After yesterday’s blog post, I received this email:

“Ms. Conover…

We have an old & leaky house. Who might you recommend as a home energy auditor?

–Curious”

I thought others in the Charlottesville area might also like to see my answer.

There is a non-profit in town focused on home audits and energy retrofits: LEAP. They are probably the best source of info about who to call for your particle needs. They have a list of contractors involved in their program who have gone through a Building Performance Institute training. See those with an asterisk here:

http://leap-va.org/about/contractors

Unfortunately, I do not really know any of these folks, so I do not feel qualified to specifically recommend anyone. Just be aware that some of the auditors just do the audits, while others also can do the work. I’m not sure which is better, but call a few to see if they have experience with your age/type of home.

More about what a home audit is:
http://leap-va.org/home-energy/assessment

I love the crisp white Scandanavian look, but I also love color (did I mention that I am a Gemini?). What to do? Well, I we decided to go white on the first floor, and then really go bold as you go upstairs. Here are a few teaser photos to give you an idea. When you come stay in our guest room, we want you to feel you are staying in room very different than your own house. The excitement of travel!

If you are curious about what paint we are using, we have used an Olympic primer, Mythic eggshell (purchased from the nice folks at Nature Neutral) and Sherwin Williams Harmony eggshell. The Mythic website states:

Mythic® paint is a non-toxic, ultra low odor paint that provides the durability and coverage you expect from a premium paint without the off-gassing VOC’s and cancer-causing toxins that emit years after drying. Stronger, safer, smarter paint®. Now that’s a breath of fresh air.

Focusing on the no-VOC paints seems to be smelling pretty good so far.

20th C Modern Saturday, Oct. 15 @ 10
(Preview Week of sale M-W 9-5, Th-Fr 9-7)
+
First Fridays, Oct. 7, 5-8
(Join us for a little vino and check out the terrific art in this sale!)

Complete online catalog

More pictures

Partial Listing: Bruce Weber, Robert Rauschenberg, Ben Shahn, Charley Harper, Ed Ruscha, Jean Dubuffet, Harry Nadler, Ted Turner, Irving Haynes, John Leith Craxton, Gaetano Pesce, Peter Halley, Barbara Kruger, Jose Maria Sicilia, Gene Davis, Jimmy Ernst, Jay Protas, George Platt Lynes, George Hurrell, George Rouault, Richard Prince, Yasumasa Morimura, Bernard Buffet, Nan Goldin, John Dugdale, Jack Pierson, Duane Michals, Jack Perlmutter, Pavel Federovich Tchelitchew, Chris Norris, Ruth Gikow, Pablo Picasso, Shepard Fairey, Andy Warhol, Marianna von Allesch, Michael Ayrton, Ivan Mosca, W.J. Walley, Yngve Ekstrom, Richard Uhlemeyer, Fantoni for Raymor, Murano Venini Salviati, Frederic Weinberg, Tapio Wirkkala, Nils Thorsson, Royal Copenhagen, Hjorth, Gertrud Kudielka, Flygsfors, Kastrup Holmegaard, Strombergshyttan, Orrefors, Jais Nielsen, Arne Bang, Gli Etruschi, Barbini Murano, Jacques Adnet, Italma by Jean Gillon, Soholm Bornholm, Rosenthal-Netter, Oiva Toikka, Lietzke Porcelain, Herman Kahler, Harry Bertoia for Knoll, Sarreid, Heritage Henredon, Paul Klee, Alvar Aalto, Paul Bellardo, Riihimäen Lasi Oy, Bjorn Wiinblad, Gambone, Haeger, Ettore Sottsass, Susie Cooper, Erphila, Kartell, Iittala, Curtis Jeré, etc.

Back Gallery Modern Friday, Oct. 14 @ 10
(Preview M-W 9-5, Th 9-7)

Furniture by Herman Miller, Thonet and Lane, Danish Modern furniture, Steve Keene and other artwork, Art Glass & Pottery, Lighting, Rugs, 1950s Vintage, and lots of great smalls! Still unpacking…

Complete list available at preview.

Harlowe-Powell Auction Gallery (VAAF-06)
2109 India Road
Charlottesville, Virginia 22901
www.harlowepowell.com
434.293.2904

On the same day that our new homeowner for our first Riverbluff house is moving in, we are excited to announce that we will be building another Latitude house right across the street. We hope to break ground later this fall.

After spending all winter and spring up there and getting to observe how dynamic a community it is, we feel confident that this would be a great place for another Latitude house and family. We are in the early stages of the design process, but are most excited by the views out the back towards downtown. The back of the lot backs up to a cemetary and large open green space and we are working on designs that bring this hidden open space into the house.

But, to be perfectly honest, our real reason for building up there again: we have a bit of a sweet tooth. On one of our last days, neigbhors Ben and Kathy came tearing out of their house trying to flag us down as we had the truck loaded down with tools and it appeared we were leaving for the last time. What did they want? They wanted to give a big dish of brownies that they made for us. Looking forward to next spring and our 12th Latitude house and hopefully some more sweets!

It will take big shoes (and a big beard) to fill the void left by the departure of Cory. But, we think we’ve found our man: Bryce Fletcher.

