Cold

I started to go with Hank Williams Sr.'s (one of the few country artists that I will listen to) "Cold, Cold Heart" but then remembered this song by Annie Lennox. Wonderful, haunting song. Well, things are going fine living in my house! It is taking some getting used to as far as all the windows and space. I have to fight the urge to just get up in the middle of the night and take a hot shower. This is the refrigerator that I finally decided on and am glad I did. It is a Whirlpool 22 cubic foot standard model. It is an Energy Star model and only uses $41 per year to operate. So they say. I like it and even the BFA liked it. I plan on having all stainless appliances. And no, I don't normally keep the top of the fridge junked up like that but I am a little short of storage space right now. I don't know why I really thought I wanted a big side by side fridge; I don't need all that space. I have really tried to keep the idea of real necessity in mind while building this house. I think often times we are convinced that we really need this or that, that giant house or 50" TV etc. and you know, there is a lot that we really don't need and actually would not miss if we didn't have it. Maintenance of all that stuff is the really big issue too. The more you have, the more effort you have to put into taking care of it. Now, I think most of you know I am by no means lazy but I had much rather spend my day doing some gardening or art rather than spending half the day cleaning around a bunch of junk I don't need or working to pay the power bill to run $3,000 worth of entertainment electronics. I read a survey not to long ago that said that like 70% of women had rather have a clean house than make love.....??? what?? Excuse me??? That's just crazy talk. Well, if we would cut down on having so much junk maybe we could do both!!
Anyway, one really cool thing about my fridge is this magic box in the freezer portion! It was empty when I first plugged the fridge in but only a few hours later, it was full of ice cubes!! My God! What sorcery! And if I come and get a bunch of these ice cubes out and then go away for just a little while, it is full again when I come back! Is technology not wonderful? I love this thing! And I don't have to do anything to make it make ice! I'm tempted to just throw some of the ice out the window just to see it make some more! AHH, hahahahaha! Iced tea, anyone? Unsweet, of course. I was talking to one of the guys at work who is about my age and he was telling me how his daughters had never seen ice cube trays before until they found some over at their grandmother's house in the garage. You remember the old metal kind with the lever you pulled up. And we were talking about how we used to make Kool-Aid popsicles with them. Oh well, damn those things I'll keep my magic ice maker.
I have not done much work on the house since moving in. We had Christmas off but have had to work 10's since to make up and I have had some other stuff going on. I'm not sure what my next project will be. Siding probably and some more exterior work.
Hope you all had great holidays and I wish you all the best for the new year coming.

I'll Be Home For Christmas

I spent my first night in the house last night (the 23rd). It was wonderful. I did have a little trouble going to sleep at first. Maybe excitement; maybe that moon was so full and bright, I kept wanting to get up and look outside. I'm not used to so many windows.
I wish you all a very happy and peaceful Christmas time. May your households be filled with joy.
Merry Christmas Philip, I hope you do receive a book or two or other special treat.
Thanks for the Christmas card Karen and Regina. Sorry I did not send any out this year. I just couldn't swing it.
I'm going to go put my tree up now and get ready to cook a good Christmas breakfast in the morning.

The Heat Is On

Sorry about the poor quality photo but the house is quite warm and comfy! Got to get just a few more things cleaned up and cleared out. Should be moving in soon.

Come Together

Sorry to have been absent for a while. I've been working a lot at night down at the house and just haven't felt much like blogging really. My stress level is pretty high right now. I want so bad to move into the house before Christmas and it is really coming down to the wire. All I lack to be able to stay there is heat. I finished the shower completely, I hung and finished the sheetrock in the back of the closet that I had open for the shower valves etc. I just need to paint that now. I took the humongous scaffolding down!! I have room in the living room now! All of the filter media etc. finally came and we got that running. That is what these photos show.
The filter is this giant thing that has a gravel-like medium in the bottom (about 10") and then on top of that is this "Micro Z" stuff. Which is a natural mineral that is mined and ground up to resemble coarse sand, fired in a kiln and sifted. It is supposed to filter down to 5 microns, which is pretty fine. It may have been overkill (regular sand will go down to 20 microns) but I'm not taking any chances any more. It took all day to run the filter through the stages and flush out all the dust in the media. I was surprised at that. You would think they would wash the stuff or something before they send it to you. It took about 3 hours of running water to flush everything and get it working but it is great now. The water is sooo clear! I have the filter set to backwash itself every 3 days I believe. This cycle takes about 50 minutes. It washes out through the septic system so it has to tied into a drain line somewhere. I am very pleased with the system so far and the company that I ordered from which was Excel Water Technologies. They were very fast to answer questions and call me back when the media stuff did not show up. I would really recommend these people if you are looking for a filter.

I bought a Christmas tree. It is sitting out in the yard. I am waiting until I can move in to put it up. I have always thought it was funny that a holiday could bring about a state of mind where it is considered normal to drag the biggest tree you can get into your house and stand it up. Any other time people would think you were mad. It would be the best Christmas I ever had if I were able to wake up in my house on Christmas morning this year. The gas lines are almost all run. I have to work all weekend but Allen is going to put in the last of the lines tomorrow. I couldn't do that anyway but I am going refrigerator shopping after I get off work tomorrow. I think I finally found what I want. The gas company said they would be at the house Monday morning to set the tank so I could have heat by Monday night. Not sure when I'll be back but I'll let ya'll know if it looks like I'll make it in before the 24th.

Anticipation

That title doesn't have anything to do with the photo here; I'll get around to the photo in a minute. I am in kind of a "hurry up and wait" situation now with the house. I am just waiting on the filter media to arrive. The shipping company called today and said it would be here tomorrow. I am just waiting on the propane company to come set the tank so I can then hook up to the house and have heat. Of course, I have plenty of other stuff to do. Those are just the last two things I need to move in. Well, technically I need handrails on the deck but I can do that right after moving in. The insurance company only needs to see them when they come out to inspect the house. I did receive the very last of my shower tile that I had to reorder so I can finish that completely. Turns out I was able to order only what I needed, not a whole new box so that was very good. Lots more painting to do this weekend and maybe put up a couple of small, temporary kitchen counters. I also really need to go ahead and purchase my refrigerator and get it in the house. I am having another panic attack over that one. I would really like to have a side by side but I am supposed to be building a "green" house. Living a more sustainable life, you know, and side by sides use a good bit more energy than a regular fridge. Now, having a side by side might allow me enough storage in the freezer that I would not need another, smaller freezer which I had thought about purchasing. I would like to be able to put up some veggies from my garden and stuff like that. Of course, I have looked at the Energy Star side by sides but I know you can get even more efficient fridges. The real kicker is that the one that I found that I really, really, really like is a side by side and not even a Energy Star! But it only uses $8 a year more energy than Energy Star of equal size. If I buy it I'll feel like a hypocrite. Allen just rolls his eyes at me. Am I being too.........nutso?
Well, on other subjects, the photo shows some of the many rafter tails that I have had to cut in around. I love that detail but it is a pain in the butt to do. I did learn one trick to painting close to something like that though. I have several areas in the house where drywall butts up to wood or steel and it never seems to finish nice right on the edge. It's always got a ragged little crack and you just can't make a straight paint line there, or I can't anyway. So, what I learned to do was, after I had sanded the sheetrock as best I could, I ran a small bead of clear, siliconized acrylic caulk down this joint, making it very smooth. After the caulk dries (clear, it will be white before dry) you can cut in a very smooth paint line against the wood and if any caulk gets on the wood or steel, you don't see it.

