First Pig - Our Straw Bale House Blog

New Photos, No Captions Yet

2012-02-10T23:53:00.000-05:00

The below photos show miscellaneous progress dad and I have made, and also quite a few cute pictures of Ben (yes, I am biased) from when I let him help me paint, etc.

Once a month posts? Eh...

2012-01-25T11:26:00.000-05:00

Family was in from Austrailia from X-mas to New Year's, so that's my excuse for not posting...this time.

"Hello" to Jonine, Maya, and Clayton! It was great to meet you all - I'm glad you're so awesome. It's always nice to have relatives who are fun.

And now, some miscellaneous house stuff.

Lesson that Emily and I learned - don't open the firebox door while baking a pizza; unless you like the taste of ash. Don't worry, we ate all of it. Waste not, want not.

Plodding but educational progress on the attic balusters, posts, and rails.

Dad and I thought it would be good to start in the attic so we could learn on a straight/non-sloping run of rails and balusters.

To anchor the posts to the floor, dad and I devised a method of attachment that involves plumbing parts.

A base plate with a 24" piece of 2" dia. pipe threaded onto it with the post placed on top.

The posts had existing holes up through the center, but it turns out that they had to be bored out a bit more.

And the base plates needed a place routed out at the bottom of the column so that they could be recessed and in-vis-i-ble!

Dad routing.

More routing.

Please note: the holes that we drilled directly into the floor for the balusters. This is what made this a pain in the bum - most railings and balusters these days are assembled off-site with a base plate that the balusters attach to. I DON'T LIKE THIS FOR OUR HOUSE. It is fine for many places, but I did not want that here. Oddly, I really have no preference about many things, but this was very important to me for some reason.

Craig took care of cleaning and putting tung oil on the 2nd floor boards. He did a great job and learned a new skill...oh the things we have learned!

So, I think we'll be moved into the house by the time Ben graduates high school. We'll have a graduation party!

Any questions?

Christmas Flippin' Eve 2011

2011-12-24T21:39:00.000-05:00

Some stuff finally got done! Dad and I are in the thick of thinking out and doing the balusters and rails...and will be easier to finish once dad gets his x-mas present (SHHHH! Don't tell him!)
The vent hood, and front and back porch lights were finally installed (this morning!).

Here are the pictures to prove it.
This past week:

Before tung oil on the floor in the library.

Tung oil coverage started.

Library floor coated 100% with tung oil.

Upside down flying duck mirror installed in the powder room.

Modified lamp post light fixture ready to hang under the front porch roof.

Old potty chair that I found on the side of the road (YUCK) that dad and I modified for Ben for a regular sitting chair.

Library shelves installed (with dad).

Top of the hanging porch fixture.

Top of the hanging porch fixture with my hand.

Back porch fixture with my hand.

4x4 post in the middle of the stair stringer (that I'm pretty sure doesn't need to be there)...gonna take it out!

Christmas Eve!

Chuck installed the front porch light fixture this morning.

Front porch fixture up-close.

Crazy industrial-looking vent hood pipe installed.

Back porch light installed with Uncle John.

Underside of back porch fixture.

Back of the house (it looks much bigger than it actually is!) Remember, the walls are thicker than a strawbale.

Front of the house.

22 Months and Counting...

2011-12-10T23:18:00.002-05:00

We could've had TWO children in the time it is taking to build this house!

We're getting there...and I haven't updated this blog in MONTHS, so here are some miscellaneous progress photos. Please forgive the prolific use of exclamation points - I am too tired to show excitement any other way.

Dad and I built shelves in the pantry out of remainder T&G flooring that my friend, Heidi, gave me a few years ago

A shot of the front from the NW.

Dad and I took out two sections of wall that needed to be replaced. We tied through the wall and pulled it out with my truck.

So THERE wall.

View from the 1st floor loo.

Ben has been very good at working at the house with me, but even he has his limits!

Midway through the second section of wall replacement. We've gotten much better at this!

This is how I will dress up the drip line to break the water so it doesn't splash against the house - broken slate leftovers placed vertically in the ground!

Dad repainting the posts the same color they were when we got them; kinda Sesame Street, but I think it works!

Ben checking out the window seat storage.

View of the kitchen from the 'pub corner.'

Bookshelves installed in the 'library!'

My mom is so awesome; she finds rocks in the yard and washes them for me!

Kitchen sink...we need to continue the backsplash with the rocks my mom collected.

Stained glass in the wall between the master bedroom and master bath. Many thanks to Gary and Charlotte at The Charlotte Hotel for this idea!

Ben going into his 'secret space' that we made for him. The drywaller even drywalled it!

Dad parging the chimney. So many new skills... ;-)

Just before putting a mirror into the 'upside down duck frame.' This will be the powder room mirror.

A few of the pallets of leftover stone that Dave Thompson gave to us.

Me driving the Bobcat (dad's thumb).

Dad and Jeff talking about height.

Looking down the stairs at the baluster mock-up.

Dad placed some of Dave's stone today under the front porch.

I'm a big fan of leftovers. Food, building materials, whatever. Big fan.

In this photo; the posts, stone pavers, slate on the roof, and wooden door are all either reclaimed or leftovers from other places.

So, I know that this is all jumbled together, but blog updates have taken second fiddle to working on things at the house. Any questions?

Third Post of the Day.

2011-07-17T17:37:00.000-04:00

NOmo arigato Mr. Roboto.
'Nuff said.

June 23rd:

Oak flooring installation complete in attic.

I like the variety of stain colors on the oak.

Stairs down from the attic. Yes, there will be a railing around the top and railings along the staircase.

Today's Second Post

2011-07-17T15:41:00.000-04:00

I've installed the new garbage disposal at my in-laws, and may now continue catching up on the past month of house progress.

June 17th, wood floor installation begins in the attic.

This poor quality photo shows (or attempts to show) a hump on the floor to the right of the Gatorade bottle. When one of the installers asked me how old the house was, I knew the flooring had to be ripped up and the 'hump' problem solved. A brand new house shouldn't have lumps!

Our builder, Jeff, using a board to help sight the specific location of the hump.

Jeff has an idea for a solution!

Open up the floor to see specifically what is below the subfloor to figure out the best corrective course of action.

The opened hole reveals the bottom chord of 3 walkthrough trusses; that's quite a cluster!

Jeff comes up with a solution that involves lowering the adjacent subfloor at this location so that the oak flooring will span from subfloor to subfloor directly above the joists/chords. Make sense?

While Jeff was up in the attic repairing the hump location, the flooring crew got started laying pine in the library.

The wood is layed over rosin paper (there are fancier things that can go between wood and subfloor, but I think that is unnecessary in our house since it will not be conditioned).

In the middle of laying the reclaimed pine in the library, the guys realized that there were two different thicknesses of flooring, so all of the boards wouldn't fit together properly. Crap.

This realization, on top of the hump issue in the attic, made me need a break with Ben to go play on the bulldozer and to think about how to proceed.

Earthmoving equipment is so relaxing.

After some deliberation, dad and I decided to separate 'thickness A' out from 'thickness B' and just lay all of one type together so there wouldn't be any compatibility issues.

