Seawell Ave Shotgun - Energy Star Qualified!

The Seawell Shotgun house is finished! It got finished just as a tornado was blowing overhead! I was in the house working when the storm blew over - fortunately it held together and no damage to the house. The 'hood looked like a war zone, but it's all better now. I used a British door like on my house, it looks great!

The Living room has a 16' high cathedral ceiling with original exposed beams and new whitewashed tongue-in-groove pine. With large windows and a skylight, it seems so much larger than the
exterior indicates.

The efficient kitchen has granite counters and recycled glass mosiac backsplash which look great with the stainless steel appliances!

The bathroom is larger than you would expect to find in a 700 square foot home! Very comfortable and filled with light from the skylight.

The bedroom area was originally the kitchen and bathroom, so the flooring was not salvagable. We put eco-friendly bamboo in. The door to the exterior from the bedroom goes out to the deck and backyard.

In the winter, or if we can get rid of the Kudzu, there is a view of the Raleigh skyline from the deck!

What's Next? Another house! 313 Seawell

We just started the 8th house in the Oakwood Cottages project. This one is our "bonus" house - it wasn't planned as part of the redevelopment, but recently became available. It sits just across the street from the solar house, 316 Seawell, and it is a shotgun house.

This time I have designed a home that will remain the current size of the house, 704 square feet. This will be a 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom home. The house has been totally gutted, and will be renovated using as many green construction practices as we can use. It will also be insulated with Icynene Spray Foam so it's sure to be energy efficient to live in - and cozy!

The house was originally built with a pier foundation, so we are adding new footers and a curtain wall foundation. The footers were dug out earlier this week, and since the weather is cooperating with some warm temperatures, we poured concrete today.

The plans for this house call for a beautiful cathedral ceiling in the great room, with exposed ceiling joists. The kitchen will be galley style, and open to the LR. The bedroom will be large - with a large closet. I am hoping we will be able to save all the original heart-pine flooring.

The house will be built to be wheel chair accessible.

Keep checking back to watch the progress! Hopefully this one will be finished by April!

Sir Walter Raleigh Award

Thanks to all who were a part of creating Oakwood Cottages! Last night I accepted a 2010 Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Residential Community Projects from the City of Raleigh.

It is an honor to work with some great folks - thanks! Some pics of the Award ceremony will follow soon!

Interior just about finished

So, the house is almost finished. In addition to being "green", it's a comfortable, well planned and liveable home. So far the Solar PV has generated $187 in electricity and I've used $78 in electricity in the last two months! Not bad!

The radiant floor heat is now ready - just in time as we'll be getting some cold weather soon!

Here is the Livingroom with the first piece of new furniture - a red leather couch! The rest should be in next week.

This shot shows the dining area and kitchen. The wood on the kitchen bar is rough-hewn heart pine from another house I renovated last year.

Kitchen with concrete counters, glass mosiac backsplash and stainless steel appliances with a farmhouse sink.

This antique Set-back cabinet is about 100 years old. This house is a blend of new and old.

This shot is of the built-in hall tree at the rear entrance. The door at the left is the entrance to the downstairs bathroom.

Two story livingroom - the leaded glass windows at the top look from the upstairs home office.

Antique stainglass door at the top of the stairs. The door and windows allow the upstairs to be closed off for air temperature and sound control.

This is the office looking into the master bedroom. These doors were repurposed from a house I renovated several years ago.

The master bedroom has a fireplace (to the left of the doors) called "The Torch". Floors are Hickory.

The master bedroom ceiling is vaulted, tongue-and-groove pine pickled white.

Five foot high wainstcoting covers two of the master bedroom walls.

Antique doors re-used in the bathroom.

Master bathroom.

Delinquent Blog update!!

Ok, so I'm a bad, bad blogger. I have been so incredibly busy working on the house that I have not taken the time to blog about it. On the outside of the house, the painting is done (except for touch ups) and the landscaping is in. Thanks to Alan Wilser from T-1 Earthcare for a great job!!! All native plants except for the one Weeping Cherry tree that I insisted on - because I like them. The landscape will require very little if any irrigation once it's established. Besides that - it looks great and has a few edible plants!

The interior is taking shape nicely. Just last week we passed all the trades inspections - Mechanical, Plumbing and Electrical. I'm proud of myself for installing the HVAC with no background and passing inspection on the first try! Now we'll see if the units work when the power is on!

