Please, Tell Me Where I Get It Wrong

    Say I want to buy some communications device...I'm sort of leaning towards an I-Pad but I'm not sure.
    I have money.  I'm going to weigh this product's value to me against how much money I have to part with to get it.  This is 100% my decision.
    The makers of communication devices want my money.  They are competing to research and develop the best product, and know that the cheaper they can sell it for, the more likely I am to decide having it benefits me more than having the money.
    They have to take some risks.  They have to decide what features are selling points, guess at how many to produce---not enough, they sell out and I buy something else.  Too many , they invested too much in production and hiring.  It's a tricky thing, business. 
    This is the height of efficiency.  A company that chronically makes poor decisions eventually is replaced by one that does not.  I end up with the best product for the price---maybe even decide to do without.
    Sure, it took hard work.  Probably not as hard as Masai women work their cattle on a daily basis, though.  Sure, it took smarts---but smarts are a very difficult thing to quantify, and there are some very successful people that really aren't that bright.
    Here's what the left is missing.  You also need to specialize----which is why the Third World is full of hard working people still in the Third World.  You also need to take your unique specialty and take some risks.   Just hired employees take very little risk--the people that employ them have taken a risk by hiring them.  Often they've invested their savings in an idea, borrowed against a house, stretched very thin.  Most fail, some succeed.   The ones that succeed USED to be looked up to and emulated.  Every single penny of our economy has come from two sources---people capitalizing on their resources, or borrowing against the future capitalization of resources.  That's it.  The government has no money.
   So here is our president telling people business starters didn't build their business.
   Do you know how profoundly insulting that is?  We are proud of America, Mr. President, because here, if we work hard, and smart, and take risks, and produce something that's more valuable to people than the money in their pocket, we might succeed.
   My cottage industry (building cottages) is a second career.  I work harder there than my main job, 14 hour days are not unusual.  I LOVE providing housing for people.  They have decided staying in the homes I've built is a higher value to them than the rent they pay.  As soon as it's not, they leave.
   Roads, Schools???? Are you kidding me?  Do you have any idea the kind of road fees I pay to get a permit?  And continue to pay with every gallon of gas driven to build and maintain?  I spent more on the school fees and parks fees to build (never mind there is no park in the subregion) than I did on lumber!
   So my reward is a higher tax bracket.  You need to tax behaviour you are trying to discourage, like smoking.
    Anyway, I build the best places I can in the hopes people will decide to rent them.  WE are blessed with good tenants and I want to continue to provide safe, functional living spaces---my tenants are people, and friends. 
    Compare that with our President's drive to socialize medicine.  I don't get to decide if the service is worth exchanging my money for.  I'm required to buy it.  There is no incentive for healthcare to be efficient, or good, or innovative.  Demand will skyrocket since there's no financial impact either way.  There will be no competition to provide the best service, people will just want to get me in and out and who cares if I die anyway?
    A private drug company just developed Truvada, a promising drug to prevent HIV infections.  This innovation didn't come from the government and the more intrusion there is, the less of this sort of thing we'll have.
    Which came first Mr. President---Mr. Ford and his assembly line, or the government built roads?  You want to hold education of our heads?  End it!  Families that value education for their kids will find a way and it will become far more efficient---the tax savings will be far greater than the cost of privately run, competetive schools. 
    You exposed yourself, Mr. President.  Your rhetoric is polar opposite of what it means to me to be an American.  You can't be proud of yur country and want to fundamentally change it at the same time.  I just hope everyone else sees it too before you get another term with no worries about needing to get re elected.  We can't afford it.

Problems, Solutions

   Finish work is pretty cool.  You're actually working on stuff that's going to show.  There's a real temptation to rush now that the finish line is so close, but this is the stage that differentiates a good build and a great build.  From here it's like a basic remodel in the amount of work left to do.\
   I'm starting with the bathroom because having a working bathroom will save the time it takes to go home and come back a few times a day.  Not that it's hard to cross the street (which is the extent of the commute) but once I'm home there are always distractions that keep me from going back----blogging, for example.
   I'm confronting all these little issues I'd thought about before even breaking ground, and decided to just deal with when the time came.  I wanted the window in the bathroom low enough that AnnaMarie could reach it, and she knew exactly which tub surround she wanted installed---(She really likes how easy the pre-formed ones are to clean) but they are higher than where the window goes.