Installed library floor (and Emerson Midway Eco super-efficient ceiling fan.)

Meanwhile...

Electrician's access holes closed up in Ben's room to prepare for flooring installation.

The above holes had been opened up so this recently re-wired/salvaged light fixture could be installed in the pub corner...this was not part of the original plan, but I decided that this corner needed more lighting.

Now the blog is only one month behind!
More to follow.

This post is for Clara.

2011-07-17T12:19:00.000-04:00

My dear friend has yet again pointed out that I have fallen behind on updating the blog.
Admittedly, I've been rather busy with a 13 month old son, etc....but, aside from that, there has been much progress on the interior of the house in the past month.

So, here is a photo update:

On June 10th Chuck, the electrician, cut square holes in the subfloor of Ben's room to run wire...

and a junction box to add a ceiling mounted fixture in the 'pub corner' on the first floor.

June 11th, I went up to the house to first wire wheel the outside of the tub that will go in the master bath.

Here's the drill with the wire brush attached.

Then I taped off the rim of the tub with painters' tape...

so I could paint the outside of the tub BLUE.

On June 14th (Flag Day and my sister's birthday), Ben and I went up to the house to put t&g wood flooring into the garage since it was going to rain.

Thankfully, my friends Emily and her sister Patty came to visit at the house; Ben wouldn't let me put him down so I could move the wood, so I put Patty and Emily to work!

I am such a gracious host.

The front of the house looked all dirty, so I took a picture.

I think the previous rain had washed down dust that had collected on the exterior plaster (stucco).

On our June 15th visit to the house, I took some more pictures of the facade filth:

On my birthday, June 16th, my neighbor Morgan and I went up to the house to cull out the rough bits of the used flooring I had purchased.

Look at us being all safe with our PPE! (Personal Protective Equipment)

Happy Birthday to ME!

Morgan cutting up.

Pile o' wood.

We moved our operation inside for a bit because there was a huge pile of oak to work on too.

Original label from the oak flooring.

The view of the pine piles from above the garage.

I'll post more later this afternoon. Right now I have to install a new garbage disposal for my mother-in-law.

Oak Flooring and Such

2011-06-09T22:29:00.025-04:00

Escutcheon from Hanover, PA salvaged doors. The line down the center shows the 1/2 submerged in vinegar cleaning difference.

Holes opened up in bedroom subfloor to add wiring for light fixture that will go over pub table. Ben was very interested in the process of opening up the floor.

View out the North library window.

Kitchen with the lights on!

Biggole pile of salvaged oak T&G flooring from The Loading Dock. Purchased for a great price of course...approximately the same price as the pine flooring from TLD.

Early June Miscellaneous Progress

2011-06-07T22:18:00.040-04:00

I accidentally deleted the photos from 6/4, and 6/5. We will never get them back. Move on. Life is too short to spend time ruminating on lost digital photos (even if they were really good).

Experiment & Lesson: If you have brass plated hardware, don't put it in straight vinegar and then forget about it for ohhh, at least a few days.

Here is the pew from Highland between the family room and the kitchen (behind the pew). Yes, this is way too big and will not be staying here.

Ben likes standing on the pew.

The kitchen in progress...with light fixtures.

Ben seems to like his tub! YEAH!

Second floor hall and laundry room light fixtures installed.

Looking from the stairs down the second floor hall with the laundry room door open.

Same angle as previous picture, but with laundry room door closed. Note: crazy transoms with odd length to height ratio - this was my idea mid-process...'cause that's how I roll. Now I have to figure out stained glass designs for each transom...

Ben still likes standing on the pew.

View from breezeway/kitchen entrance. Pub table and two odd-looking chairs will go in the faaaaaar left corner.

View from kitchen sink to the Southwest.

FLIPPIN' HUGE blower for the vent hood in the box on the right. I bought the biggest one I could find...I ain't messin' around! I wanted to make sure the vent hood could handle the absurd qty of BTU's our range is capable of producing. This will be mounted outside so we don't have to hear the noise inside.

Reclaimed pine flooring purchased from The Loading Dock. Crazy good price; like, < $.60/sf! Niiice.

Scraping, Stripping, and Lighting

2011-05-28T22:38:00.001-04:00

Looking out the kitchen window to see Craig scraping non tightly-adhered paint off the porch posts.

Dad stripping wires during the rewiring process.

"How does this look?"

"Eh, don't think it 'works' at this location."

"Yeah, that's more like it!"

But, we collectively decided, it would be better hanging lower, but not so low that Craig would hit his head.

Perhaps that light looks better here...

Yup, that 'works.'

...and with juice, it really works!

My 'Professional Hotte.'

Check out the sign on the box.

Brass, and Grass!

2011-05-27T23:49:00.048-04:00

At some point I decided that it might be a good idea to put some sort of little 'accent' in the control joints that were cut into the concrete of our first floor. Yes, this I decided.

Craig used the wet/dry vac to suck the debris and dirt out of the joints.

I purchased 1/8" square strips (12' long) from my friend Joe Skidmore at Metal Express to put into the joints.

Dad and I put the strips into place; I really like the way it turned out.

Accent strips turned out real nice-like; unobtrusive and classy (just like me!).

Then I had to switch gears and sort out my lamp parts so I could rewire most of the light fixtures I purchased.

Some chains and cords lined up to the left of this photo. Uncle Dave had a whole mess o' electric stuff that he said I could sort through and use as necessary.

Taken apart to think about my fixin' before I get into it.

Also taken apart to see what needed to happen fixin'-wise. (Decided not to bother, and just to cannabalize this fixture for parts.)

While Craig and Dad and I were inside working on things, the grading crew was outside, well, grading.

Front of the house graded and seeded (this is where the 'grass' comes in).

Back yard graded, seeded, and strawed.

The excavating crew from JAMB left a pile of big ol' stones for me to use in landscaping and such.

Semi-circle driveway and paths with crush and run laid down. This is the path to the breezeway porch.

Kick plate added to porch door

I took the kick plate off of our current house years ago with the intent to clean and polish it. That never happened, so I put it in vinegar in a tin foil tray to get some of the oxidation off, and used the non-shiny side here. I'm not a fan of super shiny things intended for kicking.

Yes, this collection of photos is seemingly random, but at least it's progress...in a forward direction. Progress makes me happy.

Bathroom Floors After Sealing

2011-05-25T22:33:00.005-04:00

View from bedroom into master bath.

View from bedroom through master bath into W.C.

Hall bath: sealed but dusty.

Visit to York, PA to Get More Things to Reuse

2011-05-24T22:32:00.031-04:00

A brief stop to the house - view from where the 2 chairs and table will go (going to York to pick them up).

Ben seems to like the masonry heater - nice crab bum!

Ben wants to open the firebox, but I will not encourage it by showing him how.

A Trip to York, PA to the York Architectural Warehouse, "Refindings"

Hmmm, I'll have to think about these stained interior shutters...

...still thinking...

This was at the top of the stairs in the York Architectural Warehouse.

Yeah, I bought it. Yet another thing to rewire!

The chairs and table I picked up at Circa Antiques (the antique store located within the York warehouse).

