Quickscrews
Quickscrews Cabinet Install Screws
Built for strength and precision, Quickscrews Cabinet Install Screws are the go-to choice for professional cabinet installers. Designed specifically for cabi...
$169
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Rastra Block, an ICF
The couple chose Rastra block, an insulated concrete form (ICF) made from recycled foam plastics as the form of construction. Also known as RASTRA Compound Insulated Concrete Forms (ICCF), rastra blocks are modular units. They are dry-stacked (no mortar) and locked together like Lego® bricks. Contractors add reinforcing steel (rebar) before pouring concrete into the cavities, which gives the home's walls strength similar to that of bridges and high-rise buildings made of concrete.
The walls provide thermal and acoustic insulation. The blocks include space to run electrical conduit and plumbing. The wall material on either side easily accommodates electrical and plumbing installations. Burris and Riedweg's home, he says, incorporated 7,000 feet of rebar. They used rastra block on the main level, and wood on the second level.
Heat Pumps at Last
Two ground-source or geothermal heat pumps provide heating and cooling in the home. "The guy who did the design, GeoGerry, is a great person and passionately believes in what he's doing," says Riedweg. "He says we could save America if everyone went with geothermal heat pumps."
Because the couple has acreage, GeoGerry laid out the geothermal well field horizontally. "We dug trenches for two loops, 800 feet long, five-and-a-half feet deep into the ground, buried 10 feet apart," says Riedweg. One heat pump manages water for the radiant heat floor; the other controls the forced air heat and the air conditioning.
Proper Siting and Overhangs
The couple sited their home on a long axis east-west, with bedrooms on the northeast corner of the house, the laundry room on the south side, and open kitchen, dining and living space on the west side. "We wanted to keep direct sun off of the bedrooms to keep them cool," says Burris.
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Our goal was to design and build a house that would be here for 100 years, that would last, and that in our retirement wouldn't cost a lot to maintain.
Burris says. "For us, it's a forever home. We're not going anywhere else."
Home Feature Editor
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Article by
Camille LeFevre
Camille LeFevre is an architecture and design writer based in the Twin Cities.
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