I fitted the turning vanes that Maya 3D printed for me into the “T” section of ducting where it will permanently reside. The fit was perfect and I would be willing to bet that this is the first use of a 3D-printed component in a domestic HVAC system.
Today’s crew included our site supervisor, Arel Electric, and M&R Plumbing. Pictured here on their lunch break, the team has been doing outstanding work. The old carport and garage continue to serve as a makeshift office and storage area, respectively. Both will be demolished when we reach the end of the project.
A friend who was kayaking on the Sudbury River shared the photos he took while on the water. It is a perspective of the new house we have not seen thus far and it was really fun to see them.
Nico will be playing amputee soccer in two upcoming local events. He has been instrumental in helping to grow the sport which now has an emerging group of regional teams that compete with each other.
Jeanine took this photo of Kyle and me after we completed the installation of his new refrigerator, dishwasher, induction range, and microwave oven. It took us all day to complete the electrical and plumbing. We took a break at noon to enjoy a family brunch courtesy of Jeanine. We were joined by Maya as well. Nicolai is in New Jersey at an amputee soccer training session and was missing from the family meal. Next up, Kyle and I will focus on completing the bathroom and interior door installation. The countertop fabrication will be subbed out as will the painting of the entire basement. Today definitely felt like a major milestone in a project that has taken over a year to complete.
I have opted to seal the 8″ duct work for our ventilation system from the inside. Normally, sealant is applied on the outside seams but I think it results in a rather unattractive installation. I also chose to use rivets rather than sheet metal screws to secure sections of ducting. Screws, in my experience, can loosen up over time, something I have never seen with a properly set rivet. These details take extra time and no one will ever notice them. Creating innovative works of enduring value is one component of my personal mission statement. I think it is fair to say that my approach to ductwork falls under that banner.
In order to optimize the routing of ductwork for the ventilation system in the River House, I found it advantageous to use a “T” junction to split airflow between two different circuits. A “Y” junction would have been optimal for this application but would result in far more complex duct routing at the expense of overall system performance. My solution was to design a set of internal turning vanes that will direct half of the air into each of the 8″ round ” T ” stubs. I sent Maya the CAD file and she printed the part for me on a Formlabs Form3L. The print took 24 hours and turned out beautifully (pun intended).
Maya is very conscientious of lab safety but may have taken things a bit too far with her favorite work dog, Vela.
Plumbing work on the new house has moved to the supply lines with all of the drain and vent work now completed. I could not be happier with the workmanship. The main and guest bedrooms will have digitally controlled valves. These are the two black boxes on the right. A console in each shower area will control the valves allowing for selection between a rain head and a shower head, precise temperature control, user presets, and integration with our home automation system. “Hey Siri, start Carl’s shower.” My preset temperature and shower head combination will be selected and when the water reaches the set temperature the shower will pause until I enter. This feature is a little bit decadent but there are few things that I covet more than the relaxation derived from my morning shower. It is where I do my best thinking and relieve the aches and pains that seem to be the new normal as my age advances.
The manifold on the left includes hot (red) and cold (blue) supply line shutoffs for different sections of the house. The valve on the far left is for the outside water bibs and includes a purge valve for winterization.
The threat of snowfall from a powerful Nor’easter kept all but the plumbers from showing up at the River House today and they only worked until mid-morning. This gave me free run of the house to complete the ventilation distribution system for which I am the installer. What I enjoyed most was the peace and quiet. The subs invariably have their job site radio’s tuned to stations I do not particularly care for. The snow kept mixing with rain throughout the day which limited total accumulation to about 3 inches. Had it been one to two degrees colder, we could have easily seen three times that amount.
When designing the layout for the River House, I provisioned for a vertical chase behind the stairwell to accommodate the various mechanical systems of the house. It goes from the basement all the way to the roof line. At the time, I thought I had provided a generous amount of space. Now I am thankful that everything is just fitting (barely). The chase is occupied by the following items:
Key to fully utilizing the space has been the interactive staging of work. Today, I installed eight fresh air ducts (white tubes). Next, the HVAC contractor will complete the horizontal section of the supply duct. Then, I will run additional round ducts in the 2×4 bay on the near side. Any other order of work would preclude this degree of packing density.
Jeanine prepared this Swedish almond torte for a dinner party we held this evening. Our guests included two couples with whom we have a great deal in common but have not thus far spent much time together. The company was wonderful and the food delicious. It made for a very relaxing evening after a second day of back-breaking work running ventilation tubes at the River House.
Kyle spent the entire day helping me install the ventilation tubes that will supply fresh air to the River House. In total, the project requires some 1500 feet of tubing. Kyle’s preferred method for carrying the 150-foot spools struck me as very amusing. By the end of the day, we completed 14 of the 32 runs from various parts of the house to the mechanical room where they will be connected to a Zehnder Comfoair Q600. Pulling these corrugated tubes through the joists and cutouts between floors is some of the most physically tiring work you can imagine. Every muscle in my body is sore from the effort and I imagine Kyle will be moving a little slowly tomorrow as well.
Jeanine is in the final throes of publishing her memoir cookbook. A project 15 years in the making. Someone with early access to the manuscript questioned the amount of salt in the family recipe for Taralli. Determined to catch any errors before going to print, Jeanine prepared a batch to verify the accuracy. I was fortunate to be pulled into the quality control work and can categorically testify that these were the best I have ever had.