Dave Lotte

Its starting to make sense now....

I have been told by " alternative builders " that there is up to 600 gallons of water in my new floor that was poured not too long ago.
Now that the build is progressing and i can run the dehumidifier with the on board storage tank ( not draining into the gravel floor ) I am getting about 1 gallon a day ( dumping 8 litres every 2 days ).

Edit :  The humidity levels are holding steady at 41 % - no lower.

Now, contrary to the advice from ALL of the " normal" home builders - who are telling me it is o.k. to lay flooring on top of a freshly poured concrete floor - i will give it a bit more time before that next step.

Estimated 600 gallons - 1 gallon per day = 600 days.

This makes sense now, as the general ( but not followed ) rule is it takes about 2 years too dry out a concrete floor.

In my last post, I had picked up all the doors i needed for the Hobbit Home.

Now for the bad news.  Lesson learned...  MEASURE EVERYTHING !

When i went into the Stratford ReStore,  they had 5 doors marked at 36 X 80, but only 3 of them were 36 inches wide.  The other 2 doors were 32 inches wide.  Not a big deal, very noticeable - picked out the 3 I needed and went home, after notifying the staff ....

Then went to the London ReStore picked up the 2 glass doors and took them home, only to realize that one was 5/8 th of an inch shorter than the other !  All of the glass doors had the same label on them ( 24 x 78 1/4 ).

Luckily,  after taking both back to the store,  they still had a couple of these doors in stock,  and was able to exchange the shorter door for the matching size.  The replacement door did have a door knob hole drilled through it,  but the large round slider handle fit in nicely...

It all  worked out in the end, but i could have been stuck with mis-matched doors....

Spare bedroom closet doors installed , locking bathroom door installed,  locking master bedroom door installed - spare bedroom door ready to hang after routering out hing points.

Now... to get walls 😁

Well, i did not expect that.

You are familiar with my new back door from the Habbitat For Humanity ReStore in Stratford for 60.00 $ ?

Went into the London - Habbitat For Humanity ReStore - looking for a set of 3 matching doors.
Since the 2 bedroom doors are off the living room as well as the main bathroom door - should be all matching.... right ?  Walking through the store ( keeping in mind i need closet doors as well )  and i come across 8 doors 24 inches wide - filled with glass panels.  Did not think much about them - other than they are too narrow for my 36 inch wide openings - untill i also came across a 48 inch door slide kit for 30 $.
Quickly went back to the 24 inch wide doors, and selected 2 that were 80 inches tall, ( 60 $ each ) and took them home for my master bedroom closet ( did not find a matching set of 3 -  36 inch wide doors in London.)

The sliding closet doors installed rather nicely in the rough opening - i will fine tune all the doors and door trim after occupancy - for right now, get em in and get em working !
Yes, i need to cut away the floor 2x4 - but since the doors are hanging from the sliders - very easy to remove and adjust/ fine tune.

The sliding doors worked so good, i wanted to go back and get another set for the spare bedroom - but first - swing by Stratford, and see if they had a set of 3 doors i could use ( still need em).  Went into Stratford Restore, and - yee haa !  3 matching doors ! 36 x 80.  ( 35 $ each )  Picked up 3 sets of hinges ( 3 $  each ) and brought it all home.

After that trip, headed to the London ReStore, picked up 2 more glass doors, ( still 4 there ) but had to go to the home depot to get the slider track ( twice the price of the ReStore @ 60 $ ).

All in all a good day.  Both closet doors are aquired, 3 matching main room doors are aquired back door and mechanical room are installed with a solid wood door for the ensuite bathroom.  All for about the cost of 3 brand new doors at the store.

Building inspector wanted doors ?  I got doors.  😁😂  i have some work to do.

I have had some people say,  i am "preparing for world war 3" ... "a prepper" ... building " the bunker"....

When in fact there are a variety of reasons i am building this type of home.

