Tomorrow I'll turn Peter and the crew loose on the sculpting of the outside of the house. I have to get busy planning and cutting of the hundreds of curved pieces we will need to convert the straight lines of the ceiling trusses and joists into the curves we want when we are done. This is done by fastening curved plywood pieces to the trusses, and then screwing strips of wood to those. Once the wooden armature is in place we'll then staple on the lath and apply a coat of fiberglass reinforced concrete to a smooth curved finish. It is the best and fastest way to get the compound surfaces we desire.
There are a number of areas we will be starting with. The first are the two bonus rooms upstairs. The dormers are across from each other and they will be blended together in a compund curve to hide the beam overhead. The red marks on the photos show the shapes I need to design.
The next area is the curved ceiling that is high over the living/dining room area. It will feature a cross arch over the bridge that bisects the big barrel ceiling perfectly. A heavy crown molding will circle the room at the eight foot level with LED lighting that splashes across the ceiling in a dramatic fashion.
Downstairs an arched ceiling will begin in the entry hallway and go through the house, under the brindge and into the bedroom hallway. LED lighting will also illuminate this archway.
Other arches will be formed over the main bath tub, in the ensuite bathroom, up the stairs and in other smaller areas of the house. It is a lot of work but the effect will be one of the things that define this unique house and separate it from the rest.
Years ago when we did this kind of work the drawing was done by hand, largely by eye. Once I had a pattern piece we would trace out more and use the jigsaw to cut them out. Now of course, things have changed. I design on the computer and then send the cutting files to our CNC router. ALmost as fast as I can load the machine it cuts sheet after sheet of plywood perfectly. It works many times faster than we could ever do it the old way - by hand.The machine can follow the unseen line perfectly - something I always had a great deal of trouble with.
While many wish for the good old days, I love the modern ways of doing things!
-grampa dan