I think these chairs are both hideous and gorgeous all at once. Of course, we'll have to reupholster them!

Steps and Such

2011-05-20T22:24:00.001-04:00

New old flooring stored in the garage. The stairs against the wall there have closed-stringers, and have been removed from where they'd been installed - open-stringers are the way to go methinks.

Dad sitting on the landing taking a lamp apart (next to the space where the closed-stringer stairs had been).

Marlon admiring his stair installation work. New stairs are exciting!

Sealing Stained Bathroom Floors and Resealing Kitchen

2011-05-19T22:12:00.031-04:00

After mopping and drying the bathroom floor.

Fan used to dry after mopping, shoes off, sprayer all full of no VOC sealer.

Wet sealer on hall bathroom floor.

Soaking up sealer.

Blurry picture of sealer on the master bath floor.

Mopped and dried kitchen floor ready for another coat of sealer; I wasn't pleased with the quality of sealer coverage/application to date.

And the daggum sprayer kept clogging!

Dad sprayed the kitchen and had to keep unclogging the blaggard sprayer. In this photo you can see the irregularities of the previous sealer coats.

Sealer left to cure on the kitchen floor so cabinets can be installed.

Patience dear readers, patience; we are making forward progress.

All-Over Staining of Bathroom Floors

2011-05-16T20:57:00.001-04:00

After 1st staining, but before 2nd staining.

All-over stain just applied and still wet.

Starting to dry.

All-over stain in master bath starting to dry.

Another picture of master bath 2nd coat starting to dry.

Master bath floor looking dark brown.

Hall bath with 2nd coat nearly dry.

My Homer bucket and awesome mop bucket (note: mop bucket is top heavy if not full of water).

Neutralizing and removing the excess stain.

Neutralizing and removing the excess stain in the master bath.

Shiny and wet; it'll look a bit like this once it is sealed.

And now for something completely different:

Light fixtures layed out for 'tweaking.' Old, neato fixtures need to be rewired etc. Very pleased with these.

Staining Bathroom Floors and Uncle Dave Visit

2011-05-15T22:04:00.006-04:00

Just when I'd gotten the hall bath floor cleaned and dried, our Uncle, local artist Dave DeRan, stopped by for a visit!

Perfect time to get a picture of him next to the cow door he painted...and give me advice about painting a diamond-y floor pattern in a bathroom (like at his house, sort of).

Uncle Dave suggested drawing pencil guidelines (before staining) of the pattern I wanted...that's a good idea - I was just going to stain it freehand. Well, ok, I did stain freehand, but I followed the crazy lines I drew on the floor.

But I didn't get any staining done until I gave Uncle Dave a little tour of the house...

Hall bedroom with window trim, baseboard, picture rail, beadboard windowseat front, and fan installed, and bookcase to be a built-in on the right.

Other hall bedroom with window trim, baseboard, picture rail, beadboard windowseat front, and fan installed, and bookcase to be a built-in on the left.

(Mom said she bought this bookcase from a neighbor 40 years ago for $10. It was black, so she stripped it and painted it bright yellow for my brother. At some point (much later), she painted it white. Thanks mom!)

Caught you! I snapped a picture of Uncle Dave exploring the secret space behind the bookshelves under the stairs.

Only caught the top of his head on the way out.

WARNING: IF YOU DO NOT LIKE TO SEE PICTURES OF HARMLESS SNAKES, DO NOT LOOK AT THE NEXT 5 PICTURES!
After getting out of the secret space, Uncle Dave wanted to walk down and see the goings-on at his parents' former house at the end of the lane (where he grew up):

At the back door to (my husband's) Grandmother and Grandfather's house, "Hey Dave, that looks like a tire tube or a snake."

"Smile snakeface!" See, that's the face of a snake looking at the camera.

Niiice.

Uncle Dave informed me that this pretty big snake was a black rat snake...uhhh, ok? Yeah, I know virtually nothing about snakes.

Even snakes like their privacy I guess. So we decided to leave the snake alone...to hopefully catch some mice so they won't eat our bread and crackers and cereal when we move to the hilltop.

IT'S OK TO LOOK NOW PEOPLE WHO DO NOT LIKE SNAKES:

Uncle Dave left to go home and I went back to our house and bathroom floor staining:

Of course, the diamonds I drew to guide the floor staining couldn't be just normal ol' diamonds...that might be uninteresting. I decided that I would try staining in the dark walnut color, leave it sit overnight, and then stain the entire floor dark walnut the next day to 'tone it down' a bit.
Life is an experiment; be conscious of what hypotheses you make.

Walking from the hall bath to the master, I thought about what I'd stain on the master bath floor. I decided on interlocking circles...that was the first idea that came to my mind, and since I'd already cleaned that floor and had stain already in a bucket, I went ahead and put the circles down.

Well, at this point I'm unsure about my decision and freehand circle-making skills, but I'm banking on a second coat all over the next day to tone it down a bit.

The good thing about hiring myself (ok, I voluntold myself) to do the floor staining, is that I can do whatever the heck I want and don't have to worry about finding the words to communicate to someone else what I want. This is especially helpful because I don't always know ahead of time what I want!

What Dat Is?

2011-05-13T21:30:00.031-04:00

What dat is? Is that some kind of bug eggs or somethin'?

If you know, please let me know.

Drop cloths on the floor in the kitchen. The range will go on the wall between the door and these windows.

Looking across the breezeway porch into the door.

Overhead light fixture inside the breezeway is from The Loading Dock. I like the way it looks here (I bought it before I knew where I'd put it...and I like where it is!)

Standing water on a to-be-dirted-and-planted green roof as seen from the room above the garage.

This is part of the loopy path we've decided our driveway will take.

Visit With Jess and Ben to the House

2011-05-12T21:57:00.023-04:00

How cute! Already sitting on the porch enjoying the weather...

Northwest corner with the little Bobcat grader-doohickie going around the back. The semi-circle drive will go from about here, and then in front of the house between the porch and the tree.

Piles of rocks from the hole that the septic tank went into. Yea for free pavers!

Biggole honkin' rock.

My sister looks very small compared to our tree (this is the view from our neighbors yard).

Some light fixtures make the house start to look a little more house-y. The stained concrete floor with some dropclothes - before last coat of sealant.

"WELCOME NEW SQUIRRELS FROM REDISTRICTING"

Mother nature has become so harsh.

Back to the porch!

Dad is Awesome, Yet Again.

2011-05-10T23:09:00.000-04:00

So, dad came up to help us out:

by finishing the grouting of the laundry room hex tiles.

Looks good! Thankfully, we will not have a permanent raking halogen work light lighting our laundry room and illuminating the variation of the subfloor.

Dad holding up a light I got at The Loading Dock to see if it works at this location; the breezeway.

Yup, it looks good from the porch!

FYI - That is not a case of beer. It is a box of rim locks for the 2nd floor doors.

We already drank the beer.

Grouting Tile and Diggin' Trenches

2011-05-09T23:04:00.025-04:00

Little corner of tile to be pieced-in.

Last bit of tile in place.

Yeah!

Ready to grout: sponge, grout, float.