1.  Storms :  The weather is getting more and more unpredictable, as mans impact on the ecosystem becomes more apparent.  Lasts nights - 27 cold snap proves this.
The summer heat is the same.
Let me ask you this.  What would happen if the power went out last night ? OR... If my heating system broke down ... i would need to pay extra charges to get it fixed NOW at 3 am !
With this home, i will have a few days to react ( at least )

2. Insurance :  Any time there is a severe wind storm... hail storm... you have to make a claim to the insurance to get said items fixed and repaired.
Not so much in a storm proof home.
Hail ? Non issue.
Wind? Non issue.
Side note here...
I have seen a house fire, that burns so hot, it melts the siding off adjacent buildings.
Exterior fire ?  Non issue.
Since this particular home is built in a gravel pit, with one of the sump pump pits built into a verticle sand bar - flooding is a Non issue.

3. Building materials : Almost all building materials fade and fail in sunlight ( U.V) .
Shingles need to be replaced, siding dulls and cracks....
Earth sheltered ? Non issue. Grass gets greener.

4.  Extra insulation :  living in an old farm house,  the first thing i wanted to do was renovate, add more insulation to lower heating bills.
With a regular house this is major construction...  how do you add 10 inches of Styrofoam and still nail on the pretty siding ?
Earth sheltered homes,  you can add 6 inches or you can add 6 feet.  Your budget is your limit.

5.  Unstable government :  now that the government is really pushing the electric mandate,  how many more brownouts, blackouts and power failures are coming our way ?
Super cold outside ? You are using to much power to heat your homes, and charge your cars.. Its our fault.
Super hot outside ? You are using to much A/C and charging your cars for the grid to handle ...  Its our fault.

So, when someone says " your just being paranoid and building a bunker"....

That person missed the point entirely.

54 F on Jan 26.  11:30 pm.
8 F  (-13.3 C)  that night.
52 F on Jan 27.  8:32 am.

A regular house with no heat and just a dehumidifier running would lose that in an hour or less.

Yes, the humidity in the old house is really dry ( about 15 %) not the 1 % in the picture.

3 degrees F (-16 C ) overnight, and the house dropped from 55 (12 C ) to 52  ( 11 C) ..... not bad.

Back porch with the new door ?  Down to 47 F (8 C )
Dehumidifier is still running other than that .... no heat aource at all.

With the back porch isolated from the main house - it is only glass, but still a barrier....

Almost a 10 degree difference overnight. Between the back porch and the main room.
Will have to add a bit of heat in there to keep things from getting to cold for now.

On the plus side, 15 F or -9 C last night and the main house dropped from 56 F down to 55 F (12 C) with the dehumidifier running.
Not bad.

Well.  First off i will say, when the building inspector says i need doors to get occupancy permit,  i don't  argue - yup, o.k.  no problem.

First test run of building my own door jambs and framing.  This being a custom build in an 8 inch thick wall makes it all the more interesting.

Mini sky, blue, translucent dragon head was just a fun side trip while i was at it.  All hard work and no play .... yada... yada ... yada.  I have both made,  only this one has lights so far.

Door jamb has been air sealed and fitted will foam gaskets.  Rare earth magnetic latches top and bottom so there is no "door handle"  to turn - just push or pull open.  Just clicks into place.

Camera makes the dragon look glaringly bright.  It is not.

No sanding or finishing as of yet,  when the door is open,  the dragon would hit the chair rail.  May have to raise them both just enough to clear the chair rail.  Which means blending and covering the old door handle hole and outlines....

Thoughts ?  Have to redo the door stop frame  - magnets look ungly, screws too long.

With some feedback that a translucent glow,  in the dark dragon door knocker- door handle may be considered a bit tacky .  I am trying a custom approach for the door handle.

Using the backer plate from the dragon head door knocker and adding a bit of a handle, this is what i came up with....

It is printed a bit too small in Aztec Gold ( the first picture is the right colour, other pictures are with no flash )

May have to try the translucent idea anyways.

Thoughts ?

Hello all.

Been a while since i posted, as i am working hard towards the occupancy permit.

Found this door at the Habitat for Humanity Restore.  
Don't  really need a door going into the back porch, but would like to isolate the temperature zone - a door thats not a door ? - this works 😁