Heated Up!

                         
      Finally have our power hooked up to the house.   After using a temp service pole over the years we are at the point where we can install our permanent underground power.  So, we dug a trench from the power pole to the transformer then on to the meter-base at the house.  The power company came out and removed the old transformers on the pole and installed a new one on the ground outside the house making things look a bit cleaner.  So now we have started up some of the plug ins in side the house.
      The sheet-rockers had me heat up the house to help dry out the sheet-rock and mud so we used a couple of 1500 watt electric heaters and a dehumidifier and things warmed up and dried out nicely.  After some spot repairs they primed all the sheet-rock then added orange peel texture.  Now that it is been drying again we will be ready to start painting next week.  We used Borlaug const. to install the sheet-rock and we were a perfect match they accommodated all our needs and did a great job making the sheet-rock look good.   Onto the paint.
      Lastly we finally have the wood stove fired up.   It sure is nice to sit on plastic lawn chairs in front of the insert and feel nice dry heat coming at you.  The smell of a wood stove burning also makes things feel more like home.

    ~Merry Christmas, from Doug, Ruth, and Helen~

still sheetrocking

 the inside of the rastra block walls were going to get plastered then clay finished .  after visiting the clay finish outfit in hood river and talking to several people about the time and expense of plastering we decided to fir out the interior walls and have sheet rock attached to them.  to give the sheetrock guys a place to screw the rock to we cut slots in the rastra apx every sixteen inches around the house plus another cut at the corner of each room.   then we bought four inch steel studs and with a metal toothed blade in the table saw and some body and eye protection we split the four inch studs down the center.   i then inserted the cut edge into the saw cut wall and glued them inplace with hilti fire protection foam.   i plumbed all corner studs then pulled a string to true up the ones in the middle of the wall.   the wood shims you see hold them plumb while the foam dries.  then they are removed and foam all the spots i missed.  still have to bring the wood around the windows out to the same plane as the new steel half studs but still moving ahead.

pencils down ready or not its sheetrock time

after postponing sheetrock for a month we finally got the contractor in to start sheetrocking . borlaug construction are doing the sheetrock and they have been great to work with.  they are working with us to make the sheetrock look better than some of the framing underneath.  the first week got the sheetrock hung and now onto corner moldings and mud.  with out sheetrock you could see thru walls and step thru or reach for a hammer on the other side of the wall,  no  more.  even the natural light coming into each room has changed.  some rooms look larger some look smaller its something to experience.  here is some photo's.

sealing the house envelope

last month we had a visit from geogerry (gerry schurer)   he designed all of our geothermal heat pump and radiant floor heat.   while out on a visit to the west coast gerry and his daughter jackie stopped and lent a hand wiring the system they designed.  wow was that a gift to have the control wiring done in a day.  we also went over all the ground source heat pump plumbing so not to have any doubts about where things go.   again i am very impressed with the working knowledge they both have and it was sure nice to have them for company for a day.  they are always welcome back.

had our plumbing, framing, and propane inspection and after some rework in my venting of said plumbing we passed and got our ok to insulate.   so this week andrew from acc foam came over from central oregon and worked on installing our closed cell foam insulation and by the end of the week the house is all sealed up.

with all the work going on in the house the cabinet maker wanted us to start shopping for appliances so with a propane cook stove in mind we had piping added to our kitchen and carport . we are also installing wooden blocks between our metal studs so that molding can be nailed to the wall / ceiling area and the wall / floor area.   we also added more blocking for towel racks , mirrors and shelves. this coming week rockwool soundeadning will be added between the loft floor joist and through out the steel studs  with and inspection monday on the insulation we will be cleared to sheetrock.  things they are moving very fast lately .

sealing the house envelope

last month we had a visit from geogerry (gerry schurer)   he designed all of our geothermal heat pump and radiant floor heat.   while out on a visit to the west coast gerry and his daughter jackie stopped and lent a hand wiring the system they designed.  wow was that a gift to have the control wiring done in a day.  we also went over all the ground source heat pump plumbing so not to have any doubts about where things go.   again i am very impressed with the working knowledge they both have and it was sure nice to have them for company for a day.  they are always welcome back.

had our plumbing, framing, and propane inspection and after some rework in my venting of said plumbing we passed and got our ok to insulate.   so this week andrew from acc foam came over from central oregon and worked on installing our closed cell foam insulation and by the end of the week the house is all sealed up.

with all the work going on in the house the cabinet maker wanted us to start shopping for appliances so with a propane cook stove in mind we had piping added to our kitchen and carport . we are also installing wooden blocks between our metal studs so that molding can be nailed to the wall / ceiling area and the wall / floor area.   we also added more blocking for towel racks , mirrors and shelves. this coming week rockwool soundeadning will be added between the loft floor joist and through out the steel studs  with and inspection monday on the insulation we will be cleared to sheetrock.  things they are moving very fast lately .

Zip Zap done with That!

We have completed our electrical for sheetrock and insulation.   The inspector passed us with only two small changes.  The photo of our 400 amp power company meter base shows the generator cut out (the metal face plate that keeps the correct breakers on/off so not to backfeed up the line and create a hazard for the lineman.    Ruth is holding the door open for our generator feed cord.  we recently purchased a pto generator that is powered off the tractor to generate enough power to feed the whole house.   The other grey box that is mounted lower is an rv power plug.  the smaller 200 amp sub panel breaker box is now wired and the generator anti backfeed plate is install here also.  At the bottom of this box the large breaker is for an electric car charger.
   The blue wiring throughout the house is cat 6 computer wiring.  instead of going completely wireless my thoughts are to feed any tv's,  security camera's and a few download stations around the house so not to load up the wireless bandwidth .   keeping the cat 6 wiring 6 inches from all 110 volt wiring is a bit of a chore looking back i would have ran the 110v wiring with that in mind.  we will have a computer desk where all these wires terminate.
    In the mechanical room you can see the dryer aux blower to help with the distance i had to go  from the dryer to find a spot to vent it.  i can see that i should have added another 4 foot or so in width to this room , but that is hindsight so we will keep moving forward.   In the kitchen area the duct is up for the range hood venting. Ready to sheet rock around this.
   Lastly is the greywater tank that the bulk of the wastewater from the house will end up,   This keeps all the soaps and grease out of the septic tank so the anerobic activity is not disturbed .  Only our two toilets are on the septic tank.  Should make for a  long life in our septic tank and drain field

   

siding , electrical and plumbing

slowly working on juniper board and batten siding.   On not too rainy days we go up and add more siding, here are some photos of the window dressing on the cupalos on the north side of the house.   On rainy days we work on the plumbing , including placing the shower and tub/shower and the drain pipe under the house and the supply water to all the plumbing fixtures.    lately we have been pulling wire for the electrical and have most the wire pulled for the house, next we will pull  the computer wiring  for ethernet access .  you can see the main feed cable coming thru the trusses it is the large gray cable , this cable runs from the mech. room where the power comes into the house to the loft where the house subpanel is located we still have generator feed to pull in . the photo of the chimney show the cap we had made to help keep the water from coming into the house.  the concrete stone we used on the outside of the chimney  is absorbing water and causing it to leak inside the house , next summer we will coat the stone outside with a waterproofing agent.