Almost finished on the outside

We are getting there. Need to order a bit more fascia material and install a few more pieces of siding, then front stairs so that we no longer have to practice agility. We thought we had a contractor to build the stairs to allow us to move on to the inside, but he has not arrived yet, so we wait. D. and Justin have moved onto another plastering job, but will return for one last kick at the cat on the soffit and fascia.

Can you spot what's missing?

For the untrained eye, it may be hard to notice, but for us, as it has been a landmark and the first thing we saw upon approach to our property. This is where the rented port-a-potty used to sit or rather where we used to sit on the rented port-a-potty. We were so delighted to return to the site today and find it gone. We only regret that we didn't get a chance to steal the toilet paper before it left!!

Foiled Yet Again

Turns out the lack of heat in the house really hampers things curing entirely. The floor is still not completely dry, and we have learned that tile glue also takes awhile to cure in the cold. We slept in the house one night and scratched the floor with the feet of the bed, so we are back down in the trailer. Hope the heat gets connected soon.

The Trades Return

This week, now that the floors are done, the plumbers have returned and have been working on the plumbing portion for the radiant floors. Our utility room now belongs in a scene from an old submarine movie, what with all the valves and pipes and gauges. They have gone as far as they can until the electrician returns and wires up a thermostat and coil of some sort. Claudio, our neighbor from so long ago when we lived in Ottawa, appeared with the tiles for the shower and set to work on that project, and on Saturday, the electricians returned and connected all of the lights, switches and plugs. He showed us what has been wired to stay on via the generator in the event of a power failure and there doesn't appear to be much that won't be on. I had purchased a light fixture from the local antique purveyor, and our electrician rewired and repaired it. His wife even repainted the hardware on it and it looks as good as new.
It's Saturday, rainy and warm and I think we plan to barbeque and then sleep in our newly lit house. It will be cool, but not nearly as cold as the trailer has been. We can almost taste it now!!
On a sad note, Deirdre pulled the Boler, her home away from home, out of its resting place and towed it home to Peterborough, as they have but one days work left. The Kenyon Road Trailer Park is down to only one trailer, ours! It will be sad to see her and Justin leave for good, as we have looked forward to their return each week. This project has been such a joy for us.
On a happy note, we are looking forward to another warm bed and meal courtesy of sympathetic friends who, through our blog, we have guilted into feeling sorry for our plight. Love this blog!!

Another Before and After

Justin and Deirdre installed the strapping on the gable before proceeding with the steel installation. Here they are taking a moment to plan out the next step. And here they have completed the steel on the roof, the little skirt roof and the valley. All that is left to install for the steel is the flashing that runs along the vestibule roof edge along the gable.

Ready for the siding and after that the soffit and fascia.

What your newspapers become

The insulation that we blew into the attic was cellulose, which is basically shredded up paper. The depth was marked on the trusses with flagging tape, trouble lights were strung so as to provide some visibility and then Deirdre, the smallest and likely most flexible of us, climbed up there and went to work. This is what our cozy attic looks like now that it has been insulated.

We were aiming for R50 and I think we succeeded!

Back at it

If only the weather would be a bit more cooperative, as in not so cold, we might move along a bit faster. The exterior work has continued on the outside, but this time the neglected front porch area is receiving some love. Dierdre mentioned that she was glad to actually start it, as it has been the saddest looking part and is the highest profile. We were waiting to install the roofing steel until we had completed the insulation, as it was being blown in from above. Also, yet to be built were the valleys where the porch met the house, so it was all scheduled to happen in one fell swoop.

As they were up on the roof working out the details, I installed the door hardware on three doors. I work very slowly and what I thought would take me no time actually consumed most of one day. How discouraging. At this rate, I'll have all the interior doors hung and hardware on in about two years!!

Floor Pics

Now that we are finally able to get back into the house, we thought we might share a couple of floor pictures. Most people would get a surprised look upon their faces when we told them the concrete was our finished floor, but this is what we were hoping for and we are most delighted with the outcome. They truly look weathered, or as Justin described it, "rusted".

