31 August 2014
Stayed up to midnight,
as is my want when addicted to a good novel (The Host by Stephenie Meyer), figuring that today was Sunday and I
could sleep in if so disposed (or is that, if so reposed?). Middle of the night was awoken by a fork
flying off the kitchen counter onto the floor.
A furry ghost, perchance? At 5:52
am, was awoken again by something climbing across my head. The same
furry ghost? Needless to say, didn’t get
nearly enough sleep overnight. After
attending to Lynne’s cats, patched the holes in the west wall of the house
where, last week, I tried to drive the backhoe into the basement without
benefit of door. Not one of my better
moves... Finished the patching job just
as it started to rain. After lunch,
helped Kate with two small carpentry projects, then installed some more
hurricane tie-downs and thoroughly swept the house main level. Discovered that the expensive fancy corner
tie-downs that we special-ordered don’t fit.
Gnashing of teeth! Also
discovered 9 places where the roof is still leaking. Somebody named Sean is not going to be a
happy camper come Tuesday morning start of business.
30 August 2014
Over to Lynne &
Perry’s for a morning of caring for their cats and doing a couple loads of
laundry. Spent the afternoon cleaning
and straightening up the mess in the house garage. In the small world department: one of Kate’s house guests
this weekend, Faith Sandberg, went to Alexandria Country Day School, where
Chree has taught for the last two decades.
Faith’s good friend all through elementary school, Clark Goldstein,
later taught at ACDS with Chree.
29 August 2014
Perry shimmed up three
of the jack rafters and, voilá, the two misbehaving hip rafters weren’t
misbehaving after all. Perry put on the
ledger boards (until we ran out of 2x4’s of sufficient length) to which will be
attached the outlooks (to which are attached the soffits). He then marked all the rafter tails for their
shave and a haircut, i.e., plumb and level cuts. I finished installing the blocking in the
dressing area. Demonstrating a superior aptitude as a forklift operator, while
moving my radial arm saw, using the Kubota, from up by the woodshed down to the
house Shop, managed to severely bend one of the legs on the steel saw stand.
Grrr!!!! Luckily, a little sledgehammer
persuasion and some duct tape soon rectified that problem. In anticipation of some heavy rain on Sunday,
we tented the sauna building with an old green tarp that Perry had lying
around. Built and installed a temporary wooden chimney
cap. Perry left at noon for a long
Labor Day weekend up t’ Calais. I went
down to Giddings Equipment in Pittsford after lunch and, for $5, had the
Kubota’s right lower stabilizer pin welded back together. Spent the rest of the afternoon moving
leftover concrete block and brick out of the driveway and cleaning up the
detritus from the chimney building lollapalooza.
28 August 2014
As I stepped out of
Delores at 7 en route to work, saw a large gray animal cross our driveway
headed south. Wasn’t a dog; much too big
to be a fox; pretty sure it was a coyote.
Perry spent the day cutting and fitting the other 18 jack rafters. With some humps and bumps and the disconcerting
failure to behave of two hip rafters, the roof structure is within acceptable
plane. I put on the rest of the
hurricane ties and the collar ties (that also will serve as ceiling joists, or
vice versa if you prefer). I also
installed blocking (horizontal 2x4’s between
the wall studs, with the 3½″ face vertical and flush to interior side of the
wall) every two feet vertically in the west and south walls of the dressing
area to serve as nailing surfaces for the hemlock boards that will cover those
walls. We test fit one of the Anderson
400 series casement windows to determine the exact height of the soffits (3½″
above the window top flange) … which height controls the width of the roof
overhang… which width establishes where the rafter tails have to be plumb cut
to accept the sub-fascias… which plumb
cut length determines the size lumber we use for the sub-fascias and fascias.
27 August 2014
Perry and I erected
the ridge rafter, the four king common rafters, the two special common rafters
(special because they attach at the ends of the ridge vice at the sides), and
the six jack rafters for the southwest corner of the sauna building. Perry did the cutting; I did most of the
screwing and nailing. I also put on
assorted hurricane ties and constructed the opening in the rafters through
which the sauna stove chimney will pass.