Well, I am afraid I made a butthole comment on Florida Cracker's site about his little talking Christmas tree and my wanting to smack it with a stick. I hope I did not offend him; I was really just joking. I wouldn't really hurt it but those things like that kind of give me the willies. Oh well, sorry.

So, What's On Your Coffee Table?

I normally have many more books stacked here and on the floor under the table too but I tidied up the other day. I try to keep a very clean space but I love books! Now, most all of my books are instructional or art books, cookbooks and the like. I don't read a lot of fiction. I do like some science fiction and some mystery books though. Of course, lately I have been pouring over house books for ideas. What color for the outside of the house, tile work, interior colors etc. etc. The 3 books on the left are some very nice ceramic art books. Wonderful work there! On the other side I have some of my catalogs (another indulgence) from seed companies, hardware suppliers etc. Oh, and that new one on stone work in gardens. The glass candy dish was my aunt Corinne's. It is sadly devoid of any chocolate. The little square dish in the middle is a raku ceramic piece made by a fairly well known artist, Richard Hirsh. Back when I was in college he did a workshop at our department and I was one of two student assistants. He made the dishes as part of his demo and gave me this one. In that dish is a pocket knife Allen have me years ago and a smooth stone I found down on my property. The little book is "The Art of Wordly Wisdom". I believe it was written over 400 years ago. Great book; still very relevant. The bottle with the white cap is some great hand salve made by an electrician that we know. I think it is mostly just beeswax and olive oil. Works wonders on winter dry hands. There is also a piece of square quartz I found on the job and some roofing nails. I often come home with nails in my pockets.
Well, the house is progressing. Allen hooked up the new water filter but they did not ship the filter media so the filter is just bypassed for now. It is always something. I am still trying to find out where the media is and what is going on. I painted both living room walls and cleaned and waxed the steel truss. It looks great and now I can take the scaffold down! I will be so happy to get that out of the house. It looks like it will still be Dec. 12th, 13th before my propane tank is delivered and hooked up so no permanent heat yet. There are so many little things to do such as window trim all around, I need to finish the pantry walls. I still have just a little tile work in the shower yet and a small area of slate to install in the bathroom. I thought at first I was going to have a built in shelving unit there but changed my mind. I need to build the bathroom vanity and install the sink. I can also install the speakers in the living room now. Hey, but we got the ceiling fans working properly! We found a transformer type controller that had high enough amperage to run both fans but low enough that there is actually a definite difference in the speeds. I was given one controller but the amperage was so high that there was essentially no difference in speeds. It was just on (and very fast) or off. Electrical things confound me so I did not realize these fans could pose such a problem. I'll try to get some more photos soon. I want to get straighten out some so I can throw soon. I would like to make some pottery for Christmas gifts but am being very cautious about actually having time. Oh, yeah, I painted the front door but you can't see it until I am completely done and it is decorated for Christmas! I have become so frustrated with not having time to work on the outside of the house that I actually dreamed the other night that I just started painting the Tyvek. I couldn't stand looking at that white paper anymore. Allen asked me what I was doing and I just told him to go away and let me do it. After I move in, I think the next big project is going to be the siding.

Killin' Time

Sorry, no photo today. I really haven't taken many lately as work seems to be kind of at a stand still. Allen has been working on trying to get the propane tank delivered and installed at the house. Since I work in Birmingham it is sometimes difficult for me to deal with local utilities. It is often past closing time before I make it home. So, he is good enough to run some errands for me. We checked out several local propane companies and it is expensive. All gas has gone up lately. I also didn't realize that it took a while to get the tank delivered and set up. I am going to have to wait about 2 weeks. This kind of bummed me out but there is not anything I can do about it. Should have started investigating all this way before now. Anyway, at first, I thought it all was going to cost around $615.00 to initially get set up but he found a better deal for $470. So, that is some consolation.
The new sediment filter arrived this week and we will be installing that this weekend. I am very anxious to get that working because then I can take a hot shower in my house! I plan to do a lot of painting and some general organizing etc. I am still moving my pottery studio to the house and so I have stuff thrown everywhere. I need to start moving construction materials out of the house. Oh! And I think I may be able to take down the scaffolding! Yea!! I'll be sooooo glad to get that thing out of there.
Things are starting to change and I am getting very anxious to be in the house. I feel like I just want to board myself up in the house and become a recluse sometimes. I'm not sure why. Stress maybe? And other times I want to invite everyone to come and stay with me. I'm going nuts I think. Allen says that is a very short trip.

