Moving right along

  This last week has been exciting!  

  We are moving right along with our preparations for the electricity installation and heat pump install.  To have everything ready for the electrician we needed to finish attaching 2" wide wood strips to the metal wall supports.  This will enable the electrician to place all the junction boxes where they need to go. We had a walk thru with our electrician and feel confident he will do a great job.

  The electrical rough-in is this week!  Although this weekend was nice and cool 50 - 60 degrees, the heat is coming!!

  Since we have purchased the outdoor lights, they can be installed this week. We are very excited about this because we almost finished installing the shutters. Once the lights are installed we will just about have a finished exterior.




Here are photos of updated exterior with shutters on side complete!

The shutters were a bit of a pain. Each one took a bit more time than we expected. But then most everything usually does. 😊

  With the "R" panel sheet metal "hills and valleys" we had to insert 1" thick spacers strategically behind each shutter so that they were secure and flat against the panels. Occasionally, we had a bolt in a seam of the panel that required a slight cut out on the backside of the shutter. Using carriage bolts we secured the shutters nice and tight.

  We have two lower windows and the three upper windows on the front to finish another day.

  They look terrific and we installed all the ones the electrician will need to help him place the outside lights.

Wall strips installed above and below all windows and on all upright wall supports. The tongue and groove wood planks for the walls will be nailed right into those boards. We chose this route instead of installing another framed wall to keep the depth of the walls and window frames to a more desirable size.

 We are starting to be able to purchase interior items. The small bathroom dresser/vanity is being refinished and we placed our blue and white vessel sink on top and it looks fantastic. The copper exposed plumbing with the blue handles will look great too!

 The trees think it is Spring already!

Plumbing coming along! Shopping time!

Plumbing inside the house is coming along!

The plumbing inside is coming along just fine. Despite the numerous trips to the store for another 90 or another pipe, we are getting close to finishing all the inside connections. We have decided to go with copper fittings for the outside shower as well as the indoor shower and bathroom faucets. The savings was significant enough and the look we want to match the cabin interior.

We chose a 30gal water heater. Based on the appliance usage for two dwellers, we figured 30gal will provide enough hot water. We installed a whole house water filter before the water heater.  This one we chose is a GE filter. We installed a shut off valve right before the filter so that the cartridge can be replaced periodically with little effort.

Looks like a maze, but it gets the water where it needs to go! The pipes run along the walls and out of the way leaving plenty of room in the attic for storage.

We sent measurements of the coupala vents to the A/C man. He is building boxes that will cover the vents, but allow for installation of exhaust pipes to the outside. This will prevent exhaust from filing the attic.

KITCHEN PLANNING

Using our floor plan and some cardboard, we have begun to check, double check and fine tune our Kitchen plan. Water pipes are ready for sink and frig installs. That is a few months away, at least. The floor plan on the software is pretty in tune with the exact measurements that we have to install the cabinets.

SHOPPING 

We have been burning up the pocketbook. Beside the plumbing, we purchased a 36" ventless range hood in stainless steel. We purchased extension kits to be able to extend the chimney up to the 10' vaulted ceiling. We purchased two bathroom sinks. They are vessel sinks and will be installed in refurbished dressers.  One dresser is getting a make over now. The master bath dresser/vanity has yet to be purchased.

 LOVE THIS SINK!  Has the antique look and will be easy to install as a vessel sink and not a drop in sink.

This is kinda the concept for the faucets. 

Here is our dresser - wish me luck in refinishing it!

Attic DONE

1/22/17 Several weekends of hard work and the attic is done. 

  We are finishing up on the super heavy lifting!!  Attic floor required 26 full sheets of 3/4" plywood. The two of us lifted each sheet onto the scaffolding and then onto the attic rafters for installation.  It wasn't as easy as that sounds.  That is... after we lifted each sheet of plywood onto the cart at the lumber store, we unload them from the cart into the truck, following up with unloading each one from the truck onto floor inside the house, THEN lifting each one onto the scaffolding and up to the attic rafters. 

  Each sheet of plywood was installed with screws and plywood clips for extra stability.  Now there is nice space in the attic and there will be plenty of room for storage after the air conditioning unit and duct work is installed. There is one cutout for the return air vent and the attic stairs are installed. Next, water heater installation in the attic and finish plumbing. 

Rejoice! Ceiling rafters finishing up today - and met the AC man!

Working so hard to finish these rafters!!  18 sets - Tough work.  

This process was a bit excruciating. 😆

We trimmed each 20' board outside.   The boards were trimmed on one end, wall side,  so that it would lay flat on its side on the supporting wall frame once in place. Pre-drilled holes helped with screwing the boards to the wall supporting frame.

