Diary of a Vermont Eco Builder

We’ve already begun work on the interior finishing, and have the bathroom vanity “carcass” complete. Next we’ll work on the drawers, drawer fronts and countertop.

The basic frame is plywood that we edge banded with maple, and this wood will also be used for the drawers, fronts etc. They’ll be a total of 7 drawers, all with full extension slides. The countertop will be Marmoleum with a plywood backing.

The mechanical room has a potential of being quite loud depending on the particular equipment running (geothermal furnace, hot water heater, heat pump etc.) so we felt insulating this room was a must. Recycled cotton batts – one of the better green insulation products – fit this need perfectly. Dad and I drove a fews hours south to the only Vermont distributor of Bonded Logic’s UltraTouch Natural Cotton Fiber insulation and picked up 12 bundles of varying thicknesses and R-values, which my girlfriend Rae and I installed all day today. It’s excellent stuff, very dense – so perfect for sound absorption – but easy to work with and install. Working without gloves was nice (which I wouldn’t do with regular fiberglass) but the cotton fibers gave off a lot of dust and so a mask and eye protection were very important.

We also did the ceilings in the two downstairs storage/bedrooms to help with noise transferring though from traffic upstairs.