Northwest Green Home Tour: May 4-5, 2019

Northwest Green Home Tour: May 4-5, 2019

We are excited to announce that Mighty House Construction will be featuring TWO projects on this year’s Northwest Green Home Tour.  Join us for the  event of the year and a chance to tour sustainably built homes and businesses all over the Seattle AreaGet inspired by projects in all shades of green, from backyard cottages and kitchen remodels to new homes built with cutting-edge green features. You’ll see and learn first-hand how your neighbors are generating their own electricity with solar panels, lowering their energy bills with insulation, and creating healthier home environments for their families with better building materials and systems. Learn from experts and really understand “what makes it green” on this educational tour. Mighty House will have one project open Saturday, and one project open Sunday. Check them out below!

Join us May 4 and 5, 2019 from 11 AM to 5 PM

Register Here | More Sites

West Side Second Story Addition

OPEN SATURDAY ONLY – A typical 1940s war box home,  has gotten just a little too cramped for this family.  Designed by Leo Smith Architect, this West Side Second Story will add a dining room off the kitchen on the backside of the house with a 2nd-floor master suite above. Currently IN PROGRESS, this is a great opportunity to see behind the walls and the sheetrock stage of the addition. This project features advanced insulation, healthy materials and infrared radiant heat. See how this family is gaining just enough square footage, with minimal scope creep, plus a stellar view of tree canopy and the Puget Sound! Read more here.

Love Your Family, Love Your Kitchen Remodel

OPEN SUNDAY ONLY – The kitchen of this 1925 Ballard home was well-used, worn out and and in need of some serious love and upgrades. Mighty House Construction and Entero Design to the rescue! The existing kitchen layout was semi-functional but not super-functional, so Entero recommended acquiring the back porch space into the kitchen. This allows for increased storage, better all around functionality, and a space for the family to gather together.  Read more about this project here.

Join us May 4 and 5, 2019 from 11 AM to 5 PM | Get Tickets Here!

The 20 by 2020 Challenge

The 20 by 2020 Challenge

The 20 by 2020 Challenge is a local campaign to promote the development of 20 Passive House or net zero energy projects of 20,000 square feet or larger in King County by the year 2020 next year! The good news is that Zero Net Carbon buildings can make economic sense today. Passive House construction is a cost-effective means to revolutionize building energy performance, particularly for larger buildings. Many of the pioneering Passive House buildings in the US have been affordable housing projects. By establishing an ambitious energy target and using science-based design and modeling, Passive House buildings reduce energy consumption by as much as 75%. Couple this with rooftop solar or a contract for green power, and you’ve got a Zero Net Carbon building.

The 20 by 2020 Building Challenge will provide “proof of concept” that Passive House can propel our shift to a carbon-sustainable future. Passive House is the world’s leading standard for energy efficient construction. It combines building enclosure efficiency and passive solar strategies in a system for designing and building cost effective, comfortable, energy efficient buildings.

The major components of a Passive House include:

  • Super-insulated envelope
  • Ultra-high-performance windows
  • Airtight construction (0.6 air changes / hr at 50 Pascals)
  • Eliminating or reducing thermal bridging
  • Heat-recovery ventilation
  • Using passive heat sources (solar of course, but also equipment, lighting, and occupants).

Learn more here! 

Resilience and Sustainability Through Pocket Neighborhoods

Resilience and Sustainability Through Pocket Neighborhoods

The term pocket neighborhood sometimes referred to as “bungalow courts” or “cottage clusters,” was first coined by Ross Chapin of Ross Chapin ArchitectsPocket neighborhoods tend to consist of about 12 homes that all face a common area that residents must walk through to access their front door.  

Creating small homes on small lots allows more compact development, which uses land efficiently and can offer greater access to amenities. 

 

Pocket communities really took off in the Pacific Northwest in collaboration with developers and builders, including The Cottage Company in Seattle, Triad Associates in Kirkland, and Artisan Fine Homebuilding. Third Street Cottages in Seattle, is a community of eight detached cottages located on four standard single-family lots. To help this vision come to life, the municipality adopted an innovative Cottage Housing Development (CHD) zoning code. The code allows for up to double the density of detached homes in all single-family zones.  

Pocket communities also serve as a great solution for increasing the number of affordable units within a municipality. Creating small homes on small lots allows more compact development, which uses land efficiently and can offer greater access to amenities. Residents may also enjoy a smaller mortgage, with the option to enhance their home by selecting higher-end finishes. Then there’s the increasing value of these small homes. The Third Street Cottages, the first of the pocket neighborhoods, have resold for as much as 250 percent of their original price, proving their enduring appeal and value.

