More Closure

As we wait for the metal roof to be fabricated, lots of other things are happening. For starters, Gary trenched from the well head to the house for the water line:

A special "caution tape" is buried above the line and under the backfill. This will identify that there is a water and power line buried below if any digging happens there again. Here the tape is wrapped around the wellhead waiting to be stretched out in the trench:


The ever-present ledge in the ground made it difficult to dig as deep as desired to protect the water line from freezing, so John places sections of insulating boards over the pipe as it's backfilled:


The outer walls of the house were entirely wrapped in "Typar" housewrap. This material stops air infiltration while allowing any water vapor in the walls to pass through and migrate to the outside air.


Double paned insulated windows were installed and doors on each end which will eventually connect to porches:


The hatchway was installed and stairs down to the basement were built:


With the windows installed and sunshine, it's actually a little warm inside, even though the tempertures are still holding well below freezing.


The stump pile disappeared too! Last fall during clearing, we left one large tree stump standing. It's made for a nice conversation piece...(and we're taking suggestions about what to do with it).

Enter Here

Work this past week has been on the entryway. We've been interested in incorporating some salvaged beams in our construction. Not only are they desirable because they're reclaimed material, but they have history, a story, and character. Our first attempt at finding salvaged carrying beams for the house did not work out due to timing, cost and availability. (Salvaged does not necessarily mean inexpensive.) Marc, our electrician, knew of some old hemlock beams on one of his projects in Springfield, and John had transported them up to be stored temporarily in Marc's barn in Whately. They were the right sizes for framing the entry way. This is what they looked like prior to being cleaned up. John wanted to plane them but they were full of old hardware: staples, nails, and screws-- some that were broken off below the surface. Just one small piece of metal will ruin a planing blade. So, John retrieved his "magic wand" and some nail pullers and went to work.

The "Lumber Wizard" is used by moving the wand along the surface of the wood. It lights-up and beeps when metal is found. Once all the metal is removed, the beams are ready for planing. Because they are large, only two sides could fit through the planer. The other two had to be planed by hand with a power planer.

Here's a view of the finished beams in place (inside joint).

And here is an outside view. The double 2x4 uprights are temporary and will be replaced with something else (once we decide what it is!) Are you wondering what the "story" is behind these beams? Were they once part of the USS Constitution? We'll never know for sure, but the last place they lived was as decoration in a Springfield liquor store...

The entryway roof is now ready for sheathing:

Now that it's sheathed, it needs to be closed up, but not without a gable vent.

John works on the vent:

This view is from the inside. John mentions how odd it is to be framing in reverse order (sheathing, then framing):

It's still a construction site. Once the stumps are gone, it will look much more inviting.

The Basement Slab

Making a basement floor is more than just picking a time to pour concrete. First, the house has to be enclosed from weather. Then the floor has to be kept from freezing. For weeks, John's been firing up Fred's generator and running an old propane heater to keep the temperature above freezing down there. He also rigged up fans to help circulate the air and remove moisture.

On New Year's Eve day, it was ready. We had a little picnic in the basement:

John's sophisticated fan hanging and cord management system are shown here:


The concrete arrived a few days later. It was sent down a chute through the basement window:


The Hampshire Concrete Team places the concrete:




Then they troweled it and the floor was done. Once set, George Propane brought in a cabinet heater (much better than the previous heater). John now uses this with the fans to manage moisture and keep the slab from freezing.

Utility Trenching

As you "locals" know, the last few weeks have been cold...really cold...way below freezing, single digit temperatures, and gusting wind (to make it more fun). Not suprisingly, this isn't Gary, Marc, and John's favorite condition for digging the power trenches, but they're up for the challenge. Since the utilities (electricity, cable and phone) are going underground, a roughly 2.5 foot deep trench needs to be dug from the house to the barn and from the barn to the utility pole at the roadside.
Some of the ground was covered in insulating snow which kept the ground unfrozen and much easier to dig. The bare sections, such as along and across the driveway, were a different story. Gary had to use his jack hammer attachment to loosen the hard frozen ground before trenching. He kept at it, and was almost finished at the pole when he encountered ledge. The jack hammer went back on, and he banged away at the rock. Meanwhile, conduit was placed in the rest of the trench and all but these last 10 ornery feet were backfilled. Short days and cold weather extended this process over several days.

Then it rained. The unfilled ledge section filled up with water:


The forecast was predicting more cold temperatures and soon. The trench had to be promptly pumped before it froze solid. John spent a day pumping water and digging in sub-zero winds. The remainig pipe was laid, backfilled and this phase was complete:



Conduit in the trench:


Marc the electrician poses for us:


Future electrical panel in basement:


Once the conduits are in place, Marc uses a vacuum to suck a string through them. These will then be attached to wires and fished through. It's a pretty high tech procedure ;-)

Pretty soon the electricity will be here and construction life will be much happier.

Closure

As temperatures drop, and and winter is officially here, we're anxious to finish closing the house to the weather. Now that the roof framing is in place it's time to sheath the gable ends, roof overhangs, and the roof itself. The goal is to accomplish this before the holidays. Realizing that some extra hands are necessary, John starts making phone calls. David (from next door), says he can be available starting the next day! Krzys rearranges his busy schedule and helps too. Back at the shop, John cuts and primes the gable brackets and pine board sheathing (for the overhang). Meanwhile, Gary is trenching for the underground utilities. More about this will be in our next post.

David and John pose with the sheathed gable ends:

Roof parts -- gable brackets:

Roof parts -- pine board sheathing:

John takes a break from making roof parts in the shop:

Installed gable grackets:

Brackets and pine board sheathing:

Rafter tails and pine board sheathing:

The roof is now ready for the plywood sheathing:

Finally, the roof is sheathed. It's the Afternoon of December 23rd, cold, and windy. The guys comment about hauling 4 by 8 foot pieces of plywood up to the roof in the cold and gusty winds. It's a challenge! And It's done ... well, almost ... John installs the last piece:

(click to enlarge)

On December 24th, the morning is spent applying the roof paper. This will protect it until the final material is installed. Gary, Kryzs, John and David take a morning break to refuel with eggnog and pastries:

Then it's back to the final pieces:

By mid afternoon, they're finished:

Merry Christmas!

P.S. to Roof Framing

By the time the roof framing was finished yesterday, it was already too dark to take photos.
Days are pretty short lately. John took these photos today.

Here are the rafter tails:


North side of house:


And the south side:

The finished and backfilled barn foundation:

Framing the Roof

Later last week and through the weekend, John prepped for framing the roof. Rafters, jack rafters and headers were cut and notched. On Monday Paul helped with finishing the rafter tails. These had to be cut, sanded, have the edges routed, and be sanded again. In all, 39 full length rafters were finished along with miscellaneous partial rafters and other pieces. These were ready for Tuesday's group of volunteers who also happen to be our neighbors. Talk about being neighborly!

Thank you Paul, Fred, Eric and David.

Here's Eric and his son David bringing up rafters from below:

Paul and David place the rafters:

Almost there:

We took another break on Sunday to celebrate Mr. Bean's 3rd birthday. (The candle was lit many times over...they're fun to blow out!)