Pipe Dream (well, nightmare)

   When I built the cabin I hit a water pipe with a nail...  Even though I'd protected them with nail plates at every stud.  The first nail out the nail gun bent, so I pulled it and tried again.  And again.  The third nail made its way through the nail plate into the pipe.  Pssshhhh!  Uhoh.  You can't see the nail plates, they're under the sheer panel.
    So, this time around, I was careful to run every pipe through the exact center of  2x6 walls.  The nails simply can't reach the pipe.  Well, except for an area of about 6 square inches where the pipe had to go around the sewer line coming down the wall.  That's 6 square inches out of 1600 square feet  That puts the odds at 1:38,400 for each nail fired.  So, shoot enough nails and get in rush mode before the snowstorm hits, what do you get?
   Pssshhhh.
   Nuts.

    At least it was a pretty easy fix this time.

  I was able to get a special pipe cutter in there---it clips around the pipe like a knob and you just keep turning it until it cuts the pipe.  I cut on either side of the hole .  A few feet to the left of the fix, the pipe turns and goes way up the wall so I had plenty movement to work with.  Normally you have to cut out a section and put in a new section with a coupling at each end.  They do make a nifty 5/8" pipe that you can use as a really long slip coupling.  I bought one for my repair kit.
  Construction projects have been burned to the ground by plumbing fixes.  Hot fire in enclosed wooden boxes, with all the water shut off.  Go figure.  I tood a scrap of the cemetitious soffit material and used it as a backer to protect the wood----worked great.  It's now part of the same repair kit.

    Here's the repair and the section I had to cut out.  I couldn't have hit that thing more square.  

This is the most recent picture

     There's not too much exterior siding left to do.  I will have to move the scaffolding over to this side to finish it off.  The yellow board over the fire sprinkler panel is where I hit the pipe, which is why work stopped there.  To the right, that's as high as I can reach without the scaffold

The Times They Are A Changin' (Back)

   When I started doing focus group work for DHS before it WAS DHS, I did it for the free travel.   As responsibilities back home increase, time away becomes more and more difficult---but my role here has gotten to a point that I actually look more forward to the meetings and what we accomplish more than anything else.   This was very productive.
   The reason I was brought to DC had nothing to do whatsoever with an assessment of public perception of the current executive branch and solely represents a rather biased observation through red tinted glasses.
    Last time I was in DC was before the last election.  There was an Obama mania going on.  Ongoing rallies, posters, buzz in the bars (people here are far more politically interested than on the west coast)---there was a real tide of  'Hope and Change'.  I'd try to pin people down to specifics but there weren't any, and everyone had their own ideas of what 'Hope and Change' actually meant----the campaign was genius in its vagueness; no one dug deep into what the message was or even who the candidate was.
    This trip was very, very different.

     Not much in the way of Obama stickers around.  There were quite a few like this, if you looked--worn away or maybe even scraped partially off.  I couldn't really pick up on any one hot topic while talking to locals, except that it was too cold out (so much for global warming--people were lamenting last time that there would be no more cherry blossoms on the national mall due to a lack of freeze).  There was more talk about Isreal than the upcoming election.

   In front of the White House there was a good sized protest of Obama policies towards Isreal.  (The tent and posters in the foreground aren't part of the rally---that's an anti nuke guy that's taken up residence there.   How that's allowed, I don't know)
   So, coming direct from the belly of the beast, Obama's got his work cut out for him this time around.  People will demand substance, and hopefully will actually scrutinize numbers and claims.  Incumbancy IS a huge boost with the bully pulpit and all, but people aren't fainting and swooning in his mere presence anymore

Shingles Are Painful

  But so far I'm not experienced personally with the medical condition.  I wanted wavy shingles up in the gables.  I couldn't find what I wanted, and have extra HardiePlank material.
  I started by cutting boards into 23" lengths---5 boards at a time. 

Next, lined them all up and snapped two chalk lines---at 10" and 13".  At each seam made a mark as sort of a target-- so my free hand wavy lines wouldn't get too crazy

First time doing this, with Byron here, we learned the importance of numbering the shingles.  There was still an issue with the numbering system since I went up one side and back the other---so when we added more, had to get into negative numbers.  This time I did odd near me and even away, so I can just keep adding numbers.  When it's time to install I'll just do all odds then all evens.

Then it's just cutting and stacking.  Next they'll get primed and painted, front, back, and edges.  They're all moved inside so when the snowstorm hits tomorrow it'll still get done

Livingroom and my Commute

  It's been too cold and windy most days to work outside so I've been mostly getting the spruce up on the interior.  Even a small fire will keep the place very warm.  The wood's beautiful---AnnaMarie says it's all getting painted gloss white though in keeping with the 'cottage' theme.  Wood is 'cabin'.

    The commute is a one minute walk.  The turkeys all start to congregate this time of year---they seem fond of my building site.

