As we’ve talked to and shown various people around here the work we’re doing, a frequently asked question is “What makes you qualified to do this?”
Hmmm. Interesting question. I sometimes explain that Brad used to do construction. And while that has been very helpful in some areas, the reality is that much of what we’re doing is new to both of us.
So the answer is that we are bold and think we can do it.
My general feeling is that traditional education in many professions is less valuable than good common sense and hard work. To me, this is no different. We do a lot of research and try to think things out well in advance, but at some point you just plunge ahead and try it. If it doesn’t work, you try something else. If you work hard and smart, things generally work out.
A couple people have agreed with this saying that really anyone could build a house; you just need to want to do it and then to do the work. Both people who shared this perspective with us were professional contractors.
We’ve waited until winter to do something about the cottonwood tree next to the septic system. (Cottonwood trees are notorious for causing damage to septic systems.) Our friend Bill Wilbur came over with his tractor and then his backhoe to do the heavy lifting. Heavier than either of us thought. When Bill picked up the tree, the front wheels of the backhoe came off the ground and would not go down – not even with the two of us standing in the bucket.
Bill first brought over his tractor with a giant auger. The plan was to punch some holes where we planned to move the tree in order to make digging easier for the backhoe. This seemed odd to me, but Bill knows his tools. Good for me though as I got Bill to pop out the holes for the ten columns that will support the next six solar panels at the same time. It took Bill about twenty minutes to make the holes, each one three feet deep. This will save me many hours with a post hole digger.
When Bill returned with the backhoe, he first dug the hole where the tree would go. Then he dug around the tree. Eventually, we wrapped a rope around the tree and Bill kind of reached under the tree with the backhoe and lifted it up. The rope held the tree against the upper arm of the backhoe. Luckily, one can steer a backhoe with its independent brakes, because the front wheels just hung in the air useless.
Once the tree was in its new home, there was lots of shoveling. We’ll be giving it lots of water and love while we nurse it back to health.
“Architectural details” take a lot longer to stucco than plain flat walls. Lookin’ good though.
Several people have asked what the final color will be. (This is the base coat; there will be a finish coat over this.) It will be a light off-white (soapstone?) like the greenhouse columns.
And here’s today’s Buddhist thought of the day: “Chaos is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence. – Buddha”
After the very cold weather and two snowfalls, we finally had a couple of days this week that were warm enough to stucco and got the third wall done. Then it started to get colder, so we took a day to finish the foam doorway arch on the last wall.
Yesterday was pretty cold (40s during the day, 20s at night), but today was supposed to be warmer so we set out this morning to start the last wall. It was colder than expected though with the temperature still in the 30s after 10:00…too cold for the stucco (and for me too).
I went to hose down the walls that have been done (something we do a few times a day so that the stucco doesn’t dry too fast and crack) and found that even the water in the hose was frozen solid.
Since the snow before Christmas, we’ve had another snowfall (this is not seeming like the desert southwest), and it’s been cold — low 20s at night and not out of the 40s during the day. With a brisk north wind, that’s too cold to stucco, so we’ve been working on solar and other things. One of them is the woodworking.
As you may remember, we began a test run of building our own doors just before Thanksgiving. It was a project that we weren’t in a huge hurry to finish, but now that the batteries are in their house and the weather is cold, the battery house needs a door.
After many rounds of sanding, I proceeded with staining the door. I used Minwax wood conditioner first (which I really liked) and then an oil-based stain. It went on very nicely. Then we began working on mounting the door hardware and hanging the door. (In hindsight, I would have done all the hardware work before even staining. It didn’t make a huge difference, but I did have some touch-up work to do afterward.)
First, Brad used a template to rout out the space for the hinges, both on the frame and on the door itself.
Then we did a test hang (the first of many) to check the door height and width. We needed to trim just a bit off the top and the bottom, which went smoothly.
Then we worked on the width with a planer. This not only narrowed the door to fit, but also put a bevel on the door so it would close right.
The process here is first to plane and then to test hang to check fit. Repeat, repeat, repeat. It took many, many times to get it just right.
Then for the last steps of several coats of varnish and installing the lock. Here is the varnished door.
I also stained and varnished the door frame, which is really looking nice. (It’s been fun to finally do something that I had some pre-existing expertise in — thanks Dad!)
You’ll have to wait to see it hung with final hardware … it’s taken me so long to get this posted that we’ve now commenced stucco’ing. And with stucco started, everything else will be on hold for a while.