Early indications are that making adjustments to the rafter bird’s mouth
seat cuts is less work that shimming the wall top plate then cutting the bird’s
mouths from a template, produces a roof that is acceptably in plane (so far ± 1/16″),
and results in a much stronger rafter to wall plate attachment. As the workday was winding down, Fran Viko
came over to admire our progress and tour the house. During the tour we found a large amphibious
reptile (was either Mr. Frog or Mr. Toad… but no name tag was evident) residing
in the Guest Bath. How, one wonders, did
said creature get to that location with the basement door closed for lo these
many recent days? We encouraged an exit,
which was duly accomplished. The lake
temperature is 77°.
26 August 2014
Perry and I finished
putting the wall sheathing on the sauna building. Then we used Goose Creek’s laser level to
determine how far above or below an arbitrary reference plane the top wall
plate is at every point where a roof rafter will be installed. Range was from plus ¼″ to minus ⅜″, which
makes me glad that we did NOT shim the top plate, as that would have produced a
very weak connection between the roof and walls. Instead, Perry will adjust the height of the
seat cut for each rafter’s bird’s mouth by the specified correction, producing
(fingers crossed) rafter tops that are in plane with each other. The Fyles
Brothers truck put 18½ gallons into Delores’ propane tank… the first fill-up
since early June. Kevin came to wash
(with water and a scrub brush, using no muriatic acid per the manufacturer’s
instructions) the exterior of the brick chimney. Then he disassembled and removed all his
staging, concrete mixer, etc. Sometime
in the morning the Goodro’s delivery truck dropped off the sauna building windows. Luther and Ty arrived at 1 to put ice and
water shield around the chimney to roof interface and roll all the Zip System
tape seams down tight to the roof (per the manufacturer’s installation
instructions). Fingers crossed that the
seam rolling has solved the plethora of roof leaks.
25 August 2014
VERY busy day… and
absolutely PERFECT weather. Perry arrived shortly after 7, having been to
Goodro’s to hand-select the 2x6’s that will become the hip rafters in the sauna
building (they have to be dead straight) and to Green Mountain Power, who did
not have the ¾″ 22° bend (I thought) I needed to finish the electrical conduit
run into the sauna building. So we faked
that bend by bowing the conduit, then quickly buried the results so
nobody-will-ever-know! Kevin got here
while all this was going on to continue adding brick to the chimney top.
Goodro’s delivery truck also interrupted the proceedings, bringing the sauna
building exterior and pocket doors plus all the rest of the roof framing 2x6’s.
Meanwhile, back in the trenches, I sucked a string though the electrical
conduit, used that string to pull a ¼″ nylon line through, and used that line
to pull the power wires through. A LOT
of pulling, by the end of which I had a severe case of left tennis elbow. But by 9:30 we had power to the people
sauna building! Perry and I built and
installed the wood beams that will support the southwest corner of the
building, then put on the top plates for all the walls, nailing them firmly to
the wall bottom plates (that are actually at the top of the wall, ‘cause the
plates at the bottom of the wall are called sole plates). Confused yet? We realized (at the end of the day as we were
putting tools away) that we had forgotten one important step at this
point. Okay, students, what did we
forget to do? After lunch, while Perry
ran string around the building perimeter and used those reference lines to
straighten the walls (which were already pretty straight), I laid the bottom 30
feet of the 1½″ conduit that will house a water line from the house to a spigot
by the sauna building, said water to be used to create steam to obfuscate the
viewing of old fat naked guys taking the cure.
We then started putting ½″ pressure treated plywood sheathing on the
walls. Meanwhile, atop the house, Kevin finished laying brick (using 356 of the
525 that came in the cube), then built a form and poured a 3″ thick concrete
chimney cap. For future reference: the
flue length from the basement cleanout to the top of the chimney is 28
feet. Perry and I finished the workday
strategizing options for correcting the oversight of not shimming the top
plates so that they formed a perfectly level surface onto which we could build
the roof. By this time it was 6 o’clock,
much too late to start a fire to grill the steak I was planning for dinner, so
instead did my annual swim across the lake and back. That accomplished, I nuked a dinner that said
it would feed three people. For some
reason I’m still hungry after finishing the entire thing, a 12 oz. adult
beverage, plus a huge dessert…
24 August 2014
Kevin arrived at 9
while I was off to Martin’s to get some, but not all, of the electrical conduit
fittings that I neglected to get on Friday at the emporium that is not open on
Sunday. The 7P principle at work! Kevin put up even more scaffolding on the
roof and then started laying brick, getting about half of that done before he
left late afternoon sometime while I was busy with the Kubota backfilling the
top half of the electrical conduit trench.