Once they were completed, Andre got started sealing the drywall. He spent three cold days in the house a-lot warmer than the three of us who were working on the exterior.

A ton to share but everything else pales compared to this

I am at the pub a couple of pints in and not much in the mood for blogging, however we had to share this most important development. Our new favorite people are the plumbers, and just in the nick of time, because our port-a-potty people have really started to stink as we are once again in discussion with them about service issues. Although the plumbers were here to work on the radiant heating, we felt this was their most impressive piece of work!!

You will notice the clean lines of the American Standard Cadet 3, which won awards for receiving the top flushing standards of the industry, scoring 1000 out of 1000. No Poo!!

Fall Is Definately in the Air

We are freezing in our little trailer, and as bad as it is for us, it`s Justin who is living in our garage that we really feel for. It is unheated and uninsulated, so he may as well be sleeping outside. The overnight temperatures are minus 4 and 5, and the warmest it gets in our trailer with our little heater is 7 degrees. The drinking water is frozen in the morning and we now keep things in the fridge to keep them from freezing!! I`m certain Deirdre and Justin are looking forward to finishing here and moving onto a warmer project. The good news is that we have had the propane tanks delivered for the in-floor heat, so we are hopeful the plumber can return and hook that up in short order, whatever that involves. On the positive side, Mother Nature has provided us with the most beautiful carpet for our outdoor living situation.

Work Continues on the Exterior

The colder weather hasn`t stopped the work and this week we moved ahead with the final finishing. Deirdre and Justin always work to an order of operations, so first was strapping and siding, then the soffit and fascia. They were up the scaffolding and I stayed on the ground and did the cutting. We simply ran out of daylight hours, so will finish what is left on the rear of the house before moving on.

We also started the cellulose installation. We are blowing 16 inches in the attic, so all of the prep work for that was done which involved dropping down the requisite hoses for the HRV and dryer vents, and sealing those perforations in the vapour barrier. This will be one snug little house.

The First Glimpse of the Building Without the Tarps

Andre and I removed the tarps on Monday afternoon so that work could start first thing Tuesday morning on the exterior finishing. This is what the building looks like. Andre thinks if it had a bell tower, it could be a church. The flooring guy says it feels like a school-house. Either way, I love its simplicity. It will not be painted until next spring, so we have a whole season to think about color. The paint will be a mineral silicate or organic paint, which is an integral part of the process. www.eco-house.com

We're Floored

What was supposed to take 5 days ended up taking two weeks. The lousy weather and lack of heat really hindered the curing process and it wasn't until we added heat that we were able to make a bit of progress in this regard. Actually, we had nothing to do with it, but are happy to report that the floors are finally completed. No pictures of the completed floor yet, but stay tuned. This was the during.

The look we are hoping for is worn leather and it's heading that way.

We tried to add electric heat, but the dinky little electric heaters we had were not up to the task and blew the breaker. So we rented a larger unit. Can't rent a propane model as none of us were trained in it`s use. Apparently, someone on site has to have a propane certificate so we rented a kerosene model. Basically a rocket engine sitting on a tank of gas, but supposedly safer. We fired it up outside and stuffed the hose in the bathroom window and secured the other end of the hose to a framed door opening. But it was very effective and raised the temperature from 7 to 14 degrees in an hour. We are going to keep this thing around for a little while so that Andre can prime the new drywall.

I think we are caught up now

Having the floors done means we can't get into the house at all for this week and now it's looking like maybe the start of next week as well. Garage is cleaned, material all on site for the next phases of the project which are siding, soffits, fascia and the last little bits of roofing. Thanksgiving weekend is here and we are tired of being cold and wet. The kids are coming for a visit from Toronto, so we have rented a cottage for the weekend. I have already been advised that I should make some plans for Sunday that doesn't include the guys as apparently there is a football game or two on the television. Wait, what's that word?? TV? Yes, we are going to gorge ourselves on real food cooked indoors and showers whenever we want, but most importantly, warmth. Two straight weeks of rain is misery in a small habitat. That's why our blogging is up. No construction work to do and cold wet weather have put us on a first name basis with the matron at the library and the server at the pub, although tonight we will steer clear of our favorite pub as it's their "romantic steak dinner for two" night and well...er.. ah ...we just ate beef!!

