Next, Nathan is ordering the cinder block and arranging for his block man, Sammy, to come set the foundation. I'm about to head off to Florida with Carolyn for the Christmas visit with the kids and grandkids.
Happy Winter Solstice!
Monday, December 21, 2015
Set in Stone
The footprint of the additions is, as they say, "set in stone". The drama of a cement truck rescue is behind us. Most of the ruts left in the driveway are filled in. Only cleanup of sloshed concrete remains of this phase of the project.
Next, Nathan is ordering the cinder block and arranging for his block man, Sammy, to come set the foundation. I'm about to head off to Florida with Carolyn for the Christmas visit with the kids and grandkids.
Next, Nathan is ordering the cinder block and arranging for his block man, Sammy, to come set the foundation. I'm about to head off to Florida with Carolyn for the Christmas visit with the kids and grandkids.
Saturday, December 19, 2015
More Space!
It hasn't been that long since I proudly announced "indoor plumbing". What might not have been clear is that the toilet and the shower, while indoors, are each in separate buildings hundreds of feet away from the cabin. The process has begun to bring all of those facilities under one roof - the same one under which we sleep.
Here is the plan:
On the South end will be a full size kitchen with an island, a pantry, and a breakfast nook. On the North end a Laundry, Bathroom, and a Master Bedroom with a walk-in closet.
The back porch will be extended at each end and covered as the existing one is now. At the kitchen end the porch will extend beyond the roof to provide a sun deck.
First off, getting past a couple of white oaks straddling the driveway presented a challenge. I had consulted with the dispatcher and measured between the trees. We concluded there would not be a problem. What I had not counted on was the ground compressing under the extreme weight of a fully loaded concrete truck (9.5 cubic yards of wet concrete weighs a LOT). The truck tipped just enough to catch his ladder on one of the trees. We scrambled to pile rocks under the rear wheels on that side to get him safely through.
Once he got past that obstacle, the next challenge was to turn his truck around so he could begin unloading it into the footers. That's when he got stuck. And I mean up to the axles on one side stuck. Running board and water tank on the ground stuck. Leaning at a precarious angle and too far from the footer stuck. We had to get him unloaded and quickly. We did not have time to do this with only two wheelbarrows.
Nathan was unsuccessful in finding anyone who could help us right then. I remembered that one of my neighbors had a tractor with a front end loader. I called and asked to borrow it and thankfully, she consented. Once we figured out how to start it, I drove it over and began ferrying bucket loads of concrete to the footers. Nathan and Matt continued to shuttle wheelbarrows full while Wade raked it out.
When we had removed about 2/3 of the concrete, we tried to move the truck with the tractor and Nathan's truck. No luck. Not an inch. We dug and piled rocks and did everything we conld to move it but nada. We finished unloading with tractor and wheelbarrow. Tried again to pull the now empty cement truck from captivity. Again, nothing.
Ultimately, I called the only person I knew who had a tow truck capable of pulling this monster out of the muck - Randy Bobo at Scrappers. By now it is dark. Randy found us and after some maneuvering of his own monster vehicle (I'm glad he brought the small one) was able to effortlessly pull the cement truck free.
Wade had stuck around to see if he could help and he did. On his way home he dropped me at the neighbor's to get my truck. That's when we found out that all that heavy traffic broke the water main right in my driveway at the road. I got a number for the water company from the neighbor and called them to report it. The next day, it was repaired.
Beware the Ides of December!
Dec 10th
After weeks of waiting, my builder showed up with his crew to lay out the batter boards for additions to each end of the cabin.
Here is the plan:
On the South end will be a full size kitchen with an island, a pantry, and a breakfast nook. On the North end a Laundry, Bathroom, and a Master Bedroom with a walk-in closet.
The back porch will be extended at each end and covered as the existing one is now. At the kitchen end the porch will extend beyond the roof to provide a sun deck.
Dec 12th
A couple days later, Nathan showed up with John and his brand new Bobcat trackhoe to actually dig the footers. They were done in just a few hours including the digging of the composting toilet access.
