Hello Ralph,
I hope all is well with you. I’m sending this email from my beautiful office that would not even exist if it wasn’t for you. Thanks again for doing such a great job in helping me finish out our garage. Anytime you want to see the finished product, feel free to stop by.
Ralph and Conrad are true craftsmen who take pride in their work. Their attention to detail has to be seen to be believed! We really feel we got the custom home of our dreams, not just another tract house thrown together as quickly as possible. Our project had their full attention for the entire duration. Everyone who sees our home is amazed.
We are getting a feel for the “Earth Sheltered House” you and your company constructed for us about 5 years ago. The more we learn about living in an ESH the more advantages we discover. For the life of me I can’t understand why anyone would build any other kind of home.
All the worries and obsolescent issues that an ESH takes off your plate is such peace of mind to a home owner. The structure is solid concrete that is starting to cure in 100 years and being underground protected from the elements which means even longer life.
Your help in orientating the structure for our latitude means the sun does not shine on the one wall that is not covered in earth during the summer months. The six-foot overhang with the six-foot upright concrete beam works like a charm. The summer sun never shines on the exposed wall. For additional protection it is covered with two-inch-thick Styrofoam bats, covered with stucco. Then in winter the sun lowers in the horizon and we get warming sun all the way to the interior back wall. When the temperature here was fifteen degrees at night and below freezing during the day for three days in a row, it never got below sixty-eightdegrees in the house, without turning on the heating system.
There are so many things to consider as advantages of this ESH it is hard to list them all. Some of the considerations we used in our decisions were as follows:
No roof or attic problems to deal with; the stick houses I have had required replacing the roof every ten years if you did not get hail damage, which cost me a new roof in five years. All the critter problems in the attic are gone as well as having to repair and replace insulation.
Exterior walls that must be painted and replaced at some time are not there. The cows graze on the roof and down three sides of the house.
No worry about wind damage, fire damage, tornados, hail damage or insect damage.
The comment from several guests was how quiet it is in the ESH. They said they sleep very well.
Thanks so much for all your knowledge and help in making our dream come true.
Warm regards,
Staton Tompkins
All the worries and obsolescent issues that an ESH takes off your plate is such peace of mind to a home owner. The structure is solid concrete that is starting to cure in 100 years and being underground protected from the elements which means even longer life.
Your help in orientating the structure for our latitude means the sun does not shine on the one wall that is not covered in earth during the summer months. The six-foot overhang with the six-foot upright concrete beam works like a charm. The summer sun never shines on the exposed wall. For additional protection it is covered with two-inch-thick Styrofoam bats, covered with stucco. Then in winter the sun lowers in the horizon and we get warming sun all the way to the interior back wall. When the temperature here was fifteen degrees at night and below freezing during the day for three days in a row, it never got below sixty-eightdegrees in the house, without turning on the heating system.
There are so many things to consider as advantages of this ESH it is hard to list them all. Some of the considerations we used in our decisions were as follows:
No roof or attic problems to deal with; the stick houses I have had required replacing the roof every ten years if you did not get hail damage, which cost me a new roof in five years. All the critter problems in the attic are gone as well as having to repair and replace insulation.
Exterior walls that must be painted and replaced at some time are not there. The cows graze on the roof and down three sides of the house.
No worry about wind damage, fire damage, tornados, hail damage or insect damage.
The comment from several guests was how quiet it is in the ESH. They said they sleep very well.
Thanks so much for all your knowledge and help in making our dream come true.
Warm regards,
Staton Tompkins
