OUR STORY

ROYCROFT HOUSE

OUR STORY

We have always been an ecologically-minded, environmentally responsible family. When it came time to move, we decided to attempt to build a house that would reflect this. We researched all the various methods of building for 4 years before we decided on how to build ours. In our research, the most intriguing building technique we came across was to use straw bales, but living in the Midwest, a traditional part of the country, made this nearly impossible. No one knew how to build that way in our area and since we are so damp and humid much of the year it seemed as though the house would need to go up fast so we couldn’t possibly do it ourselves. Plus where we wanted our house situated, it was highly doubtful straw bale would be approved since we live in a fairly major metropolitan area with strict building codes. We threw out building a cob house or any other alternative method for the same reason. We thought seriously about SYP construction (Structural Insulated Panels) and actually went so far as to get an estimate for building. Unfortunately the cost for the shell of the house was virtually 100% more for SYP construction as for regular stick framing, putting it completely out of our reach financially. So we had to settle for something a little less than what we had hoped and picked traditional stick framing with thicker walls and higher R-values.

Another goal was to enable this house have as little impact on the environment as possible. We wanted to use environmentally responsible building materials wherever we could. We also wanted to build the house so it would need as little fuel to heat and cool as possible by using tight construction with high R-values and a heat source that was as efficient as possible. We also plan to add photovoltaic panels each year until we have enough to supply our own electric needs. And finally we wanted to situate the house on the lot and choose a plan that would use the sun to heat it some of the time. This prevented us from fully designing our house until we had found our lot. We carefully designed our house to suit our needs and refined the design many times over a couple of years. Once the lot was found and purchased (see the Our Lot page) we put the finishing touches on the design (see the Floor Plans page). We then searched for someone to draw up our plans—someone who was trained in designing ecologically and environmentally sound houses and also trained in sound engineering. We found that someone in John Robbins (www.queencity.com/people/jrobbins) and worked with him for 4 months while he drew up the plans for us. Once the plans were drawn up we began our search for subcontractors.

Our lot is on the north side of an east/west street, therefore, we put most of the windows on the front of the house—the south side. Only 2 small windows and 2 doors are on the north side--the back of the house, and some windows and doors are on the east and west sides of the house.

In the end we chose to use 2 X 6 framing for the exterior walls, 24 on center and 2 X 12 for the roof. The wall and roof cavities were filled with cellulose. To make the R values higher we are added 2 inches of foam on the outside of the exterior walls and roof. The exterior walls should perform at close to R-30. The roof at close to R-50. Over the rafter/collar ties, there is an additional 16 inches of cellulose bringing the R value at the peaks of the house to around R-60. Special construction methods were used at joints to make the house as tight as possible. Although I hate the use of any plastic, I also loved the extra R value the foam insulation brought us and have hopes our fuel use will be so much lessened it will compensate for the negative ecological impact of using a plastic (the foam) in the construction of our house. The cellulose insulation was installed by A.B.C. Insulation. The foam was installed by the framer.

Windows are aluminum clad wood Andersens (www.andersenwindows.com), doubled glazed with argon gas. Exterior doors are insulated metal except for our front door which is a fiberglass clad steel door. We wanted a special front door and just could not afford a solid wood one which was over $2,000 versus the $700 of the one we ended up with. So we settled again. All our exterior and interior framing, setting of windows and doors, plus installation of stairs and upstairs flooring was done by builder, Paul Jackam.

For our siding and trim we decided to go with fiber-cement siding—horizontal planks which are already primered. We eventually decided on and used Hardi-plank (www.jameshardie.com). Paul Jackam, our framer, installed the siding and trim of the house also. In the future we will be staining the hardi-plank to look like wood.

For our roofing material we decided on steel roofing . Our framer, Paul Jackam, produced a subcontractor to install the roofing. This is the thing most people notice when driving by the house! The steel roofing was manufactured by Everlast (www.everlast.com).

All excavation, backfill, driveway, foundation digging, trenching for electric and cable, septic tank installation and laying of water line was done by Marks Excavating. They also put in our lawn and a couple of extra yard drains.

Our foundation is a poured wall foundation with 2 inches of foam on the inside of the walls and was done by Atlas Walls. The perimeter form was installed by us! We dislike basements, so this is a slab on grade house.

After lots of research we decided on in-slab radiant heat, deciding this delivered the most heat for the least amount of fuel usage. We are fortunate to have several experienced plumbers in this type of heating in our area and chose Schaefer Plumbing to do the job. We are using the Wirsbo radiant heat system. The heated water is being supplied by a propane fired, tankless boiler by Rinnai (www.rinnaiamerica.com). This boiler is installed into the exterior wall of the house saving space inside the house. There is a second tankless water heater--also a Rinnai--installed to produce our own hot water. This was also installed into the exterior wall of the house. Schaefer also did all the plumbing for the house. They also installed a whole house Honeywell heat recovery ventilator (www.honeywell.com).

Heat for the upstairs, if needed, will be supplied by radiant heat panels which the house is wired for. It is hopeful that with the 3 open areas and the ventilator, no heat will be needed. The upstairs is a hobby and sleeping area and does not need to be as warm as the downstairs living area so maybe we will luck out. Time will tell.

