Passed Inspections and Onwards!

Yup it's true! We passed our plumbing inspection- thanks to the meticulous efforts of Christian, robot builder AND copper sweater extraordinaire. The Plumbing Inspector was impressed, and that should be saying something.

We bought two kegs from the Brewery and Ristow cut them in half and welded them back together to become our new pre-heat water tank for the on demand water heater we scored. It's sitting pretty up high, flat black and in a window. Should work pretty well.

The next day we also passed our interior framing inspection. Big hurdles to pass through in building a home~ now we can insulate, and cover the walls with our mixed materials... I started building a brick wall behind the wood burning stove, not only because brick walls are awesome (and remind me of my NYC days) but also because it will radiate some heat back out into the room from a good fire in the stove.

Christian climbed on the steep roof, harnessed in, and installed the stove pipe assembly. Not that easy in our current sub freezing weather with a single digit windchill. This Polar Vortex is somethin' else.
Christian is not afraid.

The next phase of the house is a bit more fun as the changes will be drastic and it will feel a bit closer...just a bit.

Scaling back in Todays World.

There is a lot of chit chat about low impact housing, building sustainably with repurposed and recycled materials, reducing our carbon footprint by using alternative energy, and environmentally conscious living. I have found that it is difficult at best to build a house by these principles IF you are building to your local and State Code and you don't have a bottomless pit of money.
Fact: it's expensive to do the right thing according to building codes. There are many "alternative" communities around the Country, where the County looks the other way and allows people to build shelter with  low impact and sustainable materials. I love that, and I wish that there were more communities like that out there.
I will also say that there are actually good things about knowing how to build to "code", though one can also just read up on local code and read books like "Structures, Or Why Things Don't Fall Down" by J.E. Gordon. Checking out books such as Tiny Houses and Tiny Homes, Simple Shelter, or the movie Tiny will also provide a new builder with inspiration on how to build in an ecologically balanced way.
In an area festooned with Earthships, Taos is on the map for it's alternative off the grid homesteads. Some are intentional, some are to code, some are mansions with the murky duality reflected of wealthy ideals trying to bond with sustainable concepts. 
Others are humble, built out of necessity, possibly red tagged, and reflect the real world dichotomy of building something according to your beliefs vs. what you can afford.

This is my third house, and I wish I could say it was all built out of recycled or repurposed materials and was completely off the grid....but we had a finite budget to work with, as well as inspections to contend with, and this is what we came up with.
The house is passive solar (situated for maximum South facing sun light). We cut corners by installing used windows and doors. We are going with wood heat, rather than propane. We are using an on demand water heater to cut down on propane (and they rock). We are going mostly Solar (PV system) to cut out the Grid and its bills. We are using cellulose insulation, way less toxic and better R value for the money. We have a pantry for food storage. We will have a green house for basic herbs and greens. We will catch our roof water for the trees and plants. We are using all the tools and experience we have as builders and metal workers (and artists) to make things rather than buy them. 
I think in the end it will work out for us just fine. The main idea was to cut our house bills to almost nothing as well as living with the lightest footprint we could contend with. 
The end result should be something beautiful, functional and as environmentally sustainable as possible with a limited budget and four hands.

 Cedar and Chris helping with the soffits.

The house as is today.

A View With a House.

Here are a few pictures of the outside of the house so far. Most of the metal sheeting is done(and look at that deck!), we are now finishing up the soffits and the smaller trim details.. then we are ready for the snow and to move our construction inside. 

Bits and Pieces

The morning air is chilly reading 37°F, and we are  buttoning up all the small stuff on the outside. Nothing like Winter hanging over you to get out there and motivated!
We put on the ProPanel on the roofs this week. I was harnessed in and screwing off a million screws on the steep pitch roof.
The roof is deep blue, which should look pretty great with the (not yet) rusted Corten metal we have as the siding. Interspersed with the metal are a few areas of rough sawn wood, done board and batten style. The top half of the house is done with corrugated Galvalum, to contrast the soon to be red Corten.

Many months ago I took the local waste permit exam, and I put in our septic system on my own. I borrowed a skid steer and backfilled the leech field with gravel. Not a big deal, and $aving some money by going DIY. With some advice and help from my plumbing friend, we passed the inspection.

Again we had some friends rally to help with the roof, and siding, as well as our friend Rick who is building us an amazing looking wood deck on the South and East side.
One day we will lounge on lawn chairs and drink cocktails during sunset while Kodiak plays with his toy race cars ...  I digress

The skilled Professionals...

This is a shout out to the people who actually do this for a living... and without whose help we would not be able to make this casa happen. I have lived here for a while now (I think it's close to 17 years), and many of the professionals who have helped us now, have helped with other house projects as well. As it is in small communities, we become pals. It is thanks to these relationships one can make it this far even... Kenny Drake, the best backhoe operator I know, next in line would be his son Matt.
The Del Margo's- the family team of awesome electricians. Danny Gonzales, whose family has helped me with projects in the past as well- and for being so darn encouraging!
And the mugs~

Windows!

And then there were windows! We are officially enclosed. PHEW. The wind is now outside only, and it makes a difference. We could call it Wind NO. 
Kodiak witnessed this exciting moment as well, learning inside vs. outside.
In the evening, we put some work lights in the house and saw it for the first time at night with light only coming from the windows- it looks awesome and we are all very proud. We had to pile into my truck and drive around the area to see it from the road as well. Here are some pictures to remember this moment by. 

Kodiak waving from inside- our view of the Lobster and Taos Mountain.

Mini Addition detour..

pantry |ˈpantrē|

noun ( pl. pantries )

a small room or closet in which food, dishes, and utensils are kept.

ORIGIN Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French panterie, from paneter ‘baker,’ based on late Latin panarius ‘bread seller,’ from Latin panis ‘bread.’

Gotta have one- especially because food storage is part of the cheaper living plan. It has been a pretty unsustainable habit to drive 15 miles one way to get food every few days. Once the Brewery opened, that small 8 minute drive has been quite the luxury, and if only beer really was worth a half sandwich...

So, in short, I poured a slab (by hand), which, for the record was worse than I remembered~ figured 9 full wheelbarrow loads, over 300 shovels of either cement, sand or gravel...just harder than I seem to recall in the 90's(wink)

And today I boxed up the small addition on the West side of the house- the Pantry. tada.

Harlan came out for a day and helped with the loft- T&G and a meticulous measuring mind and the loft looks great. Thanks!