This shot is of the area near the ceiling in the living room - antique leaded glass windows - will open for airflow and close to keep air out of my office when desireable. Also good for sound control.

The corner of the Living Room has my "splurge" gas fireplace. Very cool soapstone fireplace. Of course, these days don't inspire fireplaces since it's been over 100 in the house for most days in the last few weeks.

Here is a shot of the house from front towards the kitchen. I'm looking forward to the antique stepback cabinet being delivered - I'm reusing this old furniture and reducing the new cabinets required - very green, plus it looks cool!

Great tile work if I do say so myself. My daugher in law loves the house, but hates that there is no bath tub. She says "No woman will ever buy this house". Ok with me!

The crew from Southern Energy Management installed the solar thermal collectors a few weeks ago. It was really hot outside - I didn't envy their jobs! These 4 collectors heat a tank (see below) filled with almost 200 gallons of water.

On the top level roof the crew is installing the PV panels. They should be done in 2 more days - 20 panels will generate lots more electricity than I will likely use. It will all get sold to the grid for a price near 25 cents per Kilowatt hour, which is nice because I'll buy my electricity for 10 cents per Kilowatt hour. That and the 65% in tax credits sure make this a good deal!

Here is a photo of the 200 gallon tank in the attic - this is now operating (when I plug the pump into an extension cord). It generates tons of hot water from the solar panels. In the winter the other heat exchanger will circulate water thru the floors to heat the house.

So, tomorrow I'm scheduled for my final inspections - hope to pass and get my CO so I can get the power on. That will allow me to start up my A/C and be able to work in cooler temperatures installing trim and upstairs flooring as well as cleaning and sealing the concrete floors on the first floor.

Soon some hardscaping the backyard will go in - a paver patio/driveway, pergola, fire pit and seat wall will be up against the back of the house, with 720 square feet of space left next to the alley/driveway access for the other Oakwood Cottage houses to create a nice veggie garden!

As soon as it gets a bit cooler I'll replace my neighbor's old chain link fence with a new white picket fence and some fresh landscaping. She has been great - allowing me and my construction crews to use her land to access my house. It's nice to have such good neighbors!

Major progress!

It's nice to have a garage door! It makes the house look so much more finished and is more secure than the plywood nailed up over the opening!








The glass block is done in the master bathroom shower, tile will go in soon.








The walls are being primed inside now, and electrical fixtures/lights are going in. This is looking cool!








The stairs are in - railings will look really cool - galvanized pipe! They will be done this week.








The front door is an antique - from England, which explains why the door knob is so high up. The door was caked with layers of paint - it took 3 days to refinish, but it's beautiful! The rear doors will be fiberglass Energy Star doors, but I couldn't resist this door.

All of the interior doors will be antique - some from other houses I've done, some antiques from Englad with awesome stained glass! It will be a nice contrast to the modern floors and fixtures.

Stamped Concrete; Getting ready for Insuation!

Last week the concrete trucks pulled up. Tri City Contractors added some color I had selected to the mix.

... and poured a bunch of concrete on the front and back porches...

then stamped a pattern in... now it looks like slate! Very cool!

As an added bonus, they had a move a big pile of dirt which was in their way, so the guys buried the rainwater tank!

Inside, progress continues. Southern Energy Management has placed the large storage tank for the Solar Thermal heaters. This tank will supply heat for both domestic hot water and the radiant floor system. The electrical is in - Thanks JOHN ENZOR! Rural Plumbing did an great job on the plumbing; but not so good on the Gas Piping. I'm now waiting for them to fix what they didn't do right and after they PROMISED me it would be done last week (including talking to them 3 times on Friday) and they didn't show up, I'm a bit peeved, to say the least.

I did the installation of the Ductless Mini Split heatpumps myself. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't too complicated. Just a lot of work. I also installed all the vents and fans. I'm using this really cool system from Broan - the Smart Sense system. The bathroom fans are all wired on the same circuit with an outside air damper. This lets them talk to each other. When a bathroom fan is manually turned on, the damper opens and lets enough outside air in for the fan to work effectively. I can also program the fans to come on so that there are enough fresh air exchanges to keep the air fresh in the house - a concern with the tightness of the house.

So, soon the insulation will go in, then drywall!

In the mean time, I've been refinishing a bunch of antique doors - more on that later!