We. Have. WALLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I could either stay in Richmond and be sick, achy and contagious, or I could go to the net zero off grid modern house kit and be sick, achy and contagious.
Easy choice.

I just could not bear to be away another week, knowing that Bobby Hirsh, the carpenter, had reused and built actual WALLS out of VMI's old basketball court. Honeychile, this t'ain't yer Chinese drywall...

So I grabbed a box of Kleenex and headed out, sick and feverish, to the net zero passive solar SIPs house kit.

We rounded the drive and saw the field was still covered with snow... yet in the distance, the house kit shone happily, a beacon for our car to aim for through the mud.

We tumbled out, and the children and dogs proceeded to do exactly what I feared: splash through the mud puddles, roll in the snow (and no dry change of clothes with us), and chase each other, slushing through soil and ice, round and round the prefab. *Sigh*

As I surveyed this certainly disastrous scenario, Handsome Husband slipped away to peek inside the house kit and returned quickly: "Wow."

I hurriedly went to inspect. 
So: A year ago we had purchased VMI's basketball court, and now here it would be in our prefab as walls? Creating rooms with recycled, beautiful 100% maple floorboards instead of using drywall?!? Handsome Husband warned me that due to our carpenter, who is a Mennonite minister, being called back to Haiti (where he and his family lived for five years before moving here), he had not been able to completely finish the walls. But who cares, I just want to SEE the walls!

I could tell you all about it, but... c'mon and see it for yourself.
I was taping when I walked in for the first time, and it probably conveys to you more than anything I could type. 
(I love how I keep trying to be informative, glib, and then I see the walls and GASP...)

Prefab Green Home Update: Recycled Reused Wood On The Walls!


Prefab House: Interior Walls: Recycled Reused Wood: VMI's Basketball Court!

We told Bobby to cut wood inside since the temperatures have been so frigid this month, and to leave any scraps behind so we could recycle them.  In preparation, Handsome Husband had moved all the furniture in the corner and covered it all with a sheet. So we spent the day in the prefab house kit sweeping, sorting wood scraps, sweeping some more, dragging back the furniture piece by piece, and... sweeping.

Y'know, all we do out there are chores it seems, but we are all SO HAPPY, so busily content, feeling the sun on our faces, smelling the crisp air  that only happens when it has touched snow, seeing progress as we proceed on every little thing we do in the prefab house kit.  We are so grateful to all of the craftsmen who have helped us, and it is so satisfying that we also have a hand in it, that our children will remember this slow process as we move towards our sustainable goal.

 

To refresh your memory of this journey: We started with purchasing land, then awhile later bought a 1960s camper where we would brave the spring ticks, the summer heat, the late autumn frost (all with our children still in diapers)... then the house kit was erected and suddenly we had shelter, REAL SHELTER.

And now we have walls.
And even CLOSETS.

For the first year ever, we have been out there in 1. January and 2. February, and out there, in the dead of winter, 3. *comfortably*!

If I hadn't been so feverish I would have suggested we stay and spend the night.  But I also know I need to get better and that the better thing to do is install the ERV / off grid systems so we can seek respite even more efficiently and comfortably than the makeshift ways we've been visiting for years.

But in the meantime...? We appreciate every. single. thing. 
And don't miss what we lack in the prefab house kit, because we've never had it there.
Makin' something outta nothin' is not a hobby, it's a philosophy.  I am fine with my children being raised how to be comfortable, knowledgeable and practical in raw weather and conditions, and I think these experiences make them better for it.

 

Last Look At Prefab Zero Energy House Kit Before Framing

I headed for the hills mid-week to take a last look at the prefab house kit before interior framing begins. I admit I fear I might miss the look of the structural insulated panels (SIP)! You might have seen in the previous post my aunt left the particle board "as is" in her own gorgeous home (3rd video down in the post), and I find it appealing.

If we hadn't already found the gorgeous, recycled VMI floorboards to reuse in our interior, along with other recycled finds, I would be seriously considering just painting the SIPs on the inside and calling it a day.



Here's a video of a last walk through the wide open / no interior SIPs prefab house kit:
(I'm sure it will take awhile to download, I tend to go on and on a bit...



Once interior walls are built, the off grid energy efficient systems will be installed: solar energy and heat, rainwater collection and filtration, and more. I guess I will no longer say I'll be "camping" in the house kit... : )
Instead, we'll simply be off grid, zero energy, prefab-ulously done.

 

VMI Basketball Floorboards Are Invading!

For those of you interested in reuse of local materials, my husband is SO obsessed with the VMI basketball floorboards we purchased to line the interior of our modern off grid zero energy house kit that he actually took a day off of work to go out there and play with his giant crossword puzzle, trying to put the VMI logo pieces back together, because he can't stand the thought that there is a logo in that pile o' floorboards.

Yes he did.
And yes I'm rolling my eyes.
Enjoy.

 

Foam Again, Foam Again, Jiggety Jig!

Foam Again, Foam Again, Jiggety Jig! Insulating your home is not just about the SIPs panels that come with our Green Modern Kits SIPs house kit.

As the weather turns cooler, think of being outside on a frosty day: Bundled up with a hat, scarf, nice warm coat... and...
no shoes?
Think of the exposed skin losing heat as it gets sucked away in the wind and cold.

Your house is like that too- despite the SIP insulating properties to ensure your home is tight, don't forget to add insulating foam underneath the foundation!

So, our house kit construction begins:


My handsome husband took the morning off of work to drive out and receive our foam as it was delivered by truck from the factory. And when he returned, I asked anxiously, homesick, "Was the land beautiful?" "It was."

To save costs and be more "green"/not using a delivery for a single purpose, we asked the factory to use "Piggybacking."

Think of Piggybacking as carpooling for freight products! Instead of truck one (and we're talking eighteen wheeler trucks!) driving Cargo1 to North Carolina, it can make stops along it's way and drop off packages 1, 2, 3... that reduce its wasted space during a drive, making delivery more efficient.

Piggybacking is more efficient and less wasteful for the company, while usually decreasing the cost for the consumer! (And that ain't no pork I'm tellin'!)

Keep yer eyes peeled, because yes, finally, it all begins.