Next, we carried each board into the house,
carefully maneuvering about the scaffolding and placed the board on the floor.

 We connected a rope via one c-clamp, took a deep breath and hoisted one end up to rest on the center supporting beam. 

Then the opposite end on the floor was hoisted up one step of the ladder at a time until it could be rested on the side wall support.

Slow and easy was the name of the game.

Each set was securely joined in the center of the top beam with an additional board.

 Rejoice!  all 18 sets are up, secure and ready for the next step.  Getting close to electricity installation and air conditioning/furnace installation!!

We met with Platt Air Conditioning and signed off on our system. The configuration will enable us to have a very comfortable home, even when taking into account the wood burning stove we will install and the open coupala.  The coupala will have two metal boxes installed that will cover the louvers. One box will house the vents for the plumbing. The other box will house air intake system to supply the "foam" house with clean air when the wood stove is burning. Once the two boxes are installed, the spray foam insulation will seal up the coupala. Having transit windows in the hallway doors to each room will eliminate the need for return air vents in each room. 

Tools - Review - Bostich - Skilsaw - Black & Decker

Some of the most useful hand tools we use. We thought we would give you a heads up on some the hand tools we are using for all those beams.  These tools have proven to be the best for us.

Clamps – Where would we be without these locking clamps? We use a set of these “The Original” locking vise grip C-clamps with swivel pads that don’t put gouges in the the wood.  Using the turn screw, the clamp can easily be adjusted and then used repeatedly for many applications. We have been using them to hold our beams together during installation of a reinforcement plate and any other time we need to firmly and confidently hold something in place.  The release is easy to use and makes handling the clamps a breeze. No time consuming winding tight like a traditional C clamp. Even the wife can use them. These are “The Original” C-clamps and worth the extra dollars.

Square/ level – Who doesn’t want to be square?  This Swanson square TS151, borrowed from the Mrs toolbox, is a great little square. For all those repetitive cutting marks, this tool is the one. No adjusting, no moving parts, just a straight edge with you need it and a bonus level.

Saw – We saw a lot!  This circular Skilsaw does the trick. Whether we are cutting plywood, 2 x 4, 2 x 6 or 2 x 10 this portable circular saw handles the job. This is a easy to use, fairly lightweight, saw with enough power to handle most any cut. Precision is the goal and with the saw that is easy to accomplish.

Nail gun – If we didn’t have this gem we would not be ¼ of the way through what we have built. This Bostitch F21PL 21 degree  nail gun is supreme. We use this air powered nail gun, well I will say we have gone through 1 ½ boxes of 3 1/4” nails, with count of 4000, and we have a lot more to do.  Not a lightweight tool but powerful and pretty consistent. Only seems to hiccup when I am atop the scaffolding and want a quick nail set. But that isn’t too often. We have used with 3 1/4” and 2” strip nails that are easy to load and exchange. This is a sturdy piece of equipment. Even a drop from about 6’ to cement floor didn’t compromise the utility of this nailer. Highly recommended. 

Air drill – A great go to drill when you need extra power.  This generic drill is lightweight, easy to use and only draw back is it only has one speed, fast!

Drill – Handy dandy battery powered 12V cordless hand drill by Black & Decker. Thanks again to the wife.. I see a pattern here. This handy light weight rechargeable hand drill – screw gun is great for portability. With a full charge we are good for about 2 hrs of pretty steady use. Changing out the bit is quick and easy. There is enough power to use this drill with our self drilling screws through 2” wood and into ¼” metal.  Small, comfortable grip and easy to use.  

 Compact circular saw – This borrowed, from wife, circular saw is quite the little gem. We are using this to cut excess from our over head ceiling beams once lifted in place. Lightweight, powerful, easy to use, this saw is a must have. It is under 6lbs and has quick and easy adjustable angle and blade depths. Slim grip is great for comfort and reliability. The rip fence is just right for when the cut needs to be precise.

12/18/16 no working today. It's 30 degrees!

Back to business

12-8-16 update

Beams up an installed over 1/2 of the house - bedrooms, bathrooms, washroom

The beams over the living area are a work in progress. 

Each 20' beam is being lifted and installed by myself and my husband. No small feat!  

Break for Deer Season

Just a quick post :: After our Break for Deer Season and our First Annual Thanksgiving Family Dinner, we are getting back to building.

The rafters are going in slowly and carefully. Ladders don't take kindly to your knees after continual usage. Never the less, as of today, we have rafters up and over 1/4 of the rooms.

Oh and deer season went well: