Paint, Pool & Solar?

Painting started up this weekend with a lot of workers. Already the trim has just about been completed plus the all wood cabinets were stained. The fumes were pretty strong so Pics will have to wait another day.

We painted the rough outline to the pool yesterday and the city approved it today. We will break ground on Friday with excavation then a bobcat will drill 4 piers to support it. If all goes well next week we should have all the plumbing, steel and gunite completed.

Solar, Last year I started really digging into costs of installing a solar PV – Electric system on a home. I ran into some depressing issues light the fact that Texas had dropped solar rebates state wide years ago and only residences in Austin were eligible for any rebate. Then when we started designing the home in Jan/Feb I looked into it again. Only a couple solar installers in North Texas could be found. The 1st I contacted didn’t really sound interested in doing it due to costs and the second took 2 weeks to get back to me each time I called for pricing or changes plus his costs were just expensive. I did know that we would realistically need about 6Kw to be reasonable with our needs and some to spare. In a nutshell we will have a few 2 Geothermal units and a water well pump for the HVAC needs, PCs for everyone plus another just watching the homes systems, Lighting, TVs and a Pool. I know with my current home Im using 1000Kw in the winter and up to 3Kw in the summer and thats without a pool. Yes the home is super insulated but it has its needs and we dont want a $600/mo power bill or more.

So after months of researching the Net for info I picked a Affordable-Solar out of New Mexico back in May. As time go closer and prices change plus the new Federal Tax break being changed in Oct 2008 for new systems coming online in 2009 we couldn’t wait any longer to place the order. Over the next few weeks I should start getting delivery of the parts and will self install 30 panels, Inverter and monitoring equipment. The homes electrician will oversee my work and do the heavy wiring to interconnect with Oncor Electric and there requirements. So far things tho complicated feel right. One thing were paying a little more for is the fact that its a Battery Backed Grid-Tied system meaning when the power grid fails I will still have power via sun or battery depending on my battery capacity. Normally Solar system that are just grid tied must shutdown in the event that grid power fails even if the sun is shining. We wont have that with this system.

So far I have just about finished my application to Oncor for and Interconnect and TXU Energy Renewables dept about issues that will be coming up and some that wont. Im looking forward to working closely with both companies if things are in my favor… especially pricing for electric service.

More to come.

House Guts

I have not really had time to post over the last 6 weeks on the home since the framing was completed plus Laurie and I got Married on Sept 6th and went to my uncles condo in Cozumel for a week. Im actually writing from there now as our return was delayed 4 days due to hurricane IKE closing Houston IAH airport.

I will also post the pictures later this week.

The last 6 weeks the guts of the home went in. Plumbing and sewer lines from top to bottom, All the electrical and security. I installed all the multimedia plus chases for future needs.

After Gallaway plumbing connected the Geo-Supply water lines from the well, Shane and I ran temporary power into each of the Waterfurnace units and were able test the A/C and air pressure for each room. The temp difference from the return and supply was 18degrees on unit 1 and 28degrees on unit 2. Im very happy so far. We did upgrade one unit before we ordered it so we have dual 5 ton into 5 zones total but might change that to 6 once we test after the Sheetrock is completed and we test again.

The water reclamation went in a week ago consisting of 3 tanks. Stan Rollins was concerned with moving the new tanks off the truck down our side slopes into the backyard so he used 3 smaller tanks vs 2 large. We have 2 750Gal and 1 500Gal totaling 2000Gallons all connected together with a 4″ line at the bottom. The Geo-waste water and the rainwater lines are also connected at the top of the 1st tank and any overflow will rise to a higher 4″ line and travel down the backyard underground to the creek behind us. All tanks have a sealed porthole on top so irrigation pumps or cleaning can be accessed at a later date.

Last week Comfort Insulation spent about 4 days installing the foam insulation on the outside walls and some ceilings. All of the walls have about 4″-5″ which should be about an R14-R17 just in foam. Ceilings (floor of attic) will also be foamed then an addtl 18″ of blown fiberglass will be put on top giving us close to R45 to R50 Air Tight!! Air leaks are what kills most of a homes heating and cooling energy needs.

Sheetrock is almost completed at this point. Once that is done our walkout basement floor will be stained then cabinets and trim work will start.

Outside were about to have a stone wall installed to hold up the earth where the pool will be and brick should be starting very soon as the 1st 20 of 100+ pallets were delivered.

HVAC – Electric

Rinehart Services began work late last week on the air ducts. Its a slow process partly due to the fact the home is custom and we cut back on the size of the home which took some places away for chases. A couple small areas in closets will be framed up to hide ducts from the basement up to the main floor and some floor vents might have to be carefully located but things should work out by the end of the week. I worked in the heat over the weekend myself cutting out a 3″ drain line that blocked us from getting into the basements rec room with AC duct. Spent another 2hrs relocating the pipe myself and will have the plumbers check my work and glue it back together if it looks good to them. The extreme weather in the Fort Worth area isnt helping either. The top floor was 109′ and the basement was 101′ by mid later afternoon. It was nice to see the future wine cellar which is encased in concrete was only 88′. Im really feeling once the home is completed the basement will be very easy to control room temperatures without a lot of effort.