Really, I was not trying to commit suicide… it was a rock I was moving
by hand with an unnoticed very sharp edge that ripped a 1½ inch gash across my left wrist. Cleaned most of the dirt out of the wound in
the lake, so should be good to go! …and
if you believe that one…
23 August 2014
You know Delores has a
mouse problem when you capture two in the same trap. Yes, that’s right, meece numbers 13 and 14
were snuggled up together when I arose this morning. How cute!
After releasing them back into the wild, I did the 150 hour servicing on
the Kubota while waiting for Kevin The Mason (as opposed to Kevin The Roofer) to
arrive. When he did, at 9, he was
somewhat disgruntled that Goose Creek had hauled away all their staging last
week. So Kevin immediately returned to
his abode to get his own staging, arriving back at Fern Lake at 11:30. I spent the morning cleaning / picking up the
construction site, then staging concrete block and bags of cement mix where
Kevin wanted them (on the future patio).
Staging erected, Kevin got to work raising the house chimney up through
the roof with a couple more courses of 8″ concrete block, attaching the second
roof hip support bracket as he went. Then he transitioned to 4″ block, using
that to build the chimney core up to the required height (3 feet above the roof
peak). I helped as needed, hoisting
block and bucket-loads of concrete and cement mix up onto the staging. Discovered, early on and most disconcertedly,
that my New Balance working shoes are woefully inadequate to walking on the
roof. Life was just a little too
exciting for a few seconds there! In
between playing mason tender, ran ¾″ PVC conduit in the trench from the top of
the wood walkway down to very close to the sauna building… need a few more
fittings to finish that job tomorrow.
For future reference, the electrical conduit is parallel to and 6 feet
north of walkway section 3, and will be buried about 2 feet below grade level
along that stretch.
22 August 2014
Really poured
overnight. Needless to say, the house main
level floor is alive with the sound of raindrops. Today’s forecast was for
clearing by tomorrow, so, when Perry got here at 7, per usual, we decided that
using power tools to work on the sauna was maybe not such a great idea. Instead, we tackled putting in the electric
line that will feed power to the sauna building from the junction box at the
head of the wood walkway. Working with
electricity is so much more fun in the rain!
Digging the trench from the walkway down to the lower driveway (working
downhill) was easy. Digging the trench
from the sauna building retaining wall back uphill to the lower driveway had
its share of challenges, but by 11:30 we had a nice slot in the earth ready for
conduit. That’s when the rain started again
in earnest, so we took an early lunch, hoping that the weather would
abate. By 1 it was obvious that our
hopes were in vain, so Perry departed and I headed into Middlebury to do some
errands, stopping at Green Mountain Electric Supply on the way back to get the
conduit, wire, etc. we needed. Perry
appeared whilst I was there, bearing info fresh from a conversation with a
Huber Company technical representative (manufacturer of the Zip System
sheathing and tape) about the proper method for applying Zip System tape. Relayed that info to Sean, requesting that
Kevin not put on the roofing membrane until a further attempt is made to adhere
the Zip tape to the sheathing using the procedure specified by the
manufacturer. Back at Fern Lake doing
odds and ends late afternoon when Sean came by to admire our indoor swimming
pool. Unfortunately, he didn’t bring his
bathing suit…
21 August 2014
A nasty, rainy day, as
forecast. The Condo Association property
managers informed me that the wiring problem was my responsibility to fix… not
theirs, but gave me the name and number of an electrician familiar with the
wiring in those units. Arranged for that
electrician to work on correcting the situation tomorrow afternoon. Perry arrived, per usual, at 7 and we spent
an hour or so designing the wall into which the sauna building pocket door will
be fitted. Sean arrived shortly after
Perry left and we discovered there now are even more roof leaks than before the
roof was “fixed” the other day. Sean
arranged for Kevin (the roofer) to come on Saturday to put down the (allegedly)
waterproof membrane that he uses under metal roofs to provide a gliding surface
for the metal as it expands and contracts with temperature changes. Sean also leant me his self-leveling laser so
that Perry and I can get the sauna building top wall plates perfectly level
(critical to keeping the building of the roof structure from becoming a
complete nightmare). And, finally, Sean
presented me with Goose Creek’s final bill for labor on Phase I of the house
construction. With those numbers in the
spreadsheet, was able to trim $25K off the construction budget… and still
project a healthy surplus by the time the house is finished. Trailer in tow, went up to Trowel Trades in
Colchester in the afternoon to retrieve our cube of Aspen White brick. Turns out a “cube” of bricks is a rectangular
solid 25″W x 39″L x 36″H. Not very
cubist! Also turns out that the forklift
that was to load the bricks on the trailer weighed more than the cube, the
trailer, and the truck… combined. So
using the fold-down stern ramp wasn’t happening, unless I wanted the ramp bent
into an L-shape. Consternation all
around! Finally the yard manager
suggested raising the trailer bed 14″ with junky wooden pallets and then
loading the brick cube over the side onto that raised platform. That accomplished, chained down the cube and
returned to Fern Lake (via another $100 spent at Lowe’s) with no difficulties
whatsoever. Vermont ingenuity at its
finest!
