A Flush Is Better Than A Full House

The week of the 17th, I went to see my kids for a few days, so Ed was alone, except for pet duty. My guess is, he gets more done when I'm gone, but the meals are worse.

There was a reason we went to college. It was so we wouldn't have to dig ditches for a living. Now Ed does it for fun! He had to dig a trench for the new sewer line to go out to the septic tank. The good news is..we have a good sized tractor with a backhoe. The bad news is..because of how the garage is situated, and the slope adjacent to it, we can't get it back there to help. So out came the shovel, and Ed went to work.

After hand digging a 40' trench, 4' deep, he figured he had his back and bicep workout in for the week. In went the ABS pipe.

He finished framing in the front and rear soffits, and the returns, and put the plywood up on them. It's amazing what a difference it makes. Then he started wrapping the house. That last window is still out because it is the only easy (a relative term) access we have to bring in the sheetrock.

The fireplace and the exposed plywood are wrapped. We've been pretty lucky so far in that the weather has held off. But any minute it could all change.

If you look at last month's entry, I added a picture of the valley dressed in her fall finery. Now most of the leaves have fallen. Usually hidden by foliage, we can see the creek in the middle pasture, and the west pasture is looking pretty bare.

But that's ok. It all has it's own beauty. In December we usually get a few days of snow, and the pasture is transformed. That little duckling turns into a beautiful swan!

This last week Ed took out the laser level to check the slope on that sewer line and decided to increase the drop. As we all know from poker night, a flush beats a full house.

My job was to do something with the fiberglass door. We bought fiberglass because the west side of the building takes a beating from the weather. In the summer the sun doesn't set until 8:30 pm, often hotter than one would expect. In the winter, the storms roar up the river gorge and the west side takes all the rain and wind. I saw a youtube video by Zar stains http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rSZHQkfUFw&feature=related that said the textured fiberglass would take a wood stain, so I thought I'd try it. Actually the first half of the video is about faux graining a steel door, but in about the middle is the part about the fiberglass textured doors. So I figured if it didn't work out, I could always just paint it. Well I'll be darned if it didn't look pretty nice! You have to use a stain quite a bit darker than you would expect though. This is one coat of stain, and we'll apply two coats of sealer. We debated trying to put on a second coat of stain, but we were worried that it would dissolve the first, since the fiberglass doesn't absorb stain in the same way that wood does. I was just excited that the cats hadn't jumped up to take a look while it was drying!

An Electric Personality

The Genie garage door sensor replacement part came very promptly in the mail. Sunday as I headed off to church, Ed says "When you get home, I should have the garage door opener ready to go." OK! Two hours later, I come home and the garage door is up, so I think "Cool!"

It was raining too hard to work on the windows, and Ed was upstairs starting on the electrical wiring. This time of year, the sun sets at 4:30, and on cloudy days starts getting dark before that, so work days are short.

Monday morning Ed went out to start working, hit the button to open the garage door...nothing. So he goes over to the breaker box, and darned if the breaker had been thrown. So he flips it over and look out! Fireworks everywhere out of the master unit on the garage door opener. By the amount of smoke and stuff, we can pretty much assume the thing is fried. Thank goodness for modern electrical equipment, because short (little electrical joke) of a little smoke and sparks, everything is fine. No buildings were lost in the making of this episode.

For me, Monday was Theresa Goes Shopping Day. I pretty much bought out Lowe's. Ed gave me a list. We need 16 can lights, a wall heater for the bathroom, look at faucets, etc. etc. No problem! Silly me. I get to Lowes...who knew that can lights could be so confusing. 4" 5" 6" , black, white, 1" rims, 2" rims, fisheye, recessed, flush, kits, pieces. My brain felt like leftover jello. So I took the bit between my teeth, and started putting stuff in the cart. Then over to the faucets. Same thing..chrome, brushed nickel, bronze, 3" on center, 4" on center, 3 holes, 4, 5 holes. I'm starting to get a headache. I mean, it's exciting, but it's scary, sort of like when you're older sister teases you into taking that first roller coaster ride, and you get locked in your seat but nothing's moving yet..like that. But choose I did. Then on to Sherwin Williams for paint. More parts at the plumbing supply store. The jeep was full.

