Windows boxes in the making. The windows will sit inside these boxes but won't necessarily be as big as the boxes. The box on the far right in this picture (R) will hold a 3X4 slider with a window seat/storage underneath. The box to the left (behind Sam) will be a French door.







Same boxes from the SE corner (that's Sam again). That's the N MBR window Sam is standing in front of. It will also have a storage box underneath.




And, a view form the SW corner.

Well, the bales come tomorrow so will have more pictures of that and then on Saturday it's the wall-raising. By Monday there will be walls-what a difference that will make.

Until then, keep your bales dry!

Slab City

Well, now we really have to do something... all that concrete has been poured, there's no going back. Not that we want to but it's still a little scary. A bit like finding out you're pregnant!








As we walked around the slab last night it was fun to imagine where everything would be once finished. It will be a nice cozy home. The difficult part is imaging everything we currently have in our house sitting on that slab. Seems impossible but will be an opportunity to get rid of more STUFF! Here's another view of stuff

Speaking of stuff, I've been stocking up on things from ebay, faucets, light fixtures, cabinet hardware. Things that I find and like; if you have the time to shop you can get some terrific deals on eBay. One of the cool things about a house the size we're building is there isn't a lot of "stuff" needed which allows us the ability to go to another level quality wise. And, I'm going for low maintenance, high durability in the regular use items (faucets, toilets) because I don't want to spend lots of time on upkeep. I also think it's best to spend as much as you can afford on items you touch everyday because it's just too difficult to have to interact with something on a daily basis that just doesn't please you (hmmmm, could refer to many things in life).

Here's a picture of a bathroom faucet I picked up on eBay. I like the sleek look and low number of nooks and crannies for soap scum to build up, along with all the other stuff that goes with dark, damp crannies. I'm not a germophobe and my mother used to say "Everyone eats a peck of dirt before they die." I don't buy antibacterial soap; certain bacteria are beneficial but I do like for things to be clean, not spotless, not pristine, not sterile but clean. It's stainless so has a bit of a modernist feel and should last forever.

I'm now looking for toilet info. Weren't you just hoping I'd bring up toilets. I think I have it narrowed down to a Caroma from Australia or a TOTO. If you have personal experience (well, uhh, not too personal) let me know. My numero uno criteria for this fixture: It flushes with ONE flush! A 1.6 gal flush means nothing if you always have to do it twice.

BUILDING STAGE

Bales are ordered and the wall-raising is on for April 8. Window and door boxes will be built along with the roof-bearing assembly. The trusses are also ordered.

Until next time, Keep your straw dry!

WooHooo!!! We passed the pre-slab inspection!! Slab will be poured by the end of the week!!!

Wall-raising will be April 8!!

StrawBoss

StrawbaleRedux
...should say April 8 at 0800...

We have a date for the wall-raising. April * at 0800!!!

StrawbaleRedux
Happy Birthday to my Mom. Today is her 80th!
We passed the second inspection and things are moving along with the slab. We hope to have the rebar completed by Friday, have that inspected and be able to pour next week. We have a tentative date of April 8 for the Wallraising. This is getting exciting! It's so much fun (but a lot of hard work) to see the walls go up and then it suddenly looks like a house. Soon after follows the roof-then it's all the really hard inside work. I think that's what fools most people about strawbale building, it looks like a house long before it really is. It's has been a misconception that your pour a slab, you have a wall-raising, slap on a roof and Voila!-you have a house. Wrong. Follow along with us and you will see.

StrawbaleRedux
We passed our first inspection!!
Well, almost....
There was a problem with a vent, it was a flat vent and you can't do it here! Don't you love building? Anyway, it was an easy fix, the inspector will return tomorrow morning and then on to slab.
Time to order those bales!

StrawbaleRedux
My plans for updating have fallen short already! Mostly because I started a Master's program and nothing really exciting has happened building wise. However that is changing. I will have pictures of progress soon!

Later that same day...
Stopped by the site to see the progress the plumber had made and take some pictures. Even though it may look very similar to the previous pictures, there's a huge difference--especially in the bank account! It does look great to see the black pipe sticking up and gives me a better idea of rooms and where things will be located. It still looks very small as there are no points of reference but I know from experience that perspective changes as the walls go up.



Building is such a frustrating experience because so much of it depends on others. Others over whom you have little or no control. We thought we had a plumber lined up and after playing phone tag for 7-10 days gave up on him and asked for some referrals. Troy came highly recommended and so far has been on time and has done what he said he would. That is worth a lot here in So. Arizona. I like to believe that things happen for a reason.

Today we met our neighbor to the north. What fun she is and I think we will thoroughly enjoy being neighbors with her and her husband. That's always a relief, 'cause once you sink money into something and put all those hopes and dreams into it, it's a bitch to find out your neighbor is a bitch! Our neighbors on the south are also a great family and fun to be around. We've met the male of the couple building on the east of us and he's also very nice. Because of the spacing of the houses being able to be "neighborly" is so important.