Slimy Chicago Style Politics

   It makes me angry that they do this----it makes me very angry that people do their part to fall for it, too.
Darrell Issa (R, CA) was chairing the house oversight committee--“to assess the impact of the healthcare mandate rule on freedom of religion,” and see whether the executive branch of government had overreached its constitutional authority, which of course it had.  A very serious accusation when you think about it, particularly with a devisive election coming up. 
   Here's what the Democrats did---they had a black woman there all coached, and they asked if she could address the panel about contraception.  Wrong committee, wrong topic---so Rep. Issa said 'No'.  It's his job to keep the meeting on topic, which this clearly wasn't.  So the Democrats stormed out to the waiting cameras, and the story out now is Issa won't allow women to testify about women's health issues.
   Slimy.
   I believe the Democrats are fully aware Obama is way over-reaching his constitutional authority and it's a toxic topic for them.  Preventing government oppression plays well with a huge part of the population, so they HAD to change the focus here to make it sound as if it were a hearing about contraception.
  If you are reading this, and you disagree, see if you can focus on this question----Does the president of the united states have the authority to require churches to pay for abortions?  If so, where in the constitution is this power listed?  

  

Building in the Snow

   This time last year, when the weather would turn, I could get a little bit done but before too long the elements and common sense would get the best of me.  I'd have to go home and be underfoot for AnnaMarie while the framing would be getting snowed upon.  Now, I have options.

     You're supposed to use the fireplace a few times with the house open to burn off any oils and contaminants from the manufacturing process.  This airtight fireplace drafts air from outside, and has a thermostat controlled blower.  It really puts out the heat.  I'm just tossing construction cut offs in as I go.

Also---here are the shutters I salvaged from a dumpster.  They have some 'character flaws' that I'm going to leave in place, just some little gouges here and there.  They go well in the bedroom, I think.  All the wood is going to get painted gloss white.

Working Up High

  Working up in the gables over the porch roof has proven to be difficult.  I moved my triangle braces over and screwed them to the wall.  I have to work from the top down, remove the braces, then from the bottom up, being careful the boards space out correctly.  It would look odd to have a half width board

Some pics from the Cuyamaca Cabin project

  This was the first owner builder project, 2000-2003

Fabric Formed Foundations

   Both of my owner/builder projects were built this way.  As far as I can tell, it's never been done elsewhere.  It solved some problems with building over expansive soils on a slope over boulders where there's frost and earthquakes.

A Trudge To Success

  Here's the fireplace, with the cut local stone veneer.  It might not look like much accomplished for a days work, but today was one curveball after another.
  When I got off wrk this morning, I had a wicked sore throat and plugged up ears.  It was raining, too, and AnnaMarie needed stuff from Walmart.  I really wanted to just spend the day lying down but the kids volunteered to watch three little kids for one of their teachers for the day.  I could just see passing this crud to a kid, to teacher, to whole school, so decided I'd just work on the cedar lining for the closet.  Low braindrain, no heavy lifting.   The compressor had other ideas.

  The little gasket on the pressure tube where it goes into the valve housing was shredded.  The part is $1.17 and shipping is $14 so I also ordered a new valve assembly (Byron's feeling on the cause of another compressor issue) and gaskets.  Total $27.77.  A new compressor is over $200.  No cedar work until the parts come.  So, the other indoor 'shovel ready' project is the fireplace.  Lauren had puzzle fit the stones on the template for me but all the edge ones needed trimming.  Lugged the wet saw inside and got it all set up.  It was working intermittently and I thought the burning plastic smell was from the space heater, until the smoke tipped me off to a failing plug.

If you are going to take on any big project, keep a supply of plugs around.  I have a tool repair kit all ready to go.  Electrical tape, cords, spare blades, motor brushes, allen wrenches.  (OK the kit is a cardboard box full of junk but it's somewhat organized)

With that repair done and not needing any special order parts, back to the veneer job.  You smear the mastic on ( make sure you buy the right kind.  This is high temp for stone) then spread it with a notched trowel.

  I put some carboard down to protect the hearth from the mastic.  The picture doesn't show how the notched trowel furrows the mastic.  I didn't angle the camera right, I guess.  Then you just start sticking the stones to the wall, pressing them in.  I kept a variety of tiny stones near to fill in.  You can put them in really tight to each other and skip mortaring the joints,  you can mix up mortar and use a mortar bag, (kind of like a frosting flute bag) or, if the joints are pretty small, you can buy elastomeric repair mortar in a caulk tube and just gun it into place.   In the top picture you can see under the hearth where I didn't mortar it yet, so there's white mastic showing through the stones. 

I feel a little guilty.  Projects like this are usually saved as a reward for completing a larger, more tedious step.  I have to get the exterior done.

Siding, Inside and Out

   I'm set up now, to get work done regardless of the weather.  With some beautiful days and some help from Byron, got the tall wall all sided.  The soffits are in, all caulked and painted.  The shingles up in the gable have a wavy look---they were cut from regular siding boards, freehand.  The pattern is matched for the gable under the eyebrow, too.  You can see the color the girls picked.  It's really going to stand out from the highway.

   Then Winter pays a visit.  Howling wind, sleet, in the 20's.   Time to get some indoors stuff done.  I set up the wet saw I bought on Craigslist for $50 and start making tiles from the stones that I found when the foundation and septic were dug.

     The kids were home for MLK day so I recruited Lauren to puzzle fit them together for the fireplace.  I made some templates the exact shape out of cardboard.   I'll get high temp mastic and put them on the hardiboard that's already in place--another cold weather project.   Right now, though, I'm getting some of the tongue and groove interior siding in.  It's very rewarding to work on stuff that will show.  This is the bedroom window with a window seat built in.  I added a reading light in the ceiling and a switch because it looked like an inviting place to sit with a book.  The picture of the lake is out that same window.