Project Five: Blue-Stain, Beetle-Kill Peeled Log Railing

Remember the couple who decided to go with oak instead of blue-stain pine for their stairs and floors?

Well, the same couple did want to use beetle-kill wood for the handrail and bannister on their stairs. In fact, they wanted the whole thing built out of peeled beetle-kill logs, to add a rustic flair to their new house.

So we hand-peeled the logs with a drawknife and gave everything time to dry out. Then we carefully carved pegs and cut holes in order to fit everything together mortis-and-tenon style.

The handrail turned out to be the hardest part:  we couldn’t find one log long enough to span the entire wall. (To meet Lake County’s building codes, handrails can’t have breaks in them.) So we found 2 logs the same size and joined them using a sturdy peg. Then we mounted the whole thing to the wall with metal hardware that supported the joint.

Project Four: White Oak Floors

The fourth couple we worked with were building an addition onto their 19th century house.

They had put concrete floors on the ground level, but were looking at wood as an option for the stairs and the upper floor.

At first, they thought they might like to put in blue-stain, beetle-kill floors. But they have a dog, and they were worried that the dog might scratch the floors. (Pine is a softer wood.)

So we took samples of different flooring (oak, pine, bamboo, etc.) and dropped rocks on them. White oak was the winner.

To be sure, the wood isn’t sustainably harvested or culled from a standing dead tree. But a solid oak floor will last a lot longer than other flooring options–carpet or linoleum, for example.

Wood floors can be refinished for years and years–and they generally look better, not worse, with age.

Ours our 130 years old and still going strong.

Project Three: Recycled wood details

Project Three involved a couple who wanted to add some character to their new home.

Since their new house is on several acres south of Leadville, they were looking for a few creative details that would bring the landscape to bear on their living space.

After some discussion, it became clear that the best way to do this was by adding windowsills and a mantle to their living room. And to make sure we were adding character, we used reclaimed pine from the nearby mining district instead of buying new lumber. Even planed and sanded, the wood’s weathered style adds visual interest and depth.

And the 100-year old wood in their windowsills and mantle contrast beautifully with the relative perfection of their new walls and windows.

Project Two: Heat your home, not the world

The second couple that we worked for also lived in a historic Leadville home.

The subdividers are creeping into Leadville, but until they actually pass through Lake County’s glacial Planning and Zoning process, many of the folks who actually live and work in Leadville will continue to buy fixer-uppers from the late 1800s.

Alas, in the 19th century, no one had yet invented insulation. Double-paned windows did not exist. Doors were sometimes built with gaps big enough to bring horses through.

So we literally did a top-to-bottom energy makeover, blowing cellulose in the attic and below the house–and into all the walls.

To get in the insulation into the walls, we drilled holes and then blew the insulation into the holes. This video shows how old homes can be retrofitted with cellulose–a surprisingly cost-effective remodeling strategy.

Cellulose is an insulating product made of recycled newspaper; the shredded paper is  treated with boric acid, to make it resistant to fire and insects. Compared to the ever-popular fiberglass, it takes less energy to make, insulates slightly better and costs roughly the same. It also helps keep newspaper out of the waste stream.

Here’s a good explanation of the differences between fiberglass and cellulose.

But  in any house, insulating is only half the batlle. Even with efficient walls, energy will still leak out of doors and windows. So we replaced all the windows with double-paned glass–and all the doors with efficient steel doors.

The couple reports that their home is much warmer this winter.

Project One: Eco-Floors

The family who approached us with our first project lived in a great home on a hill above Leadville. From their living room, they had a view of the entire valley. Their house was historic and cozy. It had just one problem: wall-to-wall carpeting that was both ancient and full of just a bit too much dog hair.

They wanted something new, but they weren’t sure they wanted more carpet. They were pretty convinced they wanted wood floors–but they wanted to do them as green as possible.

There was only one problem: certified wood from sustainably harvested forests is expensive.

The solution: beetle-kill pine floors. Right now, across the mountains of Colorado, the pine beetle infestation is climbing higher and higher in elevation–wiping out whole forests. That dead trees have to be used (and as quickly as possible; the wood dries out fast). So the wood is local, and from a good source. Better still, beetle kill pine has a lovely bluish tint.

And, as floors go, it’s pretty cheap.

So the couple didn’t mind springing for the low-VOC finish (with fewer chemicals to breathe.)

One caveat. Pine, beetle-kill or otherwise, is not as hard as hardwoods. So if you really want your wood floors to look pristine in 1o years, it may not be the wood for you.

But if you’re wiling to endure a few scratches, it’s a great eco-wood to use right now. Especially if you live in the Rocky Mountains.

And as one of our installers said the other day, “How cool would it be if years from now people walked into homes like this and said ‘oh, this must be a beetle-kill era home’ the way we now say ‘Victorian’ or ‘Craftsman.’

mill creek carpentry: the beginning

A few years ago, Andy Baldassar was a climbing teacher and guide with an ’84 Volkswagon Vanagon, a climbing guide service and school in El Potrero Chico, Mexico, and most of his assets tied up in climbing gear.

And then he fell in love with a girl who lived in Leadville, Colorado. (That’s me.) He started spending his summers in Leadville, working on many of the second homes in the Leadville/Twin Lakes area and he even spent a spring learning the art of timber framing at Goshen Timber Frames. Eventually, he married the girl, sold the business in Mexico, and moved to Leadville full-time. He even sold the Vanagon.

But at some point, he started to worry about all the huge second homes he was building. Between global warming, rising fuel prices and mountaintop removal, he wondered if there would be anything left in a few years.

What if there was a company that could help people reduce energy use in their existing homes, help them remodel with eco-friendly options, and build small custom projects (everything from bookshelves to saunas) that would last forever?

…But were also affordable. (The former climbing guide and his girlfriend were not rich people either.) And of course, things made well from good materials will always be more expensive than mass-produced plywood. But surely, they thought, they don’t have to be absurdly overpriced.

So he and the girl put their heads together, figured out how to start a business, and enlisted the help of friends who knew about bookkeeping, small business management or the tax code. And they bought a lot of tools.

And so…Mill Creek Carpentry was born.