Anyone still out there?

So we have been slow to update. But stuff has been happening.

Ramp:
The ramp is now complete, sans guardrail. Michael came over one day and helped me erect the structure. It took the two of us to move the heavy beams that support each side of the ramps. These are composed of (3) 2x12's and are 18' long each (27 bolts in each as well). The whole ramp structure was built out of leftover wood from various aspects of the project. I then covered it in cambera, to match the existing deck. It just needs a trim and the aforementioned guardrail to wrap it up. The pool table installers were sure glad to see it. It does not feel too steep walking up and is a nice counterpoint to the slope of the roof monitor above.



Kitchen:
The hood is finally in. All that really remains now are the countertops. We may have blown our window for this year and may need to wait for the spring.


Interiors:
Nearly all the trim is now up. It proved to be more time consuming than originally anticipated, with a great deal of planing to get the wood to site against the doors properly. Two more pieces, and some touch up work and it should be done. Also, the two light slots had to be enlarged and are now complete. I wired the last two fixtures. Closing in...





I plan on wrapping up the interior trim and ramp and deck rails this year. With a little luck we may get the wood stove in this year as well. We'll try and update more often, if anyone out there still reads this.

Oh yes, and the pool table was installed yesterday. I'll post pictures next week.

Internet, finally!

Brief update: we finally have high-speed internet via redZone wireless. To get it, we had to erect a 50' tower near the road, high enough to get over the trees. We have been dealing with dial-up since we moved in and it has been quite frustrating. Cable was going to cost $4,000 and DSL is not available. I was not keen on satellite due to the download limits they enforce (and the high monthly cost). So we went the redZone route. Our neighbors have it and they love it.

The installation was quite a struggle as it was the installers' (Kevin and Mike) first time doing this, and ours as well. The Clarks came over and helped, too. Because the area we chose to erect it in is all ledge, we pinned a concrete pier to the ledge and poured a HDPE tube inside the pier to act as a sleeve. This would help support the base and keep it stable since we had no soil in which to set a stake. The first time we made the mistake of laying the pole out on the ground fully retracted. We then tried to raise it like the flag at Iwo Jima. It took 5 of us to get it in the pier and it was a bear. Fully raised it was flopping around like a reed in the wind. At that point I realized I was going to need more guy wire. Much more.

The installers came back the following week and this time we set the tower in the pier unretracted. We leaned a ladder against a tree and raised it section by section. I set three eye-hooks into trees that were located approximately 120 degrees apart around the pier. we tied the guy wire on to each section raised it and set the next tier of guy wire. When it was fully raised we tensioned off the three tiers and got it pretty straight. Now we have high-speed internet as fast as cable for 1/3 less. Josh configured the router for us and we now have wireless in the house (and out in the woods).

More soon on the ramp.

The tower and base pier.

Marlum enjoying the hole that Anne has dug for the ramp base.

A little more siding

Here we are nearly 50% done. Just keep chugging along. It's all ladder work from here on out.

Anybody still out there?

Well this winter represented mostly a hiatus from the project; life (and other stuff intervened). Anne and I just got back from Italy (her first trip) a few weeks ago and the urge to start back on the project finally emerged. This weekend, with the help of my neighbors (including newly minted Eagle Scout Josh), we poured a concrete pier anchored to ledge. This will hopefully become the base for our wireless internet tower.

On Sunday I got back onto the siding. Only 3 courses around before I ran out of screws. Back to it again this weekend if the weather is good. We will run out of siding soon and will need to get some more.

Paul and Eliza will be coming up in a couple of weeks to help with the siding and maybe the countertops. That's right, we still do not have finished countertops. Our intention is still to pour concrete countertops and we hope to get to that soon.

In other news, we are now working with Paul to see if we can finish up the requirements for LEED for Homes. For those unfamiliar with this, it is a program run by the US Green Building Council that certifies sustainable or "green" homes. We think we may qualify for Silver certification but there are a number of hurdles to get past. I will be posting a bit more regularly on that topic as we make our way through the unwieldy process.

More pictures coming soon. In the meantime, I'll post some photos from our recent trip.

A little more

We progress a little more. Almost 40% complete on the siding. More than halfway done on 3 sides. At this point I can only reach a handful more boards without a ladder or scaffolding. This is where it gets fun.

Only 12 more courses to go.

Working the windows into the coursing has proved tricky. Nothing is perfectly level or at quite the right elevations. I think I have it worked out for two of the windows. I'll let you know.

One issue with all the rain/moisture is that the wood is swelling. My 1/4" gaps are down to 1/16" in some places. This was expected at some level (thus the reason for the 1/4" gaps) but not while I was working on it. It is proving more difficult to get pieces of the same width in one continuous course. The break-up of the boards by windows, doors, and open joints is proving useful at this point. My fear is when I get the next load of wood (we only have enough to do half the siding at this point) is that it will be dry and not as wide.

Paul (and Eliza) Part II

Well Paul came up again, this time with Eliza, and we managed to get a fair amount done in the short time they were here. Siding is now almost 30% complete. Paul and I established coursing for the next 9 rows which will make our work easier from this point on. We also got all the "down" work done meaning that we will be working up from this point on. Eliza went through a box and a half of screws, diligently fastening the siding to the strapping. We were slowed down a bit with relocating the cat door (originally placed based on 1x4 siding. Oops) and cutting off the strapping that was too long. But things picked up quickly before stopping for dinner.

We then went down to Unity to make a quick stop at the Commonground Fair. All in all, too short a time but hopefully the next time Paul and Eliza come up at Thanksgiving the siding will be complete. Fingers crossed. I sure as hell don't want to be doing this in December.

Photos courtesy of Paul and Eliza.

End of Day 1: Paul inspecting the cat door.

Corner detail.

Eliza intent on the screw at hand.

Day 2: More boards in the morning before heading off to the Fair.

The newly relocated cat door. Ramona still managed to get in the door 36" off the ground by climing up the siding. She's lucky I didn't catch her in action.

Isn't that the cutest bunny you ever saw?

Eliza with the homeowner.

A little further...

As I have been able to steal time I have been able to get more siding up. It is certainly much easier going up than down, especially when working by yourself. Anne pitched in on Saturday to help get a few boards on and again a little last night so that she could use the driver. We finished getting the first board on the north side and so now have a basepoint on all 4 sides. The tricky part will be working the windows into the equation. I took some quick measurements last night and discovered that the first two windows are very close to the module but for some reason the last two openings are a couple of inches off. So I'll probably spend the next couple of days working out the layout for the boards on the back side before getting any further on the north and west sides. I'll try and post more often...