We went to Michelle's on Wednesday and Friday. It's starting to get exciting out there- the site actually looks like we're going to be building something there.
On Wednesday, we finished stripping the trees. Locust trees are far harder to strip than pine, but luckily, there were only two locusts.
(See the tree that is the second closest? That one was the toughest to strip. All those curves and knots. Looks good now, but not an easy job.)The last of our gravel was delivered. When Phil and I were out there Monday, there was some gravel, but we still needed a little more for a corner and to fill the bags for the stemwall. Jessa's mom was hit on by the gravel deliverer. Good stuff.
Just for kicks, here's the site before gravel:
Notice the columns. They were erected in the rain. They will hold our logs, which will hold the building. We are counting on these columns. (Jessa did a test to see if the columns were all in line and level, as we planned them to be. Only a few are a little off, and it's nothing that can't be compensated for when we cut the logs. Good.) Also, notice that, at the time that this picture was taken, the topsoil was not completely removed. Lastly, please notice the drain tile, which slopes downhill (thanks to some great digging) and comes out to daylight on the side of the hill (per code requirements.)Post-gravel:
This picture was taken yesterday. I dub yesterday "Day of Extreme Heat." It was hot. We moved the tent-ish-thing to where we were working, but it was still, very hot. Please note in this picture, the pillars are mostly covered. By the time the floor gets put in, only a couple inches will be showing. Note me, filling bags (the same kind as what we use at John's) with gravel. This will make up the stemwall. The straw bales will rest on top of the bags. Notice the two rolls of chicken wire that were (later) rolled out so that the earthbags could be placed on top of them. They will, later, wrap around the earthbags, providing extra strength and unity in the stemwall as well as giving us something to plaster to. Note the lumber in the background that will be used throughout the structure.
The beginning of building. We are finally going vertical. (I can't really see the chicken wire in this picture, so I assume you can't either. I promise it's there though.)Tomorrow (yes, Sunday,) we are going out to meet up with a guy named Paul who knows how to timberframe. I think Phil and Jessa both wanted someone with more experience in on this step, just to make sure things go well. We're going to put our long logs up. I will take pictures.
Now, another "picture bomb," featuring John's house. (I was only there for a few hours on Thursday, filling bags. I had something else I had to do in the afternoon. No real updates from Thursday.) (These pictures were taken a little while ago. Our walls are higher now.)
Electrical has been set. It was a little tricky bagging around the outlets, but we succeeded. They are nailed/screwed/attached to a flat piece of wood, which is nailed into the bags. We used a slightly-less-full bag on top of the outlets, molding it around the outlet as much as possible. Placing electrical stuff has been mostly John's project.
Another one of John's projects has been meeting code requirements for plumbing. Even though John has no intention of putting a commode in his bathroom, he has to put the plumbing in to support one. The pipe sticking directly up is for his non-existent toilet. The other lines lead to the kitchen and shower (I think. Again, this is John's project mostly, so I don't know a ton about it.) John has had to re-do the plumbing multiple times to make the codes inspectors happy.
He had to dig underneath the wall at one point (to get the plumbing to go to the kitchen.) Nothing collapsed. Even when John stood on top of the wall. We must be doing something right.
The dome is going to be 16 feet tall. This pole is 16 feet tall. It's weird to see how far we still have to go. The pole will be part of the compass once we start arching the dome (after the four foot mark that you can see painted on the door forms.) (We're probably beyond that point by now- I haven't been at John's much in the last several days, but after I left Thursday, more stacking was done and Jeff is back and was stacking on Friday.) I will post more about the compass as I learn more about it. (If you look very closely, you might see a tiny orange flag at the top of the pole. We needed a flag.)
Meet my least favorite job. Tamping. Since I've posted on this site that it is my least favorite job, Phil and Jessa always get a chuckle when I do it. I really don't mind it, but if there's something else that needs to be done, I will generally go to that other job. In this picture, you can see both kinds of tampers. The store-bought one that I am using (my favorite) and the homemade one sitting on the ground next to me.
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