Better Than Plumb

A trip to Martha's Vineyard

Sat, 27 Oct 2007 14:36:44 GMT

Last week, my wife and I spent a few days on Martha’s Vineyard. It was mostly vacation, but we got to hang out with one of my favorite builders, John Abrams. Thirty years ago, John founded a design-build company called South Mountain, which is now employee-owned (15 owners out of 32 employees). They’re currently finishing up a multimillion-dollar custom home with composting toilets and a nearly net-zero energy load (the gas cookstove is the problem). At the same time, South Mountain is working on a ten-house affordable-housing subdivision in Edgartown. It is these juxtapositions—expensive home and composting toilets, affordable housing and Edgartown—along with their environmental and civic underpinnings that make me love South Mountain and their work. That, and the fact that everything they do, right down to the custom toilet-paper holders made from reclaimed cypress, is first-rate craftsmanship.

One morning, John called and said, “I’ll pick you up in half an hour. There’s a helicopter taking off at 10. If we hurry, we can make it.” Then he hung up. He didn’t ask if we had ever ridden in a helicopter or if we were afraid of flying.

John picked us up, and we raced off to a clearing on a windy crest on the southeastern part of the island. We got there by 10, and the helicopter took off right on time. But it only rose about 100 ft. before stopping abruptly. Turns out there was a rope tied to one of the skids, and the other end was tied to the bumper of a Jeep.

South Mountain has long been a proponent of renewable energy, and for years, they’ve offered wind and solar options as a service to their new-home customers. But recently they formed a separate division of the company to perform energy audits and to retrofit renewables in existing homes to reduce their energy loads. Business is booming. And on windy Martha’s Vineyard, installing wind turbines to generate electricity is an increasing part of that business. (Massachusetts allows net-metering, which means that any unused electricity can be sold back to the utility company. It also means you don’t need batteries to store electricity.)

Although wind turbines are becoming more common on the island (South Mountain has one at their shop in West Tisbury, and they’ve installed one at the high school in Edgartown), not everyone welcomes them with open arms. You still have to get past the town planning boards. People want to know: “Will you see it from the road?” “Will you see it from the beach?” “Will you see it from my house?” It’s a curious thing that we get to voice our objections to a wind turbine, but none of us got to vote on the ubiquitous telephone poles and power lines that stitch obtrusively across our landscape. I have to say that compared to them, a slowly spinning wind turbine that quietly generates clean, free energy is a beautiful thing.

To win approval for the installation of a new wind turbine, South Mountain takes a series of photographs—from the road, from the beach, from the neighbor’s house—then uses Photoshop to add a wind turbine to the photos, illustrating for members of the planning board how visible the thing will be. The trouble is that when the photographs are taken, there has to be something in the photos at the exact height of the proposed turbine. Otherwise, you don’t know where to insert the thing in the mocked-up photos.

In the past, South Mountain has hired a crane to stand in for the proposed wind turbine, but cranes are expensive and hard to get into remote locations. They’ve tried weather balloons, but they are easily blown over (not surprisingly, it’s pretty windy in the spots where you might want to put a wind turbine). The latest idea was to try a remote-control miniature helicopter.

My wife and I were there for the miniature helicopter’s maiden flight. We stayed at the launch site with ground control while four or five people, cameras in hand, were deployed to various locations. Communication was important, of course, so that people knew when to look for the helicopter and when to shoot the photos. Hence, everybody had cell phones. But once the appointed hour arrived and the 2-ft.-tall helicopter took off, we discovered that the cell phones didn’t work. Turns out cellular service is spotty on some parts of the island. After all, cell towers look even worse than wind turbines.

Sleeping in the bathtub

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 18:06:33 GMT

I caught our dog, Zack, sleeping in the bathtub the other day. I’d like to think it was because I had just recaulked the tub and he admired my work. But in fact, I didn’t do a very admirable job. Caulking is right up there with painting in my book. I hate doing it, so I don’t do it very well. Or maybe I hate doing it because I don’t do it very well.

Despite every attempt to clear my mind in Zenlike fashion and lay down a smooth, continuous bead, I invariably lay down a bead that looks as though I had the hiccups while I was caulking. Then, of course, I wet my finger (with saliva) and attempt to smooth out the caulk, which I never manage on the first pass. So I wipe the excess caulk from my finger and smooth again. At this point, I’ve pretty much removed all the caulk I squirted out in the first place and have to start over. I briefly consider saving myself some time and effort by squirting the caulk directly into the trash can, but not even my cynicism goes quite that far.