20 August 2014
Perry and I continued
the sauna building construction during an absolutely gorgeous day for working
outside. By 5 o’clock all the exterior
walls were upright, plumbed vertical, and braced in that position. We also put up the 4 x 6 PT post
that will support the southwest corner of the building. After hurriedly picking up the property in
anticipation of overnight rain, taking a quick shower, and gobbling down some
dinner, went over to Kate’s at 6 for appetizers on her deck. Had to leave at 6:30 ‘cause… mid-afternoon,
got a call from our condo tenant reporting that sparks had been observed
shooting out of a switch controlled electrical outlet… that had nothing plugged
into it. I think that falls into the
“Not Good” category. Got to Burlington
at 8 and found a charred outlet, a switch with some very bizarre wiring, and a
situation beyond my abilities to correct.
Our tenants very graciously invited me to stay for a very late but very
delicious dinner. Returned to Fern Lake
just before 11 and was in bed asleep literally minutes later.
19 August 2014
While I was off at
Goodro’s this morning spending a small fortune on windows for the house and
doors and windows for the sauna building, Perry put in all the sauna building
floor joists. Concurrently, Luther put
on the trimming studs and blocking for the house garage doors while Fred installed
the door handles and deadbolt locks for the garage people door and the shop
door. Upon return to Fern Lake, Perry
and I put on the ¾″ Advantech floor for the sauna dressing area, under which
(for good luck) is a 2014 penny provided by Kate Middleton. Sean came by to check on progress. He said that fixing the transom light over
the Garage people door so that it looks right above the door window and
creating pseudo transom lights above the Garage overhead doors will be easy and
relatively inexpensive. I love this
guy! After lunch, Luther and Fred put
KOMA trim around the garage doors, the final task for Goose Creek in this phase
of the house construction. All four of
us went through the building site to ensure all the Goose Creek tools got put
into Luther’s truck (except for the pneumatic framing nailer I’m borrowing for
sheathing the sauna building). Perry and I then built the framing for the sauna
building east wall. Perry immediately wanted to raise the wall into position,
but the siren call of the lake was too strong for me to acquiesce.
18 August 2014
17 August 2014
Spent all morning
updating the expenditures vs. budget spreadsheet. Even though the roof structure cost,
literally, twice as much as Sean estimated and even though I think the windows
and doors are going to run over budget by 50%, at this point in the
construction process the projected cost of the house is a few thousand dollars
less than the budget. Looks like maybe I
won’t be needing that divorce lawyer after all…
Went down to the Home Depot in Rutland after lunch to buy some windows
for the sauna building. None the size I
wanted in stock, so will have to special order from Goodro’s. Did pick up ½″ x 2″ galvanized lag bolts
needed to fasten the chimney bracket to the southwest hip rafter. Installed same upon return to Fern Lake.
16 August 2014
Worked all morning
(and part of the afternoon) caulking and painting the rest of the soffits,
fascias, and feature strips. That job is
d-u-n, done! Then it was over to Lynne
& Perry’s to do five loads of laundry, help Perry split and stack another
couple of pickup loads of firewood, and enjoy a fabulous repast. The good news is that it wasn’t 90 degrees in
the shade while we were working on the firewood; the bad news is that it wasn’t
90 degrees in the shade, so the laundry didn’t dry out on the line, especially
when it started raining during dinner.
