It's official - I'm going down to Olympia on Sunday, September 7th to see Dee William's house and pick her brain. Her email says "We can work through from foundation/frame to roof" and I'm really looking forward to that.

The timing is PERFECT. I should just be ready to start actual construction about then. I am so lucky to have the support and help of all these amazing people and I'm so excited about all of this. The physical work has felt great - and the scavenging is like a game that I love.

I look forward to enjoying this process from beginning to end and beyond!

Previously I posted about scoring some really neat staircase spindles I plan on using as the railing on my porch. When I picked those up it was a "take all" situation - so I did even though I only needed a few.

I picked through them and picked out a dozen I wanted to keep and had a use for. That left 40 more. I took those to the Re-Store in Ballard (Seattle). They gave me a dollar a pieces store credit! $40 goes a long way at the Re-store! I promptly picked out my front door which was priced at $45. It has the jamb and all - what a deal!

I really like this trade thing - and will certainly keep it in mind as I go. When I see something that I might not be able to use - but I know the re-store could use - I'll grab it - and then use the credit towards the things that I need.

I've been taking a break from the actual construction of my house for family issues and just to rest a bit. I ran away to Burningman for an impromptu vacation and regrouping - and man! did I ever need that!

But my brain hasn't stopped working on the house though.

One issue we all deal with at burningman is how to get rid of grey water (water used for rinsing and washing). There are many, innovative ideas - some successful some not. I'd like to implement some of the things I've learned there for my house's grey water.

Above are pictures of a bathtub wetland filtration system found on the Greywater Guerrillas website. I'd really like to use this same concept.

My idea is to allow the water from the sinks and shower to be diverted to a tub of sorts mounted on the hitch side (back) of my little house. I'll use a valve that would allow me to send the water there - or to a portable tank - depending on what my situation is. The water will enter the wetland tub at the bottom through gravel and rise up through the water plants, allowing organisms to be naturally filtered out. Then there will be a hose at the top where the water flows out as it rises and can be captured in a bucket, etc, to use for watering plants or into a second wetland tub for further filtering.

The key to making this work without getting "yucky" is to use only bio-degradable soaps and trap as much hair, food scraps, etc. before it goes down the train. Nice mesh traps should work just fine for this.

One thing I'll need to address is pumping the water - since my tub will be slightly higher than drains. Any advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!