My most favourite thing that makes me smile everyday

Well, besides my husband (awwww) are the light tubes. These are made of vintage light fixtures which were taped to clear glass vases to make them all the same width as the bales. They were then set into holes Justin cut in the bales using a hole saw and the chain saw, and then they were plastered around. They are like little gemstones in the wall and I love 'em.

Some of our treasures

We showed you how we made the niche, but never showed you what it looked like in the end. This is it. The sill still needs to be stained, but that's a future project. If anyone has a used "icon" they would like to donate to the cause...

Most bale homes have what it called a "truth" window. Usually a frame of some sort that is plastered into the wall that shows the straw behind it. We didn't want to commit to a frame "style" and couldn't come up with an appropriate location for one that wasn't in-your-face obvious. So we used an old heat register instead, and set it low to the floor. This is it.

The Week of Rest

We have had this week to ourselves as Dierdre, Justin and the rest of the crew departed for another plastering job this week. That is fine as we have a million and one other things to do that do not involve construction. For one, we tackled the garage. It remained unloved, full of stuff, and was to the point where we needed things we knew were in there, but could never find them. So we took a few days and got somewhat organized. We could have a barn dance in there now. Things we think we will not need for a while were fired up into the rafters, all labeled on the ends of their boxes so that at a glance we can tell what is in each one. Then tools and stuff were placed against the walls not necessarily ready to be used, but at least out of the way. We plan to assemble a kitchen in there when the time comes, so this step certainly helps.

We have also been getting rid of more trash. The foam off-cuts from the under-slab and between the sill plates are all gone. More bags of plastic wrap from insulation, foam, windows, etc. that has been used as many times as possible are gone. The offcuts of plywood and such from the garage construction are in the dump. So generally it is starting to look a bit tidier around the yard.

Lastly, this week we are having the floors acid etched and the contractor is having a bugger of a time. For whatever reason, and there could be several, the stain is not penetrating the floor as well as he would like to see. We are getting more of a speckled effect which we are perfectly fine with. The contractor is http://www.surfaceconversions.ca/ . And as usual, the weather is not cooperating and is making it difficult for things to dry and set up in a timely fashion. Too much rain and humidity and cool temperatures, compounded by the fact that we have no heat in the house yet, so it's a slow process. This is the work in progress.

For us, it's "what will be will be". The beauty of a straw bale home are its perfect imperfections, at least in our mind.

How hard is it to buy a toilet?

Apparently, quite. I have this idea, that as soon as the floors are complete and we can get back into the house, that a toilet installed would be a lovely thing. But the toilets I want are not in Perth, or Carleton Place for that matter, so it took a drive into Ottawa. But this afternoon, we returned, victorious! Flushing action, here we come.

The Wildlife Visits

This is my outdoor kitchen.

It is entirely metal and it contains metal pots and pans, empty propane cylinders, empty wine bottles and the dish washing supplies. The back of it used to be open to the trailer, but too many 4:00 am visits by the raccoons rattling around right under where we were asleep forced us to close it up. We thought that was the end of them.

Justin learned that they were still around, when he left some corn soaking in water that he was hoping to cook over the camp-fire. Come morning, the bucket was empty and it wasn't until a few days later did we find evidence of the night time raiders.

That raccoon had left a tidy little trail of corn-cobs, each one as picked clean as the next. This is what the cooler looks like most morning now and all we keep in it are drinks.

It seems raccoons aren't the only visitors. One night this week, with the full moon, Andre awoke in the middle of the night to hear the coyotes yipping and howling. I guess it really is true, "a guy gets high on a bottle of rye, and coyotes get drunk on the moon" - (Ian Tyson).

