Snow in July!

Heavy rains and unbearable heat have kept production at a slow pace the past week or so, but today it snowed!! Well, not really -- but with the weather only in the eighties, and delicate flurries of 6" thick foam insulation sheets that Piper found on Craigslist (for 5 bucks a piece!!) it certainly felt like a vacation.

We cut the foam to fit in between the studs on the East and South walls, perfectly nestling into the 2x6 rough cut stud walls. We started to hang the mesh on the exterior which will help the base layer of stucco adhere to the facade. Man, production on these two walls went a lot quicker than stacking straw bales! Look forward to our next house construction blog: House Made of Foam.

Back on Track

After a short break from construction, we're back in the swing of things and have gotten the east kitchen wall and the shed roofs over the east and south sides framed in and ready for metal. The shed over the kitchen contains three skylights as does the south shed over the living room.

We're starting to get a really good sense of the look of the final facade. and are excited at how great it looks. Along the north and west sides of the house, which are the most visible from the road, the shed roof will continue around in the form of a wrap around porch. This construction will come later after walls have been sprayed in. We've been fortunate to have several friends out in the last week to help make putting these sections up very quick.

Proof We Have a House Made of Straw

This week was definitely one of the most exciting moments in construction thus far. My dad and his good friend Kevin came down for the week to help with the house and we saw the first straw bale get stacked into place.

We are using the infill method of straw bale construction, where bales are cut and notched with a chainsaw to fit in between stud walls. The notches in the bales varied in size depending on the studs they fit into and several bales needed to be made smaller by restringing the straw with a special needle. Bales are stacked and tied into the studs with twine and will later be stuffed with loose straw to fill in any gaps or inconsistencies.

With sore fingers from tying and re-stringing bales, lots of cursing from temperamental chainsaws and lots of tiny scratches and cuts later, we were able to stack almost 100 bales onto the north and east walls. The windows and doors will have to get boxed out before we can complete the rest of the two sides, but boy are we excited about the progress.

It was a real treat to have family and friends help out with the process this week and we're thankful for everyone who stopped by to lend a hand. We look forward to continued construction and more work parties in the coming weeks.

The Bales Have Arrived!

A most exciting day!! Piper and Brandon drove to New Lexington early this morning to pick up the 197 straw bales that will insulate the north and west walls. We were fortunate to have the use of Brandon and Michelle's flatbed trailer, and were able to get all the bales in one trip. We unloaded the bales onto our truck in a school parking lot nearby and shuttled loads to the job site. The straw is neatly stacked under roof and after a long hot day, made for a comfortable and much needed napping spot. Looking forward to the arrival of my dad and good family friend Kevin tomorrow afternoon and the beginning of bale walls on Tuesday.

Hot Tin Roof

What amazing progress to come home to. The boys spent a scorching day atop the house putting up the metal roofing. By 5:00 they had almost completed the full front side of the house. Got to love the speed of installation of a metal roof!

Ready to Roof

Perlins hung, fascias attached and we're ready to roof. Tomorrow the roof crew, (a good group of friends) will come out to start installing the metal Fabral roofing. I am off to Columbus for the night and will be most excited to return home tomorrow evening to see the progress.

Lookin' Good

Well, while I have taken a brief hiatus from posting, we have certainly not taken a break from construction. Piper has been working hard to getting all the roof trusses in place and the south dormer framed out. The north dormer has proven to be a framing challenge. There was a few days I thought Piper's head might explode from figuring out how to cut the compound angles. (He decided the reason why you don't see many Gothic style houses anymore was because modern power tools can't cut at such steep angles and no one wants to cut all that by hand.) But after much patience and creative problem solving, we were able to lift the north dormer wall into place this morning. Now if it will only stop raining, we could finish framing it out before the roofing gets delivered on Monday.

movin on up

After a week or so of rain, we were finally able to continue on with construction. Piper, with the help of friends Rory and Kip, framed up the north and south walls of the smaller two bedrooms and lifted 5 trusses into place. The trusses are assembled in two pieces, the peaks have yet to be attached. I built two trellises for our peas to climb last week, and if the deer don't devour them first, we hope to be snacking on peas in the next week or so.