Electrons sure are handy critters!
15 August 2014
Ian and Perry finished
their portion of the soffit / fascia / feature strip project, wrapping up the
west wall and the entire north wall. I
spent most of the morning caulking and painting the west wall soffit / fascia/
feature strip, then the balance of the day putting up assorted joist hangers,
rafter tie-downs, and two mid-span purlin braces that got overlooked before the
roof sheathing went on. Jeff Many, Green
Mountain Door, came by mid-morning to take our order for garage doors and
openers. When Jeff called the order in
to his distributor, we were informed that the window inserts we want (to make
it look like the doors have transom lights at the top) are not available for
the door style we want. Not even on a
special order basis. Hmmm… More to follow.
14 August 2014
Discovered ten areas
where the roof is leaking. This is NOT GOOD!!!!
Especially since we just spent a fortune for the Zip System sheathing
and tape that are alleged to be the cat’s meow for creating a waterproof house
envelope. Ian and Perry continued work
on the soffits, fascias, and feature strips, getting the rest of the east wall
and most of the rest of the west wall done.
I worked on construction budget stuff in the morning (and, no, since you
asked, I can’t afford a divorce lawyer after the cost overrun on the roof), then
took up my trusty caulking gun and paint roller in the afternoon, following
behind the dynamic duo. A wonderful (as
always) dinner down at Marty & Merry’s, featuring roast lamb, Kingsley
corn, and a so-so Cabernet Sauvignon from Hannaford’s that was bought because
the label was really pretty.
13 August 2014
As forecast, a totally
rainy no-outside-work day. Sean came for
a few hours in the morning to assign Goodro’s expenditures and Goose Creek
labor to categories in the house budget.
Once I update the spreadsheet, we will be able to tell, reasonably
accurately, how far building the roof is over budget… and, as a consequence,
whether or not I’ll be able to afford a divorce lawyer. Up to Burlington in the afternoon to spend
money at Lowe’s (why else would you go to Burlington?), install a new kitchen
light in our condo, and visit Trowel Trades emporium to select white brick for
the top of the house chimney. Did you
know that there are 525 bricks in a “cube” (which is the minimum special order,
even though the quoted price is per brick)?
Dinner with Alverta, which was a bagged-lunch, ‘cause once a year the
retirement community owners treat the staff to a dinner cruise on Lake
Champlain. Hope they brought their
galoshes…
12 August 2014
Well, we’re up to an
even dozen mice captured and deported so far this year. Do you think Delores has a furry-friend
fetish? Ian and Perry continued putting
on soffits, fascias, and feature strips, making much better progress
today. Half the soffit is up plus all
the fascias and feature strips on the south walls, the east wall of the Sun
Room, and 16 feet of the west wall. I
cleaned up / picked up all morning in anticipation of heavy rain tonight and
tomorrow. We also applied Zip tape along
the seam between the roof sheathing and the fascias / feature strips to keep
said rain from getting behind those trim pieces and causing all sorts of hate
and discontent. In the afternoon I
caulked and applied a second coat of paint to the installed soffits, and also
passed the paint roller over the fascias and feature strips.
11 August 2014
Mouse #11 has joined
his friends at Silver Lake. Chree, Tasi,
Rachel, Geisha, Shlomo, and many, many items of luggage all piled into Tasi’s
Camry just after 7 and headed for Virginia.
Please note that Chree was in Vermont for a week and did not once don
her beekeepers anti-flying-insect helmet.
Perry and I spent a productive two hours reviewing the sauna build plan
and putting together a materials list to be ordered from Goodro’s. Ian and Fred put on the small trim pieces
missing from the tops of the north and west Garage interior walls. Perry likewise trimmed out the bottom of the
Garage west wall. When Sean arrived
mid-morning, he and I reviewed the insulation proposal submitted by Black
Diamond and decided to go with a sealed attic vice the more traditional soffit
and roof ridge vents. Perry and Ian,
appraised of that decision, finished putting sheathing on the very peak of the
roof (which we had left open for venting). Goodro’s came with another
mega-thousand dollar load of building materials, this time containing the
sheets of ½″ MDO that will be used for the soffits and the KOMA (white PVC
no-maintenance boards) that will be used for the fascias and feature strips.