We once published an article titled Silicone Caulking Basics in which the author, Brian Zavitz, admitted that while you can tool caulk with the back of a spoon dipped in soapy water, he preferred to use his finger and to wet it with saliva. He went on to say: “I talked to several manufacturers of silicone caulk, none of whom recommend a licked finger to tool their caulk. All agree, however, that the licked finger is in widespread use and that there is no major health risk involved.”

I eventually finished caulking the tub, convinced that I had done a horrid job and that I would be reminded of my ineptitude with a caulking gun every morning when I took a shower. Instead, I’m reminded of a truism in building (my friends will insist it is a truism of Kevin): When you’re working on something, hard up against the limits of your own skill and with your nose 6 in. away from the result, minor imperfections will be magnified out of all reasonable proportion. Later, you will hardly notice them.

So I don’t notice the caulk joints when I take a shower. Instead, I notice all the dog hair in the tub, and I wonder how soon the drain will slow to the point where I have to get out my tools and remove what Chuck Miller once referred to as “a hairball the size of a pork tenderloin.”

By the way, my dog is a long-haired shepherd, and I think he lies in the tub on hot days because it’s cool in there.

Highlights from the Kitchen and Bath Show

Wed, 16 May 2007 12:13:50 GMT

Last week, I attended the Kitchen/Bath Industry Show, which those of us in the know call “kaybiz” after its acronym KBIS. This annual show and conference is sponsored by the National Kitchen and Bath Association, or NKBA, which we refer to by saying the letters out loud, as though spelling a bad word in front of a six-year-old. I’m not sure why we don’t say “nikbah.”

Held in Las Vegas this year, the show featured over 900 exhibitors and sure seemed to fill all three halls of the convention center. Walking full speed from one end of the show to the other without stopping to look at anything takes about 45 minutes. This is also impossible.

Fine Homebuilding exhibits at the show, and I spent a lot of time in our booth giving away eight-dollar magazines and fancy canvas bags to carry them in. We’ve developed a reputation for having the best bags at the show (ours close with a zipper and have pouches for water bottles).

When other publishers exhibit at trade shows, their booths are usually staffed with youngsters -- editorial or marketing assistants with the ink still wet on their diplomas. Sometimes you just see an empty booth with magazines stacked up on a table. What you don’t usually see is the editor standing there opening up boxes and handing out magazines. I don’t get it.

The truth is I HAVE to work the booth to collect on my bonus. I don’t mean money, of course. I mean appreciation. A lot of people in this country work very hard, but don’t feel appreciated for their efforts. I’m lucky enough to work for a magazine that people love, and when I go to trade shows I hear about it.

People come by and say, “I have the first issue of Fine Homebuilding…and every one you’ve published since.” Or they say, “You make the best magazine.” Or “Great magazine.” Or sometimes just, “Thanks.” You can’t put a price on that, and I wouldn’t miss it for anything.

On Wednesday a couple from Massachusetts stopped by the booth, and the woman thanked us for the fact that her husband was still alive -- and sane. She said that years ago when they built their own house, a Victorian, her husband was trying to frame a turret on the end of the porch and was having a hard time. They called Fine Homebuilding for help, and we put him in touch with the author of an article about framing a conical roof, who answered all of his questions.

Eventually, I did break free of the Fine Homebuilding booth and got a chance to walk the floor. Here are some of the more interesting products that I spotted.

The coolest product at the show, for me at least and maybe because I need one, was this glass shower door sliding on very upscale, stainless-steel barn-door-inspired rollers. (www.kinetikhardware.com)

This display wasn’t the most inspiring, but I can imagine a good designer doing something with these shelves made of 1/4-in. tempered glass with LED lighting built-in to them. (www.element-designs.com)

A fresh take on the outdoor grill, the Feugo has a lid that drops into the countertop and burners that you can change quickly from gas to charcoal to infrared. (www.fuegoliving.com)

I’m not sure if I love it or hate it, but this glowing countertop made with real stones and minerals sure caught my eye. (www.majestic-gemstone.com)

Yes, it’s a real tire, painted purple, with a sink in it. (www.bristolbath.com)

I didn’t even ask the price of this beautiful door handle. (www.martinpierce.com)

A husband and wife teamed up to make this elegant Arts and Crafts vanity with a vessel sink. (www.suzannecrane.com) And in a move destined to get him onto the “You might be a Fine Homebuilding reader if…” list, the husband, Matthew Crane, reached into his wallet and pulled out construction photos of his house when he saw that I was from Fine Homebuilding.

Yes, I know that vessel sinks are more pretty than practical, but I liked this faucet design with its joystick and glass saucer. (www.kraususa.com)

DuPont unveiled new colors in the Corian and Zodiaq lines. This blue Zodiaq counter wouldn’t work in my colonial, but it was very cool. (www.zodiaq.com)