Monday afternoon and Tuesday Ed worked on putting in the wiring and outlet boxes. The local building inspectors, Mittens and Midnight, were helping at every turn. You can really have a lot of fun with the end of a wire if you're a cat.

All that work doesn't show up very well in the photo, but he got a lot of wiring up and boxes in. Tuesday it really started clouding up and raining. We were expecting quite a storm, and in fact in the 48 hours beginning Tuesday morning, we got 5.25 inches of rain. Rains here all the time...just another day in heaven.

Santa Drives an Econoline Van

Sunday Ed worked all day trying to re-install the garage door opener, which had to come out last spring when the roof came off the garage. How come they never go back together as easily as they come out? Apparently the sensor eyes aren't working and we had to order a new one. Thank goodness for the internet! It'll come in the mail.

Monday morning we were waiting for windows like kids waiting for Santa. Although this isn't a huge house, somehow I was expecting a truck slightly larger than an Econoline van. Whatever works..

Eleven windows, a patio door, and the entry door. Those doors are heavy!

It started to rain (rains here all the time) so we decided to go into town to talk to the plumbing and electrical supply folks. That pretty much ate up the rest of the day. We got home in the dark..too late to take the cats down to the barn. Lucky them..they got to sleep in the house.

Tuesday Ed pulled all the windows and the sliding glass door up to the second story with a rope sling. I don't have a picture of that. I was too busy biting my nails, and besides Ed was really straining to pull that sliding door unit up by himself. Far be it from me to diminish that..it was darned hard. I got to help with the easy stuff. Ed built a temporary platform out where the balcony will be and we put the south windows in first.

The north windows went in much faster, mostly because there was a relatively secure place to stand while Ed was working (I got the inside part). Ed wants to keep the big central window open until after sheetrock is delivered. We'll probably order that next week.

It's Not Cramped, It's Cozy!

Ed finished the interior framing this weekend. Man, that bedroom is tiny! It's about 10'x10', more or less, which is about the same size as our guest bedrooms now. It will be livable, but only just. We had friends that lived in a cab-over camper for a year while their place was being built, and they had a toddler! We only have a dog and three cats. We can do this.

This is the kitchen. The refrigerator will be first along the left wall, then counter space. The double sink will be under the double window, then the counter will run to the right to the wall (bedroom wall) , turning into desk under the large window. We'll have an island, about 4'x6' that will have the stovetop and oven, and an eating counter. Can you see it?

Ed spent most of Tuesday morning finishing up and cleaning up for the rough framing inspection. The building department here has been pleasant, helpful and easy to work with. But having an inspection is like having your teeth cleaned. They don't hurt you, but you hate it anyway. All went well, of course. Ed is pretty precise about his projects. It was a milestone though. One baby step down, 150 baby steps to go!

Windows and exterior doors come Monday. Of course, it's supposed to start raining this week, and we won't see the sun for a while.

He Was Framed

Sunday it was raining a bit, and Ed helped a neighbor install a pellet stove, but by the afternoon, he was back up working on our project. We decided to go with Milgard Tuscany windows for the apartment. They were lower priced than some, but not rock bottom. Because the windows are custom, they get pretty darned pricy very very fast, so we decided to conserve here and spend the big bucks on the house. But we also didn't want the windows so different they would be visually jarring when the house and garage are complete. To make a long story longer, the sliding door and transom show as one unit on the house, but Milgard Tuscany windows don't come that way and had to be made as separate units. So, Ed had to put a header in between the door and the transom. He also finished framing the arched windows both front and back.

Ed started framing the interior walls on Monday, and into Tuesday. That's the fun stuff. This is where I can really sense what it will look like. Ed is visual..he can see it all in his head. I'm tactile, and have a tough time until the hardware is up.

