Why Green?

Why indeed? Over the course of the last three years we have been on a home design odyssey of sorts. While going through the process of designing a house, not building it, then designing a different house in the span of 2yrs I never really stopped thinking about the first house in terms of materials and designs. Once you starting paying attention to details or ads in magazines or things on blogs you just cant turn it off.

At the same time, seeing some of the things we were talking about doing in iteration #1 of 3935 Eddy st. spurred the GC to learn more about those products. He recognized there was a distinct movement towards these products, and sought out providers in the area to understand more. The spray foam insulation came directly from his urging to use the product. He suggested it for two reasons: it was incredibly efficient, and it would help dampen sound. Ed knew we were trying to be as energy efficient as possible, and knew this was the foundation to that.



So here we are. This is the aftermath of one of the insulators attacking the kitchen wall with a large reciprocating knife that shaved the walls. It makes sense this would be the way to ensure a level surface, but its incredibly messy and time consuming. I know there isnt a better way to do it, but its a tedious process that takes as much or more time as applying the spray foam in the first place. Great news is you can pack huge bags full of the stuff and they still dont way anything; making it way easier to collect and dispose of.



Here is the finished and cleaned up product. This is the east wall of the master bedroom. When you are standing there looking at this finished, it just feels solid. Part of it is how dampened the sound is compared to our current location - the juxtaposition between the two houses noise-wise is greater from our house with the alley noise - but nonetheless better. I really like the way the product filled the space, and now truly know how solid a home we have built.


A close up of the shaved wall. You can see the inconsistencies in it. The variance and inconsistencies are what the product is defined by so its to be expected, but its interesting to see just how much of the space has been taken up by foam. Once you start to tally up the layers of defense this house has to the outside elements, its truly going to be the opposite of current home: quiet and consistently one temperature.


Here is a picture of the closed cell spray foam we are using on the foundation wall. Closed cell insulation is both a vapor and water barrier. If there is seepage from the foundation, it will move down through the space in between the foam and the wall. If you think back, we put the PVC "collar" under the cement slab in the basement to direct water on the wall down into the drain tile, and away from the walls. This dovetails in with that and helps to direct the water directly into this channel, and thereby, the drain til. The rest of the house is done with open cell spray foam. Open cell is a vapor barrier only. Both products are great, but the closed cell is typically only used on a masonry wall, and typically just in a basement.

They insulators finished yesterday and left the house just slightly worse for the wear. There will be 225 sheets of drywall delivered to the house on Monday. All of the drywall should be hung by Thursday, and could be finished with taping and sanding by the end of the following week. That means the wood floors could be in by the end of the month, and then its just on to the tile and cabinets. We are doing really well from a timing perspective. I think there is a chance we can be into the house by Thanksgiving. We shall see.

Still have to address the garage issue, which I will do soon. Its a plaguing topic.