     So the surround was held against the window and traced, then cut.  I bought some vinyl corner trim, cut it to size, and gooped it into place with silicone.  I didn't want to use metal fasteners in the wet location.  Also the 'mud' in the window sill is waterproof stuff.  It's still high enoughthat it really shouldn't get wet at all.  I wanted to slope the sill so shampoo bottles won't be left there (I think houses look tacky from outside when you see that in the window) but that would have meant cutting out more of the surround and made the trimwork difficult since it wouldn't be square anymore.
     Problem #2.  Months ago when I sweated in the tub mixer, I kept all the plumbing in the center of the 2x6 walls so I wouldn't hit them with nails or screws.  So I went to put the faucet handle together, and the mixer was too deep in the wall.  The screws for the faceplace wouldn't reach, nor would the handle or the mounting tube.  Nuts!  Does that mean I have to tear out the new surround, and the greenboard, and re-plumb everything so it's closer to the surface?

   Well, I got to thinkin' I couldn't be the only person to deal with this.  People add 3/4" of tile all the time so there must be a simple solution.
   So I got online and sure enough, Moen offers an extension kit.  It comes with a longer tube, longer temperature limiter, a variety of screws for the face plate, and an extension that goes over the valve controller for the knob.  It was $12.  They even offered a few different depth extensions.  I guessed 1" would do it, and it did.

Starting the Ending

   If it seems like I post random pictures here...well, I sorta do.  See, I haunt a site called http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?action=forum .  It's a forum for owner/builders.  What is interesting is they are trying to sell house plans but encourage owner/builders that don't even buy their plans---they even facilitated getting my plans to someone else that was interested in them.  It's a great resource for owner builders with questions or comments.  I just like seeing what others are building.  It's a whole spectrum---some super fancy, some downright unsafe.
   So in the home stretch now.  I was trying to figure out how to finish the beam that holds up the bedroom and opted for deep sanding and a clear polyurethane.  Mom suggested a pantry and broom closet up against the wall (It will be behind the bar area)  so that's done. 

     The chimney chase was a difficult design element.  AnnaMarie wanted it to match the outside boulders--how they look uncut, then incorporate some cut stones.  All the stones are native to the lot.  It would have been cool to do the whole thing in a stone veneer but it would add a year to the project and lots of weight to the chimney.  This pic is taken from way up a ladder.  Really you will only look at this from a ground floor vantage point, and from the reading nook it's mostly stone.  All the wood will be white.

  I got the mantel and some other stuff varnished up.  This is the same mystery wood the stair rails and balusters will be made of.  it's beautiful, whatever it is.  Once all the balusters are lined up in place it'll be really pretty.

Balusters (Spindles for the people outside the trade)

    So the challenge from the foreperson (AnnaMarie---this will be her own house)  was to make the stairs match the mantel.  See previous post for the wood source.  It isn't teak.  It's either some sort of oak or mahogany----I've compared it to both and it doesn't quite match either---but it does match the mantel, since it came from the same place.
    NOBODY will mill wood they didn't sell you.  They are scared of nails I think.  So I had a truckload of hardwood 8x12's that needed to become 2x2's with no way to cut them.  So, as always, call Byron.
    Byron.  I hope everyone that reads this knows one.  The bail out guy.  The drop everything to make it happen guy.  He'd the white blood cell of humanity, taking care of the stuff no one else can.  With no notice, he told me to just lug the stuff up to OC and we'd make it work.
    He's got a friend that owns a tall ship---his warehouse has cool tools, exotic wood, old cars.  We went there and set up to cut.

       Here we are cutting the beams into slabs.  First we used a chainsaw to 'shorten' the stock---still much longer than the finished balusters will be.   It was slow going until we broke the saw blade and replaced it--then it was like butter.

                   Then we moved a table saw outside and cut the slabs into the 2x2's I needed to make the balusters.  Footnote:  truck in the background passed the 200,000 mile mark on the way home, carrying lots of wood and a sofa I bought on the way home for the new place (AM found it on Craigslist)

                            The finished balusters, Byron, and a boat that's up for grabs if anyone wants it---(Scot---the guy that owns this shop is the guy that owns the Astor)   In the spectrum between what I could afford and what Byron's time is worth, when I paid him I'm afraid I edged towards the former.  He is guaranteed free stays whenever though.

Finishing the Finishing

   There really is very little drywall-- Just the kitchen wall here, a little over the fireplace where the TV will be mounted (and hidden behind shutters) and the bathroom walls. There's a rough texture on the drywall to stick with the cottage-y feel. 

   AnnaMarie LOVES the mantel.  It is cut from a single piece of what I thought was doug fir until I cut into it, then I thought it was red oak.  She loves the contrast of the weathered outside and the tight grain inside, and wants all the stair balusters and railing around the reading nook out of the same stuff.  I started looking around for weathered oak, but none that I found really looked like it.
   That's because it isn't oak.

I started poking around this old bone yard where the original piece for the mantel came from (Actually it was in a dumpster nearby.  Lifting it out was fun)  I spoke to the owner.  He told me his brother helped build a tall masted ship decades ago and he grabbed the cutoffs from the beams, put them in the boneyard,  and just let them weather.  He just kept them around thinking somebody might need them.  I'm somebody.  It took a whole lot of moving old aircraft parts to get to the ones that are worthwhile.  They are HEAVY. 

