Journal

Christmas tree farm fence.

Dan Sawatzky — Sat, 26 May 2012 05:24:53 +0000

Today, Peter and the crew finished the last detail of the steel fence install for a customer. The fence is about a hundrd feet long nd has a person and auto gate. It features small evergreen trees to hide the posts and also appear randomly through the fence inbetween. The solid portion and the top bar undulate up and down. This meant every rung of the fence had to be carefully measured and then cut to size. This fence took a lot of care and effort to produce.

Although there are no words on this 'sign' The message is still subtly very apparent. The fence will aquire a natural rust patina over time. Another project is stroked off the list.

-grampa dan

Moose with a see-through skin

Dan Sawatzky — Sat, 19 May 2012 04:29:56 +0000

There are many stages to each project we do. The moose sign is coming along great. I still have to weld up the ice cram cone framework but we drageed it out of the shop today before it got too heavy. It was too tall to fit out of the door upright.

We finished putting the expanded lath on the moose. Although you can still see right through the skin of the moose the shape and much of the detail is readily evident. It is pretty cool!

It is almost time to apply and sculpt the concrete. Stay tuned...

-grampa dan

Changing vistas

Dan Sawatzky — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:32:54 +0000

Back when we built my studio nine years ago we oriented my windows to the east to take advantage of spectacular views of the mountains. We raised the studio floor elevation by four feet so I could see over a fifteen acre hazelnut orchard. The trees were slowly but surely getting taller every year.

Our friends and family love to tease us because we lived next to the nut farm. We didn't have far to go. But last Friday the tree cutting crews rolled in and started cutting. We thought they were merely trimming and thinning as they do every year but this year things would change dramatically. They are in fact removing all the trees. Our vista will change dramatically in the next week or so.

Life is about constant change. Just as we are building a new house and the landscape surrounding it our neighbors have the right to do new things on their property. It will be interesting to see what unfolds.

-grampa dan

Assembling the pieces of the moose sign.

Dan Sawatzky — Mon, 14 May 2012 04:14:44 +0000

Today I glued up the many pieces of the moose sign in readiness for the final welding that will happen tomorrow. Then we'll be starting the concrete sculpture and the moose will be looking a whole lot more like a moose.

-grampa dan

Doorway to the future

Dan Sawatzky — Sun, 13 May 2012 03:50:54 +0000

Today we built the first of the window/door bucks that will act as forms for the concrete walls and also permanent attachment points for the doors and windows. The front door in our new house will be eight feet tall with windows on both sides. The whole assembly will be round with decorative glass and a carved panel on the bottom half of the door. The theme for the door is still under discussion.

The door/window buck is built around the plywood forms we cut and assembled last week. We first welded up a heavy duty steel frame. Then we fastened plywood to the frme and inserted the plywood window shapes. Pressure treated plywood strips were then laminated around the outside to form the buck. The LOGIX ICF forms will be built up around this buck and concrete will be poured inside. Once the concrete is cured the plywood window forms will be removed. The bucks will stay in place and be used to fastened the permanant windows in place.

We moved the buck from the shop out back to the front of the property in readiness to be lifted onto the foam blocks after the first layer of concrete. The front door buck is heavy but not impossible to lift up by hand with enough help. The front and back window are going to be twice as heavy. I think I'll be calling in my friend who owns a crane truck to help out. Janis gave the doorway to the new house a test drive and declared it PERFECT!

Stay tuned for more...

-grampa dan

More shots from yesterday.

Dan Sawatzky — Sat, 12 May 2012 04:44:19 +0000

Joey from Fab-Form took some pictures yesterday of the pouring of the footings. There was five of us working the pour but I was too busy to take any pictures myself.

I am enjoying every phase of this exciting project.

-grampa dan

Big progress today!

Dan Sawatzky — Fri, 11 May 2012 04:35:12 +0000

Today was a busy one, starting much earlier than usual with the concrete pouring of the footings on the new house starting at sven o'clock sharp. It has been a long time since I've done concrete work but it came back to me in a hurry and it didn't take long to get into the swing of things once more. We poured eighteen cubic meters (two full trucks) of concrete in the forms. By coffee time the concrete was in place and it was time to work in the shop once more.

We also put up the contractor and supplier signs today. More are in the shop being finished.

Tomorrow the LOGIX walls begin to go up and the shape of the house will begin to appear!

-grampa dan

Re-arranging the lawn furniture

Dan Sawatzky — Thu, 10 May 2012 02:00:15 +0000

The new house has impacted many things on our property from front to back. Near my studio there were two trees that blocked my view of the house. They were small when they were transplanted as we built the studio nine years ago but since then things have changed. Another tree near the new house was in the way but well worth saving. Today was moving day.

Brad Sakiyama and his big white custom tree moving rig made the task seem like magic.

The result of our efforts is a whole new property layout and new unobstructed vistas from both the new house and my studio.

I learned plenty and had lots of fun during the move as well. I think the lawn furniture will now stay where it is for many years to come.

-grampa dan

The ship has sailed.

Dan Sawatzky — Mon, 07 May 2012 05:13:44 +0000

With the new house everything in our yard is on the move. A few trees were removed, and a few others were moved. Our signs out by the road also needed to be relocated. The small red truck now parks on the west side of the driveway just behind the water shutoff. The ship sign also salied about twenty feet to the west, bringing it closer to the driveway, as well. My photo of the relocated sign isn't the greatest as it was getting little dark when I finished.

As soon as the walls of the house are up the balance of the front yard will be reshaped and then the new landscaping can begin.

-grampa dan

What is inside of a moose?

Dan Sawatzky — Sun, 06 May 2012 03:01:32 +0000

Today I did up the inside sub-structure of the Mighty Moose. The sturdy steel tubing provided the strength to kae it stand. Now it was time for 1/4" pencil rod. With a little effort I could shape and bend the rod by hand. Once I was happy I would weld each piece in place.

There will be more than 300 feet of steel in the moose when we are done. Then it will be time to carve the sign and start in on the concrete work. The deadline for his unveiling is only three weeks away.

I hear they will be having a competition to find him a suitable name.

-grampa dan