can go ahead. LOL


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## Mallow

TNHermit said:


> IT will be worth it. I like the glue and screw. Helps with any voids or hollows . Makes for flatter walls
> 
> So Ok you can go ahead. LOL


Forgot to mention we put 5/8ths on the ceiling due to having 18" of insulation up there. They are only 4x8 sheets instead of 4x12.


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## YounGrey

Wow great work! Nice view. Keep it up!


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## Mallow

Time for another update. Yesterday my 6 pallets of tile arrived from the shipper. Unfortunately they had to be delivered at the end of the driveway. We had to unload each pallet onto the truck and then unload them into the house. When you are talking about 15000lbs of tile this was quite a pain but we finished getting them inside and took today off to recover. Ok on to the pictures.

4x4 Tumbled Travertine - Going on the walls in the master bathroom and also inset into the slate floor in the living room.










Filled/Honed Travertine (Antique Pattern) - Flooring for bathrooms and kitchen.










16x16 California Gold Slate Tile - This will be going pretty much everywhere else. 





























Thought some of you would like to see what is in store for my flooring. More updates soon.

-Mallow


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## Kmac15

Thank you
Keep the updates coming


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## Toads tool

15000lbs of tile. 
That's 15000 more pounds of thermal mass.

Laying tile is kinda fun...Kinda.


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## RedTartan

OMGosh! I love that Gold Slate tile! It is gorgeous! Please tell me you're not painting the walls of your house white. With tile like that, it would be a crime...

 RedTartan


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## Mallow

RedTartan said:


> OMGosh! I love that Gold Slate tile! It is gorgeous! Please tell me you're not painting the walls of your house white. With tile like that, it would be a crime...
> 
> RedTartan




Two rules in my house....no carpet and no white walls...hate both with a passion. I will be going with earth tones throughout the house. Well I will have some carpet in the home theater but its for sound deadening.


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## donsgal

Well. It's a nice enough house, I guess. I would have made a sod roof myself and personally, I think that vinyl siding is just the most awful looking stuff. As such a small amount of exterior is exposed there, I would certainly have used some nice stone veneer instead. But hey, that's me. The less plastic in my life, the happier I am.

It's a house like a hundred million other houses except it its stuck in the side of a hill. Not terribly inspriring, but if you are happy I guess that is all that matters. The workmanship looks excellent, which I'm sure you paid dearly for. At least you are giving people employment in WV, which is a good thing. 

donsgal


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## Gideon

Looking good and great view. A friend built his and had to shelter the sun a bit because it overheated. Now the front looks like a Mexican hicenda with white brick and red tile. The arched openings let in just the right amount of sun. wc


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## donsgal

RedTartan said:


> OMGosh! I love that Gold Slate tile! It is gorgeous! Please tell me you're not painting the walls of your house white. With tile like that, it would be a crime...
> 
> RedTartan


Too bad they coudn't have found an American made product to use instead of one "made in India". I'm sure there are rocks in the US that might have been just as servicable.

donsgal


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## sisterpine

The home depot in missoula montana has that same california gold tile in the ladies room and i wanted it in my house but got vetoed by dh who thought it would hurt the feet? Any way your home is lovely and i am sure you and your family will enjoy every moment in it. sis


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## texican

donsgal said:


> Too bad they coudn't have found an American made product to use instead of one "made in India". I'm sure there are rocks in the US that might have been just as servicable.
> 
> donsgal


I've been collecting slate and marble (when it was on sale, and leftovers from jobs I've done) for about five years now. As far as I know, there might be ONE slate manufacturerer/processor in the US... Some place up in VT has a website... unfortunately the only stone they have is greenish

It's not price of material, or labor, that causes slate to be imported... it's location of source material.

And I've never really understood the "hard on the feet" thing some folks have with tile or stone. Especially in a bathroom... Sure, a deep shag carpet with lots of foam under it, would be nice and comfy, but ugghhhh!!! if it got wet (oops! it's a bathroom) it's gonna rot. I'm trying to design my new bathrooms with a built in slope to a drain... so if there's a boo boo with the tub, sink, or toilet, the water will drain safely away, and not damage the rest of the house.

Mallow... I love the travertine you've chosen... and your slate... I've got about 1/4 of the amount I need to do all the areas I want slated.

Agree with you about carpet and white walls. I'm shooting for sheetrock free too, don't know if it's attainable, or not!


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## donsgal

texican said:


> Sure, a deep shag carpet with lots of foam under it, would be nice and comfy, but ugghhhh!!! if it got wet (oops! it's a bathroom) it's gonna rot. I'm trying to design my new bathrooms with a built in slope to a drain... so if there's a boo boo with the tub, sink, or toilet, the water will drain safely away, and not damage the rest of the house.


It seems to me that since the house is new there is no reason why anything should leak for a long, long time. In our old house we had one bathroom with vinyl and one bathroom with carpet, and I would choose carpet hands down. The rest of the house too. Fully carpeted. I'd even carpet the kitchen if I could, but being a messy cook, that would not be practical LOL 



> Agree with you about carpet and white walls. I'm shooting for sheetrock free too, don't know if it's attainable, or not!