                          
  Here they are in the old truck.  I called around, but nobody will mill stuff they didn't sell you.  I called Byron, who is dropping everything tomorrow so he can help---I'm lugging them up to OC where he's got big tools and we'll see if we can cut them up.
   I'm pretty sure they're teak.

Gettin' Plastered

  All the interior siding is in.  Before painting it (some shade of white, semi-gloss) all the trim has to be done.  Before the trim gets done, the interior chimney finish has to be completed.
   Here's the challenges with THIS stage...It's 18' up. It's stone and colored plaster over an expanded steel mesh.

I cut up a bunch more stones and laid them out so they could be chosen quickly.  These all came from the building site.  The white ones are quartz with topaz streaks.  Very hard.

     Here's the chimney chase.  The flue for the wall furnace is hidden inside.  It's as small as it could be so as not to block the view of the lake from the reading nook.  That ladder is awesome.  It's clamped both ends so it won't wobble. 

   The strongest framing is nearest the wall so I wanted the expanded steel to wrap all the way around and screwed in place.  I put washers on the screws first so they wouldn't work their way through

    The start of the stone veneer.  It would have been cool to do the same veneer all the way up but I thought it would be too heavy.

  here's the look I'm after.  I want the plaster to match the outside foundation, with the stone outcroppings matching the fireplace surround. 

Very First Build

            This is a fairly old picture of an older cabin.  This is the first owner/builder project I was involved in.  I was probably 3 years old---I'll bet Bob and Jim remember it better, but my earliest memories of anything are of 'helping' dad build this.
            It's a 600 square foot 'A' frame in Running Springs, maybe 4 hour drive from where I live now.  I remember carrying a hammer around, asking for a hammer for my birthday, and nailing boards together.  I remember the smell of fresh cut lumber and big black beetles.  I remember when we'd go up to the cabin for the weekend how it was way, way up a hill you had to climb, carrying groceries---when I came back decades after we'd sold it I was genuinely surprised how close to the road it was.
           When we owned it the underside wasn't enclosed---just posts and cross bracing, and a cool swing.  There was a trap door so Mom could just sweep dirt right out.  The deck only went off the front and those stairs weren't there---you just went around the back.  I'm not really sure why they added those stairs.
          I was called up to do some helicopter work for the Butler II incident, very close to here.  This cabin took some damage on the right side from that fire.  We had a family ski trip the next winter and wanted to get a pic with my kids.  So many memories of weekend trips, birthday parties, snow, how Dad would keep the freestanding fireplace going all night in the winter just to get the place up to 62 degrees.  I really didn't want Dad to sell it.  I'm guessing he sold it around 1978 or so.  I think he was nervous about the prospect of 4 teenage boys having access to a mountain getaway.  If he hadn't overestimated our prowess in matters of love or partying, he could have kept it.  In any event it's good to see it's still standing, though it looks pretty different

Even more done

 

So here's the latest finished outside.  The foundation is painted after two tries----first attempt I tried to match the hearth so it was darker brown with black and natural concrete streaks.  It looked exactly as I imagined.  When AnnaMarie came to look at it though it looked nothing like she'd imagined, so I lightened up the brown concrete stain and made it all the same.  She was right, of course--- you shouldn't draw attention to the foundation.  We'll probably plant around it anyway.

   The bench seat in the bay is done.  The lid comes off for storage.  It's kind of a bad angle picture---the planks to the left look wider because they're closer---it's the back of the fireplace housing.  I have a little more interior siding to do, maybe 300 square feet or so

The great wall has been a pain since day one.  Standing it up, insulation, siding the outside, now siding the inside.  I want as few seams (butt joints) as possible so getting 20' wide boards up high in a 20' wide house is tricky. 

Exterior Done!

  With the exception of some stain for the foundation concrete and the stone bridge to the front porch, and a little black touch up paint for the chimney cap, the exterior is done!

  The foundation is going to be stained brown with black streaks.  The chimney cap needs a little more of the high temp flat black paint....The porch lights came from 'Architechtural Salvage' in Little Italy---very old, $25 each (there are three of them)  AnnaMarie says they fit perfect.

      The porch ceiling had to be fire resistive, like everything else.  It was boring and flat so I cut up some of the extra soffit material in 3" wide strips and trimmed it out some.  Caulking all the joints and seams before painting really smooted it all out----with white paint, any gap, no matter how small, looks black.  A.M. loves red doors.  The deck and railing will fade lighter over time.

