Dave Lotte

I can see my floor !!

72 sand bags tied and stacked.

Now i can finish plate compacting that corner, then go over the entire floor with the compactor one last time, making sure it is within 1/4 inch of level - before installing the utilities.  Water, hydro and sewer.

Its coming along !

Jay Angler wrote: We use ours as a clothes dryer, but we're in a much wetter climate than you are.
Ecosystem is everything!

Plan to have a hanging cloths cupboard vented inline with the bathroom exhaust fan, with a circulating fan at the base...
Built in beside washer and dryer.
Cloths come out of the washer, get hung in the "closet", then turn the timer fan on for 30 min. Shuts of automatically.

Jay Angler wrote:so consider the electricity to run the dehumidifier " a building expense"!

Yes, but will only run the dehumidifier when absolutely necessary instead of for a heat source.

Jay Angler wrote:
Secondly, have you done the earth berming on the upper walls on any sides of the house yet ?

No, but 8 inches of foam on the walls OVERLAPPED by the 10 inches on the roof.  Earth may add a bit of R value, but not much.

Jay Angler wrote:
Have you allowed for some sort of air-to-air heat exchange system ?

ERV already planned.

Now that i know just how much power the dehumidifier is taking to heat / dry the Hobbit Home,   bit concerned about the hydro bill.

Realized, the house should not have to be heated at all.  I am trying to heat the dirt up from its natural 40 F

So now begins the the real test.  No heat at all - how low will it go.  32 F is freezing, and of course will have to monitor the footings for cold spots.

Here is what i have so far.  The red dots help put em in order.  1 degree a day - 13 F outside.

Still working on installing the floor inside the house, but need to move this extra sand out of the corner.

All bagged up, and i can see the footing now ! Over 180 sandbags filled - bit more than expected 😁.

Talk about "painting " yourself into a corner ....

For the number crunchers out there.

Plugged in my Kill-a-watt meter - in line with the dehumidifier.  Turns out that it uses about 9 KWH per day - keeping the house at 50 % humidity and keeping it warm at the same time.

1 KWH is worth 3,412 BTU.
Divided over 24 hours, and it takes 1,280 BTU per hour to keep up with the buildings heat loss.
9 x 30 days = 270 KWH.
In comparison - my 3 ton heat pump use 1 Megawatt a month in the winter time, heating the old house.

Oh, ya...

Posting this uodate, so once the floor is insulated, we can re-check.

Cold weather update !  4 degrees F  ( -15.5 C  outside.   - 10  C all week )
Dehumidifier plugged in 24 / 7,  and the Hobbit Home is holding at 46.7 F.  ( 8.1 C ).  50 % humidity.
With only a gravel floor, the center span is over 11 feet high - 8 foot perimeter walls - 1,500 sqf.

Yes, the main room of the old house is 67 F @ only 8 % humidity - which is why i am building !

Wikipedia....

3 weeks of vacation finished, and with just over 50 hours invested in the Hobbit home, happy with what was accomplished.

Moved out a bunch of stuff, added some brighter lighting, 90 percent of the floor is leveled to within 1/4 inch AND with a last bit of effort last night, managed to get another 51 sand bags filled (not tied or stacked yet though ). Almost 100 - 50 pound bags filled in 2 days.  

Time for a weekend off - if i sit real still, it does not feel like my arms are falling off 😁

That pile is definitely getting smaller.  Time to start looking for a plumber !

Some of you may wonder, what am i going to do with the extra sand .... ?

Well they're  back !! 😂 ...... 😭

With almost all of the floor screed and leveled except for the dining room corner, time to use up the last of the sand pile and get it out of the way.

Sand bags are back !  Filled 45 bags, another 50 or 100 should clean up the rest of the pile, so i can level the floor.  Come spring, i can load up the power wheelbarrow and move them outside.

Baby steps...