Eco-Tech Construction

07/07/2024

The metal roofing is complete and the cement fiber siding is going up quickly! Inside the drywall is getting it's first coat of primer!

06/22/2024

Roof is coming along nicely!

06/21/2024

The roof is nearly complete and the drywall is up!

Shifting gears to the finishing phase!

04/19/2024

Structural, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing inspections passed without any comments.
The inspector said it was one of the tightest framing jobs she'd seen in a long time.

07/18/2022

930 blocks in the stemwall. Every 4 feet concrete will fill the columns along with a bond beam through the top course. A solid foundation is the most important part of the building project.

07/11/2022

15 yards of concrete in the ground. We start going vertical this week!

07/07/2022

Footers dug, steel in place, first inspection passed.
Concrete comes first thing Monday.

06/29/2022

Today the corners of the foundation were set at height and squared. Batter boards are in place and the first footers were dug for the City Modern home.

11/15/2021

In order to commence construction on the new "City Modern" home in Gainesville, several trees had to be felled. Those logs will be processed on site into useable lumber for the build project on a restored Wood-Mizer LT40 band sawmill.

11/15/2021

We recently received permits for the "City Modern" home to be constructed in Gainesville. This is a new construction "hybrid" home similar to the "Eco Cottage". Stay tuned for updates as construction commences.

07/28/2015

This is how victims of the pine bark beetle become siding, flooring, and lumber. https://www.dropbox.com/s/xu278iinwk7ac4x/20150618_185001.mp4?dl=0

Shared with Dropbox

06/28/2015

Last board on the back side of the house going into place. All the siding on this exterior came from pine trees on the property that had been killed by the pine bark beetle.

03/10/2015

This home is a design I've been honing over a couple years. The concept is simple: build a safe, comfortable, and energy-efficient home for less than conventional construction. As with many good things, there are hurdles along the way. This building is quite different than what most building officials are used to seeing (seems to be a theme on most of my projects) so getting the proper documentation was quite a process. Along the way I've made new friends and contacts. One of those new friends was John Jernigan John Architect. John immediately understood my vision and graciously set about helping me turn this concept into a set of construction documents. As we were nearing the final stretch of the process John took ill and had a heart attack. On March 9, 2014, John passed quietly into the next realm. During his hospital stay John Saldana stepped up to help complete the needed documents. John Jernigan was a mentor to John Saldana as he was starting his career. John helped pull it all together and finally on March 25, 2014 we received the permit to get going!

Thanks to Alex and Erika who had the faith to endure the process of turning the concept into construction documents, the first version of this Eco-Cottage will be built on their beautiful farm in Polk County. They intend to host workshops throughout the process and will continue to connect with others in the future as their new home becomes a model of rural Permaculture.

Mike Morina of Alliance for sustainable communities has helped along the way as well as cheered me on as we moved through the inevitable hurdles. Ultimately we will be seeking to build a number of these homes together in an affordable community that will share resources such as thermal and electrical energy, rainwater capture, and food production from greywater. By utilizing the economies of scale, self-sufficient, affordable communities are within reach. In order to move into the future we will ultimately have to adopt models of cooperation over competition and it all starts at home...

02/11/2015

Stopped by yesterday and there's grass and things growing at the "eco-cottage"!

12/08/2014

11/18/2014

It's official!

We thought we had a CO and moved in but we were missing one rather large and unexpected check to the county...NOW we really DO have a CO!

11/15/2014

11/14/2014

The Eco-Cottage passed all it's final inspections!