Prep for roof and stucco

The prep has begun for the roof and the stucco on the exterior of the house. For the roof, they seal everything very well before the standing seam metal roof is attached. For the stucco, they wrap, attach foam board, and then put chicken wire all over it so the stucco will better adhere. We think the roof may get attached before the end of the week and hopefully the stucco starting soon thereafter.

Also, below is a photo of our awesome construction team...Carl, Kaye and Leslie...Foreman, Contractor and Architect, respectively. These folks are all doing a phenomenal job and we feel so fortunate to have them on our team!

KP3 Construction Team

KP2 big adventure to IKEA

For our kitchen cabinets, we opted for IKEA. We really like them AND since we have two kitchens, going this route will save us 10s of thousands of dollars over custom cabinets. Only problem is that ABQ does not have an IKEA. So...Karin and I flew to Phoenix, rented a big U Haul truck, loaded it with 3 tons of kitchen cabinets, drove it back to ABQ and unloaded it in the storage space for the house. It was a lot of work, but definitely worth it. See a few pictures below of our "big advenutre." :)

The mother ship has been sited!

Preparing for the approach.

Karin Lynn and 3 tons of IKEA cabinets.

HVAC ... or giant squid?

Okay, I didn't think we'd have any photos to share for a while since only internal mechanical stuff is currently being worked on, but these two photos that Karin Lynn took yesterday are awesome! The HVAC ducts look like tentacles! :) Supposedly the duct work will be done today and ready for inspection. We are really hoping to see the roof go on soon!

Grey water permit issued by the City and IKEA cabinets

Yesterday we got the good news that the City of ABQ issued a permit for our grey water plan. This may not sound like a big deal, but evidently, our permit is only the 2nd one ever issued for new construction in ABQ! We (along with our architect!) were a bit stunned to hear this, as we figured many people are incorporating grey water re-use into their new homes. Kudos to architect Leslie for getting this through on our behalf!

Perhaps the reason there are so few permits issued is because there are some issues around using grey water that not everyone is happy about. Number one is that you can't put it in a holding tank like rain water catchment. The health dept won't allow that because, well, grey water contains a fair amount of organic materials and can grow bacteria and such if left to stand for a time. So instead, you have to run it out to gardens or some other yard use directly from the house. Another issue with grey water is that you have to use bio-degradable soaps. Since we do mostly anyway, this is not a big adjustment for us. But for some folks, this would seriously cramp their style.

Our plan includes having two of our three showers (both upstairs) and the clothes washing machine to have a toggle switch that allows us to either send our grey water to our landscaped gardens or to the sewer. (for example, if we need to bleach some clothes some time, we don't want that grey water going in to our gardens). We think this plan will work well for us and are very pleased that the City of ABQ thinks so too!

Other construction developments...the systems are all getting finished up. that includes electrical, plumbing and HVAC. Once these are done, then the insulation starts. Next the roof is placed followed by stucco on the outside.

Next Friday (Sep 23), Karin and I are flying to PHX to go to IKEA and get our kitchen cabinets. We have rented a U-Haul truck and will drive them home. Then Karin will assemble them in the garage to be installed by our contractors. Using IKEA (which we actually really like a lot!) fits well for our project. They are green (no off-gassing), look nice, are sturdy and very functional, and will save us about $40-50K over custom cabinets. Don't get me wrong...we loved the custom cabinets we had in our house in Champaign. But we'd prefer to use this savings to purchase photo-voltaic panels and solar hot water systems for this house. :) We are very thankful to Kaye Marshall, our contractor, for being so accommodating regarding the cabinets. Karin's assembly of the IKEA cabinets (they come in many, many boxes) is part of the "sweat equity" that we (that would be the ROYAL "we") are putting into the house. :) Yay, Karin Lynn! I will be sure to put photos of the cabinet assembly process on the blog. :)

Mechanicals and folk art

Well, we ran into our first big glitch...the mechanicals. We had planned on using a small diameter air flow system (Unico) that took the heat from our solar hot water, but we were getting conflicting information and were becoming increasingly concerned that the price tag was growing bigger and bigger. Our contractor, Kaye Marshall, brought in an HVAC guy she really trusts and he spec-ed out four different systems for us in just a couple of days. We all met with him today and ended up selecting a forced air system called "Lifebreath" (yes, the name is a bit on the dramatic side). We were opposed to forced air in general because our experience has been they are noisy and uncomfortable to have that hot air blowing on you. But it turns out forced air systems have changed a lot in 20 years. This one actually uses the heat generated from our solar hot water with a back up boiler, is quiet (has a variable fan that is smart), has a HRV built-in (this exchanges the air in houses that are built really tight like ours will be) and won't require ductwork to go into the attic or other changes in the framing, and we can get a humidifier on it which will be very nice in the winter. And...you won't believe this...but it costs $11,000 LESS than we expected to pay for the Unico (in fact, the Unico would have cost us an additional $14,000 more than we were expecting to pay, it turns out!!) So, it's been a very good day!! And shouldn't result in any huge delays. We are greatly relieved!

Also, we bought our annual family pass to the Albuquerque Botanic Garden, Aquarium and Zoo (they call it the Bio Park) today. This is very close to our house...only a short bike ride away so we expect to visit the Botanic Garden a lot.

Finally, we did some excellent shopping today at the Mariposa Gallery on Central Avenue in Nob Hill. This wonderful piece of folk art made from old farm machine metal will be our key holder. What do you think? :) We love it!!

Shade structures

All the windows and doors are now in along with the shade structures over the exterior doors...front, casita and back doors. On the front shade structure, Karin Lynn has planned to grow red grapes (for eating and wine). The back shade structure will actually be topped by the same standing seam metal as will be on the roof. Not sure what will grow over the casita shade structure...the landscape designing wheels are still turning on that one!

Also, today is my first day as a remote worker at CIC West! I've had three conference calls already and now it is time for lunch/yoga! :)

Windows and doors (mostly) in!

We are both in ABQ now and loving being here and reunited! Although I have been on "vacation" this week, we've been working hard ordering IKEA cabinets, appliances, tv (first new TV in 27 years!!!) and (I can hardly stand it!!) an outdoor kitchen and grill! :) The house has most of the windows and doors installed (see above) and inside most of the electrical work has been done. Our electrician (Julio Chacon) said that he very much liked the house's design as well as the lighting design (kudos go to our awesome architect, Leslie Buerk!)

The graywater system has been worked out with the plumber and the City (again, thanks to Leslie). Two out of three of our showers will be tied in to the graywater system as well as the washing machine. This means that much of our water will be used twice and then recharging the aquifer. Karin Lynn decided we needed a "dog wash station" outside for dirty dog feet (a very common occurance in NM). We figured out a low-tech solution that will be installed outside the back of the garage. I'm sure our future dogs will be so very happy to have clean paws! :)

Today is the wine festival in Bernalillo, NM. About 20-30 NM vintners come and show their stuff...along with other artisans, food crafters, etc. Should be fun!