Sample grouted tiles at left. I chose grout color 'Earth.' At first, I thought Earth was maybe a little too purpley, but I like the end result.

I think this shows some of the grout in place...if nothing else, you can see the 'honey' color of the tile.

Grout bucket on top of the floor drain. Everything to the left of the bucket has been grouted. I'd never grouted joints this narrow before - I broke a sweat! I decided to leave the 2nd half to the next day...'cause I was tired!

Meanwhile, the exterior:

Trenches have been dug in order to please the County (since we have chosen not to have gutters on our roof). These trenches will be connected to our rubble trench footers and intended to help pull fallen precipitation away from the house.

Laying Laundry Room Tile

2011-05-08T22:53:00.012-04:00

I found this really nice 1 1/4" hex tile at The Loading Dock. The color: honey; the hex shape: just like the shape of a honeycomb - I'm keen on it!

Still need to lay the corner and cut some tiles for around the floor drain.

Looking in the laundry room door.

Nearly done laying the tile; the rest will be done after this sets up so we done smoosh it around and mess up the joint spacing.

Miscellaneous Progress

2011-04-29T22:35:00.006-04:00

Got this light fixture someplace...I think at the Sandtown Restore...? Jeff is holding it in place while Dad, Ben, and Chuck the electrician look on to see if it 'works.' Yeah, I think it does.

Ben and Grandpa looking out the window at Mama.

Ben and I are not too sure about what is going on...

Ben's cow door hung in the jamb in his room. He approves!

Floor Sealing: 2nd Coat, 3rd Application Process Used

2011-04-29T00:13:00.029-04:00

So, since the leafblower was SOOOOO SLOOOOOW in spreading around the sealer that I poured onto the floor, we decided, 'What the heck, we might as well try yet another application process.'

El Cheapo handpumped garden-type sprayer. Mind you, the application specs say that an airless sprayer may be used. Since an airless sprayer is about 300 bucks, and we've already tried several other processes, I was not about to drop some C-notes for this (currently frustrating) process.

This is looking promising...

Cheapo-sprayer sprayed section of floor.

I think these sprayed bits are whiter than clearer because they were laid down more thickly.

Ooooh, shiny!

Still promising...

Just inside the front door and the interior of the pantry.

Hopefully we've hit upon a good combination of speed, cost, and utility for the sealer application. Fingers crossed on this one!

Floor Sealing: 2nd Coat, 2nd Application Method

2011-04-25T00:11:00.001-04:00

Dad had this great idea; a leafblower shouldn't leave marks like the squeegee. Awww yeah.

The leafblower test began in the powder room.

It was, of course, a bit difficult to move the liquid around - the leaf blower only blows away from the operator, it doesn't have an air current that pulls leaves and fluids.

It is also difficult to avoid stepping on recently placed sealer while blowing around some other stuff.

The darker areas have had a second coat of sealer placed by leafblower spreading.

This process is painstakingly slow, but seems to work better than a manufacturer non-approved squeegee. Since dad and I were unsure of how this coat will lay down, we decide to stop at this point before wasting too much time on something that may or may not be successful.

Floor Sealing: Removing the Seal Coat Thick Spots

2011-04-24T23:43:00.020-04:00

Upon arrival to see what the first seal-coat looked like, we were not pleased with the lines of sealer left by the squeegee application. So Dad and I postponed applying second coat and rented a floor maintainer (like the one pictured above).

This is the dust left by grinding off the excess dried sealer with a 'floor maintainer.'

The floor maintainer was the way to go; once we figured out how not to lose control of the machine, we realized that not only did the machine remove the excess crud, but may even have been opening up the pores of the concrete even more than the 3000psi pressure-washer! This machine has the potential to be a bit dangerous, so make sure you know what you're doing before you go buck-wild.

So much for a completely restful Easter Sunday!

Floor Sealing: Day 1

2011-04-23T23:28:00.027-04:00

Note, I did not mean to write "Floor Ceiling," as the title of this entry; that would not make any sense...unless of course you're thinking of that Lionel Ritchie song, "Dancing on the Ceiling." 'Floor ceiling' might make some sense in that case.

The application procedure for the Scofield sealer I chose uses a special Scofield squeegee-type applicator. This is something I would've purchased when I ordered the material if the salesman had mentioned it. However, my bad for not reading all product literature for every Scofield product ahead of time.

Dad and I used a large off-the-rack squeegee.

I mostly poured the milky liquid while dad squeegeed.

Dad a la American Gothic.

This looks a bit messy. We'll let it dry and see if we need a second coat.

COMPLETELY UN HOUSE-RELATED UPDATE BELOW

Ben's first blanket fort experience today! YEAH!

Cleaning the Stained Floor Before Sealing

2011-04-22T23:21:00.001-04:00

Wet/dry vac is very helpful in this process.

Color variation in floor is part of the attraction of a stained concrete floor.

Trim Painting and Installation

2011-04-21T23:20:00.000-04:00

Trim on boards in the backyard for painting. (Beehive can be seen along the treeline in the background)

More trim with sandpile in background (sand leftover from plaster mixing).

Baseboard in center of upstairs hall. This is not where the baseboard will be installed.

Porch roof slate from above.

Looking at garage roof and membrane for future living roof from the East hall bedroom.

Some of the stained, but not sealed, concrete floor.

Staining the rest of the floor

2011-04-20T11:59:00.001-04:00

The oddly light brown are the areas I stained today before I went to lunch. (Amy P. stopped by and we ate at this tasty little cafe in Delta, PA.)

I guess the areas that are still wet either where more stain was put on and/or there is a difference in the pores of the concrete and the absorption of the stain.

A view of the newly stained areas in the foreground.

The stain has to have a minimum dwell time of 4 hours before neutralizing and rinsing, so I've got another hour or so to 'goof with the bees.'

Goofin' with the bees

This is a frame that goes in the bee hive. Apparently I forgot some things that I learned in the bee class I took a couple of years ago.

One of the things I didn't remember, was how to properly assemble the frames. I accidentally put a hole in the wax foundation.

I had previously placed a capful of fladersaft (elderberry drink concentrate from IKEA) in the top super - I thought this might be a tasty drink for the bees to quaff.

I had also put in a partial container of corn syrup that I had in my pantry; I've decided to stop using any corn syrup in my kitchen. I figure if there need to be PR commercials to put positive spin on 'corn sugar,' then we probably shouldn't be eating it.

Ten new frames installed in the top super.

Bees entering the hive with orange pollen in their 'saddle bags.'

Bees flying and chillin' at the entrance to the hive.

Back to the floor staining

To neutralize the stain, I put baking soda in a bucket of water and then dumped it over (because I can). Then I smooshed it around to the other areas so that it would be neutralized before rinsing.

The 'wet look' is closer to the final appearance of the floor.

Staining the First Floor

2011-04-19T22:01:00.001-04:00

7:40am I've never done this before.

This is what the floor looks like before I started (Dad and I washed it with plain ol' h2o yesterday)

Also 7:40am.

