Meanwhile...
Next we turned our attention to the skylights. Each room needs an operable skylight to provide hot
air ventilation. The Earthship books have plans for building operable skylights, but we chose to buy
ours -- less opportunity for leaking. A local manufaturer built these. They have a 4" curb built on
with a nailing flange which makes installation a piece of cake. They also have multiple drip channels
to keep condensation from raining down into the rooms. I think they were $300+ each. It was with
some trepidation that I cut 3 giant holes in our storm proven roof. Luckily the weather held out just
long enough. Once the skylights were glued and screwed down I had to roof around them and make
sure they didn't leak. I made rubber aprons to go up the sides of the skylights, over the flange and
onto the rest of the roof. Just about then the sky opened up and dropped about an inch rain. I had a
few leaks, made a few adjustments and they seem to be dry now.
air ventilation. The Earthship books have plans for building operable skylights, but we chose to buy
ours -- less opportunity for leaking. A local manufaturer built these. They have a 4" curb built on
with a nailing flange which makes installation a piece of cake. They also have multiple drip channels
to keep condensation from raining down into the rooms. I think they were $300+ each. It was with
some trepidation that I cut 3 giant holes in our storm proven roof. Luckily the weather held out just
long enough. Once the skylights were glued and screwed down I had to roof around them and make
sure they didn't leak. I made rubber aprons to go up the sides of the skylights, over the flange and
onto the rest of the roof. Just about then the sky opened up and dropped about an inch rain. I had a
few leaks, made a few adjustments and they seem to be dry now.
While we were waiting for all of the
framing pieces to come together, we
busied ourselves with many other tasks.
The most important of which was getting
the flashing and capping on the glass, to
make the place waterproof. We wanted to
have this done months ago, but the person
that we were working with flaked out.
Lucky for us, I guess, it was before he
began the job! Usually an Earthship has
galvanized steel flashing because it's
inexpensive and typically a "do-it-yourself"
installation. We chose to go with
alluminum flashing to avoid the upkeep
required for steel. This was an expensive
choice. We contracted this piece out as
well. The caps that cover the window
struts and the glass to make everything
water tight were expensive too. Because
we chose to use the wider micro-lam for
window struts, the caps had to be much
wider also. Unfortunately, I didn't do as
good a job installing the window stops as I
should have and the glass was not as flush
with the struts as is should have been (my
excuse is that it was 15 degrees and
WINDY the day I installed them and my
nail gun wouldn't work) We remedied this
problem by putting foam tape under the
caps that had big gaps and applying GOBS
of silicone. High quality, and of course
expensive silicone.
framing pieces to come together, we
busied ourselves with many other tasks.
The most important of which was getting
the flashing and capping on the glass, to
make the place waterproof. We wanted to
have this done months ago, but the person
that we were working with flaked out.
Lucky for us, I guess, it was before he
began the job! Usually an Earthship has
galvanized steel flashing because it's
inexpensive and typically a "do-it-yourself"
installation. We chose to go with
alluminum flashing to avoid the upkeep
required for steel. This was an expensive
choice. We contracted this piece out as
well. The caps that cover the window
struts and the glass to make everything
water tight were expensive too. Because
we chose to use the wider micro-lam for
window struts, the caps had to be much
wider also. Unfortunately, I didn't do as
good a job installing the window stops as I
should have and the glass was not as flush
with the struts as is should have been (my
excuse is that it was 15 degrees and
WINDY the day I installed them and my
nail gun wouldn't work) We remedied this
problem by putting foam tape under the
caps that had big gaps and applying GOBS
of silicone. High quality, and of course
expensive silicone.
We also started our exterior planters. When we bought the land there about 600 cinder blocks came with
it (actually I had to pay the guy $100 more for them). They had already been used once and broken
apart. We used them to build the planter walls. A mason, I am not. Laying block is a lot harder than I
thought it would be. The tricky part is keeping the mortar joint consistent. We were moving very slowly
trying to get all the blocks in the perfect position. When I quit this project and went to find something
else to work on Chris (our SuperHero-Volunteer) sped the process up a lot by not trying to get the stupid
thing perfect. The wall turned out as strong as any but it is UGLY. Chris (our SuperHero-Volunteer)
kept reminding me that we are going to bury most of it and the rest will be covered in stucco --"It'll look
fantastic!" I'm sure he's right but it was hard NOT TO try to make every block perfect. It would have
taken me forever to finish, Chris finished in a hurry. It's probably better that I didn't help too much on
this one!.