Wade in the Water

Heavy rains held off a full day of work, though wading through inches of water, a wall was still raised with the help of good friends in town from out west. Seeking a better vantage point for an picture, I climbed up to sit atop the main support beam and discovered a fantastic surprise- the letters WPA stamped into the grain.

joist a day at a time

I arrived home from a trip to Rochester to find Piper nailing in the last of the floor joists. With the help of some friends, he was able to get all the joists in place, the last big beam up in the living room and the utility room framed up while I was gone. What a difference a few days makes! Tomorrow he'll start framing up the last walls and get ready for the roof trusses to arrive.

joist the two of us

I was able to join Piper midday to help finishing sanding and painting the last of 28 4x8 beams that make up 14 floor joists. The 2 gallons of paint made it to beam number 27 before running dry -- a job that will be finished when we paint the underside of the flooring. I brought home a few samples of painted pine to experiment with distressing the joists. At the end of day, Piper pointed out these two creatures gearing up for battle. I can't help but wonder if really it's the beginning of a beautiful courtship.

beam me up scotty

We've been waiting for this day for so long. After rain canceled several attempts, we were finally able to raise the beams into place. Salvaged from the Landmark feed store on Stimpson Ave before it was torn down, these beams are one of the most stunning additions to our construction. They are massive! With Piper's careful maneuvering on the forklift (which rear wheel drives makes squeezing through framed doorways a challenge) we were able to set 6 beams into place. It seems as though every weekend has a forecast of rain and this one coming up is no different. We eagerly await a work party with friends to paint and set floors joists and continue framing.

first day in our woods

With the fear of rain canceling our work party, I spent the day in the woods behind our house pulling garlic mustard from the hillside. The task was an enjoyable way to cover every inch of our wooded lot, and provided a great opportunity to identify what plants are growing there. Besides the garlic mustard there are little invasive species. Clearing out the slope revealed some beautiful varieties of ferns, lady's thumbprint, spring beauties and lots of celandine poppy.

Like many parts of the west side, there is evidence of dumping on our hillside. Though most all of it had been removed I found a beautiful antique glass bottle in great condition. It was later in the afternoon when Piper and I ventured back into the woods beyond our neighbors lot did we really find some treasures. We explored the hundreds of wooded acres that lay to the east of our lot. It was such a beautiful hike and we're really excited to be living inside the city and still have wooded area to explore. We found some of the largest sycamore trees I've ever seen and discovered a great young pawpaw patch. Their beautiful flowers were in bloom and I couldn't resist taking one with me.

heavo-ho

A most exciting of days. With the help of muscle, chains, apple cider and good tools, 7 oak beams reclaimed from the old Landmark building, ranging in size from 8-16 feet long were hauled, dragged, lifted and transported to the job site. Two will stand as posts in the open spaces between the kitchen and dining rooms, and the rest will span the ceilings. Although the threat of rain is near, we plan to raise the beams into place with the help of many friends, tentatively planning a work party for Sunday afternoon.

West Wall Up!

An exciting milestone in the progress, the first wall is framed up on the west side. Prep for the north wall which will secure the joists, we'll raise it in the morning.

Finishing

Just slapping the finishing touches on the pad.

6 inches of concrete

2 concrete trucks, 6 guys, and 2 and a half hours later, we have ourselves a concrete pad. The finishers are putting on the final touches and we had some left over crete for a few patio blocks and a concrete pig. Time for a patio party!!

simply radiant

Another grueling day on all fours, Piper laid down the vapor barrier, white foam insulation, steel reinforcement and most exciting, the pex plumbing for our radiant heat floor. The lines will run a few inches below the concrete, and when fed with hot water, will warm the floor below our feet.

Down the Chute

Getting an early morning start, the concrete truck arrived and with the help of friends, the ICF walls were filled with concrete by 10am. The threat of rain held off and now we're ready to work on the plumbing.

just like legos

After patiently waiting through rainy days, we were able to set the Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) in place today. Once careful measurements are made, putting the forms up was a breeze. We'll brace the forms with 2x4's tomorrow and hopefully by Saturday, the site will have dried out a bit and we'll get the skid-steer in there to pour the foundation walls.