Minute By Minute

Here is some of the stuff we worked on this weekend. I bought a vent free propane wall heater for the house and installed it on this wall between the kitchen and living room. This gives it a central location in the house. Sorry the photo is bad but I have trouble getting good detail at night. I framed out the middle section of that wall to give it some visual substance and the chase formed by that will accommodate the ductwork for the vent for the range hood on the opposite side, gas lines and some electrical. I sheathed the wall in Durock because I want to tile this wall. Being a ceramic artist, I must make some tile of my own for the house and thought that this would be a nice accent. Plus, I'm hoping that the tile will absorb heat from the heater and help warm the house. I have had a lot of questions about the heating and air system for the house and I'll tell you why I put this thing in. I am planning on installing a HVAC system but I would like for it to be a geothermal system which means it uses underground water to supply the heat and cooling. It is obviously more complicated than that but that is kinda basically it. They say the systems are like 400% more efficient than normal HVAC systems and use a lot less power. They are also more expensive to install. If I go this route I would prefer to put it in after all of the house is built, not to mention, I can't afford any kind of HVAC right now so temporary heat is it. Now, after finding a wall unit this attractive, I may keep it permanently installed because in the case of a power outage, any kind of HVAC is going to go out. And if I am old and/or sick I don't want to be chopping wood to keep warm. The looks are a little deceiving though. From this photo and the one on the box, it appears that the heater is recessed into the wall and that is not the case but after installing it I think it still looks OK.
This is just the backside of that same wall and you can see some of the wiring for the kitchen counter tops. Oh, there will be bookshelves on either side of the heater up to that bar height which is 4 feet. On top of this wall I can display some ceramics or sculpture.
And look! that is HOT water coming out of that shower head. Wooohooo!! No, I have not actually taken a shower yet. I can't find a #$%^&* shower curtain rod that I like. And I really need to install the new sediment filter, which came today, and get the water cleared up. The filters that I have on the lines now also greatly reduce the water pressure so I am anxious to get them off and this new filter on. It is supposed to only reduce pressure by 1 psi which should leave me plenty. I'll show lots of details about that as we install it.
And I painted this wall, almost. It needs another coat as I saw tonight that I have lots of holidays in it. I also need to get a taller ladder or shorter scaffold to do the rest on the right there. The color is a darker version of what I did the bedroom and clerestory walls in. I like earthy, vibrant colors as you can tell. Wait 'til you see the kitchen color! You can also see one of the ceiling fans here. I don't remember if I have shown them before. They are an industrial type fan in brushed nickel.
Well, the countdown is to be in before Christmas. I told the guys at work that I am going to go ahead and buy the biggest Christmas tree that I can afford and keep it outside until I move in so there is no backing down now! I might be decorating that tree on Christmas Day but it will be there!!

Family

Well, I hope everybody out there had a great Thanksgiving holiday and got some rest maybe. I actually did nothing but eat on Thanksgiving day. No work. I tried to relax....really. On Saturday we had a big surprise when my sister just showed up for a visit and brought her 2 kids. That's Katie and Hunter. It has been some time since any of the family came to see the house. None of them live very close; my sister and her family is about 45 minutes away. My sister, Rosemary, was recently named "Occupational Therapist Of The Year" with her company! I am hoping that they will all be able to come to my house this Christmas for breakfast at least. Years ago when our aunt Corinne was alive, she would all have us to her place for breakfast on Christmas Eve and it was very enjoyable. I am hoping to revive that tradition. I told Katie also that when I move into the house we could have a big sleep over with all the kids (my brother's children too) and stay up watch movies and eat tons of junk food. Katie is very smart and left handed like me so she is a good kid. All my nieces and nephew are great kids though.
We got a good bit done on the house over the holiday. I had 4 days off from work so that has been nice. We installed the sleeve for the gas line and got that covered back up. That is what Allen is doing here with Oliver before he ripped his box blade in half while trying to smooth out a new part of the driveway. I finished building the wall between the kitchen and living room and installed the heater there. It is just waiting on the installation of the gas tank and lines. We installed the shower fixtures and connected the water heater so I now have running hot water! It is sooo glorious! Spring water is extremely cold. Of course, it is probably costing me a small fortune to heat that spring water in that electric water heater. I will be very happy when I have my solar water system up and running but that will be put off until summer at least. I ordered a new sediment filter and it is on it's way. I finally chose a good color for the living room and painted the high gable wall that required the scaffolding to reach. I need to run a little trim there and touch up the paint this week and I can get that scaffold out of the house. We ran the circuits in the new kitchen wall for plugs etc. but I need to get some more Romex so we can make the home run. The ceiling fans are still not operating correctly and the water is still slightly muddy. The wasp population is down considerably but they are still coming in from somewhere. I can't figure that one out. I hope to get the gas tank delivered this week and have it hooked up by the end of next weekend. It really looks like I might move in by Christmas. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Heading For The Light

I've been listening to the Traveling Wilburys lately and it struck me that I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel lately, and so the title for this post. I felt like such a turd after my last post for complaining so much because I have had it so good. I have just been trying to keep an accurate record of the ups and downs of building this house for those of you out there who might be considering building one of your own. It is hard. There are times when I have thought I was out of my mind for trying this, especially the paying for it as I go part. The guys at work who have built their own houses have all asked me how much weight I have lost so far. Not, have I lost any but , how much? For the record, 28 pounds so far. I have kind of leveled off now as far as that goes but the stress of this is hard. I think it is more mental now because I am so close to moving in. When you are very far from that in the beginning, you don't dwell on thoughts of living there etc. but now, all I can think of is what all I can do and what it is going to be like to actually live in MY house. But I have had so much help with Allen and the guys at work too getting me salvageable material etc. Even the architect.
OK, these photos are from some work we did this past weekend. Allen had rented a backhoe to do some work on his land so he scooped out this section for me to put the propane tank. The top photo is where the parking area is going to be and we graded on that just a little bit, then he dug this little area over to the side and scratched out the trench for the gas line. The line will enter the house right under the stone work so it is sort of a straight shot. Allen was proud that I decided on something simple. I will build a little retaining wall against this bank (there will be several retaining walls in this area for the parking etc.) and plant some shrubs and stuff to hide the tank. Hopefully, we can get the gas lines ran, the living room painted and the scaffolding completely down over the Thanksgiving holiday.
I finally finished grouting the shower this weekend! I just need to clean the tile and lay the final few pieces that I was short when they come in. I also located my power outlets on the new kitchen wall ( no actual wiring yet though) and cleaned up around the house. It had rained a little recently so we finally burned a couple of brush piles that have been around for months. Clumsy me fell against an iron pot that I had a small fire in and burnt my shoulder. Now I'll have a nice scar to show off at the Christmas party when I finally get to wear that nice sleeveless dress. Oh well, it will match all the others.

Piggies (Pig's Feet & Snap Ties)

This post may be quite boring to most of you but I have been wanting to put it up for some time now after studying my hits on Site Meter. I get a number of hits for people searching on how to use snap ties and pig's feet etc. and that is a lot of the type of form work we have been doing on this job so I thought it might help some to put up some photos and explain a little. I like doing form work because it is a little like sculpture. The forms themselves can be very artistic, if done well and neatly, with the repetitive elements and shapes. It seems odd to a lot of people to spend so much time building something, sometimes weeks, and then to tear it all back down again.
So, OK, in this photo you can see where we have formed up one side of the wall completely. The whalers (the horizontal 2x4's) and stiff backs (the vertical 2x4's) are all on etc. All those small rods sticking out from the wall are the snap ties. For standard forming you would drill (5/8" hole) your plywood on a 16" grid pattern for the ties. Remember to start 8" off the edges though so that when you butt 2 pieces of plywood together, you have 16" between ties. This works for walls up to 16" thick. Now, there are tons of variations on tie spacing and even using all johnny clamps or all pig's feet but this is the most common method.