The deer are changing colors, or is it they look a different shade against the changing leaves? The chipmunks are so busy gathering nuts and stuff that they hardly notice we are here and run right across our boots. The frogs are fewer, but each morning there are a few hairy caterpillars that are the size of our finger crawling up the newly plastered walls. The wild turkeys are everywhere now. But I am happy to report that crazy hissing thing has never made a return.

Oh, did I not mention the crazy hissing thing? The thing that hissed so loudly as I made my way to the port-a-potty at about 3:00 am one morning. At first, I thought I maybe was hearing things as what could possible hiss so loudly, but while sitting there, I heard it three more times. Holy ****. Good thing I was where I was, sort-of. So now I had to choose to stay in there, which wasn't a nice choice, or risk life and limb with whatever was hissing. I chose to stay a while and hope that Andre would notice me not in the bed next to him. When I finally decided to leave there and dash to the trailer, upon my return, Andre asked what took me so long. I said I was scared of the hissing thing, and he said he just thought I'd fallen asleep in there. I guaranteed him, that I would never fall asleep in there, no matter how exhausted or intoxicated I might ever get, and that he should have checked on me. And then he confessed that he would have, but he didn't want to scare the hissing thing!

The Cathedral Ceiling

Deirdre and I started on the tongue and groove ceiling when Andre and Justin were working on the outside prep work, but we all four jumped on it the day after the plaster was completed. It was scaffold work and long runs of 16' boards meant three of us on a board. We wrapped that up in no time and the end result is very pleasing.

Here I am modelling the latest in cold-weather ceiling installation fashion. Knee pads - check. (That scaffolding is murder on the knees when you are a little bit older!!) Ear plugs - check. Safety glasses - check. Dancing slippers - check. Catwalk pose - check.

Others hard at work

The final plaster operation was the parging application. We used a piece of foam insulation to protect the flashing from the plaster and sprayed it on. It was then trowelled smooth and finally brushed later that night.

David and Andre, taking a break from proceedings.

Our cast and crew

Andre is a man of few words, but with him around, things just miraculously get done. He's like the wind.

Sean is the details trowel guy. His seeing our place was good for him as he plans to build a bale house exactly the same size in the future.

Dale is an enigma. How else would you describe someone wearing shorts and a touque? He is also a troweller "extraordinaire". Justin, (without a mask on or a shot of his rear-end). He is the energizer-bunny of straw bale building. He just keeps going and going.

Deirdre, laying a lovin' on the walls by hand rubbing every square inch.

They're BAAACKK

Here we go for the second round of plastering. This time we are working on the exterior and the same characters arrived on Sunday night to be ready to go first thing on Monday morning. As it was raining, and the grass out back was wet and a foot tall, they all decided to sleep in the house. Each claimed a little bit of space in separate rooms and set up whatever form of bed they had brought along. Andre and I had retrieved the patio table from the garage and a few lawn chairs etc and set up a little dining/card table for them. Luckily, the drywallers didn't have to sand yet, so the three nights the guys slept in the house, there was no additional dust being created.

Lou and David arrived Monday morning to assist us. Things were as they should be, the professionals were in place, Deirdre was healthy and back mixing and Andre and I and our volunteer help were employed appropriately - running mud up the hill. I did get to try my hand at trowelling, and found it to be enjoyable, but that was only a small corner of the house (mind you - it's the most beautiful corner!!)

So, second coat on and parging in place. We love it!.

The Drywallers Visit

It's starting to feel like a house, but really starts to take shape when these guys start their magic. The entire place was boarded in one day, and the next day the mudder/tapers arrived. They were very diligent about picking up any dropped screws, as they were working on what would be the finished floor, but it is still a messy job. Asked whether drywall or plaster is preferred, we both agreed plaster, although way heavier, it's not nearly as dusty. The only surprise was that we are responsible for getting rid of their waste. Most "job-sites" have dumpsters on site. We don't. We have been diligent about trying to reuse and reduce waste. This was what was left after they departed. Our local dump does not recycle drywall, so it is considered construction waste and we are charged by the yard.