I was at the big box hardware store this morning before it opened at 6am. I bought the nice yellow mop bucket on the left - I splurged ($10 more) and got the bucket with the 'splash block' inside. On the windowsill is the first gallon of dark walnut LITHOCHROME Chemstain Classic by Scofield. To the right of that is a box of nitrile gloves, an acid-applying scrub brush, a roll of paper towels, and the packaging from my new mask and suit.

My chem-resistant suit, nitrile gloves, half-face mask with P-100 cartridges that are approved for OV (organic vapor) and AG (acid gasses), and also my safety glasses. I ain't foolin' around! This getup is what the MSDS prescribed.

7:56am

Bucket fulla stain and me on the floor.

7:56am

Scrubbing the stain into the concrete.

Me scrubbing (from another angle). Thanks to Jeff for taking the scrubbing pics!

8:14am

4 sections stained, 1 gallon down.

The area stained is not really how it will appear once the stain reacts with the concrete and is rinsed off.

8:14am

Me, minus my PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and with particularly messy hair. I am very pleased with myself because the 1st gallon of stain has been applied without incident in 34 minutes. This is a convenient stopping point; I had to leave to go to a meeting about this. Minimum 'dwell' time for the stain before neutralization is 4 hrs.

12:52pm

This is kinda funny-lookin'.

Blech!

Rinsing off the stain to reveal stained concrete. I decided to let this dry and come back tomorrow to stain the rest.

Craig, Ben, my parents and I stopped by to see how the floor was drying and to see the color.

7:47pm

It was dark, so I had to use the flash. This will get a semi-gloss no-VOC sealant on top.

I am pleased with how this is turning out.

I just looked at the manufacturer's website for the stain and apparently I've made either a mistake or an unintentional career move; "SCOFIELD PRODUCTS ARE INTENDED FOR PROFESSIONAL USE ONLY"

D'oh! Guess I'm a 'professional' now.

Staining Windows and Watchin' Bees!

2011-04-15T23:06:00.002-04:00

Slating the Gables Front and Back

2011-04-04T23:29:00.002-04:00

The guys from Lantz were back today to put the slate on the front and back gables.

Ben and I walked around the spoils from the septic tank to see what stone there was to work with for porches and landscaping projects. JACKPOT!

A nice pattern is cast by the skip sheathing before all of the slate is installed.

These guys from Lantz Slate Roof Repair are awesome. They know their stuff, and are great to work with!

Trim samples that Jeff left for me to see. The piece on top of the white is the profile for the picture rail that will be all over the house to hang artwork.

"Touch!" Ben loves to touch the clay plaster walls.

Even though the floor was dirty, I let Ben crawl in the secret passage.

Pass.

Ben, admiring the view.

Front Porch with Embarassingly Shoddy Photo Mock-up of Green Lantern

2011-03-31T23:56:00.004-04:00

I do not have PhotoShop. I had to use a program that is completely new to me...please forgive how lame this looks!

Anyhoo, the pendant lantern is 22" tall (pretty honkin' big), but the slope of the roof on this gable will accomodate it.

The garage doors will be painted the same red as the windows.

I know there's a ladder, but good luck getting on top of this roof!

HOLY LADDER ANGLE BATMAN!

North side (front of house) can afford a greater overhang since we're not depending on solar gain from the North.

Any thoughts on porch floor material? I'm currently thinking of using attractive rocks from the site to make a hard surface.
(Though we have a lot of it, I think slate is probably a bad idea - it is slick as a...oh wait, better stop here - too many ways to offend!)

Porches and Bees Oh My!

2011-03-29T23:20:00.002-04:00

The back of the house is getting a rear porch roof...

with more posts from the Barnyard Boys holding up the gable.

The roof doesn't project out from the house much because this is the South side of the house; we don't want to inhibit solar gain.

I removed the plastic container frames (in the foreground) from the hive. They were installed by the previous bee farmer in the hopes that there would be pre-segregated honey and comb to sell at farmer's markets. Apparently the bees didn't dig the idea.

The hive does get sun. I'm glad I didn't bother moving it northward!

Very pleased to see progress with house and bees.

Today is Tuesday

2011-03-22T20:26:00.001-04:00

The front/North side of our house.

The front door with plastic over it. Note: the gravel base for the porch has been installed.

These posts will be stripped and then repainted the same odd color. If we decide we don't like it, they can always be re-repainted.

I asked Craig to sit on the windowsill so I could take a picture of him. This proves that a Craig-sized man can sit on the natural plaster sills and not break them.

Got to Get Growing.

2011-03-20T22:27:00.002-04:00

Since I 'inherited' an absurd amount of window sash from Rhonda D., and since I need to get them out of my friend's barn, and since we'll have enough space for a big garden, I decided that my friend, Annie (who has similar interests), and I should make cold frames. Let's get this garden party started!

A little bit into the project, Annie's husband, Russ, and her son, Andrew, showed up to join in the fun; they also brought corded tools.

Andrew and Annie chillin', and Russ in the background doing some assembly.

Cold frame in progress. Russ walking away.

All of the wood for these is repurposed from other things; when Annie arrived, I was in the jobsite dumpster (my own dumpster) diving for perfectly useful goodies.

After we were 80% finished 6 cold frames, the batteries died on our cordless screw guns. We decided to resume and complete the project Tuesday afternoon. Decision made; we toured the house.

Andrew, lookin' cool.

House tour:

"Lady, stop taking pictures of me." Andrew in the 'window seat to be.'

Andrew checking out the 'secret space' between the two hall bedrooms. Clearly, the entrance to this space is not yet hidden.

First toddler to explore the space!

Andrew, with mom peeking.

YAR! I'm a toddler and I can RUN!

Another use for slate crates.

Annie likes bees too...
so since I purchased two hives, I decided that she should have one. We went out back to load it up so it could move to their house.

This is the bee hive that will be moving to Annie and Russ's house. Before I got the hives, this one had been infested by wax moths, so it was bee-less. All of the frames have been dumped out in this photo; they will not be reused because of the infestation.

In case you were wondering, this is what the aftermoth looks like.

Once we get the garden growing, the bees making honey, and I learn how to make bread, we'll be golden.

What We Did Today Was Fun

2011-03-18T11:18:00.000-04:00

Ben took a nap on Dada's lap while Craig watched basketball.

I took photos of our cabinets to post here on the blog.

Here are some of the cabinets in the garage (next to leftover bags of lime).

Another cabinet shot. (This is the cabinet whose drawer went missing a mile or so away...and then we found it.)

Dad and I went to Second Chance to switch out one of the large doors we bought with this smaller one. They were from the same Hanover, PA deconstruction project, so there was no problem exchanging like for like.

I also took pictures of the interior of the house for people to see - some photos show the clay plaster after it was sealed:

Library with windows open to help the wall sealer dry.

It was nice out today and very warm, so the exterior library door was open to aid in the drying of the sealant.

Upstairs hall as seen from the landing of the stairs. On the right is the chimney that I need to parge.

Master bedroom.

Bee hives as seen from the master bedroom window.

Hall bedroom #1 with secret passage on the right.

Dad looking like half a moose on the first floor. The far corner is the kitchen.

This is the front door. On the left is the 'truth window' that shows people our house really is made with straw bales.