Normally, you run 2 johnny clamps, then a stiff back etc. but this can vary too. The johnny clamps hold the whalers and the pig's feet hold the stiff backs. When you get your plywood stood up and nailed off plumb to the rat sill, stick your ties through the holes (short tails for where the clamps go and long tails for the stiff backs) and put your johnny clamps on (loosely fastened). Next, lay your whalers in the clamps. You will have to take your hammer and give them a good whack. Make sure to let enough of them run wild on the ends to lock your corners. You may need to add some temporary bracing now to help the wall stay plumb. Now, stand your stiff backs up. you just sandwich the long tails of the snap ties between two 2x4's and slip the pig's foot on the button of the tie. Tighten the pig's foot down. I usually toe nail the stiff backs on opposite sides at the top and bottom whaler because the pig's feet can loosen up. Some bosses will curse you for this though. Also, alternate the direction of the pig's feet (see photo) and drive an 8 penny nail in that little hole in the foot. This helps hold the stiff backs together also. Generally, you do not nail the stiff backs to one another.
This is a view from on top of the wall looking down into it. Those little cones on the ties hold the plywood a prescribed distance apart. You can sort of see how the tails of the ties are used to hold the hardware. This part of the tie stays in the wall after it is poured. The tails are designed to break off when you wreck the forms, thus the name "snap ties".
This is the wall almost completely done. The carpenter is locking the corners. To do that, you simply lay another, shorter whaler across the ends of the whaler held by clamps and nail it off where they cross. Make sure this whaler is up tight! Two nails at each cross point and make sure that these short whalers run wild also by about 6" as you are now going to add 2 vertical 2x4's in this corner you have just made. This has been done on the left side of the wall. You nail these 2x's in an "L" shape in the corner, 2 nails at each whaler, both sides. The concrete will be pressing outward on the whalers and these corner locks hold the crossed whalers and keep them from moving outward. So, they must all be as tight to one another as possible. This is a very simplified lesson so if I did not explain something clearly, please ask me to clarify. Oh, yeah, after all this you still have to add the turnbuckles and plumb the wall etc. It is easier to do this just after you get the whalers and stiff backs on but before you have everything tightened down and locked off. Generally, every stiff back gets a turnbuckle to get a nice, straight wall.

The house is progressing slowly. I grouted some more this evening but am still not finished with the shower. The house is wearing on me a lot lately. I am having trouble finding a proper control for the ceiling fans. That has been a frustrating ordeal and I guess what I get for ordering industrial fans instead of residential. The house gets invaded everyday by wasps. There are usually 20-30 wasps in the house every time I go down and open up. I have no idea where they are coming from. Everything seems to cost $1,000. The shower, the heat, the siding etc. I seem to keep coming up just slightly short on all my material; tile, grout, paint, plywood. The water is still muddy; I must get another filter. That's another $500.00. I should not complain at all though. So many people have done so much to help me. I've just been working almost every day for over 2 years now to build this house and I'm really getting tired but I just need to suck it up and keep going. It's just one thing at a time.

You Can't Do That

I didn't have to work this past weekend so we got a fair amount accomplished at the house, I think. I started grouting the shower but ran out of grout. That freakin' thing is just way bigger that I thought. Anyway, got about 2/3 of it done and I need to pick up some more grout during the week. Allen built a door for the "basement" and then one for the pump house. We used some leftover T&G cedar I had from a job and so the doors look great. He hung the one to the pump house but I wanted to find some better looking hinges for the one that goes on the house so it is still on the table. I finally framed the wall that will separate the kitchen from the living room. In this photo, you would be standing in the dining area, looking into the kitchen. You can barely see the edge of the sink on the left. The range and oven will go about opposite the sink on the right and center up on that high part of the wall. The lower areas of the wall are at 4'. Bar height sorta. I wanted to be able to see into the other areas and have good air flow. I plan on having concrete countertops and the backsplash on this wall will be tile. Maybe glass tile? That small room at the end is the pantry. The kitchen area is approximately 9 feet wide by 14 feet long.
Here you would be standing in the living area (by the door) looking into the kitchen. Now, on this side of the wall there is going to be this really cool built in book shelf unit that covers most of it and within that I am going to install this gas heater. That my sound odd but it is this really cool modern looking wall mount heater that is made to be flush with a wall surface. I think it will look nice. If I can find a photo I will try to include a link. I think this is it. http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=267514-51507-SSRD200T-CB&lpage=none You may have noticed that there is not much room at all for wall cabinets in my kitchen. That's right! I hate wall cabinets! I have a rather large pantry and will have a good bit of space with floor cabinets so I plan to use a few open shelves on maybe 2 walls for placement of dishes etc. I hate lots of stuff. We all have way to much stuff. I want to pare my kitchen and everything really, down to just the essentials and am, at some point, make myself a nice, whole set of my own dishes so they will look nice sitting out where they can be seen.
You may have also noticed that this wall does not seem to have much support since it does not connect to the ceiling. Well, you ought to know better. I ran 3 studs (2 of the 8' and 1 of the 4') down through the floor, interrupting the bottom plate and nailed it off to the floor joist below. This strengthens the wall considerably. This was Allen's idea so I can't take credit. When the cabinets and countertops are added that will also add a lot of stability.
See my messy caulking job! It looked much better up top.
Well, now I'm having a breakdown over where to put the propane tank for the house. The best location will be inaccessible to vehicles in the future so I don't want to put it there. The next one puts it more in view but really accessible. The next best, as far as hiding it goes, means running more line thus more money but it would also be very accessible. Allen says again that I must one day do something the easy way. What's that?