I'm not a sheetrock fan either. If I ever build my "dream home" hah - fat chance, I'd definitely put in real wood paneling everywhere! It gives it such a warm feeling.

donsgal


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## Mallow

donsgal said:


> Well. It's a nice enough house, I guess. I would have made a sod roof myself and personally, I think that vinyl siding is just the most awful looking stuff. As such a small amount of exterior is exposed there, I would certainly have used some nice stone veneer instead. But hey, that's me. The less plastic in my life, the happier I am.
> 
> It's a house like a hundred million other houses except it its stuck in the side of a hill. Not terribly inspriring, but if you are happy I guess that is all that matters. The workmanship looks excellent, which I'm sure you paid dearly for. At least you are giving people employment in WV, which is a good thing.
> 
> donsgal


The sod roof is what I was shooting for but banks/structural engineers both were giving me alot of headaches that I ended up going with a normal roof. At some point you just have to move forward with what is available to you. I will be putting stone on the entire outside of the house and probably the eves also but that is about 2 yrs down the road and I wanted it weather tight before then. Vinyl siding was cheap and easy to put up. The only potions ive contracted out were the walls(superior walls), concrete pour and now the drywall finishing. The only reason I hired out the finishing is that i've done it before and working weekends it would take forever. My father is a jack of all trades and has helped me throughout the entire project and without him I would be hiring way to much out to be able to afford the project.

-Mallow


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## Mallow

texican said:


> Agree with you about carpet and white walls. I'm shooting for sheetrock free too, don't know if it's attainable, or not!


Sheetrock I see as a necessary evil in todays times unless you have a way to harvest and saw the wood yourself it seems price prohibitive.


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## Mallow

donsgal said:


> Too bad they coudn't have found an American made product to use instead of one "made in India". I'm sure there are rocks in the US that might have been just as servicable.
> 
> donsgal


When the difference is $3/sqft from usa to india ill pick india every time.


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## donsgal

Mallow said:


> The sod roof is what I was shooting for but banks/structural engineers both were giving me alot of headaches that I ended up going with a normal roof.
> 
> -Mallow


Ah yes, the bureaucrats sticking their collective noses into everybody elses' beeswax. *sigh*. It sounds like you have a handle on it. It should be a nice place when all is said and done.

donsgal


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## texican

donsgal said:


> It seems to me that since the house is new there is no reason why anything should leak for a long, long time. In our old house we had one bathroom with vinyl and one bathroom with carpet, and I would choose carpet hands down.
> 
> donsgal


I 'leak' every time I get out of the bathtub... Our tub gets used for everything, and splashed water is to be expected. And I've seen new plumbing leak. Shouldn't, but can. And if it's owner built, it's up to the owner to fix...


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## Mysticdream44

Mallow, I think you home is going to be beautiful when its done, what a wonderful view you have. And it should be really warm too, and cool in the summer. I'm so jealous. I can't wait to see the pictures when you have it fully done, especially the kitchen & pantry. Are you going to put in a fireplace or woodstove. I guess you don't really need one, but personally I love a fireplace. Good luck on getting it all done.


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## cfabe

Were they out of romex staples at the store?

Looks like a nice house though, I'm sure the tile will be beautiful. Do you have any skylights on the back rooms?


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## Betho

bathrooms with carpet would be tolerable in a house with no men, or men who sit to pee. I've lived in a house with carpeted bathrooms, and men who don't sit to pee. It isn't pretty. I always thought a carpeted bathroom was a bad bad idea, completely impractical.

Besides the toilet, the corners of the carpet by the bathtub got really gross. And we weren't like being liberal with the water splashing around, either. I don't think any situation where carpet and the padding underneath gets wet on a daily basis is a good situation.

Anyway, sorry about the hijack I just had to state my thoughts on the carpeted bathroom idea. Love the pictures of the house, I've been following it for a while. What's really nice is we really do see a progression, and I think it's great that you are updating.


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## Mallow

Mysticdream44 said:


> Mallow, I think you home is going to be beautiful when its done, what a wonderful view you have. And it should be really warm too, and cool in the summer. I'm so jealous. I can't wait to see the pictures when you have it fully done, especially the kitchen & pantry. Are you going to put in a fireplace or woodstove. I guess you don't really need one, but personally I love a fireplace. Good luck on getting it all done.


I am leaving room for a fireplace along the wall of the living room for a future project. I want to make sure I wont have issues getting house insurance before putting it in.


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## Mallow

cfabe said:


> Looks like a nice house though, I'm sure the tile will be beautiful. Do you have any skylights on the back rooms?


I have 5 Solatubes in the back rooms.

2xMaster Bath
2xKitchen
1xBath

They really do lighten up the place when the diffuser and everything is installed.


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## sbin

Nice work Mallow!
Limestone and slate are a great choice for floor covering.Beautiful,almost indestuctible and classic.
That Takagi tankless heater should do a good job.

Installed the same slate and limestone in my old century home.I would recommend sealing the tile after installation but before grouting with a quality silcone sealer matte finish.

