So, it is summer, 2012, and we finally have gotten the final inspection.  To celebrate that I have attached some recent photos of the house as it now looks.  We still must connect the gutters to the "fire suppression water tank", do some interior painting, and build a small patio.  But these photos will illustrate a bit of what it is now.  Enjoy!

2011, a bit accomplished

We finally finished the 15000 gallon water tank for fire suppression that was required by the county. It is the only one in the area, so many of the neighbors ask what it is for. It is of block, with vertical as well as horizontal rebar reinforcement, and covered with a coat of mortar inside and out, with a slurry of pure cement having been "painted" on to the green mortar to seal it, as is done in Mexico for water tanks. It is about 15ft in diameter and some 44in. high.

The following photo shows the changes that we made on the upper terrace. After the very wet winter and spring that we experienced, we concluded that the terrace was not going to be very usable as it was originally conceived. Therefore we decided that we should cover the thing, even though it would somewhat change the overall look of the structure. At the same time I (Fred) also decided that it would be better in the long run to protect the entry porch and the front wall and big window from so much rain. Hence you will also see some small roof extensions. All of this seems to work well in terms of overall protection for the structural elements of the house.

In this photo you can see that we finally got started painting some of the unfinished container walls. We decided to leave some of the written symbols on view too, in the name of art.

Finally, I am going to include a couple of photos of a ceiling that we built in what will be a stairway in our house in Portland (another project). This type of decorative wooden ceiling was used in Spain in many old buildings such as libraries, palaces, churches , and old mudejar houses. They are not much used today because of the prohibitive cost of labor involved, but they sure do look nice.

Christmas II

We enjoyed some time off at Christmas, and one special thing that we enjoyed was a "fire dance"that our neighbor, Milo, did Christmas Eve, right in the center of the main boulevard of downtown Harlan.

Before that we all raised a glass full of a Margarita from the upper balcony. We waited a long time for this.

christmas

So, a number of things were finished at Christmas time and we were able to eat Christmas dinner in the house.

Besides that, the washer and dryer were brought on line, as well as the tankless water heater and the gas stove. That was partly due to the fact that CoEnergy installed a 120 gal. propane tank outside the shop area. By the way, you can only see the dryer in the bath mirror!

On top of that, the used bamboo flooring that we got at the Rebuilding Center in Portland (as well as the blonde bamboo flooring we were given), was installed.

You can also see the wood trim finishing the pop-out in the upper bedroom, as well as one of the louvered doors installed as a grille work in the wall to allow heat off the double wall stove pipe to warm the room. That idea works really well, especially after installing the metal "draft stop" above the wood stove to keep the bedroom from getting too hot.

Finally, you can see the 8foot high used

french doors that we also found at the Rebuilding Center. Close off the entry way during the coldest weather, keeping the house even warmer.

Habitat cabinets

This week we made a lot more progress. With the sheetrocking almost finished, we started taping the rooms. That will take a couple of days, so the finish work has begun. Best of all, Pam got the rest of the shower tiled and started on the kitchen counters. She is using tile that we found at the Rebuilding Center in Portland. It is a great resource if you are close to it.

And, I started deconstructing and dreconstructing the cabinets that we got at the Corvallis Habitat ReStore. It is an interesting challenge, but things are going pretty well, finding ways to fit the pieces together in the new space (which they were not layed out for). The uppers will be the most difficult because there aren't very many of them and the doors would be difficult to fabricate.

Last of all, we took delivery of the new washer and dryer, which will be stacked in the small bathroom.

So, next week I'll work on the uppers and the bamboo flooring (also from the rebuilding center) will begin to be installed.

Insulation and interiors

We're back! We finally managed to get the camera and the computer together in the same place for once, so we shall update the blog. Where to start? First, while there was still sun, Pam finished off the shingles on the upper balcony and capped two protruding steel blocks (parts of the container) with copper.

Then we movedinside to many other jobs. You can see me (Fred) working on the curved staircase, which took a bit to get in according to the norms. Those 3 inch Torx screws with the impact driver are almost indispensable!

And then there is son Aaron working on the wiring, and stoking the first fire in the wood stove which will provide heat for the house. Since we live in the middle of a forest and the neighbor cuts and sells firewood every year, it makes the most sense here to heat with wood.

Insulation, and the required R38 in the ceilings! This really changed the temperature inside the house. That wood stove puts out plenty of heat.

Here goes the tongue and groove pine in the kitchen/dining ceiling, as well as the ceiling fan, which we need to move that hot air around.

