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Taking a deep breath

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

There have been almost no occasions on which I have felt emotionally overwhelmed during this building process. In fact, all the times I can think of were during the frustrating design phase, not construction. As you might guess, though, today was a tough one for me. It didn’t help that the wind has been blowing non-stop at unbelievable speeds, which tends to make everyone crazy.

This week has been one of milestones. Now that we are almost into April and we are so close to the finish, I have decided that it is time to get a bit assertive about pushing through the interim steps to getting the occupancy permit. And while in the business side of my life I am very assertive (some might phrase it differently), I am not really much that way in my personal life. It’s neither comfortable, nor natural for me.

This week, the priority interim steps have mostly been plumbing-related. We did have a guy out for a few hours (over a few days) to help us finish up, which has been inordinately helpful. And today we finished the rough plumbing (though not without a few bumps in the road).

Bob, our fabulous plumbing helper, soldering copper pipe

Plumbing going into the tankless water heater

We also got the last of the holes cut through the roof, including the big one for the fireplace. Ugh. This was hard for me to watch, but it came out great.

We also got a new vanity (one thing we decided not to build ourselves) and unpacked it out today to check where the piping will go.

We’ll tile the counter on top to match the shower, and I’m thinking of a bright Talavera sink, maybe like this one. Tile…yes, that’s another thing still on the list. But at least it’s not something that has to be done for the next inspection. And we did get glass block for the wall last weekend. It’s really beautiful.

Also today we ordered drywall. That’s cause for celebration in and of itself.

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Tags: construction, plumbing

This week’s projects

Friday, March 26th, 2010

We’ve had a week full of accomplishments. On Sunday, a guy came out and did all the trenching for the propane. In the process, we cut almost every water line on the property, but they were easily fixed.

We also poured the last of the columns for the last row of solar panels. Yay!

We worked on installing the water heater, the pressure pump (more to come from Brad on that), and the venting for the fireplace. Mostly this involved getting everything together and finding out we didn’t quite have all the parts. On Sat., we are going to town to get parts for all this and to finish up the plumbing next week.

On Thurs., the propane lines all got installed, both underground and in the house. This was followed on Fri. by the arrival of the tank. (No, we don’t have a new business going. This is a used tank, paint to come.)

I also planted some seeds for our garden this year.

Finally, to celebrate the end of winter, we adjusted the angle of our solar panels.

Tomorrow, it’s off to town for lots of plumbing parts and more supplies.

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Tags: construction, propane

Spring shower

Sunday, March 21st, 2010

Today, we poured the sub-floor for our shower.

First, we spent a couple hours chiseling out the floor around the drain (both done previous to us). This is the end result with the drain base in place.

Then we put down a large, thick vinyl shower pan liner. The top part of the drain fits in place over that, attaching to the drain underneath.

Then came mixing the cement. By this time, we’re getting to be old hands at this. Here I am shoveling the cement into the pan. Brad did the troweling.

Part of the troweling process was lots of checking of the levels to ensure that there was slope to the drain in all directions so water would drain.

Next will come the tile, still unpurchased as of yet, though I do know what I’m looking for now. (A few trips to tile stores have freaked me out, but I am going to try again this week.)

We are also wrapping up the plumbing. We have water to the house now and have found a local plumber to lend a hand for a day next week to finish things up. We will also be installing the pressure pump and the tankless water heater, both of which arrived last week. Also on the agenda for next week is getting the propane tank installed and the propane lines inside plumbed.

All of which is leading up to our inspections for electrical, plumbing, and mechanicals, which is the second to the last inspection.

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Tags: construction, plumbing, shower

Electrifying

Saturday, February 13th, 2010

We spent the day today doing electrical. I mounted the electrical boxes (the blue things in the pictures below) for the lights onto 2x4s, which I then mounted between the i-joists in the ceiling.

It was fun, and even Brad remarked that my mood was much better. :)

Brad is running wire all over the house, including many network cables. As you might guess, in addition to wireless, we will have many network connections all over the house. It is a great deal of fun to put stuff wherever we want it and to think about what it will all be like when it is done.

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Tags: construction

Design through production

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

It’s been an interesting experience to have been immersed in our home building from design through actual construction (and, one day, living in it). For anyone in a business, I think that doing a variety of jobs throughout the enterprise is a great way to gain expertise, regardless of what job you want to do ultimately.

One example that has been interesting is our arched doorways. In the design phase, we really wanted to carry through some eclectic Moroccan-type design elements. The arched doorways were one easy and attractive way to do this. At the time, I didn’t really think of what would be involved in making them. (Brad may have; for me, everything was such an unknown that I didn’t single this out as different since I really didn’t know how to do anything.)

Of course, building them was another whole story. Just laying them out was challenging. Then stucco’ing them took a lot longer. And throughout, the risk loomed of messing them up and having them look horrible. (We have told ourselves on many occasions that there is nothing that can’t be ripped out and done again.)

Now that the one doorway is done though, it really looks great. I’m so glad we did it and am even looking forward to doing more. And I know that every one we do will be a little easier and a little better.

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Tags: construction, design

Archway Designs

Saturday, January 23rd, 2010

Today, days and days of rain and wind culminated in snow in the mountains, and later in the day, a wild fit of snow flurries at our house.

We worked inside and built our first indoor arched doorway.

To start, Brad drew the arch shape onto 1/4″ plywood (he’s getting very good at this) and then cut it with a jigsaw.

Then we ripped a couple 2x4s to be 1/2″ less than normal. This was so we could use them as framing inside, and when the two pieces of plywood were attached, the whole thing would be the same width as a 2×4.

Then we screwed the plywood down to the framing…

and attached it to the doorway framing.

It looks fabulous.

We have at least one more arch to make for Tumbleweed (or maybe more??) and many in the main house. I’m looking forward to finishing these with drywall, paint or clay, some tile accents, and who knows what else!

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Tags: arches, construction, design

What makes you qualified to do this?

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

As we’ve talked to and shown various people around here the work we’re doing, a frequently asked question is “What makes you qualified to do this?”

Hmmm. Interesting question. I sometimes explain that Brad used to do construction. And while that has been very helpful in some areas, the reality is that much of what we’re doing is new to both of us.

So the answer is that we are bold and think we can do it.

My general feeling is that traditional education in many professions is less valuable than good common sense and hard work. To me, this is no different. We do a lot of research and try to think things out well in advance, but at some point you just plunge ahead and try it. If it doesn’t work, you try something else. If you work hard and smart, things generally work out.

A couple people have agreed with this saying that really anyone could build a house; you just need to want to do it and then to do the work. Both people who shared this perspective with us were professional contractors.

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Tags: construction, people

Stucco update

Friday, January 15th, 2010

It’s done!

The first coat anyway. It needs to cure and to give off its salts before we add the finish coat. It’s been a ton of work and we both need a small break. We’re very excited though. The stucco layer brings a sense of wholeness to the house. Very cool. Bring on the rains.

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Tags: construction, stucco

Note to self

Monday, January 11th, 2010

“Architectural details” take a lot longer to stucco than plain flat walls. Lookin’ good though.

Several people have asked what the final color will be. (This is the base coat; there will be a finish coat over this.) It will be a light off-white (soapstone?) like the greenhouse columns.

And here’s today’s Buddhist thought of the day: “Chaos is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence. – Buddha”

KB Ranch

A journal of Karen and Brad's adventure to make a home in a remote corner of desert southwest