My House

[Nxs]

Here is a couple shots from today. And yes, I am sore and sunburnt!!

[Volvox]

In this photo i see your house will be made out of wood. I often, in movies and TV programs, have seen houses in US build like that - wooden plank skeleton covered by plywood(?), fibreboard(?) or something like that. Because no one in my country build houses like that i would like to ask some questions:
- How long it takes to build a house?
- How cold is during winter in your city? Isn't there a problem with such thin wall?
- How you will heat your house?
- How you hang heavy things on such thin wall?

[Iczer]

Well, I can't answer the first as I've never tried myself, but I'd wager it heavily depends on the number of helpers involved and the size/complexity of said house.

Second one is fairly easy. Despite the walls seemingly being thin, you put an insulator between the studs (the pieces of 2x4 wood that stretch from the bottom of the wall to the top to support it) like fiberglass-based stuff or recycled denim (which is getting more popular for green houses). Said insulator keeps the cold out during the colder months while generally keeping it cooler inside during warmer months by not allowing heat/cold to permeate the walls as easily.

Third's up to him, but generally natural gas or some other form is the norm nowadays. I've actually seen some done with geothermal heating sources that are pretty interesting as well.

Fourth has to do with the studs mentioned in the second answer. Since the studs run from the floor to the ceiling, they're pretty sturdy. You just run a stud finder along the wall until you find one or more, and attach said heavy object to the wall there so the nails or whatever enter into the stud.

[Nxs]

In this photo i see your house will be made out of wood. I often, in movies and TV programs, have seen houses in US build like that - wooden plank skeleton covered by plywood(?), fibreboard(?) or something like that. Because no one in my country build houses like that i would like to ask some questions:
- How long it takes to build a house?
- How cold is during winter in your city? Isn't there a problem with such thin wall?
- How you will heat your house?
- How you hang heavy things on such thin wall?

It will take three or four months depending on the number of volunteers.
The winter months are really not bad here. Last winter was a bitch though. Lots of snow. Not normal
It will be electric heating and air.
It is really not a thin wall! The studs you see in the top photo are 2 by 6. The walls are insulated on both sides plus foam in between after all the wires, plumbing, etc. is ran. Not to mention you will have the drywall on the inside.

The house is being built to be energy efficient so, there is insulation everywhere!

Trust me, as I post more pics, you will see.

[Nxs]

Walllllls!

[Chevalr1c]

So its eems it is located on a slope and with a forest behind. A forrest behind the house means you will have a lot of birdies in your backyard!

[Volvox]

Yeah, slope seems to be quite steep. You need to build a wall to prevent landslide and something to remove water because there will be a river during a storm.

I have some more questions (my sister is building a house too, so i'm interested in this topic ;)
Is electric heating a standard? What is cost of electricity in US (1 kWh)?

[Nxs]

The slope is steep! Especially in the front. I do believe they might level it out a little though and there will be a run off for the water. Electric or gas is standard, luckily for me though, Habitat only uses electric. I hate gas! The electric will be cheaper in the new house than the one I am in now as the new one is insulated everywhere whereas this house has none! So, it will probably cut my electric bill by $75.

[Nxs]

Well, today we had 15 people from bikeandbuild.org helping with the house. There were a total of 34 but they had to be split as 34 people on my house would not have worked that well! When I left, the roof was almost done and almost all the walls were done. I meant to take pictures, but I forgot.

The bike to build people bicycle from NY (I think) to San Francisco stopping to help build a house for a day. They still have ten weeks to go til they get to San Fran. I wish them the best of luck, as God knows that would kill me and really do appreciate all the help today.

On another note, they were filming and taking pics all day as well. I tried to avoid the cameras as much as possible, but I may end up on their website. Good luck finding me!

[Chevalr1c]

Pretty nice organisation, that B&B. Making a bike tour that has a bigger distance than the Tour de France and in the process they stop and give a helping hand to building projects. I definitely would not be able to do that!

And it's pretty nice that the construction seems to go pretty fast.