What wood are you using for trim, cabinets?


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## Common Tator

donsgal said:


> It seems to me that since the house is new there is no reason why anything should leak for a long, long time. In our old house we had one bathroom with vinyl and one bathroom with carpet, and I would choose carpet hands down. The rest of the house too. Fully carpeted. I'd even carpet the kitchen if I could, but being a messy cook, that would not be practical LOL
> 
> We bought the family home after the inlaws passed away. The bathrooms were carpeted because my MIL loved it that way. I had to learn to lay tile because 2 pottys overflowed. One, the master bath had a corner that I kept a tiny cart filled with towels. One day I moved it to clean behind and found mushrooms growing from the carpet.
> 
> Once we got rid of the carpet in the bathrooms, we cut down on athletes foot problems.


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## Jan Doling

Great job, Mallow. You are going to be so pleased with the tile....carpeting is a major source of allergy and mold problems. Tile you only have to install once. I use a steamer with a floor attachment and a terry cloth towel on mine...the heat makes them self-drying in no time and they always look just as good as the day they were installed afterwards. Thanks for keeping us posted.


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## humbug

It is really coming along nicely. 
Great job.


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## Mallow

sbin said:


> What wood are you using for trim, cabinets?


I will be figuring that out soon. I have to look at the budget and see what I can afford. I love cherry but I think the price is out of my range. I have seen Oak way to much and I don't think I want that. Anyways ill be picking something soon it seems.


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## sbin

Cherry looks great with limestone!I used cherry,limestone and green granite in my kitchen and absolutely love the way it darkens with age.If you have a lumber mill in your area you might be able to find some quality cherry at a reasonable price.Look around your area, might find a good resource.
Poplar and maple can be stained and have a fine grain pattern similar to cherry.


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## FreddyRedSox

Mallow, you are killing me. I love your house and can't wait to see more pictures of it. I live in CT and want to Move to CO and build a home similar to yours.

Fred


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## Mallow

FreddyRedSox said:


> Mallow, you are killing me. I love your house and can't wait to see more pictures of it. I live in CT and want to Move to CO and build a home similar to yours.
> 
> Fred


So is this house....killing me. j/k.

We finished putting primer on all the walls and going to pick up the paint this week to do this weekend. I will post some pictures of the progress this weekend when I get a chance. After putting 20g of primer on last weekend I could barely move.


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## Mallow

OK time for another update....yeah i'm a bit late but I have been busy. 

Here is one of the spare bedrooms:










The same color is on the wall in both non master bedrooms.

Here is the color of Dining room/Living room/Kitchen:










Master Bedroom:










Master Bath:










Other Bath:











So thats where I am at so far. We are working on flooring now and have to repaint the living room area again due to running out of paint and new gallon didnt match correctly. I will post again once we get a little farther on the flooring. It is going well just getting burnt out lately it seems. To much work and to little time.


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## Mallow

Time for another update. It has been going....fairly slowly but still progressing. We are working on the tile floor and here are some pictures...


Master Bedroom: 



















Dad asked me if I was into self punishment by doing this to myself. I swear I spent days at the tile saws.


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## Mallow

Spare Bathroom:










This is the flooring that will be going into both baths and kitchen. Only the spare bath is done so far. It goes alot faster than the slate since its all even.


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## Mallow

Freshly washed spare bedrooms:



















Anyways thats it so far. We will be starting the master bath next weekend then the living/dining room area with alot of pattern work. I can't wait to move onto trim thats for sure.


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## seedspreader

Been contemplating slate... just not convinced on the longevity of it. Why did you decide on it?


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## Mallow

seedspreader said:


> Been contemplating slate... just not convinced on the longevity of it. Why did you decide on it?


My grandmother had it in her entryway for as long as I can remember. As long as you get all the lose flakes off before sealing it good it should last a lifetime. At least what i've experienced with it. Plus I like the variations and textures.


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## silverbackMP

texican said:


> I'm trying to design my new bathrooms with a built in slope to a drain... so if there's a boo boo with the tub, sink, or toilet, the water will drain safely away, and not damage the rest of the house.
> 
> !



The bathrooms in Korea have a very high threshold in the dorway (about 6" high--same hight as a tile). They all have a drain in the middle. All tile walls over areated concrete block. Easy cleaning with a shower head that detaches. Only problem would be designing for old age--if you ever were in a wheel chair or had a walker it may be a problem.


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## Ohio dreamer

silverbackMP said:


> The bathrooms in Korea have a very high threshold in the dorway (about 6" high--same hight as a tile). They all have a drain in the middle. All tile walls over areated concrete block. Easy cleaning with a shower head that detaches. Only problem would be designing for old age--if you ever were in a wheel chair or had a walker it may be a problem.


All the bathrooms at our house here in HU have a drains in the floor, as well as a spigot comming out of the walls about knee height. It's so much easier to fill a bucket of water!! And the floors drain (yes, there is an ever so mild "tilt" to the floor, but you don't notice it)...an important feature with our 9yr boy, he just all boy!