I Should Have Known

OK, so maybe I'm not such a lucky so and so after all. On Sunday I worked all day trying to get the last of the shower tile installed so that I could possibly grout it during the week. Allen got the plumbing hooked up and ready. The trim pieces on the faucet etc. can't be installed until the tile is grouted but the valves and all are there. So, I get down to the last pieces and realize that I am short 6 pieces of bullnose tile for the edges. I am also short about one full sheet of the the regular flat tile to do the curb there. Which means more than likely, I will have to buy a whole new box just to get that one sheet. That's what I get for being a smarty pants and for not figuring that tile down to the last few inches. I just figured a rough dimension. And I'm not sure when I can get back to the tile company to order more.
Well, we had our first actual freeze here last night and of course, I had waited until the last minute to do anything to protect the pipes coming out of the spring, the ones in the pump house etc. But I ran home from work as quick as I could and got busy insulating and covering and boarding up and everything seems to have come through OK. One major project for this coming weekend is going to be building doors for the pump house and under the house though. Also, the the spring is going to have to be closed up better than what I have on it now. I just wrapped the pipes as best as I could with insulation and threw a thick tarp over the opening of the spring. Then I mulched heavily over that and placed rocks all around the edges to hold in the warmth from the earth. I think I will lay up a stone wall ( much like a well would have) and then cap it off with a little insulated roof of some kind.
The next major thing now is to get heat on in the house. Allen and I discussed where to put the propane tank this afternoon and he is going to go during the day tomorrow and see about getting that going. I have talked to the plumbers at work about the size and type of gas lines to run and have gotten that pretty much decided, so now it's just doing it. And having the money for it.

I'm Just A Lucky So and So

Edit: Pablo noticed that I have not used a song title for my post title in some time, so I came up with this good one. Extra points for anyone that can name either the original composer or any singer since then. The lady that did the version I am familiar with is one of my favorites.

Here are just a couple of pics of the tile work in the shower. I have most of the tile installed at this point and will have those photos up soon I hope. I picked a commercial, unglazed porcelain tile in a speckled light brown. I think it goes well with the slate and I just love the unglazed texture. It won't be slippery when it's wet either. I think it has a nice contemporary look too in the 2x2 size. It comes in 1'x2' sheets so it actually goes down pretty quickly once you get the lines laid out. Now, I ordered this from a local tile company rather than buying from Lowe's or one of those stores. The selection is so much better from a good tile supplier and they know what you need. I did try to find something at Lowe's because they had 2x2 tiles for about half what I paid for this but they just can't get you all you need. I wanted the cove tiles for the inside corners, bullnose for the edges, etc. and the people at Lowe's just look at you like you are asking them to pull a camel out of their ear if you want them to order such a thing.
Here you can see that I laid out 2 walls so that I could establish the joints going across and back. I installed these tiles and then had a secure basis for starting the tiles going up the walls while still having room to stand in the shower and work on the walls. I hate to sound like I am bragging but my good karma has just been hitting right on lately. If you look at the tiles closely you might see that the tiles all work out perfectly with no cuts at all across or back. The joints are all evenly spaced etc. Well, when we built this shower, I had no idea what kind of tile or anything that I was going to use so the size of the shower was just kind of arbitrary. We did not try to size the shower for the tile or anything, yet it hit dead on! If I had tried to size it I probably would have screwed it up royally. I got my mojo going on! Well, anyway... I really like those cove bottom corners because it gives you a nice smooth corner to clean. No sharp corners to try and get in there and scrub.
I'm still having to work Saturdays in Birmingham so things are not going as fast I would like although they never do. Tomorrow I hope to install the last pieces of tile that required cuts. These are the ones on the end of the curb, the vertical corners and I installed 2 cool shelves and need to cope the tile in around them. Then maybe one night during the week I can grout the whole thing. Allen installed the shower fixtures today so I could have a working shower by next weekend.

Big Things I Build Now Or I've Been Working On The Railroad

This is sort of a continuation of a post I did several weeks ago where I talked about how I got started in art and all and where I came from. This is where I am now. After I graduated from college I needed a job and jobs in art are hard to find unless you just bite the bullet and try to be a full time studio artist. I enjoy eating and paying my bills enough that I wanted a little bit more secure job and thought that I could just pursue my art on the side. Also, a family tragedy that dumped a load of debt in my lap sort of forced me to find a job that paid pretty good on a regular basis. I learned to weld in college taking sculpture classes so when I met some fellows ( on a small job I had) that worked construction, they offered to help me get a job with them and the rest, as they say, is history. No one thought that I would last a week. I'm only 5'-6" and then weighed about 130 lbs. Necessity is the mother of invention and determination so I hung on and am now one of the senior carpenters for this company.
These photos go in reverse order so if the progress of the building seems odd that is why. This is one of the concrete pours we made not too long ago. That big arm thing stretched out there is the concrete pump truck. Most of the time we can just pour straight out of the truck but sometimes you have to pump it if the trucks can't get near the forms. We pour about 150-250 yards at a time on this job. That is nothing compared to some really big jobs. This was taken when it was still pretty warm here and so we started pouring before the sun was up.
I love the smell of concrete in the morning! OK, enough of my Duvall impersonation. This is the business end of the pump truck. One guy has to guide the hose so the concrete is shot where you want it. The other guys are vibrating the concrete so that it gets around the rebar well etc. These pours can last for hours and you don't stop unless the concrete does. We can take turns running to get a drink or bathroom break. This is why I am so tired sometimes and don't always feel like working on my house.
A lot of people can't see why I do this and think that the men mistreat me. They are construction workers after all, you know. My brother, the minister, always says that construction ruined me but I think construction saved me. Before I was very, very shy and had no self confidence. I had always been used to working but did not realize what a person could do given a few tools. A successful construction worker learns 2 things: 1. Leave your feelings at home. 2. A construction worker can do anything. Even the most daunting tasks are "just a thang". You just take it one step at a time. So many people seem so amazed or whatever at the work I do but I'm not doing anything that most people can't do. It's all learned. Wonderful old carpenters and steel workers taught me and had patience with me. They teased me and pestered me until I opened up and would talk. And yeah, I get asked out and given gifts and phone numbers but mostly in very gentlemanly ways. They know how to give a nice compliment and have given me a lot of self confidence. These men are almost better to me than my own family. They are not how most of society views them, as knuckle dragging morons. Yes, of course, I have met a few who were but I've met plenty of white collar males that would fit that description too. Now, there have been some times that I could have choked some of them and had to pitch a few "come aparts" as we say, to get some respect but all in all, I couldn't ask for better guys to work with. I always say now that when I first started, the guys would call me "sweetheart" and ask me out, now they all call me "ma'am" and offer to carry my tools.... I'm not sure which I prefer.
The house is progressing albeit slowly. I started the shower tile and will have photos of that soon. The next big item is to get heat on in the house and hot water. My fixtures are on their way from somewhere so I'm hoping to have a working shower maybe in about a week. I've been trying to relax a little lately and not get so worked up about the house but I'm not sure it's working. The results from my heart tests came back and it's nothing bad but it's skipping beats a lot now and it makes me very tired sometimes. Not sure what to do about it. Be back soon!