Building Stage: Now it's on to the slab.(well first there's a pesky inspection, then on to the slab) Once that's done it starts to seem real, that there just might be a house happening. Speaking of happenings, we will be having a bale-raising, around the first of April-at least that's my goal.

Until next time, keep your straw dry!

Gentlemen we have LIFTOFF!

The plans are approved!! That is such a good feeling, even though you know there are months of blood, sweat and tears ahead, it's better than waiting. Today starts the final scheduling, calling all the subs and giving them definite dates (as definite as can be in building).

In other news...A brand spankin new Lowe's just opened about 10 miles from our house. There are others in Tucson but all take about a half day to get there and back. We went and cruised the aisles yesterday afternoon. Of course, it looks like every other Lowe's in the world but it's still neat and tidy and the aisle aren't crammed with junk. We're hoping they give HD a run for the money. At least some actual floor staff approached us yesterday and asked if we needed help. That never happens at HD.

Until next time, keep your straw dry!

Here is a rudimentary drawing of the floor plan done with Paint. Not bad for my first try!

Basics-the exterior dimensions are 32 X 46 but remember, these are strawbale walls so that translates into actual interior dimensions of 28 x 42.

For orientation, the house is on a nearly E-W axis. The LR and 2 BRs are on the S. There will be a patio on the S and a porch on the N for summer use and to be able to Say Hey to neighbors walking on the pedestrian path. The porch will also allow us to take advantage of views of the common area as seen in the photos. And, we have a bit of a mountain view to the N and W.

The house is a basic ranch but you may be wondering: Why waste sq footage in such a small house with that hallway? This is the desert and it does get hot. Zaguans (hall, breezeway) were a popular means of cross-ventilation in earlier times and we wanted to add that to this house. The windows on the E wall will be awning windows about 5 ft up to allow light but also ventilation. The window on the W wall will be shaded and operable.

The wall between the LR and S BR will be adobe for thermal mass. A small wood-burning stove will sit at the end of that wall near the hallway. We expect to do nearly 100% of our heating with that stove.

We tried to design the house for the way we live. The bedrooms are small but we spend very little time in the bedrooms. The 2 BRs on the S could actually be converted into one large work space if we wished to do that in the future. In our current residence, we spend most of our time in the kitchen/dining area. These rooms are on the S so get most of the sun and humans tend to gravitate to areas which are light and bright. Knowing this we basically designed a large kitchen dining area with a sitting area (LR) attached on the S.

Another important aspect of the design was to have light coming in from 2 sides in every room. This concept comes from Christopher Alexander and served us well in SB1. We hope to be able to use more of the patterns such as six-foot balcony and positive outdoor spaces to name a few. We want this house to be warm, welcoming, peaceful and human in scale.

Building Stage: Plans
The plans are now back to the City for (hopefully) final approval. We had to make just a few more changes but anyone who has had to go through the permit process knows this is not unusual. We hope to do a wall-raising the first weeks of March.

Until next time...keep your straw dry.

Above photo is the lot looking from the SW to NE. House next door is ready for stucco.
The lot sure looks small, doesn't it? The darker red decomposed granite in the lower left of the photo is the walking path.

This is the common area directly to the left, or west, of the lot. Should be great for birds.

It's my hope to chronicle, as least in part, the building of our strawbale house. This is the second strawbale house we've built here in So. Arizona. We sold the first, bought a stickbuilt and "moved to town". It just isn't the same. It's a very nice house but we were spoiled by the strawbale. We miss the warmth, the feeling, the insulation, the artistic expression we were able to enjoy. Simply put, it just ain't the same.

So, we came up with a small plan of about 1300 sq ft (exterior). This will be our aging in place home, we hope. Not that we're decrepit but we are aging (aren't we all?) and looking to the future. Our previous home (SB1) was about 1700 sq ft, off-grid, on an acre outside of town. For this home, we've chosen a lot in Civano. Like us, this community has gone through many changes since its inception and we have watched it grow, have growing pains and now flourish. It was attractive due to the sorta-kinda committment to sustainable building, water conservation and alternative energy sources. I say sorta-kinda because those things have waxed and waned through the years. But, I think it is an interesting experiment in using certain of those principles in a more "mainstream" housing setting.

One of the other things that attracted us to the community is, It is a Community. People actually get to know their neighbors, community events are enoyed, community warts are exposed and people work together to solve problems. Not always a pretty process but, what problem-solving process involving humans is.

Building Stage
Plans: The plan was conceived by us and drawn by Dan Dorsey who also drew the plans for SB1. It's a very simple, one-level "ranch". We will have PV (but also be grid-tied), solar hot water, and will be harvesting water. The plans are now in the hands of the city and we expect the final OK to begin building any day. I will post plans in the near future.

My hope is to update this blog about once/wk. So check back.