Our family is so enjoying watching this one go up. We dream of building our own earth shelterd home in a few years, so we have enjoyed and learned along with you. The people here ask great questions, we have learned things we didn't even know we didn't know!

Keep the updates coming.


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## texican

If you cut all of the slate 'corners' off, for the little diamonds to fit in, I reckon you did spend days at the tile saw. What brand/model of saw did you use. I've only used the el cheapo saws in the past (because of the smallness of the jobs)... when I ever get around to the flooring stage of my home (right... that might be a year or more away, at my current speed) I'd like to get a nice saw...


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## Mallow

texican said:


> If you cut all of the slate 'corners' off, for the little diamonds to fit in, I reckon you did spend days at the tile saw. What brand/model of saw did you use. I've only used the el cheapo saws in the past (because of the smallness of the jobs)... when I ever get around to the flooring stage of my home (right... that might be a year or more away, at my current speed) I'd like to get a nice saw...


Well actually I ended up using 2 wet saws. Both chinese crappy ones. One was a 10" that I borrowed from my brothers and the other is a cheap 7" that we made a jigg for to cut off all the corners. It worked well but man does it make a mess slinging water everywhere. Anyways both are cheap crappy ones but works well enough for doing an entire house in tile I guess.


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## sbin

Mallow,
Very nice work!
If you didn't do it yet make sure you seal the stone beofre grouting.


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## Jennifer Brewer

Mallow- the land looks beautiful- and I can really invision the home shaping up! It's going to be beautiful. You've done alot of things that I hope to do in my future home someday.

I think we have the same tast in tile too! I have a very similar slate on my fireplace and backsplash- it came out great. I painted the walls behind the slate a warm orange and it really looks great. I know orange sounds crazy- but it looks beautiful and it's just an accent color. My other walls are a dark greyish/ greenish/ taupish color, an apple green accent wall, and muted turqouis in the entry. Like I said, it sounds wild and too dark- but it looks great.

I would love to see photos of the bath as you get the tile going... I am hoping to remodel my bath, but I was afraid the slate would be too dark and masculine in a small room, so I was considering doing something else...

You're really getting my creative juices going! 
Keep up the great work!


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## Mallow

sbin said:


> Mallow,
> Very nice work!
> If you didn't do it yet make sure you seal the stone beofre grouting.


Yeah the plan is to clean it and get all the residue off it. Seal it really well. Grout everything, clean it all again, then finally seal it again. Hopefully this will work out well.


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## melco

bump.


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## happydog

Wow, great house! Any updates?


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## highlands

Mallow said:


> Sheetrock I see as a necessary evil in todays times unless you have a way to harvest and saw the wood yourself it seems price prohibitive.


I've done a lot of sheetrocking over the years. For our house we parged the interior and the exterior with fiber concrete. For walls we wanted white we used white portland cement in the mix. For other walls we used the white with tinting pigments to get earth tones. The results are beautiful, rugged, durable and washable. Just don't go trying to punch holes in the walls - they're 4" to 12" of concrete...  Difficulty-wise it was about the same as doing sheetrock but much more flexible. I'm about to build another structure and will do the same thing all over again.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog/
http://HollyGraphicArt.com/
http://NoNAIS.org


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## highlands

Mallow said:


> I am leaving room for a fireplace along the wall of the living room for a future project. I want to make sure I wont have issues getting house insurance before putting it in.


We heat entirely with wood. We also get enough passive solar gain and have enough thermal mass (>100,000 lbs in 252 sq-ft) that even if we didn't heat the house it will still stay well above freezing up all winter here in the mountains of northern Vermont. We haven't even bermed the house yet - when we do it should perform even better. Right now we get hit by the north-west wind in the winter on the back side.

However, we do have one of those portable oil filled electric heaters for emergencies to keep the insurance company happy to make sure that if for some reason we were gone for days in the middle of the 

As to wood heat being an issue, the agent told us they are looking for you to follow standard safety practices for distances to combustible materials and chimney height (3') above the highest point of the roof within 10'. These are all good basic design criteria that I follow anyways. This isn't to say there aren't some insurance companies that just don't get it and simply ban all wood heat. I've never dealt with one of those probably because we're in Vermont where most people have wood heat.

Speaking of insurance our old agent (AllState) told us that we could not get a break for having built an all concrete, stone and brick house that was inflammable. Yes the contents could burn, but our house can't and that slows a fire down a heck of a lot and makes it do a lot less damage. I found that another insurance company (Farm Family) will give us a massive break for the method of construction. We switched companies and now pay far less for much better coverage.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog/
http://HollyGraphicArt.com/
http://NoNAIS.org


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## Mallow

happydog said:


> Wow, great house! Any updates?


I will be posting an update next weekend. We are finally finishing up the master bath tile work. We have been sort of stuck in there for way to long.


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## ericjeeper

To seal your slate floors.. I used a product from "Quickrete" Called wet look sealer. man does it leave a nice durable acrylic finish. Our slate has been down since middle of the winter and the gloss still shines like the day I put it on.








