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New House Project in Montville, ME

Still moving in!

January 7th, 2008

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All those visions of having the house finished and immaculate within a couple of weeks were rather unrealistic! I am still surrounded by cardboard boxes and unpainted walls. Picking away at putting up shelves and sorting through stuff. And doing the finishing on woodwork etc. And then the snow hit and we had the first “real winter” in years. Back in August I said we would get an early winter and you would think I would not have been surprised when it happened! But many belongings are still out in the yard, buried under several feet of snow and the friend’s storage building is totally unaccessible behind snow drifts. Oh well, it is going to take a bit longer than planned.

December was busy shipping out jewelry orders and January is a low cash flow but very busy month for the business. So working flat out in every direction.

November is not the best month to learn how to live with a solar powered home as there has not been much sun and short days. I bought a small generator for when I misjudged usage! The solar panels are located on the hill near the house for maximum sun. The down side of this is climbing the hill to clean snow off the panels and monitoring the system. The plan is to add more panels as cash becomes available.

The Quietside on demand tankless hot water heater has proved very disappointing with fluctuating water temperature making a shower a very stressful experience. If funds permit, it will be replaced. The GE front loading washer has had 4 visits from the repair man and is still not working properly. I am hoping that GE will replace it.

The house is beautifully warm and cozy, very easy to heat. It is also a very enjoyable space to live and work in.

Dolphin Designs - handcrafted jewelry for those who love the ocean and nature

Warm at last!

November 12th, 2007

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I have been sleeping in the new house for a week now. Not sure who is happiest about moving out of the cold and cramped camper, me or the cats. The house is beautifully warm, light and spacious. It takes very little to heat and the wood stove is fired up twice a day mostly to dry out the timber frame.

There is still tons to do, painting, sealing the wood, building shelves, finishing cabinets and moving everything in. It is so wonderful to be warm and have a shower though!

Here is the kitchen under construction. It nneds finishing, but seems ot work very well.

Gary puts the finishing touches on the granite counter top of the “floating” island

The on demand hot water system is up and running supplying domestic hot water and heat for the radiant heating.

My new office and jewelry workshop is still in process of being set up.

The master bedroom enjoys pond views

And a huge walk in closet

The living room is a comfortable and bright living space with a view to the pond

Nearly done

October 31st, 2007

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So close! The house is nearly done. The propane tanks are in place and the cook stove hooked up. The plumbers have been working hard yesterday and today and we have water available. The hot water heater should be ready tomorrow, but Thompson Oil says they may not be able to connect it to the propane until the end of November. So no heat or hot showers! Gary is finishing up as much of the interior as I can pay him to do and the electricians finished last week.

I am spending evenings in the house but still sleeping in the camper to keep the cats warm. This morning it was 34F in the camper. We are all ready to move in but the cats cannot be moved until the contractors have finished.

I am busy painting as fast as I can and hopefully will have it clean enough to put some furniture and bed of some sort in this weekend.

The new cat porch is coming along beautifully and should be finished this weekend, essential for moving in.

Solar Energy System

October 31st, 2007

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The solar system has been designed and installed by Bob Hussey of Solartec in Waterville. The original plan was for a wind turbine as well, but lack of funds has prevented that. The top of the hill was chosen as the best spot for wind and also has the best sun exposure as I do not want to cur the big trees around the house.

We are still hoping to add 6 more panels and 4 more batteries to the current bank of 12. The batteries, inverter and controller are located inside the shed. It is a 24 volt system converted to 120 by the inverter. The house has normal wiring.

Water Supply

October 31st, 2007

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Doug Cross of E A Cross and Sons installs the well pump and pressure tank.

Flooring

October 31st, 2007

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The kitchen, living room and bathroom are floored with porcelain tile. Mike Gale, Sr assisted his sons with the tiling.

The rest of the house is done in laminate flooring. It looks good, is hard-wearing and easy to clean! With 7 cats this is very important.

Window Trim

October 31st, 2007

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The window trim looks great, starting to look like a home.

Drilling the well

October 31st, 2007

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E. A Cross and Sons turned up early yesterday and the well drilling was completed in one day. I tried my hand at dowsing for the first time and we struck water at 175′.

Car port, Sheet rock etc.

October 13th, 2007

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There has been so much to do and little time for updating, my apologies to all the fans!

The sheet rock is almost finished now.

And wonderful news, the dam must have received some repairs as Trues Pond is back!

The car port is now complete and looks really good.

In order to gain the best solar exposure a small shed has been built, by Frank and his brother John, on the top of the cliff and the solar panels will be mounted on the roof. Due to cost, I may be installing more panels rather than the wind generator. A disappointment, but the expense looks to be considerable to include the wind turbine.

Windows and Siding

September 23rd, 2007

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All the windows are now installed and most of the exterior siding is in place.