Sean took Fred away to another job. I
ran out to Middlebury to get 3 gallons of Benjamin Moore Aura bright white semi-gloss
paint and associated supplies while Ian and Perry ripped the MDO sheets in half
and had lunch. After lunch, while I was
busy painting the MDO, Ian and Perry installed 4 sections of soffit and 1 piece
of the fascia.
10 August 2014
Tasi, Rachel, Chree,
and I left the Fryeburg State Fairgrounds at 0700 headed west. Chree said Dolores could have her old name
(Delores) back if she didn’t balk climbing back up through Crawford Notch. First gear and the accelerator flat to the
floor on the final grade, but she blew through the Notch at 35 mph… and brought
us all the way to Fern Lake with nary a complaint. Put $275 worth of gasoline in her gizzards
over the course of the trip, which works out to a whopping 6.1 mpg! Stopped in Shelburne for a couple of hours to
visit and have a picnic lunch with Alverta.
After a house tour and some cooling-off lake time, we had burgers and
dogs on the campfire grill, joined in our repast by Lynne & Perry.
9 August 2014
A relaxing day with
family, culminating in the nuptial ceremony for Kate Swanson (Chree’s niece)
and Nate Hutchins. The reception was
held in a building at the fairgrounds less than 100 yards from where Dolores
was parked and was particularly nice, ‘cause the DJ kept the music turned down
during the cocktail hours and dinner.
Danced the night away and then a short stroll brought us to our posh
accommodations.
8 August 2014
Captured mouse #10 and
relocated the critter to the Silver Lake parking lot stump. Luther, Ian, Fred, Ty, and Perry finished
putting on the Sun Room roof rafters, sub-fascia, outlooks, and roof
sheathing. Goodro’s delivered a bunch of
concrete block for the top of the chimney.
Kevin laid another 11 courses, extending the woodstove chimney to just
below the roof. Chree and I took Dolores
over to the Fryeburg, ME State Fairgrounds, via a constitutional at
Kampersville. 200 miles in 5½ hours,
with a stop for lunch and dog-walking.
Discovered, upon arrival, that the fairgrounds camping area only has 20
amp electrical outlets. Dolores’s plug is for 30 amp service. Apparently this problem is quite common, as
the fairgrounds office quickly gave me a 30 amp to 20 amp plug converter. Tasi & Rachel (newly arrived back in the
States from their sojourn in Africa and Europe this summer) and Alex, Katy,
& Devin arrived just in time for dinner, having spent the day in the clouds
getting a VIP tour of the observatory on top of Mount Washington.
7 August 2014
Sean (until he left
after lunch) and Luther continued framing the roof structure for the Sun
Room. Ian and Fred put on the Sun Room
exterior wall sheathing. Chree and I
decided to go with a light colored brick for that portion of the chimney that
will be exposed above the roofline; that decision then communicated to Kevin
Haight. Jim and Sue LaFlam stopped by to
check on Sean’s workmanship progress.
I did some cleaning / picking up and hung a few joist hangers until John
and Mary Jane came back from their overnight accommodations in Middlebury. We all and the dogs went for a nice hike up
to Silver Lake, only partially dampened by a thunderstorm that rolled through
as we were coming back down the trail.
Got back to Fern Lake to find that Brian Thomas from Black Diamond
Builders (insulation subcontractor) had arrived to talk about house insulation
options. After a late lunch and swim,
John and Mary Jane departed. Retrieved
the log splitter from Taylor Rental, then checked Dolores’ fluid levels and
tire pressures in preparation for our 200 mile sojourn over to Fryeburg, Maine
tomorrow.
6 August 2014
Slow cooked a couple of
slabs of spareribs overnight. Ty and Ian
put on the west side roof sheathing, then the 9″ trim piece at the roof edge on
the north side. They secured a tarp over
the roof peak vent using the last of my antique staples (1976 vintage). Sean, Luther, Fred, and Perry (until noon) worked
on building the roof structure over the Sun Room. Taylor Rental called to say that the problem
with the log splitter was that I had overfilled the gas tank. Hmmm…
Taking out my frustration, I widened the opening into the flue pipe
inside the chimney cleanout to accommodate an 8″ brush (Kevin had sawn that
opening 6″ wide for some reason.) Then
Chree and I did some site and RV cleaning because… John and Mary Jane Cuneo arrived
mid-afternoon for a two-day visit. The
spareribs, further cooked over the campfire, went down in a hurry after a
lengthy swim and paddle around the lake!
