This is the place

We have a small plaque in our entry that reads...

"There is no place anywhere near this place that is like this place - so this must be the place."  The saying sure fits our place without a doubt.

Today, things were busy - and that was without doing much actual work. Hailey's drafting class came for a tour of the house, eager to see the many features we had designed into it. It was my pleasure to give twenty-four students and two teachers a tour of the shop and house. While the theme work certainly caught their interest they also were pleased to see the many green features we had built into the project. The house is a great teaching tool, because it offers a first hand look at many of the modern technologies they have studied in class.

We did manage to do some work on the house today. The trim pieces continue to recieve the glazes. The address marker was the first to be completed. It will go up tomorrow letting folks know that this is indeed the place (in case they didn't already know).  :)

Upstairs we started in on the ceiling strapping. The whole ceiling in this area will be strapped with strips of half inch thick plywood, following the curves of the ceiling trusses. In the left side of the picture the sprayed foam still needs triming before we can strap that area. The area to the left in the picture will house the end of a built-in king size bed with adjustable shelving built in on either side.

Below the lightly textured plasterwork we will be installing vertical panelling with a heavy baseboard. An engineered cork/vinyl floor of commercial grade will ensure durability and ease of maintenance. It will be of a dark woodgrain and slightly textured pattern. We are in the process of selecting the colors we will use for each area as well as the theme for each room we do.

-grampa dan

A quiet house this will be.

As we begin work on the inside with the strapping of the ceilings in preparation for the plasterwork. But before we can do the parts that curve into the upper walls we have to do a little more insulating. There is plenty of spray foam to keep the moisture and cold at bay on the outside. The insulation we do from here on is is on the inside walls and ceilings to keep the noise inside the individual rooms. We've always insulated each room from every other room to make out houses quiet. This house will be no different. In fact this house will be better for there is now insulation made just for that purpose. I picked up the first load today.

The two Matthews ( little Matt welds a few hours each week after his regular job) continue work on the fence. They are making good progress on the fence down the side of the house.

Let 'er rip!

As the Element Spray Foam insulation crew finishs their work we are beginning to prepare for the next job we will do. We fastened the curved ceiling formers into place on the trusses and joists some time ago. Now it is time to begin strapping the ceiling. The expanded galvanized steel lath will be stapled to this backing and then we begin trowelling on the fiberglass reinforced concrete. Once that is done we'll begin the painting process while below the drywallers will begin their work.

To do the strapping on the curved ceilings we will use up more than 60 sheets of plywood. The two upstairs rooms will use 1/2" plywood as the trusses are less than 16" on center or less with the rafters. On the high vaulted ceilings of the living room we will go with 3/4" stapping to make sure everything stays nice and straight.

Today Matthew and I began ripping the plywood to size on the tablesaw. The section over the gable windows will be first and for this task we were ripping the strips of plywood cross ways so they would easily bend on the curved ceilings. Eighteen sheets were put through the saw for these sections alone.

Tomorrow we pick up where we left off today.

-grampa dan