Hey, Crow Doesn't Taste Too Bad!

You know when you rant and rant about something it's going to come back and bite you in the butt. If it's a free bite in the butt though it's easier to take though! Most of ya'll know that I dislike Pella windows because they have a tendency to rot, in my opinion. I even inadvertently attracted the attention of Pella Corp. with my rants here on their product. Well, anyway, I was offered 10 free Pella windows by a dear friend who didn't need them so...... beggars can't be choosers, I guess. They look great and I really, really appreciate the gift. I don't want it to sound like I just took them and didn't really want them, I just need to take some extra steps to assure that they stay dry in their setting. So, this weekend, we set the windows which helps in closing in the underside of the house. This is very important now as winter is approaching and I have bare water pipes under there and an uninsulated floor. We used 3/4" plywood to create a backing for the windows (spaces where cut out in the plywood so that you can see through the windows) and this works to suspend the window in the space above the concrete block so that I can lay the stone around the windows without hindrance. And I can lay the stone at my leisure and the space is still closed in. That stone work is going to take some time and I would have never been able to get it all done before winter with all the other work on me.
Here is a little better view of what we have done. You can see the stone work approaching from the far side. The stone lays out flush with the front of the block work so the windows will be recessed into the stone about 3 inches. I will wrap the outside of the windows where you see the bare wood, with a rubber membrane to keep the moisture out. It's the same stuff we used in the window sills before we set the windows upstairs. This is some cool new plywood too. Well, I don't know how new a product it is but this is the first time Allen and I had seen it. It's called Dryply. It's apparently just CDX with one side embedded with a water repellent. Looks like good stuff. Could have really used that when we put the sub floor down. It's tongue and groove stuff too.
So, this is the "basement" now. My pottery studio will go down here and some storage. This area you see here is where the washer and dryer will go for now. We need to continue that wood frame wall on the right a little more and put up a door and it will be dried in then.
I was finally able to order the tile for the shower and it is on it's way! YEA!!! I have a feeling I will be down there installing that stuff at night to get a little further along. We are working so much that I now only have Sunday to work on the house. I'm making lots of money to buy stuff for the house but no time to put it up. I'm not complaining though. It is funny though that not too long ago when I was laid off, I had lots of time for the house but no money. Ain't that just the way things go?

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Tool Shed

I have been promising a story or two from work for a while now so since I don't have any new photos from the house downloaded, I thought this would be a good time. Most of my long time readers (if I have any besides Pablo) know that my real job is heavy commercial construction. I am a journeyman carpenter for a large company and we are building a service center for a railroad company right now. This is right in the middle of a busy rail yard so there are locomotives running back and forth all day around us as we work. Several other bloggers, including Woody and FC have had funny stories lately about crazy things they have done so I thought I would throw my hat in the ring, or my hardhat. Not to try to outdo but to say, at least ya'lls were in the privacy of your own home or car, whereas I insist on making a fool of myself in public!
Ok, here is the scenario: I am the only female working with 20-25 male carpenters, electricians etc. on this job. Then you have all the male train conductors, engineers etc. Well, shortly after coming on this job, I just happen to notice this one conductor, I guess that is what his is; he rides the front of the locomotive and he switches the tracks to move the locomotives from one track to another. Anyway, this means he is on the ground near us some and walking around so we can sometimes talk a little to these guys. Just general pleasantries as most of them are friendly and curious about what we are doing. Well, this particular guy is honestly, one of the most handsome men I have seen in some time. I know I just gawked the first time I saw him coming down the track and he looked down at me and smiled so that didn't help. He is a big man, tall and broad shouldered and dresses much neater than the others. So, despite being around men so much I am the biggest dork when I get near a man like this. I am clumsy enough as it is and I just lose all composure. Well, on the rare occasion that we are close enough to speak, he would make small talk about this and that but we could never talk more than a few seconds and never get within 20 feet of each other since we are both working, so it was not really possible to "break the ice", you know. In fact, we don't even know his name, so he has just become known to all of us as the Switchman.
Now, a little history on the other side. My guys on the crew look out for me and are really sweet so I try to make cookies or pies for them sometimes and pamper them a little and make them feel good. Well, this summer I grew a bunch of Moon and Stars watermelons and I brought 2 or 3 to work to share with the guys. Now, part of the crew eats in the office trailer, as I do, and the rest eat under a little shelter by the tool shed. So, one day I cut part of a large watermelon for the guys and was taking the majority of it out to the men by the tool shed. Well, one of the guys suggested that I cover the melon up with a bag because it might get dusty before I could get it out there. So, I did and headed out the door carrying my prize to them. As I got halfway, I saw that they were running the trains across the road and had it blocked so I would have to walk around the locomotives to get to the guys and, lo and behold, who was on the track but the Switchman. And when he saw me coming he started walking towards the area where I would have to cross over the track. It occurred to me then that I would finally be within a couple of feet of him and get to see him up close. I thought to myself, OK, don't say something stupid. Just remain calm. Breathe deep. So, sure enough, we meet on the tracks and he smiled and made a little joke about blocking the road and I laughed coyly and joked back. Ha, ha... He seemed even more manly up close but I restrained myself from throwing the watermelon down and grabbing him. Now, after 14 years of working construction, I can't hear worth a damn especially with trains around. And I had completely forgotten that I had covered that stupid watermelon and he probably couldn't even tell what I was carrying. So, as I passed by him and I heard him say something about something looking nice and being in my usual mental fog intensified by him, I just assumed that he was talking about the watermelon. Not wanting him to think that I was impolite, I turned and sweetly asked him, "Well, would you like some?"..................... the look on that man's face when I said that should have been a clue to me that we were not talking about the same thing. He recovered quickly though, stepped towards me and said so sincerely, "Lord, honey, I wish I could". It still did not occur to me what I had done, so I just said, "OK!" and wandered off to the guys. I did think that was a kind of odd response but just thought, boy, he must really like watermelon. Later in the day as I was driving home, my mind was slowly meandering over the day's events, I started thinking about things and finally, it hit me what had transpired. Oh. My. God.... I just offered this beautiful man, who I don't even know by name, wanton sex on the railroad tracks. Mortified is not the word.
I had to fix this, so the next day I enlisted the help of one of my guys who drives the backhoe. They were not going to get any more brownies or fried pies until the Switchman understood that there had been a horrible glitch in communications! After all, I was taking that watermelon to them and that had started the whole thing. So, Steve, being a major sweetie, finally gets where he can talk to the Switchman and tells him that there was a terrible misunderstanding over some watermelon and that I needed to explain something to him. Well, a few hours pass and I saw out of the corner of my eye, a train approaching. The Switchman was on board and as we both looked up, our eyes locked on each other at the same time but fear suddenly griped me. God, this man thinks I am a complete idiot or worse! But then I saw a big smile spread across his face and he breaks out in the deepest laugh that I could hear over the locomotive. He came by later and we talked for a moment and he assured me that he was not offended and understood the confusion.
Of course, amongst my crew, I will never, ever, ever live this down. It has become known as the Watermelon Incident. They tell me that I have single handedly set all women construction workers back 30- 40 years and am the kind that gives us all such a bad reputation. Well, at least I give them something to laugh about.