Small homes feed our recent fascination with resilience and sustainability because they meet the needs of communities that wish to increase density and reform land use patterns without losing the feel of a single-family community. Smaller homes also can reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions through the use of passive solar energy, low water-use fixtures, and the abundance of vegetation in these communities found in the interior courtyard, personal gardens and surrounding open space. Additionally, the demographic shift toward smaller households and the rise in single-person households is driving a need for a more diverse housing stock that includes small homes.

How to Extend the Life of Your Dishwasher

How to Extend the Life of Your Dishwasher

Most people don’t think about cleaning their dishwashers. After all, the appliance is used to clean your dishes on a daily basis. It is easy to assume that your dishwasher will get cleaned at the same time as it is washing your dishes, but the reality is that food debris and other deposits can build up over many uses. That buildup can result in a poor performing dishwasher and dishes that come out dingy and looking gross.

Regularly cleaning and maintaining of your dishwasher can keep it running smoothly and can provide you with spotless dishes every time they get washed. The following is a step-by-step process to extend the life of your dishwasher and keep it performing at its best.

 

1. Wash Regularly

One of the best ways to ensure that your dishwasher is free from excess buildup is by running it regularly. Using your dishwasher frequently will keep debris from settling in the bottom of the appliance and can help reduce the amount of times that you will have to give it a thorough cleaning throughout the year.

2. Empty the Dishwasher

In order to perform the following tips, it’s important that you run your dishwasher through a full cycle and then empty all of the dishes from the appliance. This allows you to have easier access to the entire dishwasher and be able to perform the necessary maintenance correctly.

3. Inspect & Clean the Spinning Arms

Dishwashers work by spraying water out of their spinning arms onto the dishes inside. When those arms aren’t spinning properly or the holes in them are full of buildup, your dishes won’t be getting thoroughly cleaned. Check to make sure that the arms spin correctly and clean out any debris that has accumulated inside the holes with a small piece of wire, a toothpick, or small pliers.

4. Clean the Edges and Exterior

Many times the bad smells that you may find coming from your dishwasher may actually be coming from the outside areas around the appliance. The edges around the door do not get washed during a regular cycle and can end up with lots of spills and pieces of food debris.

A bit of regular household cleaner and a damp cloth should be enough to wipe up this dirty spot and can also be used to wash off all of the buttons and the exterior door of the appliance as well.

Other Parts You Should Clean:

  • Under the door, on the inside.
  • The flatware basket.
  • The gasket.
  • The detergent dispenser.

5. Unclog & Clean the Drain

At the very bottom of your dishwasher is the drain, and this area can be a common place where food debris, buildup, and other matter can end up. Leaving these obstacles near the drain will eventually create a clog. When your dishwasher drain is clogged, it will become less efficient and have a harder time cleaning. And nobody wants to find their dishes are not-so-sparkling clean.

How to Clean Your Dishwasher Drain:

You can start cleaning the area around the drain by collecting the biggest pieces by hand, but you may have to disassemble the drain to get to some of the smaller pieces. Here’s how you can do this.

  • Unplug the dishwasher.
  • Take out the screws and remove the cover.
  • Protect the opening to keep debris out.
  • Clean out larger pieces by hand.
  • Clean out smaller deposits with a brush or cloth.
  • Reassemble in the reverse order.

Cleaning out around the dishwasher drain can help to ensure that dirty water is exiting the appliance adequately so that your dishes are cleaned well.

6. Use an Acid to Remove Buildup

Getting rid of the water deposits and buildup in your dishwasher is an important step because it can result in dishes that are sparkly and not dingy after a cycle. Choose one of the following acids and run them through a short cycle to get rid of excess scale:

Use These to Remove Build-Up:

  • White vinegar
  • Tang
  • Lemon juice
  • Lemonade mix

Any powdered substances should be placed in the detergent dispenser and liquids can be left in a bowl on the top rack.

7. Get Rid of Mildew

One last cycle using bleach in the dishwasher can also be helpful if you are dealing with a mold or mildew problem. Unless you have a stainless steel door or interior, bleach can be the finishing touch for a spotless dishwasher that will provide you with completely sanitized dishes every time you run the appliance.

Workshop: Big Heat for a Small Footprint

Workshop: Big Heat for a Small Footprint

Big Heat for A Small Footprint

Saturday, November 10, 2018 | 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM

at the Second Use SODO Store

Join us for a FREE WORKSHOP! This will be a discussion of innovative and efficient heating solutions for small and multi-use spaces that tread lightly on the planet. We will look at backyard cottages, ADUs, additions, and whole homes. We’ll also discuss hybrid heating solutions that are super comfortable and healthy, while also saving space, are less expensive to install, and have minimal impact on the environment.

Laura Elfline of Mighty Energy Solutions and Mighty House Construction will lend her expertise in both radiant heat solutions, and home remodeling and construction. So, bring your burning questions about heat!

This workshop is free, simply RSVP to: maryanne@seconduse.com to secure your spot!