And now for something completely different (this has nothing to do with the construction of our house).
Craig and I let Ben spend some time with Grandpa and Grandma and we went hiking. I took the pictures below on our hike:

What in the world is at the base of this tree?

Apparently, this is some kind of warty tree disease.

There was a three-wheeled baby stroller in the middle of the woods. Odd.

Thankfully, there was no baby in it!

I don't know how this happened to this tree.

A casualty of "The Land of Odd Tree Diseases" perhaps?

'At first it bent, and then it broke' - that would make one heck of a splinter! What is going on with the trees here?

Because we are law-abiding citizens, we did not park on this tree trunk.

Back to the house construction:

Tomorrow, I'm hoping to get the wood for our front and back gable porch roofs. We'll see what happens...

This Patina is GREEN.

2011-03-17T22:09:00.004-04:00

On the way to pick up a particular light fixture, we came across this embarassing 'incident;' a State Highway Administration vehicle lost some giant strawbales! Imagine the house these would make...

The new old 'green' lantern I bought today. It was originally mounted on a post; I am going to hang it below the gable above the front door (ok, the gable that will be above the front door). My friend, Amy, who has 'mad skills' has agreed to help my figure out how to hang this. I think she may also have volunteered her husband, Kerry (also, with 'mad skills').

The walls of the second floor have been sprayed (1st coat) with a soy-based Penetrating Sealer from American Clay. Tomorrow Jeff will apply the second coat. Once all is dry, the tone should be a bit more even.

The approved septic tank installation as seen from an upstairs window - I don't remember which window.

Our double oak surrounded by snow fence to protect the root structure...from snow.

Hall bedroom #1 with sealer coat in drying mode.

The framed-in area below the window will be an actual wooden window seat; it will be more than just 2x4's.

The front door with plastic over it. Above the door is the profile of the porch roof under which will hang the lamp I'm holding in the photo at the beginning of this post.

These concrete access things will be cut down a little so they are nearly flush to the ground - pun intended.

This is the pile of rock and such that was removed to make the hole for the septic tank. This looks like a landscaping project waiting to happen!

Clara, how do you suggest I improve this post?

Got Septic?

2011-03-16T23:26:00.002-04:00

This odd photo shows the septic line placement from the house and across the shared drive.

The cut-out section of drive with the tank on the left.

Know what a septic tank looks like? We didn't.

It looks like this.

So, I made pickup #2 of our recently purchased cabinets...but accidentally dropped my drawer! (Yes, only one.) Thankfully, after I unloaded them at the house, I realized it and decided to backtrack and look for it.

Of all the miles driven from Baltimore City with these in my truck, I lucked out and lost the drawer on our street!

BOY HOWDY!

The cornice of this building in Baltimore is "TIRED."

I know the feeling Building, I know the feeling. ;-)

Found Us Some Cabinets at Second Chance! YEAH!

2011-03-11T23:15:00.010-05:00

Pricing of items at Second Chance in Baltimore is time-dependent. The longer something is in their warehouse, the cheaper it gets! (There are some exceptions.) I located this cabinet cluster on March 11th. The price was scheduled to drop on the 15th. I decided to chance losing the cabinets in order to save approximately $300.

On the Ides of March I showed up at the warehouse before it open. Lo and behold, the cabinets were waiting for me!

The below photos are from the March 11th Second Chance visit with Dad and Ben.

Bad picture, but pretty good cabinets.

Another bad picture (I can't figure this daggum camera out!), different angle.

At least this is in focus, and you can see the color.

SUPERBEN!

Enquiring DeRans Want to Know When We'll Be Hosting Christmas

2011-03-03T21:43:00.047-05:00

The finish coat of plaster is in progress.

Once that's complete and dry, it will be sealed with a product from American Clay...some sort of soy-based spray.
Then the drywall can get touched up (unsealed natural plaster is prone to scuffs and stuff), and 2nd coat of paint
Then opening concrete pores of 1st floor so that they'll accept a stain.
Then concrete will be sealed.
Then cabinets and fixtures and everything can be installed.
Then I don't even know...I guess I'll go to sleep.

This header is being fixed because it wasn't staying put;

you got to push that clay into the straw - really work it in!

Ben is wondering why there aren't any books in the library yet.

The backside of the house...with the yard cleaned up a little.

A few cracks in the plaster on the back of the house. We've scheduled a visit from the structural engineer because this isn't supposed to be like this (there was an issue previously with a lack of full bearing of posts between 1st and 2nd floor that had caused some torsion/rotation of the 2x10 perimeter bits - I'm guessing this may be connected to that).

Grandfather Harry loves his grandson!

Mom Carole and Aunt Sally checking out the masonry heater.

I'm still looking for a nice vent hood with sufficient airflow for the massive amount of btu's that our commercial stove will be putting out. Jeff and I will be looking into the path of the venting to see what makes the most sense (Though technically it can be done, I'd rather not have to breach the strawbale walls to vent)

I was going to buy this vent hood from Second Chance, but I snoozed and loosed. Thems the breaks - if you like it, you'd better get it or risk losing it. I guess it was not meant to be since I didn't snatch it right up!

Beware the Ideas of March!

2011-03-01T15:17:00.002-05:00

So, in March, with a house looking like this, one might get overly hopeful ideas about completion and moving in. I caution myself not to start loading boxes into my truck just yet...

Those bottles should be chained to something so they don't fall over.

Since they are not, I assume they are empty - that is the only reason this would be ok.

It is always tempting to see equipment without a person in it...but everything I could've graded had already been done!

The 'boat' tub is not yet completely painted; that'll have to be done before it gets installed.

The siding still needs to be installed on the top rear of the library .

This is the current view walking in to the first floor from the breezeway.

The front door is on the right of this photo with the ladder in front of it. The masonry heater on the left is our primary heat source (unless you consider the sun 'primary'). The opening to the right of the heater leads to the powder room and the root cellar.

Left to right: wheelbarrow, stairs to library that then turn around behind masonry heater to the second floor, and then the powder room.

On the left is where the piano will go (not that I play or anything).

Double doors go to the backyard. The masonry heater on the right has a slate mantle above the firebox and below the bake oven.

The door to the breezeway is on the left...that's where the kitchen will be - in front of the door.

This is where all of the kitchen bits will go, with the pantry on the left.

The rock below will be cut a little and be a step behind the back door of the garage.

Bees at Home: They're Pooped From the Long Journey

2011-02-16T21:28:00.000-05:00

Stopped by to check on the bees;

what we found was not great.

So, dad and I had previously put a bag of Karo syrup on the bees' 'front stoop' so they could get their honey reserves back up to keep them going throughout the rest of the winter.

Turns out, our hive placement was not so good...some bees came out for a snack, pooped and died (I think they were cold). See the bees on the ground? They're dead. The smudges on the hive in the photo above are bee feces.

See? The hive is too near the evergreens and therefore in the shadow. 20 or 30 feet to the north (see the sunlight), would've been better.

We'll move them a little at a time once the weather is not crazy windy.

BEES! A Visit to Whitmore Farm

2011-02-11T22:02:00.001-05:00

Anyhoo, we're going to be moving up to a straw house outside of the town limits, and since I was recently re-computerized (bought a new computer), I decided to search for 'bee hives' on Craigslist.
OH YEAH! Lo and beer-hold, there be bees!