The Deck, Part 2

Well, I'm finally back to finish the deck posting. Things have really been busy lately. We used 16' boards for the decking and randomly laid them down something like you would do hardwood flooring so that our joints were well staggered. We let the ends run wild and then popped a line where we wanted them cut off and zipped them off with the saw. I'll use that drop to make a little table or stool for the deck maybe.
I used galvanized screws (2") I think, to secure the deck boards. Two screws per joist. Pressure treated lumber wants to warp badly as it dries and this will hopefully hold and keep the boards straighter than nailing would. Screws don't back out. This was my job as Allen can't stay bent over all day anymore like I can. But it wasn't without repercussans for me either. I was sore the whole next day. Pressure treated lumber also shrinks quite a bit so you want to fit the boards as tight as possiblle to one another. As it dries you will get a little gap between each board but if they are tight to begin with, it will be minimal.

This past weekend we built a small temporary ramp up to the deck for moving large objects (like furniture!) into the house and finally got the ceiling fans installed. The house has been very cool in the mornings now that we are in the low 50's at night but when the apartment is getting uncomfortably warm in the afternoon, the house is still so nice and cool. No air conditioning is needed, where as we still need it regularly at the apartment.

I will try to post again soon. There is much to tell, both here and I have some good stories from work that I think you will enjoy. I have not been feeling so well lately so I am behind on news. My ticker is not working so good and they have me all wired up with this contraption tonight to find out why. My heart wears me out, especially since we have been working 6 days a week now but I will try to catch up soon! I appreciate everyone who reads this blog and hope somebody gets some decent info out of it.

The Deck, Part 1

Blogger would only let me post these few pics so I will do this post in a series because I wanted to show some details. We started on the deck last weekend ( a week ago) and just about finished this weekend. I have been wanting to get this part of the house done for some time but just felt like some other stuff was more important. The first weekend we framed the deck up and got the posts set etc. Now, this deck will eventually become the dogtrot when the other half of the house is joined here and so will be a covered area. House on both sides with a continuous roof overhead. All of the lumber for the deck is pressure treated pine. The deck is 12'x 28'. The left side (in this photo) is supported by the concrete retaining/foundation wall that the house sits on. The rest of the deck is supported by 4x4 posts for now but when the other side of the house is built, the deck will be bolted to that half at the bands and the posts dropped out. When the whole house is here, you will enter to the left, stepping up as you reach the concrete wall. There will be a lot of back filling against that wall so I'm thinking there will only be one step up onto the porch. Since the supporting posts will eventually be removed, we did not want to embed them in the concrete as you would set most posts. They are merely supported by the concrete and can easily be removed later. We used some temporary 2x's to make dead men, placed about every 12 feet and nailed the band to them as we nailed the band together at the corners. We just eyeballed level in at this point. When we got everything there and nailed up we could shim the dead men up or down, as you can see under that one post on the left to get it actually level. Now, we shot level in with an instrument but I know most people don't have those so a stick level is fine too. We then determined where we wanted the 4x4's, dug a hole for it and nailed the 4x's in place with the ends dangling in the hole. I mixed up some Sackcrete and we filled the hole up just enough to reach the bottom of the 4x. We let the concrete come up on the posts about a 1/2". Then held them plumb with rocks until the concrete set. I hope I explained that correctly; if not please ask me to clarify.
We used the old ledger system to frame the deck. Here, you have a 2x2 that you nail at the bottom of the band that your joists rest on. Oh, the band is 2x10's and the joists are 2x8's. Most people use joist hangers ( those metal U shaped things) but this is what they did before those were invented and probably cheaper.
We used 16 penny galvanized, spiral nails to nail the framing together with. Code requires 3 nails below each joist in the ledger. The band on this side will be bolted to the house with probably 3/8" carriage bolts but for now it is just nailed. I need to do that soon though. Each joist gets 4 nails at each end into the band also.
This past weekend we started the decking. These are five quarter deck boards by 5 1/2" wide. Of course, you know that most dimensional lumber is not the size it is referred to. For example, 2x4s are actually 1 1/2" x 3 1/2". A board that is referred to as "five quarter" is actually a full one inch thick. Whatever. Now, how you put down the deck boards can be done a million different ways and they probably all work fine. This is what we did. We determined a dimension about center of the deck lengthwise that would allow the boards to end with about an inch overhang on the outer edge. We popped a chalk line and began running the boards off of that line. Now, we are using 16' long boards and pressure treated lumber can be wiggly. It can start to get out of square etc. the further you run it, so this way we are only running off our reference line 6 feet in both directions rather than 12 feet if we just started right off the house. Shorter runs make for less room for error. That goes for anything.
Well, that is all of my pics for now. I will show the almost finished product next; hopefully soon. I'm still trying to come up with a handrail design so that is not on yet and we have no steps either. Still climbing up a stupid ladder to get in the house! I will try to get back quickly and if I did not explain something right ( more than likely) please ask me to explain and I will reply. Work has been rough on me lately so I'm down a little on posting. We have had to work some overtime and I'm not as young as I used to be. I'm so bruised and cut up from the job that I am moving pretty slow right now. I need to get some deck furniture so that I can rest some on my new porch! Yeah, like maybe 10 minutes.

Since You Asked...