For instance...above is the pantry. The kitchen will start on the right side of that wall. First the fridge, then cabinets, and the sink will be centered between the two windows. The coat closet is the same size, on the opposite side of the door.

This is the bathroom, and the bedroom closet will be to the left of the..um..left wall..you know..Anyway ..the bedroom walls aren't up yet, and there is more (and more, and more) blocking to go in for the sheetrock, but hopefully by next Tuesday afternoon, Ed can call for his framing inspection.

Finally as the weekend comes to an end, it's always good to stop. Smell the air. Hear the sound of a thousand crisp maple leaves drifting their way to ground, and the creek singing as it glides toward the Mighty Columbia. Elk call out their challange to one another. Ravens gronk as they settle in the tree tops. Life is good. Say thank you.

One Two Red Blue

No....I didn't forget. It's just that things have taken a slight detour. Ed hurt his hand and hasn't been able to use the hammer. Weekend before last we gave it all a rest and took off for Portland for the day. We went to Lumber Liquidators to see what they had to offer. Then we went around the corner to check out the high-end plumbing fixtures. We don't plan on getting too carried away with the apartment above the garage, but it's nice to see what the choices are. And what choices there are! Brass, bronze, copper, chrome, stainless steel, granite, onyx, concrete, porcelain, soapstone, glass...and that's just sinks and faucets. Did you know there are electrified toilets? Lids that go up automatically, go down silently, heated seats, quiet flushes, one button flushes, two button flushes ..red flushes blue flushes. No,wait, that's Dr. Seuss' bathroom.
It was fun to see all the stuff though. Go figure..I zeroed in on the cute little faucet that was only $850. That's a water faucet...not a champagne faucet! We'll be skipping that one!
We did manage to get the Mustang pushed back into the garage. That's a good thing because winter is right around the corner. Ed hooked a big old tire to the front of the tractor and pushed the car ever slow slowly while I sat inside and steered..which I hate. I was scared to death I'd steer it right into one of those pillars we just put in. But we managed to get it in there without hitting anything!
This last weekend Ed's hand was much better so he was back at it. Unfortunately all the stuff he did was not camera-friendly so I don't have any pictures. He put in more blocking, nailed off the rest of the hurricane clips and finished nailing off the plywood.
Finally on Tuesday he started framing the interior walls. By next weekend he should have the majority of the interior walls framed in. Once he is done with that....(drumroll please) we can call for the framing inspection!

Bats In The Belfrey!

Sunday Ed put up the scaffolding on the east side of the project. He'll probably leave it up for the duration, since he will need it to put in windows and shingles and stuff. Just getting the scaffolding up took the better half of the day.


Monday he started hanging the plywood for that side. He nailed up some blocks along the wall and lifted the plywood, set it on blocks, lifted the plywood set it on blocks, moved to the next tier of scaffolding, and started over. Lifted the plywood, set it..well you get the picture. After doing that all day, he got the Big-Boy-Backrub.
After fighting the rain through half of August, it feels good to get the roof complete and the walls up. It looks really different from inside. I spent some time topside, laying rope and electrical cords on the floor where the kitchen cabinets and interior walls will be, trying to fix in my mind how the rooms will feel, besides small, which is a given.

Those are the views...west, east, south and north.
We're due for rain next week too, so Tuesday Ed wrapped the chimney with roofing paper, and tarped the door opening. Windows and doors have to go in before the real winter stuff hits, but for this storm, we're calling it good. The rest of Tuesday was spent cleaning up the jobsite and doing a few pre-season chores like tarping the part of the woodpile not covered already, and cleaning out the woodstove chimney flue. Did you know that if a little bat gets trapped in your chimney in the summer, the little bat-mummy just doesn't weigh anything at all! Poor thing...and HOW does a lizard get up on the roof and inside there? Ed vacuumed out two dead bats, three mummified lizards, and rescued one live lizard (after a brief E ticket ride through the shop vac).
I'm pretty sure Ed will be framing interior walls next week. WoHoo!