Electrical, Dean and I met a second time with Larry Foil who is the manager for M M Electrical Contractors Inc. last Friday. We talked about the plan and my request for installing sub panels in the basement and pool pump room. It looks like were going to bring in 400 amp service and supply the panels with 200 amps each.

Im having them install dedicated sub panels in the basement (pool pump room & main living) will mostly help with having the breakers local and not having to run upstairs for any electrical issues. Larry’s crew should show up later this week and wire up the main and top floors. I will wire up the basement myself mostly to save a little money and because I enjoy it. They will check my work before inspection.

Solar Power System, We are still looking at installing a 6KW Solar electric system on the south side of the home with the ability to expand its capacity at a later date. Texas took away our rebates some years ago, Im blaming the coal and natural gas sectors for that one, but were going to do it aways. Since nobody really installed solar electric in North Texas due to lack of interest and also the one of two quotes I got back was over $55K I’m going to do it myself for much less and have the electrician do the final connect. So far I have a good quote for the 6KW system with a battery option quoted and pending any other discounts I will list there name on the homes web site soon.

Quiet time

Well as of today things are quiet. The plumbers finished up all the rough in work on all floors, connected the city main and also the geo well lines to the home. I had them run 1″ lines from outside all the way in to the basement 1st where I have a main valve handy. The city service then drops to 3/4″ and 1/2″ through out the home and the Geo well water remains 1″ service to all outside faucets and both Geo water furnace units across the home.

We also signed contract with Rinehart Services Co for 2 Water furnace units. A 4 and a 5 ton unit with 5 digital zones controlling dampers for the home plus both units will provide hot water during a/c of which Im planning on installing a second hot water tank for the 5 ton unit and also connecting to a future outside solar panel system for hot water. Possible in the winter Im hoping with a ground mounted system protected by the home facing south I might get enough warmth to help cover the radiant slab heat needs without too much gas backup.

Shane Rinehart of Rinehart Services will be onsite in a couple days to begin installing the ducts starting from the basement mechanical areas into the 20″ floor truss system and hopefully up to the 3rd floor office avoiding the attic space completely. It looks like we can do it, just have to place it and see. If all goes well the geo units will arrive the following week from the factory and be connected. I will run temporary power to each unit and should be up and running in a couple week. Might be a really night place to work in for the remaining construction, Less sheet rock and painting.

Last, the natual gas / wood burning fireplaces arrived. We installed a large unit in the living room and a med 3 glass sided unit in the area between the kitchen breakfast and family room. We went with both gas/wood to save on energy costs if we choose to burn wood more of the time. It might be messy but wood puts out more heat.

We are still entertaining prices on Foam insulation for the walls and attic. Seems the 2 I have talked with on site each recommend something slightly different so I think its going to come down to personal choice and what I feel is most efficient to protect the home from the outside temps. We will meet with another local contractor this week for what I hope might be the last bid tho we still have time.

Electrical should start next week. Im finishing up the electrical plans when I have some time and will be meeting with our Electrician this Friday. Im planning on doing some of the work myself to keep some costs down and will also be running 100% of all the voice, data and video security since thats my gig.

Laurie and I are also expecting our 1st pool & spa bid very soon so we are keeping our fingers crossed.

Some pictures below.

Kitchen Fireplace:

Last of the roofing:

Basement french drain, Plumbing & Security

May 31, 2008

Stone was filled around the outside of the walls to complete
the french drain system on the home. More will be delivered Monday.

Plumbing work was started in the basement with the drains. Since we are going to install water retension the Tubs/Showers will use
a second drain system to the underground tank.

I installed a Toshiba network cam on the site for time lapse and security. Its working pretty good.

Bennett Water Well Drilling

May 23, 2008

Jeff with Bennett Water Well Drilling drilled our Geo cold water open loop system well.
3 hours of drilling we hit the Palluxy aquifer at 300 f$
The drill pipes were cold to the touch which is a very good thing. The well was cased and capped. Pump and electrical controller will be insta$

The wall forms came down today on what was poured yesterday. Monday Toms crew will return and start standing forms for the remaining walls. We$

Concrete wall gallery$

A Basement home in Texas, Texas Sized !

May 02, 2008

Tom Werling of North Texas Basements, Dean Smith of Royal Crest Custom Homes (builder) and myself met at the lot today to disc$
Tom will stake it the day digging takes place to ensure no tampering takes place.
It should take 2 days to remove the ground in the basement area and push it towards the
back of the lot which will level off some of the downward slope.
We should start Monday the 5th.

Waterfurance Geothermal bids requested

Apr 28, 2008

Requested Geothermal quotes from local Waterfurnace companies.

Electrical contractor meeting

Apr 1, 2008

Michael and Dean met with electrical subcontractor.

First bids

Mar 31, 2008

Plumbing bids came back, waiting on Lumber and Framers now.
Basement concrete is engineered and should print later this week. Once Dean has the basement eng Dean
can submit plans and permit request to City of FTWorth. This should take another 3wks before ground break.