Hey, everybody! I'm finally back. This has been a hectic week. We got back about 9:00 p.m. Sunday night and then work has been full speed as we were getting ready for a big pour on Friday. Anyway, as Karl requested, here are some photos of some of the pottery that I did at the workshop this past weekend. I am not very pleased with any of it. I enjoyed the class and did learn some stuff but they misfired 2 of the 3 kilns and so messed up about half of everyone's work. Then, the presenting artist had 2 pieces blow up in the kilns and the shrapnel took out some more. I lost one bowl in a set of four to that.
I thought this set of bowls came out the best but, as I said, one of these was messed up by the fragments that fell into it during the firing. Oh well, I still have a set of three. Karl mentioned how my work might change or be influenced by moving into my house and I had never really thought of that before. I bet there will be some change though. I'm thinking that just the sheer joy of living there will bring a new liveliness to my work. I already feel it in me. I know it's just a house but it has been such a long time in coming for me. Everything has come together so well too with friends helping me and finding so much good material to use on the house. I do still get overwhelmed with what is left to do but overall I am so excited and everyday is fun, even at work. We have a blast there and the guys keep me encouraged.
A reader from Mobile asked if I dug my own clay that I use for the pottery or do I buy it. I buy it! There is no way that I would have the time or patience to dig my own. There are some good veins of clay in Alabama but those folk potters can have it. I buy mine from Highwater Clays in Asheville, NC. He also asked if I had contacted the local museum with my work. As a matter of fact, I had a little exhibit there for about 6 months. As far as I know, it did not get me any contacts or business. I also had a little exhibit at the local library for about a month. That did a little better as I think I had 2 or 3 people come over to my studio from there. Oh, and thanks Karen, for noticing my piece at the fair! Fred talked me into that one. I think I was the only entry in that category so that's how I won the big $7 prize! Hey, got me a sandwich on the way home from work so I'm not complaining.

The workshop we attended was in Smithville, TN at the Appalachian Center for Crafts and this was a really big lake nearby, not sure which one. It was a beautiful region but then again, most of Tennessee is very pretty to me.

A fairly dramatic change has occurred at the house today, I think. We started framing the entrance deck which will one day be the dogtrot or breezeway, when the other half is built. It is going to be very nice. I will try to post photos soon. My ceiling fans came but they are missing a part that is preventing me from hanging them. I could just choke someone. I have had more aggravation from those things. I bought the trim to run in the bedroom around the windows and might get to that tomorrow. We'll see. I am also trying to pick the final paint color for the living/dining room. Oh, now I'm starting to get overwhelmed again! See what you all have done! Ohhh, I need to go eat some chocolate I think. Yeah Pablo, we'll build your house but you got to keep us in chocolate.

Crazy Time

Hey Everybody! We are off to Tennessee for the weekend to attend a pottery workshop so I just wanted to make a quick post before we leave. Things have been nuts here for a few days with getting ready for this and work, etc etc. I appreciate the comments left on the most recent post and will answer them when I return, which should be Monday. Hope everyone has a good weekend also and hopefully I will have good stuff to share when we get back! I ordered my ceiling fans, again. Maybe this time it will take. See ya!

Getting Centered

Here are a couple of photos from the recent concrete pour we had at the house. This is right after we got the mud laid down and bull floated off. That is the initial smoothing out of the concrete. From here we got off of it for an hour or so to let it start setting up. After a while it gets to where it will support your weight but we use knee boards or just small pieces of plywood to step on in order to not make big foot prints in the concrete. You have to go around the edges and start troweling them smooth and then work the big areas.
Here Allen is running the troweling machine which is a wonderful invention but one that really requires some know-how in order to not screw the surface up. Allen has very little know-how and I have none at all when it comes to these things but we managed to get by OK. You have to go over the slab several times to get a very smooth surface. I did all the, down on your knees work. It doesn't seem like it to a lot of people but this is some of the hardest work out there. I know one finisher who is in his early 70's and still does a little work (finishing). I don't see how. He is one tough man.
We moved my basic pottery equipment down as soon as possible so that I could start throwing some stuff for that workshop coming up this weekend. I really felt good to just back into some clay and the weather was absolutely beautiful this past weekend. It was so peaceful and relaxing to be working down at the house. What I am doing in this photo is called centering and so part of the title to this post. Allen has been telling me for a while now that he doesn't feel, that I feel yet, that this house is my home. Did that make sense? And I have agreed. I guess I have been without a place to call home for so long that it still has not sunk in yet that this is my home. I have never, in my adult life, had a place that I was not renting or could call my home. But when I was throwing this weekend it suddenly felt like I was home. Everything felt centered.
We took my sign down from the downtown store and put it up at the house and that helped a lot. Now I just have to get all the rest of my stuff moved.
I tried to order my ceiling fans but the store said they were on back order until November so I canceled that order and ended up finding some I liked better at a better price elsewhere so I am going to try ordering them again! Still trying to get tile ordered or bought for the shower and pick out some kind of shower fixtures. Not much happening at the house otherwise. Oh, Allen did install the window in the bathroom. I'll have to show that soon.

Just A Peek

The sun is just barely starting to return to the interior of the house. I noticed this strip of light for the first time this past Saturday morning and it had disappeared by noon. I think by November the sun will have moved back enough that it will be traveling straight down the house and therefore shedding light in all day. Now it is still at a bit of an angle and so gets over the house around noonish.

Second Time Around, Part 2

Well, the pour went fine after all and now I have a great, slick concrete floor for my new studio! We had a little excitement at first though. I was not able to arrange a finisher so Allen assured me we could do it but we did have one laborer lined up to help place the concrete. He canceled at 7:30 in the morning so I had to scramble to find someone else. My work buddies came through for me and we got some help. Then the truck was a little late and when he pulled up to the house the transmission decided it didn't want to work so for a while he could only go backwards and that was not a good thing. The driver crawled under the truck and messed with some stuff and after a while it started working. It's always something. The rest of the pour was pretty much uneventful and I did get a few photos. I hurt so bad today from finishing that concrete though I was so happy when we got rained out! Of course, it was close to quitting time anyway, but hey! I'll take it. I don't know if there is enough money in this world that would make me want to finish concrete for a living; it is extremely hard and really takes a lot of skill. All the guys at work were glad to hear I got poured out finally.
These photos are from some work I did over the weekend. I have had to replace a couple of sections of sub-flooring in the house. It took me so long to get the house dried in that the floor got wet several times and a couple of pieces of plywood started to delaminate. We sprayed everything heavily with water seal but it didn't stop all of it. Maybe it helped some. I think I have a couple of floor joists with a more substantial crown to them than I previously noticed that contributed to these pieces becoming lumpy also. The new pieces were glued and screwed down well since they do not have the tongue and groove edge that the original decking has. It used 3/4" CDX for the patches. A lot of people want to use chip board or particle board (OSB) for their sub flooring and I will tell you; just bite the bullet and pay for the CDX. You will hate the other and will save yourself many heartaches by using real plywood. Same for your sheathing. We are going to try to start moving my pottery equipment this week to my new studio and setting up. I'll try to get photos soon. Oh! and I received my first UPS shipment to my home yesterday!! I'm a real person now!!