Our cabin is nearly ready for use! Alex, my mom, Leon, and I headed out to Winthrop for a three-day weekend to celebrate my birthday and work on what seems to be a never-ending punch list of little tasks that need to be completed before we start enjoying the house. I spent much of the last couple trips sealing and installing the custom rusted-steel trim for the baseboards and doors. It came out looking really cool, I think, and adds a nice rustic touch to the look of the place. Thanks to our neighbor Michael Guilfoil for the idea.
Most gratifying was that we were finally able to really clean up some of the rooms, remove the construction materials, and polish the concrete floors. The trim is all done now, and the major appliances are in. Alex even brought ingredients along and baked me a birthday cake!
Our tiler started the kitchen backsplash and master bathroom shower last Monday, and we are hoping to have the bathroom complete next weekend. We are really happy with how our Paperstone Coverply countertops from Greenhome Solutions turned out. We have enough material left over that we may be able to make some bedside tables.
Our Panasonic mini-split heat pumps are also up and running now, and we were pleased to find out how quiet they are and that they easily heat the house, even on the coldest days we've experienced. We have one of the heads in the main living area and one in the master bedroom, and the heat feels nice and even throughout the house. Dave also did another blower door test a few weeks ago, and the results, after drywall has been installed, are even better than they were the first time. It is an extremely tight house! We've also powered up the HRV (heat recovery ventilator) system, which pushes fresh air to all the living areas. The air in the house feels very fresh, and the HRV ensures that we capture some of the heat from the stale air the house exhausts.
The snow shedding plan we came up with appears to be working. The snow slides off the solar panels soon after the sun comes out and warms up the glass a bit. The snow brakes on the north roof keep the snow from mounding in front of the door, and the slight pitch of the carport roof, combined with the metal roofing material, allow the snow to gradually slide off to the side, out of the way, when it warms up.