House is looking great. I laid all my own ceramic tile. I saved enough in labor cost to just about pay for the time I took off work to build the entire house. Labor for tile around here is 3.50-4.00$ a square foot. I have over 1900 square feet of ceramic and slate in my house.
http://www.pbase.com/ericjeeper/image/90982905


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## Mallow

ericjeeper said:


> To seal your slate floors.. I used a product from "Quickrete" Called wet look sealer. man does it leave a nice durable acrylic finish. Our slate has been down since middle of the winter and the gloss still shines like the day I put it on.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> House is looking great. I laid all my own ceramic tile. I saved enough in labor cost to just about pay for the time I took off work to build the entire house. Labor for tile around here is 3.50-4.00$ a square foot. I have over 1900 square feet of ceramic and slate in my house.
> http://www.pbase.com/ericjeeper/image/90982905


Yep thats what I ended up going with. I tried the "Pro Sealer" from the same company and it was horrible. Went back and got the High Gloss version and it looks awesome. Going to be grouting some next weekend.


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## Mallow

Ok time for the promised update. Man things seem to be going slow but here goes....

*Flooring*

Sealed the two spare bedrooms with High Gloss acrylic sealer:



















Master all cleaned up ready to be sealed but had to wait till it dried out enough:










*Master Bath*

This has to be the longest we have spent on any project for the house to date:




























We still have to put the chair rail on top of the lisetto border and finish up the walls in the shower stall.


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## Mallow

*Sola Tubes*

I wanted to just put in a quick note as to how happy I am with them after putting up the final peices and the Fresnel diffuser. They make an amazing difference:










The light in the picture is a 16w CFL not sure how many lumens but you can see some comparison.










These 2 are in the back of the kitchen. I need to take some without the flash...maybe next weekend.

Here is the glowing spare throne room.....











Anyways thats all I have for everyone at the moment. Hopefully get some tile grouted and finish the master bathroom tile next weekend since its a full 3 days for me. 

-Mallow


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## Cornhusker

Wow, I really like those floors.


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## Mallow

Another quick update. We finished the tile work in the master bath. 



















We did the grout last night so its a mess in there right now. I will take another pic once we get all the haze off the tile.


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## MELOC

photobucket has this awesome feature now that allows a person to RESIZE the pics to a reasonable display size...all at once! if you RESIZE the pics, folks would be able to view this thread without scrolling from side to side to read the text. if people RESIZE their pics to no bigger than 800 x 600 before posting them on a thread, it makes viewing the post so much more comfortable.


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## HockeyFan

I'm a bit jealous. Your progress is great. My own project (at http://www.freewebs.com/stocktonunderground) is going severely slow. I'm glad that you're doing so well and wish you well on getting it completed.


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## ericjeeper

Excellent job.. That shows a man that takes pride in his home.


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## Mallow

Time for another update. We ran out of slate and had to order 2 more pallets. The damage / ugly rate was a bit higher than expected but what can you do. So in turn we moved on to doing the kitchen floor and ordered the kitchen cabinets. Here is the flooring that we have done for the kitchen:



















Thats before any sealer but after grout/cleaning. I will begin to seal it this weekend since the cabinets will show up the following week.

Just wanted to let everyone know that I am still around  just moving slowly on the house. Flooring is still taking forever it seems.


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## EarthSheltered

My DH keeps talking about building another Earth Sheltered Home. I keep reminding him how much work 'do it yourself' construction really is. His answer is always "but we can work on it in our spare time!" I honestly have no idea what spare time he is talking about...

Mallow, it will all be so worth it when you are done. And your photos and updates will be appreciated in the future by your kids, or next owners of the house. Not that you are ever going to want to sell, after all this work!


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## sbin

Looking great!
The drop/waste on slate is always higher as the stone breaks easily and has some serious defects because of the way it is split.


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## cfabe

Mallow, I missed the last update but I am in awe of your tile work, it is absolutely gorgeous and really looks first-rate. Keep up the good work, I am sure your house is going to be amazing when it's complete.


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## Mallow

well since the last update I have managed to get the cabinets here and most of the uppers assembled.



















They were ordered online and are maple stained cherry. They come in flat boxes and take about 20 min each to assemble with a staple gun, hot glue and some clamps. So far I am impressed with the quality of the cabinets and the company but will hold off final evaluation till they are all on the walls. I will be doing a panoramic view across the glass uppers with either etched glass or stained (When I get more free time. I knew art classes would come in handy). Anyways thats all for now.


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## quietstar

You have a good looking home that shows the results of a lot of love and hard work. The energy savings for a home snugged into the earth for thermal moderating is a concept that appears very attractive in this Texas climate. After about 38 years as a home appraiser, I must make one concern/caution that might serve you well to keep on your mind..TERMITES! Every inground home I've examined was badly infested and or destroyed by termites or their Borer cousins. I'm sure you prepared as best you could, but that large structure/ground contact area may prove too much in your WV climate. I wish you well...Glen


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## Mallow

quietstar said:


> You have a good looking home that shows the results of a lot of love and hard work. The energy savings for a home snugged into the earth for thermal moderating is a concept that appears very attractive in this Texas climate. After about 38 years as a home appraiser, I must make one concern/caution that might serve you well to keep on your mind..TERMITES! Every inground home I've examined was badly infested and or destroyed by termites or their Borer cousins. I'm sure you prepared as best you could, but that large structure/ground contact area may prove too much in your WV climate. I wish you well...Glen



Luckily all that are wood is the rafters/OSB for the roof. The outside walls are all concrete with blue foam insulation on the inside of that. I am sure I will have to watch out for them though coming into the rafters since they are fairly low to the ground. Thanks for the heads up though.


