• jerry dycus
  October 24, 2021, 2:50 pm

  Not a house I’d want to heat in winter. The concrete wall would be great inside the insulated part but as is, a thermal bridge and once cold, would be hard, expensive to heat and always drain heat.
  I like the simple open plan though the wasted ‘hallway’ space I don’t understand Either make the home smaller or use it for something the center of the room doesn’t do naturally.
  A large sectional couch, etc against the wall can give far more seating and 2 more sleeping slots and room for other things like a desk, storage it seems to lack.

  Reply Link
  • James D.
    October 24, 2021, 10:05 pm

    Well, consider…

    The wall can be made from ICF products that just look like concrete blocks, or the concrete blocks can be injection filled with a products like Core Fill 500 and/or Tripolymer that can provide R-30, or the interior wall may be separate from the exterior portions and have an actual thermal break… So just having the wall there isn’t necessarily an issue…

    The wall also doesn’t run through the whole house. While concrete also functions as a thermal mass and isn’t just conducting heat… While it typically doesn’t get extremely cold in Nashville, Indiana, and it’s probably getting a lot of exposure to the sun, which are all considerations for how the wall will actually effect the interior…

    However, it’s probably telling that the Mini-Split can manage the space just fine with no other heat source and no one in the AirBNB’s 121 reviews so far has complained about heating, for what’s that worth… So it seems heating the space isn’t actually issue… It may be in a different location but this was designed for this location…

    While this was designed by an Architect, who worked with the owner for not only form but function. Considering factors like it’s a location where there are a lot of hiking trails and other outdoor activities.

    So a clear path, made of slate tiles instead of wood, that leads to the mud room that people can go to clean up after one of their daily trips is an example of how the design elements do apparently serve a purpose as well as how they effect the aesthetics and other ways it can effect the people in the space… Add, it’s an AirBNB, so a lot the design choices are going to reflect that use and how the location effects that use instead of just how people can live in the space…

    It’s something to keep in mind that design choices can have “other” reasons for doing them besides the common ones we may usually consider…

    But of course, it’s how the owner ultimately wanted it and someone else could of course decide to do it differently and even the owner may do it differently if he ever does do that A-Frame of whatever project he takes on next…

    Reply Link
• Janet
  October 25, 2021, 4:48 pm

  Love the bathroom! They did a nice job on this space and took into consideration what vacationers would want. Not enough storage for long-term living, but quite nice for what it’s set up for.

  Reply Link
• LargeMarge
  October 26, 2021, 7:01 am

  re — cinder-block
  .
  I vaguely recall a caution against using standard-issue concrete products in a living space.
  Apparently, ‘fly-ash’, the residue from industrial smoke-stacks, is recycled into concrete.

  Reply Link
  • James D.
    October 26, 2021, 6:06 pm

    It was a general concern for concrete in general, mainly about toxic elements like heavy metals possibly leeching into the environment over time but there doesn’t seem to be any long term studies showing this to be the case or at least a significant issue. Since, so far years of research mainly show that fly ash can decrease concrete’s carbon footprint and help reduce its cost, and can even be required to meet LEED (Green Building) certification. While increasing its strength and work-ability.

    One reason this may be is because of the chemical reaction, which contribute to why the additive helps strengthen the concrete and increase it’s work-ability, is believed to effectively trap any minute levels of fly ash pollutants within the building material. Much of the fly ash reacts with the Portland cement products of combustion to become, calcium silicate hydrate, for example, which is the same mineral that gives concrete its strength and trap the remaining elements in crystal formations that would be very hard for anything to get out of… Though, just using the materials in the production of concrete remains a concern and people can be worried even if it’s safe as there’s not enough data to say it’s completely safe either.

    However, there’s also plenty of products that can be used to seal concrete to provide an extra barrier and as concrete is porous that’s often done to prevent staining, make it easier to maintain it, etc. So don’t have to deal with just the raw exposed surface of the material…

    While cinder blocks aren’t necessarily using cinder/ash as the term has become generic for concrete blocks, which are not all made the same way. Even though the term really only applies to blocks that use cinder in its manufacturing.

    Reply Link
• Sue Roberson
  January 4, 2022, 4:38 pm

  This is super! It’s great looking & I would want to live in it or AirBNB it. I like the cement blocks & the birch paneling. I grew up in a cement block house in Texas & so I would use it for building also. You can have cement blocks produced to look like Austin stone, etc & you can have it colored. Banks, municipal buildings, homes, etc use these blocks. It is used all over Texas! No problemo….
  BTW..a TV is a must!

  Reply Link

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.