We're on the Dwell Tour!

We are excited to announce that the MW House was chosen to be one of 5 houses on Dwell Magazine's first Portland modern home tour.

Website announcement here.

Please join the tour and come and see us.
Saturday, August 27, 2016.
Tickets available here.

 
photo by David Temple of CatalystPictures.com

Off the Shoulder of Orion

" I've... seen things... you people wouldn't believe."

It has been quite the journey. 

You may notice that posts are arriving less and less frequently.  Now that major work is complete, current work is minor, sporadic and largely mundane.  Plenty of it still, but not so worthy of documentation.

I assume that no one really wants to hear about hanging pictures on the wall, or touch-up painting.

I'll continue to post a few more when developments happen.
For example - A nice professional photo set of the interior and exterior will happen in the future; but probably not until the landscaping is at least partially established.

Thank you for following the progress!  It has been interesting to us to share.  If you have any questions or suggestions for things you'd like to know more about, please comment below.

If you are just finding this blog - here is a link to the very beginning if you want to see things happen in order (start at bottom of page).

Chandelier

Installed the re-wired vintage chandelier. Not exactly what we envisioned for this location, but it will do for now.

Roof Deck Pavers

The finished roof deck.  Now for some furnishings.

Finished the installation of the roof deck pavers this weekend.

The pavers are 24" square concrete planks, that sit level above the roof membrane on adjustable pedestals.  The roof membrane below is protected from damage, and slopes to the roof drain.

Installation photos below.

Blower Door Test Results

Did our final blower door test yesterday (measures building air-tightness), and the results were excellent.

0.6 Ach50 (Air changes per hour at a pressure of 50 pascals)

We achieved "Passive House" levels of air tightness in our envelope.


As a reference point,
The building code requires a score less than 7.0
Energy Star Homes for Portland and Earth Advantage is less than 4.0.
Lower the better.

It was incredibly useful to do the preliminary blower door test months ago; without it, we would not have been able to identify and rectify a few key leaks in the envelope.  Our results improved dramatically.

I would wholeheartedly recommend the preliminary test to anyone who wants to ensure best air-tightness results.

Big Pink Lantern

Many evenings, the setting sun catches the side of "Big Pink" (a tall building downtown) and it glows like it is on fire.

First Plantings

Lisa is hard at work, changing a construction site into something beautiful. 

Driveway & Sidewalk

Behold the new sidewalk and drive apron

And suddenly the dumpster is gone, safety barriers have come down, and we have completed paving. 

We parked in the driveway last night - it has been a long time coming.

Steel Planter Boxes

Welded some steel together today to make some planters for the front approach.

Heat Wave Report

Didn't take long before our non-air-conditioned house was put to the test.

Broke Something

Oops.  Look what I did.

The Longest Yard

Despite all my efforts, I can't seem to get these last few major items finished.