Adirondack Park Nature Magazine

Earlier this month, we featured an audio slideshow about a highly energy efficient house being built in the northern Adirondacks:  New Levels of Efficiency.  Now, we have an update.  Here’s a journal from Cathy Kraft about the latest work on the project.  All photos copyright Rich and Cathy Kraft.
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Greetings to all!  The first floor is poured and the roof is on the house!!

As for the roof….what a wild week…  We got a panelized roof system.  A bit tricky to describe but, the inside ceiling and the roof are all the same thing.  (You’ll see it in the photos.)  They are large 13 inch thick panels that were pre-made in Michigan then shipped to our house.  A work crew from New Hampshire and Massachusetts  came here to install them so, for the most part, we just got to watch for a couple of days.

The panels arrived on a tractor-trailer on Tuesday a.m.  The truck got stuck trying to make the jog up to the upper level of the house so I didn’t go to work (because my car was blocked).  Eventually, the truck got extricated and parked facing north on the south bound lane of Route 30.

Two of the construction guys and I spent a few hours directing traffic while Rich used the backhoe with forks to unload and move the panels up to the job site, all in one thunderstorm after another.  We were all drenched.  The crew came back on Wednesday a.m. and by 4 (when the next storm hit), all but 3 panels were on and the last 3 were in place by Thursday at 9 a.m.  Rich and I were really nervous about the roofing system.    However, thank heavens, these guys were really pros and the panel company was equally competent.  It was an amazing process.

Yesterday, we were trying to put the water and ice coating on the roof when the NEXT storm hit.  I don’t think I have ever seen heavier rain.  Thankfully, we were dry under the roof (until we gave up and had to run to the vehicles to go home).  We need to get the roof covered and then we either get the metal roof on, or we start putting down the in-floor heating tubes so that the concrete floors can be poured.  The windows will be installed in later August.

- Cathy Kraft

The north side of the house…… The window to the left in the basement is the 2^nd spare bedroom.  The window above is for the dining room and the two small windows flank the stove.  The window next over to the right is over the sink.  The window facing out on the furthest right is in the bathroom.  The tiny window fully on the right wall is above the toilet.  The next window – barely visible – is in our bedroom.

The south side of the house….. The large opening will be the 16 foot sliding glass doors for the living room.  The opening to the left is our bedroom.  The one to the right is the den/spare bedroom.

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This is the inside of the house.  The photo is taken from the 16 foot sliding glass doors (living room) and I’m facing the kitchen (to the left) and dining room (to the right).  The master bedroom/bathroom/washer and dryer are to the far left.  The entry is to the right, although once the walls are up, you won’t be able to see the door and the spare bedroom/den (and bathroom) is immediately to my right.  The vertical post on the beam will come down once the walls are up.  We will be able to see the interior roof, just like it is now, except we will cover it with sheetrock and paint it.