Martha Rose Construction

While cleaning out a storage shed that held stuff from years of revolving tenants, I came across many cans of paint. Gallons and quarts, some almost full, most almost empty, bright and dull colors, flat and sheen finishes, but all having one common characteristic – they were all water based. So, into (2) five gallon buckets they were all emptied, then systematically poured back and forth to get a thorough mixing. Now this technique can have a not so pleasant outcome, but I got lucky and ended up with 7 gallons of a color named “Bellingham Adobe”.

1. Engineer the foundation to use the least amount of concrete necessary to support the loads.
2. Eliminate almost all solid wood headers by doubling up the rim joist over openings. Some of the doubled rims can utilize scraps.
3. Concentrate rooms with plumbing in the same part of the home to save on piping, labor and hot water costs.
4. Add a whole lot of insulation and install a minimal heating system.
5. Keep the design simple and in 2’ increments.

by, Martha Rose

Bionics aka biomimicry restores basic efficiency to the use of materials. The Green Building Revolution is tied to engineers and scientists finding solutions for construction materials that mimic nature. Here are a couple of cool examples:

InterfaceFLOR tiles often have random patterns for their carpet tiles. They resemble the entropy of the forest floor, so that any time a square needs replacement, it is never noticed. This trick allows the carpets useful life to be greatly extended.

Martha Rose Construction continually searches for environmentally friendly products to use our new homes. To see what’s new with Martha Rose Construction visit our newest project City Cabins on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle Washington.

440 gallon capacity for rain water collection

We just finished installing twin cisterns for a client in Edmonds. She purchased (2) 220 gallon polyethylene tanks and pre-painted them. We joined them together with 2″ ABS pipe, installed a calming device, an overflow and a spigot. The overflow is piped into a rain garden that she had constructed. The entire assembly is raised off the ground using 6×6 pressure treated timbers. This makes it easy to attach the garden hose.

This site marks our 10th home where we have installed rain water catchment. Homeowners can shave up to 25% off of their consumption of potable water, by using this water for all irrigation needs.

There are other advantages to harvesting rain water. Because the tanks are rated for drinking water, they double as an emergency water supply. On some sites, rain water collection becomes an integral part of Low Impact Development strategies.