Tommy found Bryce on a torrid job site in the hills above Port-au-Prince, Haiti and the sparks flew immediately. Unfortunately for Bryce, they have been flying ever since-he spent his first week at Latitude 38 grinding through plate metal with an abrasive saw so loud it makes the neighbors nauseous-and they’re out of town.

After a workday like that it’s nothing but chamomile and soft flute music, right? Not for this man-after hours Bryce turns it up even louder as the lead singer of his very own cover band-coming soon to a C-ville night spot near you!

Check out his Official Bio: Bryce Fletcher

While there are many hazards on the jobsite, Koncho isn’t one of them. This prank, popular among Japanese schoolchildren, involves forming the fingers into a crude jackhammer bit and then slamming them upwards into the dereire of your new english teacher from America, Cory Caldwell. But Cory is certainly up to the challenge, if the work ethic he inspired us with over the last two years is any indication. After all, this is a man who returned to the jobsite after a quadruple root canal to finish waterproofing a foundation during a rainstorm. And this commitment partially explains why he is headed to Japan for a plum english teaching gig with the Japanese Exchange and Teaching program; while the rest of us continue to wallow in muddy holes indefinitely. Best of luck Cory, and in the words of my former Japanese neighbor, who used to recite poetry at dawn:
“Ah, to be young and bound for Great Nippon, snow-capped jewel of the Pacific’s eye”

To some extent, we find ourselves killing time working on projects that aren’t necessarily a priority while we wait on the arrival of windows and siding. One filler project: putting up the 2nd floor ceiling cladding. Not really a priority, but seeing that we already put up the plywood air barrier ceiling and there is no electrical in the ceiling, nothing is really stopping us.

For the guest bathroom, all I did was tell Cory to use up the poplar scraps stored in the basement that I am tired of tripping over and driving me crazy. For those that are curious, the wood came from here: http://latitude38llc.com/2011/04/1555/

Cory decided to get a little whimsical and evoke the feeling of being below deck of some sort of old sailing vessel. It’s such a tight space that the photos don’t do justice to the feeling that the curvature, texture and color of the slatted poplar evoke. We were using this bathroom as a test case, but Joey loves it so much that I think we are going to do our bathroom in the Spanish cedar scraps and maybe eventually our front entry way as well.

One small air sealing detail: seeing that we are already cladding the ceiling before doing our blower door test, we went nuts taping the plywood, including all the seams, any knots, and nail holes.

From April 9 – 24 I traveled to Haiti again with Building Goodness Foundation (http://buildinggoodness.org/). BGF has just begun a Ti-Kay (Creole for “small house”) program, which implements a modular housing system designed by C’ville architect Mike Stoneking (http://www.s-vs.com/), and which has been studied and tested in the field by many Charlottesville contractors and carpenters. The houses are 12 feet wide by 20 feet long, 4 feet of which acts as an outdoor porch. They are constructed entirely from pressure treated lumber and galvanized roofing metal; they have four windows, three doors, and come complete with bug-blocking and window and door locking hardware.

The group I went down with was one of the first to begin mass-assembling these houses at a compound in Leogane (the city in which the 2010 earthquake was cenetered). My group was lead by Clay Clark and included team members Pete Syme, Michael Plehn, Bryce Fletcher, Dave Ackerman, Mike Rabinowitz, Nora Brookfield, and Mary Butcher. Everyone was extremely motivated and I was impressed by everyone’s work ethic. For some, it was their first time in Haiti and for the rest of us, it was a fresh type of trip since we were staying near the center of Leogane and had intimate access to the city.

The compound where we stayed was being managed by a great guy named Jason; he has given BGF plenty of room to store materials and tools so our prefabrication of the base components, wall panels, roof trusses, and other pieces was up and running in no time. Following prefabrication, we loaded the house components onto a truck the night before a build, and early the next morning we took everything into the mountains for families that are in desperate need of safe, reliable housing. Due to the simple and elegant nature of the design, the houses can easily assembled in a day by a relatively small crew. We left the compound around 7 am, began building around 8 am, and we were usually packing up and going home around 3 or 4 pm. While we were down there, we prefabricated six houses worth of material and assembled four of them in the mountains.

It wasn’t all work, though. We had a great time hanging out with our fellow Haitian workers on the weekends and after work. The weekend between groups changing, Clay and I had two days alone and we decided to spend it at the beach with all of our fellow Haitian builders – Walton, Jimmy, Mardochee, and Gito. After a long, hot week of work, nothing quite hits the spot like fresh lobster and cold beer on a beautiful beach. That same weekend, Clay and I also built a pool table for the compound in Leogane, the felt and balls for which Clay had brought from home. The food in Haiti also deserves mentioning; we had a cook at the compound and most meals are delicious (I think Bryce agreed to go on the trip just so he could have authentic Picklies again…). But on weekends we were left without a cook, and the entire group owes a debt of gratitude to the cook at the Ocean Grill, a seafood restaurant in Leogane. There are no words to describe how many incredible meals this place provided for us.

I encourage anyone reading this who has never been to Haiti to consider going with BGF. They’re constantly looking for more volunteers. Whether you are in the construction industry or not, you can contribute to the effort in Haiti, and you will have an amazing experience. Despite the devastation from the last year, Haiti is a beautiful country filled with amazing people. There is something about Haiti that brings people back. If you go, you probably won’t go once.