Dec 14th
I drove into town to pick up rebar, chairs, and grade stakes for the footers. I had to build another special rack for my trailer to carry 20' lengths of rebar. I was in town all day running errands that included arranging for American Phoenix to build some buss bars for the big battery and having a delicious lunch at one of my favorite places.
Dec 15th
The builders arrived bright and early to install the rebar and build the bulkheads for the step-downs. After about an hour, Nathan asked me to call the concrete plant to see if I could schedule a delivery that afternoon. Amazingly, Basic Readymix in Rome was able to schedule for 1:00. The truck arrived right on time and the fun began.First off, getting past a couple of white oaks straddling the driveway presented a challenge. I had consulted with the dispatcher and measured between the trees. We concluded there would not be a problem. What I had not counted on was the ground compressing under the extreme weight of a fully loaded concrete truck (9.5 cubic yards of wet concrete weighs a LOT). The truck tipped just enough to catch his ladder on one of the trees. We scrambled to pile rocks under the rear wheels on that side to get him safely through.
Once he got past that obstacle, the next challenge was to turn his truck around so he could begin unloading it into the footers. That's when he got stuck. And I mean up to the axles on one side stuck. Running board and water tank on the ground stuck. Leaning at a precarious angle and too far from the footer stuck. We had to get him unloaded and quickly. We did not have time to do this with only two wheelbarrows.
Nathan was unsuccessful in finding anyone who could help us right then. I remembered that one of my neighbors had a tractor with a front end loader. I called and asked to borrow it and thankfully, she consented. Once we figured out how to start it, I drove it over and began ferrying bucket loads of concrete to the footers. Nathan and Matt continued to shuttle wheelbarrows full while Wade raked it out.
When we had removed about 2/3 of the concrete, we tried to move the truck with the tractor and Nathan's truck. No luck. Not an inch. We dug and piled rocks and did everything we conld to move it but nada. We finished unloading with tractor and wheelbarrow. Tried again to pull the now empty cement truck from captivity. Again, nothing.
Ultimately, I called the only person I knew who had a tow truck capable of pulling this monster out of the muck - Randy Bobo at Scrappers. By now it is dark. Randy found us and after some maneuvering of his own monster vehicle (I'm glad he brought the small one) was able to effortlessly pull the cement truck free.
Wade had stuck around to see if he could help and he did. On his way home he dropped me at the neighbor's to get my truck. That's when we found out that all that heavy traffic broke the water main right in my driveway at the road. I got a number for the water company from the neighbor and called them to report it. The next day, it was repaired.
Beware the Ides of December!
Friday, December 11, 2015
Closed In
The little Power House that was formerly simply Dried in is now Closed in. In other words, I got the facia and soffit put up. That is one shaky piece of scaffolding but I can't have squirrels nesting in the electric company.
A few days later, the final major piece of the system arrived. The power center. This is the piece of equipment that takes the DC solar power from the panels and converts it into AC for the house and shop. It also is responsible for monitoring the state of the battery and keeping it charged.
I'm sure glad I had some help getting this thing out of the trailer and up on the wall. It weighs close to 300 pounds! It just so happened that Nathan and John were at the house the next day to do some other work (see More Space!) and they graciously helped me while I barked orders - "What are you guys doing? Its got to go up!"
I now have to put the siding on so I can install the fittings for bringing the power lines through the wall.
A few days later, the final major piece of the system arrived. The power center. This is the piece of equipment that takes the DC solar power from the panels and converts it into AC for the house and shop. It also is responsible for monitoring the state of the battery and keeping it charged.
I'm sure glad I had some help getting this thing out of the trailer and up on the wall. It weighs close to 300 pounds! It just so happened that Nathan and John were at the house the next day to do some other work (see More Space!) and they graciously helped me while I barked orders - "What are you guys doing? Its got to go up!"
I now have to put the siding on so I can install the fittings for bringing the power lines through the wall.
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