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## NickyBlade

I absolutely LOVE your tile work! The whole house is great! I'll be sure to continue watching this thread.


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## Mallow

Just another quick update. The cabinets all arrived not to long ago. They arrived by freight on two long pallets which we had to unload and bring into the house:










They went together fairly easy. The only ones that took extra work was the lazy susan and spice rack. 

The uppers:










On the walls:



















Dont mind the dust on the lense on the last two.

Anyways hopefully the other two pallets of slate show up soon so we can finish the flooring finally.

-Mallow


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## cindy-e

Looking good there, Mallow. Thanks for the update. 

Cindyc.


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## gccrook

Maybe I missed it, but did you say where you ordered your cabinets? Looking real good so far.


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## Rockin'B

I'd sure appreciate knowing where to order knock down cabinets as well.

That looks great!


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## Mallow

I just hate to advertise on forums that I dont know if its politically correct. Since people are asking I dealt with Johnny Scott at http://www.kitchenspro.com/ He has been a great help with the design and changes and suggestions. I have had a few issues with one of the items but they were quick to send a replacement free of charge and free freight shipping for the replacement. If you have all your measurements it only took a couple hours for Johnny to have me a drawing available. I have all glass uppers because I want to do a scenic glass etching in time to come. Anyways I would recommend them in a heartbeat. 

You do need to have a few tools available. Staple gun (1/4"x3/4") which i ended up buying a Bostitch air compressor kit (Around $300 with 3 guns and Lowes), hot glue, rubber mallet, wood glue, screw driver. square and some clamps. Also having two people is almost required and I couldn't imagine trying it solo.

If you guys have any questions let me know.


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## Mallow

It has been a while since updates but things are going kinda slow it seems. I have most of the kitchen done except appliance hookup, countertops and glass in the cabinets. 










It has alot of stuff just sitting around but its hard to find places to store things. I really need a garage soon.

Here is the dining/living room flooring. We have did the first cleaning but no sealer/grout. 




























Anyways things are still moving along and I am ordering trim/doors this week finally. That will keep me busy up till around the new year im sure.


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## Jerngen

Love the floor!!!


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## ericjeeper

That slate with the in lays looks great.


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## Ohio dreamer

Those floor are beautiful. I better no show DH or he'll start trying to figure out what it would take to put them on our 100+ yr old house!!


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## Mallow

Time for another update after a few days off for deer hunting. I just needed a break and it helped alot. Well here is the finished floor in the living/dining room area.



















Basically had it looking nice for about a day till we covered it all up with tarps since we are painting trim in that area (only place long enough for 16' trimwork). Here is all the trimwork sitting in the master.










Here is some of it painted...










Here are some of the crown.










And some casing on non painted doors.










Anyways thats all. I know its been a while but things always get busy with hunting and so forth around this time of year 

-Mallow


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## Mallow

Time for another requested update. I have been slacking on the updates but I have been busy it seems. Here is one of the window seats in the spare bedroom.










Hallway wainscoting and trim.










Living/Dining room area.










Things are coming along decently just taking a while. Hopefully I will finish up before to many more years it seems  Actually I am on the finishing steps which is nice.

-Mallow


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## AnnieinBC

You're doing a beautiful job! Keep the pics coming!

Annie


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## Bramble

wow it looks fantastic! I'm totally jealous of your bathroom. I have to admit the bath is one place where i'm not completely the crunchy hippy- i need long hot showers and big deep bathtubs lol the tile looks wonderful.


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## Mallow

Wow it has been like 2 months since i've last posted pictures....and things have been hectic for not looking like much is getting done. I hope to be in the house in a month or so at least so things must be progressing. Even if it seems to be going slower than dirt. 

The granite was delivered today and wow what a difference it makes to the kitchen. 










Dont mind the clamps. They are holding on the dishwasher metal attachment thingy.










I ended up having 1 seam. You can tell its there but overall it looks pretty good I think.










Nice deep sink and fairly large. I can at least hide a few dishes in there before having to wash them.

I have the glass ordered for the cabinets but apparently it takes a while to get decorative glass cut and tempered. 

Here is the double vanity for the master bath. 










Continued in the next post.


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## Mallow

I ended up ordering 3 closet organizers from easyclosets.com. I wanted to see the quality before deciding what to do with my master closet. 


Small bedrooms look like these (The drawer faces need adjusting but didn't get to it yet):











Hall closet:









Needless to say I was impressed with the quality and ordered the ones for my master closet and they are waiting on me to install. 