 
   Here's the backside.  The eyebrow eave was an afterthought and not on the plans.  The rangehood vent is tucked way up under the eave on the water heater chase---that duct was a bear to run...The hinge for the water heater access door left a big ugly gap so I slipped a length of old firehose under the trimand lapped it over the door.  It took paint well---we'll see how it weathers.  The rain gutter was a must---rain fell off the roof to the downward slope and splashed mud onto the house.  I still plan on some digging and gravel on this side.

  The bright chrome chimney parts didn't look good so they got two coats of high temp primer, then high temp flat black.  All the vent pipes will get the same.

  The chimney from the back side----the furnace flue is hidden behind it from the street.  I didn't want any vents or plumbing showing from the street side.  I cut the slate into random widths and cut the corners off, and drilled screwholes.  They were attached with mastic but screwed in place too---with the shingle lap I was afraid of them sagging before the mastic set up.  I caulked the corners with a mix of black and gray silicone.

Now to get to work on the inside....

Gotta Vent

Venting the range hood has been kicking my butt.  The outside wall opposite the range is the housing for the tankless water heater, and the wall is full of supply and drain pipes, gas lines, and wires.  I found a path I can snake this 4" flex duct around though and the vent itself is now hiddwn on the back side of the water heater enclosure, high enough that exhaust won't go back in through the kitchen window.

The access door to the water heater has to be all fire resistive construction, too.  I put the heavy duty hinges on top---so it opens from the bottom.  I had to leave a big gap at the top of the door so it could hinge, and it was ugly and too big a gap to pass inspection so I took off the trim board over the door and sandwiched a piece of fire hose under it.  It looks pretty good.  Also yesterday I finished putting up the siding!  That was a good feeling.  I still need to caulk and paint and put in rain gutters. 

  

This is the scariest drill bit EVER!  I needed to drill through the kitchen wall in just the right spot to run the exhaust duct.  The hole saw bit I needed was $60 plus $20 for the extension.  For one hole.  Byron suggested Harbor Freight and I found this adjustable one for $7.  It worked, but after drilling through the cement siding board it's all worn out. 

The picture's a bit fuzzy because I took it in the pre-dawn hours before I left for work.  After finishing the siding yesterday I got to work on cladding the chimney with slate.  Each slate tile was cut a random width, two corners cat at 45 degree angles, and a hole drilled in the center (My old partner from SDFD, Mike Rea, came up  for an afternoon so I introduced him to the wet saw)  I had to mix up a special mastic and try to get it on without it dripping on the roofing, then screwed each shingle in place, overlapping the row below.  I ran out of shingles, mastic, daylight, battery life in the driver, and personal energy all at the same time---but got it finished.  I still need the sheet metal top cap.

The Hype Gap

    An interesting dynamic in presidential elections is the hype gap.  I remember people fainting and swooning over Clinton, Obama, even Kerry and Dukakis albeit to a lesser degree.   I don't recall seeing the same kind of pop hero status for Republican candidates---enthusiasm, yes, but no contrived hype.
      Some may point to the main stream media and say it just isn't presented in a balanced way, always doing what they can to support the liberal.
      When Gore was running against Bush, there was absolutely more hype behind Gore.  We could bicker about how the final 255 votes were counted, but I think we'd agree it wouldn't have been a landslide either way.  My liberal friends point to the disparity in fervor and predict outcome based on that---whoever has the tide of excitement will win.  There's always a danger, though, in painting your opponent with the same brush as your view.
       Conservatives, however, want LESS government.  We want more individual freedom, more liberty.  We don't want our potential stifled by progressive taxes or our innovations quashed by out of control regulations.  We believe in the free market,  and any government meddling only hurts the economy.
        So we're suspicious of all politicians.  We want to support the government official who is entrenched in government but for the individual, not the government.  We want a candidate who sees the Constitution as an important protection of the citizens from an overly intrusive government, not a stumbling block to work around and manipulate in order to force programs on us that are way outside of the ennumerated powers (Healthcare for all under the interstate commerce clause?  Give me a break.  That's so far outside of what the framers intended and you know it.)
       So I'll still quietly support the candidate that's headed in the least wrong direction.  Being anti-Gore does not make me a huge Bush supporter (Thanks for all the illegal immigrants and the TSA, George) and I've got some serious concerns about Romney's record, so don't expect me to defend every action he has.  He's worth investing in since he will de-fund Obamacare.  It will take decades to undo the dmamge Obama has caused, and having him for 4 more years as a lame duck, with no need to please future voters and a desire to 'fundamentally change' America (which he has proven to be in a socialist direction---a system that has never once led to prosperity) my hype and enthusiasm lie behind not giving him a second term. 
       I get it---Obama's cool.  I might even prefer to spend an evening in a bar with Obama than Romney, but it's hard to tell about people through the press....Back in school, though, if I needed help with homework I wouldn't have asked the coolest kid, I'd ask the one who knew what he was doing.