it (actually I had to pay the guy $100 more for them). They had already been used once and broken
apart. We used them to build the planter walls. A mason, I am not. Laying block is a lot harder than I
thought it would be. The tricky part is keeping the mortar joint consistent. We were moving very slowly
trying to get all the blocks in the perfect position. When I quit this project and went to find something
else to work on Chris (our SuperHero-Volunteer) sped the process up a lot by not trying to get the stupid
thing perfect. The wall turned out as strong as any but it is UGLY. Chris (our SuperHero-Volunteer)
kept reminding me that we are going to bury most of it and the rest will be covered in stucco --"It'll look
fantastic!" I'm sure he's right but it was hard NOT TO try to make every block perfect. It would have
taken me forever to finish, Chris finished in a hurry. It's probably better that I didn't help too much on
this one!.
Of course, with all of the beautiful curves of this
house, it would never do to have these straight, sterile
planter walls. So we mde the last two cells have
some curve to them. Also, we gave a little elevation
change to the cell dividing walls. This isn't visible in
these pictures, but I'll be sure to add a picture that
shows it later.
I thought that we'd have a hard time getting the
square blocks to go around in a circle and I had
planned on using a can/bottle wall for this section.
While I was still working on some other aspect, Chris
(our SuperHero-Volunteer) forged ahead and got the
blocks to work just fine. This picture was before
they were set with mortar. Once the mortar was on,
the surface looked surprisingly smooth.
house, it would never do to have these straight, sterile
planter walls. So we mde the last two cells have
some curve to them. Also, we gave a little elevation
change to the cell dividing walls. This isn't visible in
these pictures, but I'll be sure to add a picture that
shows it later.
I thought that we'd have a hard time getting the
square blocks to go around in a circle and I had
planned on using a can/bottle wall for this section.
While I was still working on some other aspect, Chris
(our SuperHero-Volunteer) forged ahead and got the
blocks to work just fine. This picture was before
they were set with mortar. Once the mortar was on,
the surface looked surprisingly smooth.
I think that it is important to mention that the
blueprints show these planters as being our
blackwater planters -- or our septic system.
Essentially, the toilet (and only the toilet), is
supposed to flush into a small septic tank and then
flow into the connected planters which act like a
leech field. The County Health Department would
not approve the plans without a septic engineer's
stamp. I called a lot of engineers and the only
person that said he'd take on the project called back
about 30 minutes after
blueprints show these planters as being our
blackwater planters -- or our septic system.
Essentially, the toilet (and only the toilet), is
supposed to flush into a small septic tank and then
flow into the connected planters which act like a
leech field. The County Health Department would
not approve the plans without a septic engineer's
stamp. I called a lot of engineers and the only
person that said he'd take on the project called back
about 30 minutes after
I left his office and said that his boss said that they didn't have enough time. Yeah, whatever. They just
didn't want to stamp something that they hadn't drawn and tested themselves. I'll talk about what we
are doing about septic on a different page -- it's pretty cool. That means that we're building these
planters mostly for asthetics. Because I used the re-used cinder blocks, it wasn't too expensive -- $200
worth of morter and $500 in making the footer underneath. To have done the whole thing in can or
bottle wall would have been much more expensive.
By this time, the framing inspection was complete except for a letter from an engineer (yes, another one)
saying that our plan for frost protection was sufficient. What was our plan for frost protection,
anyway? Well, we didn't have one. The blue prints do not offer a drawing of what is supposed to
happen below the doorways. The tires make there own foundation, but there was some question about
the earth under the east and west "non-load bearing" walls. It is easy to get caught up in trying to get
things done and forget to think. That's what happened here. We had a beautifull concrete slab poured
all the way through the house and under the walls and outside. Two problems: 1. The outside concrete
will get cold and transfer that cold under the walls and into the house. COLD floor. 2. What if the earth
under the slab froze? The walls would be forced skyward, buckling the doors and probably the roof.
didn't want to stamp something that they hadn't drawn and tested themselves. I'll talk about what we
are doing about septic on a different page -- it's pretty cool. That means that we're building these
planters mostly for asthetics. Because I used the re-used cinder blocks, it wasn't too expensive -- $200
worth of morter and $500 in making the footer underneath. To have done the whole thing in can or
bottle wall would have been much more expensive.