Now we are in the bathroom, putting in the shower stall and putting down the tile on the floor. We are also putting up sheetrock where it needs to be. Some rooms (the bath) need it, while others need only a little, or none at all.

Electric lights

Since we forgot the camera, I cannot add any pictures for this post. However that doesn't mean that there wasn't progress last week. We got the electrical system rough wired and had the inspection, and also had the framing and mechanical inspection. Now we are free to insulate and begin sheet rocking, hang cabinets, etc.
Another thing worthy of note is that the salmon returned to the rivers here last week. There were several big ones under the bridge near our house, and many more in other streams here in the valley. I tried to get a photo of some of the big (40in) ones, but they don't show up very well. We'll send more when we know what it is that we need to do to coordinate the finish phase of the project.

plumbing and wiring - progress

Well this week we don't have much in the way of photos to show, because plumbing and wiring aren't like that. But, take it from me, we did make a lot of progress. Getting the plumbing inspected and approved was a bid deal, and the wiring is on the way. As soon as that happens, we get the final framing inspection and we can start closing up the interior. So, what you see is a photo of me fillingf the last area of exposed plumbing because we are now able to connect to the septic tank.

And the big guy in the other photo is son Aaron pulling wire. He has worked with a friend, Brandon, who is an electrician, so he is competent to do this simple wiring job. We had all of the boxes in place, etc.

And the last one is of Pam about to eat some quiche that we made last weekend. Broccoli, mushrooms, onions, and lots of cream, cheese, and eggs. Beat still, my heart.

tankless and tiles

Well, another week has passed, and too quickly, it seems. Many details were dealt with, and a lot of rain fell, but only two things seemed worthy of photos for the blog. First, Pam finished tiling the balcony and got the grout on (except for 3 tiles - she ran out). It's a big deal!

Second, I got the rest of the plumbing finished (inspection next Tuesday), including the tankless propane water heater. Can't wait to try it out. I suppose it is just like the ones in Europe and Japan, but still, it is a different thing for here.

We did start laying out boxes for the wiring, and we have the electrical permit in hand, but that will be next week. Stay tuned.

The disappearig containers

We had a busy, productive week, with many things happening sooner than expected - which is good, for the rain is coming. Among the things accomplished, and not in any specific order, are that the windows and doors in the ends of the two (container) bedrooms arrived a week earlier than expected, so they got installed. The appearance of the house changed completely.

Next, Consumer's Power showed up a week earlier than expected, so there is now power to the house!! yippee, but no pictures. They just had to come and pull wire through the conduit and connect the panel.

Pam got lots more shingles put up on the North wall. Lots of detail and patience.

I cut out the inside hallway into the lower bedroom. I used up several abrasive cutting disks and had a lot of pinpoint burns on my arms (they go away quickly).

I installed an urbanite (broken concrete) porch. Just in time for the mud!! And notice that we put in the main entry door/window. I was going to wait in order to avoid possible damage, but seeing that the rains were coming, I decided to put the big doors in while the weather was still good so I wouldn't be working in the mud. What a concept!

Finally, there are no pictures of the plumbing rough'-in or of the new chimney cap or the framing for the downstairs bedroom closet. but it all happened.

gatargoyles

We made some progress this week, as you can see. First I must report that 2 gargoyles have started roosting on the edge of the balcony. We hope that you will recognize him if he should stray. Pam hasn't quite finished the tile on the balcony, but the gargoyle doesn't seem to care.

Next, we got most of the windows in (finally). The large one is for the dining/living area, and inside it offers a window seat for those who want to sit in the sun(?) and read.

You can also see some of the final earth color coat of lime plaster that we applied. At least we think that this is the final coat.

Finally you can see Pam and some of her work which lately has been putting shingles on the upper story surfaces that will not get a lime plaster (like the upper portion of the straw bales). She is enjoying using her creativity.

more lime renders

So this week we made many seemingly small, but significant, changes. We started laying the tile up on the balcony, but we won't post a picture till there is more to see. We also connected the water line that goes inside the house, and added a hydrant style outside faucet. Mostly, we got all of the first and second coast of lime render on the walls, which is a bid deal to us. And, before it rained!!!! The best mix seemed to be 5 shovels of hydrated lime to 8 of clean mason's sand. Seems like a lot of lime, but the mix acted best when applied that way.

roofline

To end the week, glossing over many of the things that we did, I enclose a shot of the western roofline so that you can get somewhat of an idea of what the finished product will look like. Bear in mind that much of the back (north) wall will be buried under a berm, along with part of the west wall. Stay tuned for whatever happens next week.