Overall I think things are going fairly well all in all. It has taken alot of time to finish up the trim work, touch up painting, filling seams with chaulking and so forth. I just wanted to post and update on how things are going and hopefully the finish line for the inside soon. I am worn out thats for sure after 2 yrs of this.

-Mallow


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## FreddyRedSox

Mallow, you're killing me - if you don't finish this project (at least the posted portion) how will I know what my retirement home is going to look like.

Please update - I've been following you for 3 years now.

Fred


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## Mallow

FreddyRedSox said:


> Mallow, you're killing me - if you don't finish this project (at least the posted portion) how will I know what my retirement home is going to look like.
> 
> Please update - I've been following you for 3 years now.
> 
> Fred


I'll post another update after this weekend. I am basically done inside and cleaning out everything to move in. Its been hectic but almost there. 


-Mallow


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## Mallow

Here is the house pre move in. Almost all inside work is done and we have started on the outside stone work finally.

Master Bath:




























Master Bedroom:


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## Mallow

Living Room:



















Kitchen:



















Pantry:


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## Mallow

Main Bath:



















Master Closet:


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## salmonslayer

Very tasteful and classy, I have been wondering how it was going. The floors and tile work came out fantastic. Congrats!


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## Windy_jem

Beautiful!!!


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## wyld thang

WOW! that is a beautiful house, a beautiful job! I hope you post some pix with the furniture in? and the finished outside? 

The tile is beautiful!!!

(I just have to say too that carpeting in bathrooms is one of the most disgusting nasty things ever invented.)


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## Ode

It is so lovely, you have much to be proud of in your new home.  

Two questions:how big is your pantry, and did you do the shelves yourself or did you purchase a kit (like you did for your closets)? It seems like you will have an easy time keeping things organized with all of your storage solutions.


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## bigfoot2you

All I can say is WOW!! Absolutely beautiful!


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## Mallow

wyld thang said:


> WOW! that is a beautiful house, a beautiful job! I hope you post some pix with the furniture in? and the finished outside?


The stone veneer is sitting outside on pallets at the moment. We will be starting that process this weekend. I would be glad to post some furniture pics as soon as I get some. I will be buying furniture as I go so the only thing I have currently ordered is the bedroom set and my office setup so I can work fairly comfortably. 

-Mallow


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## Mallow

Ode said:


> It is so lovely, you have much to be proud of in your new home.
> 
> Two questions:how big is your pantry, and did you do the shelves yourself or did you purchase a kit (like you did for your closets)? It seems like you will have an easy time keeping things organized with all of your storage solutions.


The pantry is 8x6 or so. We built the shelves using plywood and 4x4 posts for the most part in there. I wanted to be able to fit a chest freezer in that location to so didn't really want to go with the same closet setup as I did with the other closets. I tried to build as much storage into the house as possible due to not having a basement and no garage built yet. Hopefully it will have enough space for all my junk until I can afford a garage. Thanks again everyone for all the praise  It has been a very long road and its finally coming to a close at least for the house, of course there is always garage, garden, orchard, greenhouse, pond...such a long list and not enough time or money 

-Mallow


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## FreddyRedSox

When do we get to see the bloopers reel? This house is too perfect - there has got to some Awwh C(&P moments?

Only kidding Mallow, it truly is a beautiful home and shows that you have the patience to do things correct the first time. Thank you for updating us. Looking forward to future pictures.

If it's not to personal any idea what the house cost to build in square footage terms?

Freddy


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## Mallow

FreddyRedSox said:


> When do we get to see the bloopers reel? This house is too perfect - there has got to some Awwh C(&P moments?
> 
> Only kidding Mallow, it truly is a beautiful home and shows that you have the patience to do things correct the first time. Thank you for updating us. Looking forward to future pictures.
> 
> If it's not to personal any idea what the house cost to build in square footage terms?
> 
> Freddy


Bloopers reel would include having to hammer up about 8 slate tiles when we didnt get the pattern started right in the living room. I don't foresee any bonding problems because that took hours alone. The trimwork also had several issues but we managed to hide most of them fairly well. Most of those fixes wouldnt have worked if it was stained wood. Master closet we had one of the vertical panels fall off the track on the wall and bust up like 4 peices of the closet. The list goes on and on but you just deal with it and move on. 

As for the cost based on the bank loan vs sqft its right around $65 but thats nowhere near correct. I would guesstimate between $90-100 psf with our time donated of course. I have all the reciepts in an overflowing box that one day ill actually sit down to add up. I tried to keep some of the costs down but I wanted a very specific look/feel for the house. I shopped around alot, used 10% off Lowes coupons on almost every trip, ordered alot of the stuff online to get better deals/no tax. I almost think I spent more time shopping/finding/sourcing what I wanted than actually working on the house or at least it seems that way now.

-Mallow


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## 7thswan

You do Beautiful work. Choice of colors,Awsome!


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## tnokie

Mallow you are to be commended! You are for sure an artisan. Hgtv needs to get you to build their dream home for giveaway. Your work is as beautiful if not more so than that done by their experts! Congrats on your beautiful new home. Can't wait to see the finnish.