By this time, the framing inspection was complete except for a letter from an engineer (yes, another one)
saying that our plan for frost protection was sufficient. What was our plan for frost protection,
anyway? Well, we didn't have one. The blue prints do not offer a drawing of what is supposed to
happen below the doorways. The tires make there own foundation, but there was some question about
the earth under the east and west "non-load bearing" walls. It is easy to get caught up in trying to get
things done and forget to think. That's what happened here. We had a beautifull concrete slab poured
all the way through the house and under the walls and outside. Two problems: 1. The outside concrete
will get cold and transfer that cold under the walls and into the house. COLD floor. 2. What if the earth
under the slab froze? The walls would be forced skyward, buckling the doors and probably the roof.
I called the engineer that was working on our
new wetlands septic system (he's a P.E. so he
can do structural too) and aksed him what he
thought. He said cut the slab off from the rest
of the house and the problem is solved. Really?
Guess we'll see. I rented a "demolition saw"
and cut all the way through the slab in front of
the door ways. This is a dry saw, and let me
tell you this job was MISERABLE! This
picture shows about 1/3 of the cloud of dust I
was kicking up. I couldn't see, couldn't
breath...it was bad. We should have poured a
full concrete footer underneath the two walls.
new wetlands septic system (he's a P.E. so he
can do structural too) and aksed him what he
thought. He said cut the slab off from the rest
of the house and the problem is solved. Really?
Guess we'll see. I rented a "demolition saw"
and cut all the way through the slab in front of
the door ways. This is a dry saw, and let me
tell you this job was MISERABLE! This
picture shows about 1/3 of the cloud of dust I
was kicking up. I couldn't see, couldn't
breath...it was bad. We should have poured a
full concrete footer underneath the two walls.
Usually on an Earthship these walls would be can walls but our original engineer didn't like the idea and
made us frame them. The can walls probably have different bearing properties and could probably
form their own foundation if done correctly. I'm not an engineer though, so I could be wrong.
made us frame them. The can walls probably have different bearing properties and could probably
form their own foundation if done correctly. I'm not an engineer though, so I could be wrong.
We've also been working on the
bathroom. In order for the entire design
to work, all of the drains in the house
have to be taller than the outlets that drain
into the planters. This is easy if the
planters are sunken into the ground a lot.
Ours aren't really that deep so all of the
drains from all of the fixtures have to be
pushed up some. Also, the original plan
calls for the toilet to be 16" off of the
finished floor to accomodate the exterior
black water system. (which we can't
use) so the whole thing looks kind of
wierd. Furthermore, the bathtub is WAY
up high. To help with this we decided to
elevate the entire bathroom with one 8 in
step and
bathroom. In order for the entire design
to work, all of the drains in the house
have to be taller than the outlets that drain
into the planters. This is easy if the
planters are sunken into the ground a lot.
Ours aren't really that deep so all of the
drains from all of the fixtures have to be
pushed up some. Also, the original plan
calls for the toilet to be 16" off of the
finished floor to accomodate the exterior
black water system. (which we can't
use) so the whole thing looks kind of
wierd. Furthermore, the bathtub is WAY
up high. To help with this we decided to
elevate the entire bathroom with one 8 in
step and
another 8" step to get to the toilet. There will be a
taller step to get to the tub eventually. We made
the bathroom step out of 2X8's and 3/4" plywood.
The bathtub support is left over 16" TJI's from the
framing of the house with 2X4's ontop to lift it
another 3" and then 3/4 plywood for the tub to sit
on.
taller step to get to the tub eventually. We made
the bathroom step out of 2X8's and 3/4" plywood.
The bathtub support is left over 16" TJI's from the
framing of the house with 2X4's ontop to lift it
another 3" and then 3/4 plywood for the tub to sit
on.
Bathroom step
Temporary toilet placement
Back to the Index
Here's our tub surround at the very
beginning. To the right is the toilet sitting in
it's final position...WAY up there! This 8
inch step is built ontop of the 8 inch step in
the previous picture. Below is the next
portion of the tub surround: can wall.
beginning. To the right is the toilet sitting in
it's final position...WAY up there! This 8
inch step is built ontop of the 8 inch step in
the previous picture. Below is the next
portion of the tub surround: can wall.
