~ DayCreek Journal~
A Visit to the MREA Fair
With the Summer Solstice comes my favorite event of the year; the Midwest Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living Fair in Amherst, WI. The fair is the largest and longest running renewable energy...
Landscaping, Cordwood Building and A Cat Shower
It’s funny how things snowball sometimes. Our gravel road took quite a beating this spring. Early spring rains, thawing, refreezing and gravity all took their toll. So a decision needed to be...
Snap, Crackle, Pop!
Ahhh, the sound of cereal crackling in a bowl of soy milk. Does life get any better? Well, it could get a lot better if the sound wasn’t coming from the walls. No don’t worry, the walls...
The Chop-Saw Gets the Axe
After numerous attempts at preventing logs from flying off the table, I have shelved the chopsaw idea. The chopsaw does work when cutting long logs to 8″ lengths, but when attempting to cut...
The First Wall (1 of 64)
On Sunday, May 6th the first logs were placed into position marking the start of what will prove to be a long road towards completing the walls. I chose one of the back walls of the house to be the...
Chop Saw Build
How much wood could a chop saw cut if a chop saw could chop wood? Faced with the fact that I have 32 face cords of 16″ wood that has to be cut in half, I decided to cut to the chase and build...
To Use Paper or Not?
To Use Paper or Not? That is the question. The use of papercrete mortar for cordwood construction has been limited (so far) to the works of Paul Reavis and James Juczak. Traditional papercrete...
Lightning Protection System
Spare the Rod and Spoil the House Last summer I had quite a scare when the house took either a direct or indirect lightning hit. Although no damaged occurred, my heart pounded for at least 10...
Thermol 81
Trash or Treasure? Ed McAllen put me in touch with a women who was looking for a home for some rather unique solar heating tubes. She didn’t want to just pitch them, so I decided that maybe I...
Return to Day Creek
Well, it’s been months since I have been able to return to our house-in-the-making. December brought significant snowfall to the Midwest, both in the La Crosse area and in Northern Illinois....
Bob Schneider’s Cordwood Chop-Saw
BEFORE READING ANY FURTHER — The following information is for “interesting reading material” purposes only. Chain saws are a very dangerous tool. Do not attempt to use a chain saw...
Insulation for Double Cordwood Walls
All materials conduct heat, some more than others. Materials such as copper, steel, aluminum, glass and concrete are good conductors of heat; whereas wood, paper, fiberglass, cellulose and mineral...
Interview with James Juczak
Interview with James Juczak I first learned about Jim in a paper that he wrote for the CoCoCo/99 Papers. (CoCoCo stands for Continental Cordwood Conference.) Jim’s paper discussed various...
Double-Wall Options
The last few years of El Nino and La Nina weather are a thing of the past it appears and it looks like we are in for a full blown winter. The past month has found me buttoning things up for the...
Look! There goes a BTU into the Floor!
I returned on Saturday afternoon after spending a couple of days at home in Illinois. Weather-wise, things looked ominous for the week. The forecast called for mild temperatures, but very little in...
And the Leaks Shall Inherit the Earth
Ah yes, what would a hydronic heating project be without a few troublesome leaks? Here’s a synopsis of this last week’s tales from the field… Sunday With the weather threatening to...
Trenching in the Pipes
Now that the collectors are up, light can be seen at the end of the tunnel. (The question is, is it daylight or an oncoming freight train.) This last week was spent trenching in one inch pex tubing...
Up go the Solar Collectors
The weather couldn’t have been better for Saturday’s solar collector raising party. Temperatures were in the low 70’s with bright sunshine. The only damper on the day was the...
Building Solar Collector Frame – Part II
What is he building now? I’m sure that we have been the talk of the neighborhood when it comes to building this house. People have stopped by to ask what is that? A giant gazebo or is that a...
Building Solar Collector Frame – Part I
Like most projects for this house, building the frame support for the solar panels has become quite an arduous task. A total of 28 post holes needed to be dug and were accomplished using an auger...
Like a Bridge Over Doubled Circulators
Like A Bridge over Doubled Circulators Okay, I know it’s a stretch but I felt compelled to some how fit Simon and Garfunkel’s song into the title. This week the bridge was completed from...
Preparing Solar Collectors
If you recall, the February 12, 2000 journal entry discussed the arrival of the 4 x 10 foot solar panels. These panels were purchased used, so there was quite a bit of clean up work required. I had...
Radiant Floor Tubing and Concrete Floor Pour
This was the week that it all came together. Here’s a review, day by day. Monday – This was vapor barrier day. A vapor barrier is typically a sheet of 6 mil plastic. Although it is often...
Go… And Pound Sand
Go… And Pound Sand I can’t quite recall who it was that told me to do that, but just for the record, I have done my life’s share of it over the last couple of weeks. Four and a...
Underfloor Plumbing
Before filling the trench or laying down the radiant floor tubing, the under-floor drains must be carefully placed. Much time was devoted to measuring and re-measuring the placement of the toilet,...
Papercrete for Mortar?
Pondering the Potential Possibility of Papercrete Mortar During my visit to this year’s Midwest Renewable Energy Fair, I moseyed on over to Rob Roy’s booth to see what was new and...
Insulating the Sand Bed
Before pouring in the sand and laying down the tubing, the bottom and the sides of the trench need to be insulated. This prevents most of the heat from escaping into the ground and allowing the...
Excavating for Sand Bed and Plumbing
IDig Memorial Day And that about sums up my Memorial Day weekend. I spent the weekend digging a trench inside of the house that will eventually be filled with sand and used to store heat from the...
A Visit by Cliff Shockey
This week was highlighted by a visit from Cliff Shockey. I first started talking to Cliff when I became interested in his double wall building technique. Cliff’s method prevents air...
Cistern Plumbing Installation
This winter and spring have been exceptionally dry (so far). This is quite a contrast to last year’s weather. It seemed that while I was building the frame of the house it did nothing but...