Shower Power

Brian and Kattrina's shower gets prepped for tile and the radiant manifold comes together in the closet



The RauPanel was removed from the bathroom floor to be replaced by light concrete to ease the tile installation

The manifold in Laurie's bathroom starts coming together as well

The septic tank begins to resemble the skeleton of some great beast

No More Trench Foot

The trenches are all filled in

Flat dirt

The tile guy has started working on Laurie's shower

Trench Warfare

The geothermal trenches have been dug and the wells connected. They have subsequently pressure tested the system and filled the trenches back in, which we will have photos of tomorrow. We're hoping all will be up and running sometime next week. The pump and expansion tank for drinking water is being installed along with the water heater, which will get some of its heat through the geothermal system.

Our roofer, who was scheduled to start this week, decided to go for a bike ride and get hit by a car, which resulted in surgery and the search for a new roofer. The tile for our bathrooms, kitchen and foyer has been ordered and we've even met with the rain gutter guy.

Before

After

All Quiet on the Western Front

A methanol-based refrigerant is pumped through the black tubing



The tubing runs into the shop under the deck before heading into the utility room in the lower barn

The expansion tank for our drinking water

It's Cherry Season!

The rustic cherry floor is acclimating in the barn

The heat pump is installed

The radiant tank and air handler are in

The process of moving hot water through a radiant floor is convoluted

Dennis is digging a trench between the geothermal wells to connect them to the heat pump

Lights, Camera, HVAC

Our WaterFurnace heat pump

The air handler for the first floor

The water tank for the geothermal system



The first floor gets some PEX

Laurie's bedroom gets a fan...

...As does the loft

The intercom system goes operational

The pantry gets a track light

The kitchen's puck lights now illuminate

Mud

The well-drilling did a number on the landscape

4 wells give us around 800 feet of heat transfer

The hall light upstairs

Pex tubing goes into the RauPanel upstairs

A look at the RauPanel downstairs

There Will Be Mud

The wells for the geothermal heat pump started going in yesterday. A days worth of drilling has given us one completed well, one partially completed well and one well that splurted mud and had to be filled back in. The drillers started in again early this morning and will hopefully have all their drilling done by the end of the day.

The drillers brought two trucks for the process; we only brought a cell phone camera

Eat your heart out Daniel Day-Lewis

Porch And Progress

The front porch gets pieced together

The skid loader makes short work of moving the heavy timbers into place

The finished frame, courtesy of Green Mountain Timber Frames



The porch looks majestic and substantial from all angles

The timber sconces go up and add instant ambiance



There are ten sconces in all, lit by compact fluorescent bulbs

Kattrina and Brian's bedroom light

Kattrina and Brian's sitting room light

More RauPanel

Tanks For The Memories

The 1500 gallon septic tank prepares for descent

The excavator holds down the truck to stop it from sliding down the hill

RauPanel goes down in Brian and Kattrina's bathroom

Radiant panels go down in the loft

Holy Pit!

A little shale couldn't stop us from digging our septic tank pit

We just need a few pungee sticks and a leopard and our plan can be enacted

Sewer Chewer

The septic system started to go in yesterday. The pipe that runs from the barn to the septic tank was laid and the tank hole was dug and is ready for the tank to arrive on Monday. The front porch is set to be erected on Monday or Tuesday by Green Mountain Timber Frames and the RauPanel will continue going in throughout the week.

The trench is expertly dug by Dennis Wahl Excavating

Tony, Lars and Tyler provided the much appreciated manual labor