For our downstairs flooring we decided to use our concrete slab for a good portion of it. The slab was insulated underneath with a radiant slab insulation material that is somewhat like a bubble plastic with foil made by rFOIL Insulation Products (www.radiant barrier.net) and performs equal to 2 inches of foam. The slab was tinted a taupe color, saw cut on 2 foot centers in some rooms to look like large tiles, grouted and sealed. Some of the smaller areas were not cut on 2 foot centers, but were cut evenly. The slab work was done by 880 Construction. Part of the floor was covered by a prefinished Junckers hardwood flooring (www.cpninc.com). This solid hardwood flooring is designed for installation over in-slab radiant heating and is connected by metal clips.

Our upstairs flooring is 2 X 6 tongue and groove spruce flooring. This flooring was sanded and finished by Falcon Flooring. Several of our rooms downstairs have open ceilings.

All interior doors are stained flush birch. Closet doors are bi-fold stained flush birch. All interior trim is 1 X 4 pine. All staining and installation of doors and trim was done by Ed Hetrick. Staining was with a Benjamin Moore no-VOC clearcoat. Our railings were made from 4 X 4 posts, regular 2 X 4s, and chrome grids.

We have two kitchens. The main east kitchen has Kraft Maid kitchen cabinets. The countertop is a 12 X 12 ceramic tile countertop with pine trim edging. The refrigerator and stove were brought over from the previous house. Eventually they will be replaced with more efficient models. The tiny kitchenette/bar area on the west side has birch kitchen cabinets by IKEA--an environmentally conscious company (www.ikea.com). Their cabinets are made with a board that is very low in formaldehyde and all finishes are formaldehyde free. The countertop of the kitchenette is made up of 12 X 12 granite tiles and is also edged in pine trim. The kitchenette has a Samsung combination microwave/oven on the counter with a two burner propane stove made by Suburban. The refrigerator is a stainless steel Conserve (see www.conservrefrigerators.com). In the end the hall bath ended up with two solid birch, open vanities with stainless steel shelving and towel bars--from IKEA again. We used an IKEA bathroom sink--the countertop is ceramic tile. We splurged on this bathroom and had a whirlpool bath installed.

Our downstairs bathroom walls and the utility room walls are partially covered with ceramic tiles. The Master bedroom bath has a wheelchair accessible tiled shower stall. All toilets are Caravelle Caroma from Australia (www.caromausa.com), a dual flush toilet using 1.6 gallons for the full flush and .6 to .8 gallons for the lesser flush. The Master Bedroom Bath has an oak vanity with a glass vanity sink/top. Moen faucets are used for nearly all rooms.

All electrical work was done by Troy Thomas. It is standard 200 amp and includes cable, surround sound wiring, telephone, etc. All light fixtures are fluorescent types--except for a couple of exterior lights which are halogen.

Our washer and dryer is the Whirlpool Duet front load washer and dryer and is stacked in the Greenhouse. This is so we can hang clothes in the Greenhouse and Sunroom in the winter if we so wish to do so--letting them air dry. This is one of my favorite choices so far. Our clothes come out just as clean--if not cleaner--than with any other washer, but the entire process is SO much faster! The washer spins longer and faster than regular washers getting out much of the moisture. The dryer therefore doesn't take nearly as long.

The greenhouse and sunroom will be for growing vegetables, mostly salad type, in the winter. The garden is right outside both rooms. We plan to try to grow most of our own vegetables organically year around. We have a lot to learn about that! These rooms will also be heat collectors for our house in the winter. In the summer we will eventually have shutters to close out the heat as we will not grow much inside during the summer. There is an overhang by the living room to prevent excessive heat accumulation in the summer but we needed it wide open for our growing areas. The shutters will work until we figure out something better. Both rooms have doors that can be closed or opened to let in or keep heat out of the rest of the house.

Our entryway has been planned to avoid heat loss from our house. There is a door into each side of the house for this purpose--sort of like a large air-lock. Both the living room and family room will eventually have gel fuel gas fireplaces—mostly for looks/atmosphere as we don’t plan to use them to heat the house. Not even sure we could use a fireplace to heat the house. We fear the smallest one we could find would burn us right out of this house!

The upstairs is mainly a finished attic with sloping roofline. One side is a large open hobby room with attic storage area on the north side behind the walls where the roof gets too low. The other side has two bedrooms, a half bath, a small sitting/tv room and a tiny guest area. Nothing fancy.

It is hoped that we won’t need heat except on sunny days below 20 degrees and non-sunny days below 40 degrees. We will report on the results as we find out. The only thing we do know is that once our cellulose insulation was installed during the winter, the house never dropped below 50 degrees inside downstairs and 55 degrees inside upstairs--even on 20 degree nights with no heat whatsoever, no humans living inside to produce heat, and no electrical load to produce heat. We do have thermometers all over the house and will keep a record of our temperatures. I have the thermostat set at 68 degrees--I am waiting to see how long it will be before the heat comes on.

This is our way of building to save our planet.

THE REST OF THE STORY

We are now in our house. Eventually I will write a bit of our experience being the General Contractors in the building of our own house--as soon as I get time. I have not been here long and there is still a LOT of work to do. General quick comments: our hope that we won't need air conditioning has panned out for us. No matter how hot it was outside, the inside never went above 80--the main house never above 76--amazing with all the uncovered windows on the south side of the house which we have yet to buy shades for. Nights--even 70 degree plus ones--are very comfortable inside the house. So far my main living area has fluctuated between 74 and 76 degrees in the almost 2 months I have lived here--it seems to be quite stable. When you walk in the door from outside it truly feels as though it is air conditioned. Our first 'future' project is getting underway. Our planters just arrived and in the next week we will get them set up and start growing some food indoors in our greenhouse and sunroom. More to come . . .