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## AnnieinBC

It all looks so wonderful! Simply gorgeous!!!

Annie


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## woodly1069

I know it's been a while since anything was posted about this but I was wondering how the project has come along. You have done beautiful work and I am interested how you are getting along in the new abode...


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## simplegirl

Absolutely beautiful and very tastefully chosen colors and finishes. I am jealous....


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## Mallow

Well as Woodly has pointed out it has been a while since I posted here. Since the start of the project I am now married and have a son which wasn't expected when starting the project so some things have changed. We have been living in the house for about 3 years now and everything is fantastic with the house. We do need to add an energy reclaim ventilator and maybe a house whole house dehumidifier but other projects keep coming up first. We have built a large detached garage that includes a canning kitchen, fruit cellar, work space and family space which is about 60% done if we could ever get them to deliver the garage doors the outside would be completed. A few other projects that have come up have been the orchard, raising 100 Rainbow Trout in a spring fed farm trough, orchard irrigation, large garden and various other things. We are installing inverters yet this year for our solar power but things should eventually slow down enough to actually enjoy some of these things more. If you guys have any questions please feel free to ask and ill check back before to long and answer what I can.

Thanks
-Mallow


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## woodly1069

Hey Mallow, thanks for the reply and congrats on the new addition to the family! Just wondering about the dehumidifier, in your opinion, is this a necessary item in an earth bermed home? I assume the ground water is weeping into the concrete walls or something?


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## EarthSheltered

woodly1069 said:


> Hey Mallow, thanks for the reply and congrats on the new addition to the family! Just wondering about the dehumidifier, in your opinion, is this a necessary item in an earth bermed home? I assume the ground water is weeping into the concrete walls or something?


I'm sure Mallow will come on and answer your question, but until he does, I'll fill in. We are in our second ES home (earth sheltered). The first we built in 1980, and moved in immediately. We ran a de-humidifier on and off for the first year, and only occasionally after that. We had a woodstove running most of the winter months (also heated our hot water till solar kicked back in), which helped.

The new house, which we moved into a month ago, does not require a de-humidifier. In fact, when we take showers, we often leave the bathroom door open, to let some of the humidity out into the main house. The humidity stays at 50-53%. 

We did not move as fast on this house, as we had the farmhouse to live in, plus we built it in our 'spare' time. Took over two years, but worth it. It resembles the original ES home we built, but there have been some improvements in building materials since then. The foundation was open to weather to dry out the first summer, went under roof in November.

The key, IMHO, under the floor went 3" of blue styrofoam, a layer of plastic sheeting, then 8" of crushed stone on top of styrofoam, then poured the concrete. 3" of styrofoam went on outside of front frost footer as well. 3" on the OUTSIDE of the block walls, those outside walls were also painted with 2 coats of thoroseal. We used a 8" A block wall system, and while it was laid, we put short pieces of high tensile wire (left over from farm fencing) every couple of feet, so we we placed the styrofoam against the wall, it was 'impaled' on there and didn't move when we backfilled. A 2 x 12 pressure treated plate married the block and styrofoam at the top of the wall to finish.

On the inside walls we used two coats of masonry waterprooofer (Quikrete), then stud and drywall. On the metal roof we put 2' centers with heavy rafters with styrofoam batts, then 'bubble wrap' over that. Then drywall over that. 

This home is 2500' sq feet (1900 sq foot living space 600' storage), that stays in the 50 degree area with no heat. We are currently just chugging along with a propane (30,000 BTU) heater on the back wall in the utility room. We do light fires in the woodstove just for the visual. We just checked the propane gauge, we have used 125 gallons in the last three months, but that includes the hot water heater. The wood stove would easily heat this as well, maybe too well. In fact, we currently have a window cracked in the back room because this house is pretty tight. 

My DH wants me to mention that the heat is constant because of the tremendous thermal mass. Neither one of us would even consider building any other type of home in the future, but I personally will be happy spending the rest of my days right here!! 

I'm sure I've forgotten something important, so if you have any questions, please feel free to ask. :grin:


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## Mallow

woodly1069 said:


> Hey Mallow, thanks for the reply and congrats on the new addition to the family! Just wondering about the dehumidifier, in your opinion, is this a necessary item in an earth bermed home? I assume the ground water is weeping into the concrete walls or something?


Honestly the entire house is fine except the bathroom. I think its so air tight that the externally vented fan can't pull enough air into the house to vent it outside. I am looking at some other options in the future besides the dehumidifier but currently that is the only area it is run. 

Also a small update on other things going on around the house....

1) My Outback Flexpower 2 Power panel has finally shipped from Outback. We will be installing this along with 16 panels in the coming months. 

2) We just picked up our 100 rainbow trout for our trough. This is up from the 50 last year so hopefully everything goes well. We are adding some hydroponics to help filter the water in the early spring. We have a hard time growing leaf lettuce here so I can't wait for the growbeds to be up and running.


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## Sanza

Beautiful job on your house!
Congratulations on building your family!


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