5 August 2014
Sean, Luther, Ian,
Fred (after his dentist appointment), and Perry today. The crew put on the sub-fascia, rafter tails,
and outlooks on the west side of the house, then built the south and east Sun
Room walls. Goodro’s delivered another expensive
load of lumber needed for building the Sun Room walls and roof structure. Dennis Senesac arrived at 8:30 for a couple
of hours discussion of heating / cooling system options. An under the driveway closed-loop geothermal
system is still on the table, as is a cold-climate heat pump. Dennis took away many questions to be
answered before a final decision is made.
Kate Valade from Sun Common came at 11 for the preliminary photovoltaic
system site-assessment visit. MOST
unfortunately, the sun-tracker device (a really nifty piece of
technology) she used to assess our access to the sun’s rays indicated that
there is too much shade for solar panels to be viable… even if we basically
clear-cut all the trees near the house to the southeast, south, and southwest
of the Garage. Rats! I towed the log splitter to Taylor Rental for
repair under warranty while Chree did a load of laundry over at Lynne &
Perry’s, then ran errands in Brandon.
4 August 2014
The day started out
with a lot of unforecast rain, so I was thinking that construction activities
had been washed out. That opinion was
reinforced when Perry arrived and said there were a bunch of Goose Creek trucks
parked at Rosie’s Restaurant. However,
about 8 the rain stopped and the skies started to clear, which heralded the
arrival of the entire Goose Creek crew (Sean, Ian, Fred, Luther, and
Ty). Ian, Fred, and Perry put up
two-high staging all along the west wall of the house, then Perry cut off
(plumb and level) the four rafters there while Ian and Fred finished the wall
sheathing. Meanwhile, Luther and Ty installed
roof sheathing on the north side of the house, then taped all the seams for the
roof sheathing thus far installed. Sean
supervised, laid out the east wall of the Sun Room, and helped the two teams of
builders as needed. Chree and I went
into Burlington so that I could finish installing the bathroom light / fan in
our condo and Chree could visit with Alverta.
After dinner, a perfect evening for canoeing, we took Hopea Kanootti for
a spin around the lake.
3 August 2014
Kevin came at 8:30,
put on another 9 courses of concrete block (the chimney now is up to even with
the Main Level ceiling), and left at noon.
(Apparently he allows himself a half-day off per week.) As my earliest memories are of driving my
grandfather’s tractor out on his farm in Indiana three score years ago, invited
Graham Glassner (Marty & Merry’s eldest grandchild) up for his first Kubota
operating lesson, as he has grown tall enough to reach the pedals. Heather
(Graham’s mother) came along to provide at least a modicum of adult
supervision. Chree and the dogs got here at 2:30 for a week-long visit. After an afternoon in the lake, the dogs are
acting pretty tuckered this evening.
2 August 2014
Kevin (who works 7
days a week) arrived at 8:30. With some
modest help from me, he laid another 10 courses of block, which included
putting in the flue cleanout and the 6″ thimble for attaching the woodstove to
the chimney. We made the cleanout
opening extra tall so that, in theory, I will be able to brush the chimney flue
from the bottom up; much safer than clambering 20 feet up into the air onto a
metal roof once a year. I fabricated 20 metal standoffs, which Kevin is using
to brace the (otherwise completely freestanding) flue to the concrete block
every 5 vertical feet or so.
1 August 2014
The brothers LaFlam
(Sean & Ben) spent the day putting sheathing on the east and south sides of
the roof. I thought I had been paying my
Goose Creek bills on time, but maybe not, ‘cause late morning Ben “accidently” lost
control of a large piece of sheathing, which came sliding off the roof, but did
not slice my head off. Instead, it hit
me in the left side ribs, where I do have lots of padding. Fred spent several hours putting up even more
joist hangers, then worked with Perry for the rest of the day installing the
rafter tails and outlooks on the north side of the house. Kevin Haight arrived at 8 to get set up for
building the chimney. Goodro’s boom
truck got here at 8:30 with a good-sized load of concrete block, flue pipe,
cement, and concrete mix. I spent the
day in the cellar with Kevin helping (and learning) while he laid the first six
courses of block.
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