Background: I've wanted bees for quite a while now, but I haven't been able to have them since I live in the Town of Bel Air. There is a Town law that says residents cannot keep bees.
This is just silly.

Ok, so on Craigslist there were bee hives for sale in Maryland, and I was the first to respond. They were quite a drive away, at Whitmore Farm. I checked out Whitmore Farm online and it looked so cool that I felt I needed to go there and check the place out.

Good decision Adrienne, good decision.
________________________________________________

Below is a roundabout pictorial tour of the visit my friends (Emily, and her sister Patty) and I took to see about the bee hives:

They'd recently had many births on the farm. Animal births. The farmer, Will, brought over a baby lamb (Baa baa, baa baa baaa baaaa) for Patty to feel (since she can't see).

...and also a new baby goat (blaaa blaa, blaaaa blaa blaaa blaa).

and a rabbit,

and another rabbit,

...and the same rabbit, but her 'good' side.

We continue our tour to see the heritage eggs.
Mmmm, eggs.

GREEN eggs and brown eggs (Ham jokes anyone?)

...and tan eggs, and brown eggs, and ecru eggs

Egg scales and a sweet pen and pencil holder made of birch bark
(was that you Kent?).

Stone mushrooms? No.

Staddle stones. To see some of these in action locally, visit The Steppingstone Museum.

Niiice ruins.
Guys, if you decide to repoint this, use lime mortar;
I think this is earlier than the common use of Portland cement.

Missing lintel above this doorway.

Bee hives and neat stone ruins.

So Farmer Will and I loaded the first hive (the one in the foreground) into m'truck.
I felt the second hive (behind the tree) to see if it was heavy or anything;
it had a little heft so Will said we should check it.

I lifted the supers (the two top sections) and we peeked in - guess what! BEES!

I was expecting to buy two hives, a smoker, and a hood, and I got a bonus:
FREE BEES!

FREE BEES?
FREE BEES!
Nice, huh?

Took me a while to come down from that high.
Free. Bees.

Oh, we also got lunch at The Shamrock. We had fish n' chips.
It. Was. Delicious.

Also, FREE. BEES.

Final Coat in Progress

2011-02-10T21:41:00.000-05:00

Mmmm, MUD! This is clay from our yard, water from our well, and sand...from I dunno where.

...and that slop is what Jim is expertly applying to our interior walls!

Blurry Ben and me in the Master WC.

Not blurry Ben and me in the Master WC. See the natural plaster?

Sigi using a small piece of plastic to give the corners a radius.

See how that works?

Garage Doors, Final Repairs, and Final Coat Test

2011-02-07T20:18:00.004-05:00

Here I've torn out a previous repair - it sounded 'hollow' when I knocked on it, so that means it wasn't properly bonded to the straw.

A closer shot of the repair area; the tar paper that covers the window sill was cut back to expose more straw and the area was re-wet an hour before replacing the clay/sand plaster mix.

Spraying the top of the window jamb to prepare for another layer of clay plaster.

Sigi and Jim installing test patches of the finish coat. These sample areas have different clay/sand ratios.

Sigi and I putting clay into the patch area.

Chris and Lance installing our garage doors. I never realized that they get put together piece by piece as they're put in!

(The garage doors that is, not Chris and Lance)

80% installed garage doors

Left door up close.

Garage doors installed. The doors are delivered primed this color...now we have to decide what color to paint them. I'm thinking maybe the same red as the windows...I think.

Thank You Latvia and Moldova!

2011-02-05T12:07:00.003-05:00

It was brought to my attention this morning, that if I go 16 days without a post, I may lose readership of my blog. This is an excellent point!

I decided to make a new post as soon as was practicable. It never really occurred to me that more people than my immediate family and friends would look at this blog, so I decided to look at my "stats."

Unexpectedly, there were 9 pageviews each from Latvia and Moldova! Thank you for your interest; it is much appreciated. Moldova, please know that the only reason your country was listed second is that I listed alphabetically.

A picture of beautiful Moldova

Some yummy-looking Latvian food.

Back to the House Stuff

This has been a slow several weeks because of all the snow and ice, so I hadn't been up for over a week.

Yesterday Tony the plumber and his two sons ran the permanent line from the well to the house. Tony had a good idea about water heaters: instead of using separate heaters for the hot water and radiant floor heat, install one high-efficiency heavy-duty gas heater with a heat transfer plate linking the two systems. This seems to make a lot of sense. I'll have to put up some info about this set-up; diagrams and stuff. But now, I'll take a nap.

Smoke? What smoke?

2011-01-20T21:57:00.002-05:00

Where there's fire there's...smoke? NOPE! We've got a biggole fire going in the masonry heater and, like the contrail in the distance, only WATER VAPOR 'round the top of the chimney! (I'm pretty sure - I haven't gotten up there to put my face in it, but the way it dissapates, it gotsta be water vapor) All of the fuel is burned up so efficiently that only a little excess heat goes out the chimney and condenses the moisture in the air!

I think this is where the cat will lay - if she's smart (and loses some weight so she can get up there.)

Why?:

1) It's warm on top in the center.

2) I weighed Bitsy today and she is SIXTEEN POUNDS!

Breaktime after a La Tolteca lunch. MUCH better than Taco Bell.

Roberto esta aqui este tiempo...y Christian, y

Edgar y Alejandro.

Como "Handy Manny" dice, "Todos juntos."

Fixing some clay plaster above the kitchen window. We think the propane heaters heated too quickly and unevenly and caused some cracking. Sunday was spent fixing these areas.

A cord of wood for burning in the masonry heater.

Kids' bedroom #2.

Kids' bedroom #1...with a pile of clay in the middle of the floor.

Mid-process patching at the window jambs and tops of the walls.

George with Ben in his handknit sweater... ;-)

Good Things from Today

2011-01-15T22:18:00.003-05:00

The seventh day of firing the masonry heater. We are now able to put a 'full charge' of wood in at a time - that's like 40# of wood.

Jeff is holding up one of the sconces I got the other day.
I bought 6 light fixtures, and then had to figure out precisely where we should put them.

These lights have those 'eyeball' sensors on them so they'll turn on in the dark.

One will go on each side of the garage; left and right. Thanks to dad, they'll be mounted high enough so that Craig doesn't clobber himself in the head or face with them.

That's a nice-looking fire. Oddly enough, it burns from the top down!

Jeff was a little concerned that the dirt marks below the window happened when the guys saturated the interior clay plaster in preparation for another coat.

Pokey pokey!

Nope, not a problem! This is just dirt and dust that washed off the exterior window sill and down the lime plaster.

The posts from the Barnyard Boys installed on our porch.

The beadboard for the porch ceiling purchased from the Barnyard Boys in Lancaster County, PA.

When Marlon started installing the beadboard, he found out that there were 2 different kinds of beadboard together. This made the ceiling kinda wonky because there was 1/8 in. difference in thickness, and a definite difference in bead size and width of that flat parts.

Dad, Jeff, and posts. The existing paint will be removed, but I'm kinda diggin' the color. We may just strip them and then repaint them the same color. What do you think, Neighbor?

