Post date: Jul 23, 2015 3:49:41 AM
Eco-builders don’t use black roofs because they absorb heat. Of course, heat in the winter is good, but most of the year in New Mexico the air temperature in the day does not need extra heat from the sun. But EPDM is naturally black. Like most rubbers it is filled with carbon black, and black absorbs more heat than white.
So how to make my roof more nearly ecologically acceptable? Why, simply paint it white! Yes, the manufacturers of EPDM do offer a white-laminated product, at considerably higher price. But white acrylic paint works just as well, according to the company that installed my roof.
So, today Jake and Eli spray painted the roof. it took all morning to wash and rinse the roof. We discovered a few bubbles where the roof was not properly glued down in the process. I notified the installer and am awaiting a response. I didn’t actually apply paint, but I got my hands white anyway: I strained the paint and washed the pails and mixing equipment.
Meantime Lalo and Ulisses are applying wire mesh around all the windows, vigas, and lintels to support the stucco. This is a rather tedious task and will likely take several more days. We bought all the house wrap in town and only have about half enough to go around a small house. I may have to bring some back from Santa Fe tomorrow.
I have been buying plumbing fixtures. The major remaining big purchase is the kitchen faucet. I like the pull-out faucet we have in Seattle and in my rented house. Both have a spray feature, but the one in Seattle stays in the ‘spray’ position when I turn off the water, which I like. The one in Taos reverts to ‘stream’ when the pressure drops, which I don’t like.
By using the ‘ask the owner’ feature of Amazon, I discovered that most brands revert to ‘stream’. (Thank you, respondents!) A phone call to Ferguson’s, a dealer in Santa Fe, who then called their manufacturers, found me one model that I like (at least from pictures). It is from the same maker as another I found on Amazon, but whose style I don’t like.
So, tomorrow I drive 3 hours round trip to buy a faucet. Such is the life in northern New Mexico. On the same trip I will stop at Trader Joe’s to buy frozen won tons. I take my 5-day cooler with me — stocked with blue ice — to hold the food cold on the way home. I think my last trip to Santa Fe was two months ago, so that shopping trip lasted that long.