This was the progress as of December 30th. Thought people might like to see an overview of the front.

Dad and I saw this eagle carved into a tree stump in Lancaster County, PA and took a picture

because we thought it was nice. We were headed to the Barnyard Boys to discuss the discrepancy in the beadboard we bought.

Can you see what is around the base of this trailer?

A closer look reveals STRAWBALES!
Yes, these people are smart; the strawbales act as a windblock so that air doesn't blow right under the trailer, and so I guess this is insulation in this instance as well (as it is at our strawbale house)!

Niiice!

Christ at the Barnyard Boys helped us find a bit of beadboard that was close enough to matchy matchy, so we took it to the house to install, and the portion that was not matchy matchy, we'll return to them.

Since we were there, we bought some more parts from the Barnyard Boys; rail for sliding doors (like in a barn), the wheelie-hangers for the door rails, a door knob stem part, and dad got some biggole hinges for his fence gate.

Got Some Cool Things from Housewerks

2011-01-15T21:48:00.002-05:00

Three green lampshades for pendant lights. I picked out 3 different styles...because I could.

These slate sinks are really cool. I didn't buy any, because I REALLY had no idea where I'd put even one of these! I do love slate though. Since these were in Baltimore, chances are that they were quarried near our house.

How cool is this? This is like a Cool Stuff Mad Scientist's Lab!

I Bought These Because I Loved Them, But I Haven't Figured Out Where I'm Going to Put Them Yet

2011-01-15T21:07:00.000-05:00

Our House as a Ship - FEATURED VIDEO!

2011-01-08T22:28:00.001-05:00

Our house as a house; Exterior tours with "BONUS" Dad chopping 2x4s!

I LEARNED HOW TO UPLOAD VIDEOS and First Fire in the Masonry Heater: Well, sort of.

2011-01-08T21:38:00.004-05:00

So, we had 6 small fires. This is called "the curing process." The purpose of this is to gradually drive out the moisture from the 4-6" thermal mass facade (in our case, stone) and the mortar, before getting a full-on Towering Inferno going (with or without OJ).

Dusty picture of our 1st fire.

Not as dusty...

Clearly, this is the start of our 3rd fire.
(We started #2 and then went to lunch, so I didn't get a photo of that because I was thinking about pizza and not the fire...)

Fire #3 - on fire.

Fire #4.

The set-up for fire #5.

Fire #5 ON FIRE! Ahhhh!

There was a pretty good flame going on this'n - you could see it in the pizza oven!
Ok, you could see it sometimes; I took like 30 pics to get this little orange bit to show!

Looks like the top of the masonry heater is open and we're going to set the house on fire!
It's not, and we're not. It's an optical illuuuuuuusion; we had a halogen light on top.

Like a Boy Scout m'dad is! Look at that cabin stack!
(ok, I have no idea what that's called, but it sounded good didn't it?)

You'll never guess the number of this fire...

YUP! You guessed it! Six-a-rooni!

Clay plaster stuff

Some pictures I took up at the house.

2011-01-04T21:41:00.000-05:00

Some issues with the natural plaster all of a sudden. I'd rather not discuss it right now.
Mike, Judy, I hope you appreciate all that we are learning for you! ;-)

Google can kiss my boot.

2011-01-04T21:36:00.001-05:00

Stuff That Happened Today

2010-12-28T18:43:00.000-05:00

Dan Dan the Stonemason Man; Kickin' Bum and Takin' Names

2010-12-27T22:14:00.001-05:00

Me and Dan drinkin' coffee by a halogen lamp.

Dan found yet another use for our slate crates; a little staircase for setting stones higher up!

The side and front of the masonry heater in the middle of the stone-facing process.

Our thermal mass will be 4"-6" thick slate because it is very locally available, a great material, and we think it looks cool.

Maryland Historical Trust marker about the Peach Bottom Slate Region.

This sign is just down the road from our house under construction. Our house is being built on one end of the slate ridge.

Happy Boxing Day!

2010-12-26T23:04:00.003-05:00

So, yesterday at Christmas Dinner #2 (#1 was at the DeRans, #2 at the Endres household), we discussed Boxing Day. We had someone from England and someone from Ireland there, and I think that we determined after WAY too much discussion and debate, was that Boxing Day was the day after Christmas when people boxed up their old things to give to the less fortunate, and that the wealthy gave their servants the day off. Apparently, "servants, tradespeople, and (other service industry workers)..." had "little earthenware boxes" that they used to "collect tips and year-end bonuses."* Hence, Boxing Day.
*Taken from 'Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations of the World Dictionary." Compiled by Sue Ellen Thompson and Barbara W. Carlson, copyright 1994, etc. blah blah blah.

Anyhoo...back to the task at hand.

Dad and I saw these slate fence posts this morning up in Delta, PA - just over the Mason-Dixon from our home under construction.

...and also, they're made of slate.
See how they're carved and such - neato!

Dad and I got the slate in the foreground this morning so that Dan can finish facing the masonry heater.

When we went to drop it off at the house, we found CRAIG there!

At his own house! Insanity.

Later that day...

After a little cleaning this evening: Original knob and escutcheon from the salvaged oak doors. We only have a few of these- somebody done stole 'em before the doors were removed in the deconstruction of the building in Hanover, PA.

After cleaning, plus PAM cooking spray! A little shinier, and now it tastes like chemical butter. Mmmm.

Why did I spray PAM on this? Not sure...though, I did once repair an on-ship telescope with Coke and butter.

Non sequitur?...nope nope, they both involve mechanical things and buttery taste. If I had a nickel...

Hope your Christmas was merry, and that you didn't give anyone a hard time if they said (GASP!) "Happy Holidays" or something to that effect.

Progress!

2010-12-23T16:07:00.000-05:00

Mantle in place below the bake oven!

Top removed from masonry heater to reset with refractory wool to allow for expansion and contraction.

Dan cutting stone.

Lime plaster in progress in the hall bath.

A Lot Happened Today, YEAH!

2010-12-21T22:17:00.003-05:00

So, since I worked all last weekend (for my JOB), I took a 'weekend' day today. This means that I got to spend time with my son, and also go up to the house and take pictures!

Southwest corner - siding complete on gable end above library.

Slate debris from Dan Dan the Stonemason Man's stone cutting.

Dan and Jeff looking at the masonry heater and thinking, I think.

Slate debris and the base of a clay plaster wall with cement board over the chase.

The 'falsework' that Jeff installed to temporarily hold the firebox door frame in place.

Jeff poking at the bake oven door.

"You talkin' to me?"

Cutting out the corrogated cardboard spacer behind the bake oven door flange.

The top of the masonry heater. Also, I don't like Pepsi.

The back of the masonry heater stone veneer in progress.

Dan laying stone; the view from the stairs.

Paint on the nose means you're a painter!

Paint on your sweatshirt means you're a painter.

Sitting down on the job! ;-)

The lime plaster in the master bath is looking great!

Still wet repairs to clay plaster in the master bedroom.

View of the upstairs hall with the chimney and some clay plaster above the stairwell.

THE ATTIC.