Cold Weather Construction Company

FINALLY got a full day to work on the project.  With Holidays, work, out of state travel, and bad weather, it's been frustratingly slow going.  As soon as I got home in the morning got to work.  All my lumber had frozen into a single mass, sort of like a bowl of hard candy.  A few good whacks with a sledge would free it up.  My concrete washout had filled with rainwater and frozen solid---the kids were ice skating on it.  Wish I had gotten a picture of that..
So the fireplace frame is done, which holds the really really heavy parallam beam up which will support the upstairs...I dropped it at one point and the corner put a palm sized soft spot in the subfloor.  It will be easy to patch and it's going to be under a kitchen base cabinet anyway. 
Next, framed the wall that holds the sliding glass door facing the lake. With diagonal bracing, everything's more solid. 
Next was lifting the parallam header into place that forms the opening into the bay window seating area, and holds the big wall in place (in anticipation of Sunday's impending wind/snow storm)  Getting this beam in place was scary and I have splinters in my neck from shoulder-loading it.
So starting a 72 hour shift right now.  I'll be at work while this storm passes, then I get 6 days in a row, with predicted nice weather, to work on this. 

Thanksgiving Break

 The George Family met us in Penasquitos Ranch (roughly halfway between our homes) for lunch out, at Claimjumper.  We burned off our meal at a nearby park----Rob had packed up a volleyball kit.   It was fun and the weather couldn't have been better---it was the only nice day of the week.

   Day before Thanksgiving a co-worker that often bow hunts at our cabin gave us this wild turkey.  Cooking it fell on my 'honeydo' list before leaving for work Thanksgiving proper.  Two years in a row eating fresh, wild turkey.  I don't think we could go back to store-bought again.  This was delicious and my family, that rarely eats any meat, devoured it.

Raising A Wall

 

Had plenty of time to think about how to get this two story balloon framed wall from horizontal to vertical.  This is the only one that's two stories tall, the rest will be single story and stacked up. 

Kentucky

The Burnett House.  Right in the middle of where 'The Battle Of Richmond' was fought.  Slave quarters to the left.

The draw where the Confederate Army hid from the Union troops then took them by surprise.  A huge loss for the Union army.

What was really interesting was the cemetary---the slaves and masters were all buried together.  The slave's headstones were just as ornate, and many of them had kind words like 'servant and friend'. 

I got a call asking for help evaluating a software product for DHS that's meant for fire departments to use.  They roped me in by saying I was 'uniquely suited' for the eval, which I think meant willing to spend a week in the middle of nowhere.  It was a real struggle to do a good job with some very boring data entry.  The countryside was beautiful but all the meetings were indoors. 

Tried not to think about all the work I could be getting done framing.  This was my small way to answer a call to public service for my nation.   Very, very small indeed. 

As I travelled back to Lexington for the trip home (Veteran's Day) I stopped at the site of The Battle Of Richmond.  Thousands of soldiers---Confederates trying to protect their way of life and financial interests largely dependent on slave labor, from Union forces trying to keep a young nation together and end slavery---both sides certain they were right and willing to die far, far from home.  Right here in this field. 

It was very queit and I was glad to be alone here.  Really made my 5 days away, where the biggest threat was boredom, seem petty.  If they survived the battle they had weeks, even months, of travel home.  All I had to do was find someplace for lunch here in the deep south, then a mere 7 hours later sleep in my own bed.

Housing Crisis Fix

   In my ongoing bid to become Earthczar, I have an obligation to confront a variety of issues.  Today I'll solve the housing crisis.
    I have friends, families, co-workers and neighbors all facing foreclosure.  Typically people got way overextended assuming they'd be house poor for awhile, but they'd have their foot in the door so as the market climbed, they'd eventually be in a good spot.  Others kept refinancing as equity rose and actually lived off the proceeds as supplemental income.  The wise choice is to always leave yourself some margin, but that's not what I'm preaching today.
   So, you have good people that bought more house than they can afford.  No one wants to put them on the streets, and most of them really want to live up to their obligations.  They are just overextended and don't want to be slaves to a house they are upside-down in---owing more than it's worth.
  Here's the fix.  Put together a list of ALL distressed properties in a database.  Sit down with the distressed owners and figure out what they CAN afford.  Match them with a list of homes they can move down into, and roll the terms of the original loan, at the re-figured lower principal, over to them.  They don't have to default and are not homeless.  They are matched to a more realistic living situation.  You'll still have the highest priced homes defaulted with no one to move down into, and the people at the very, very bottom  will have to rent or earn more, but for the vast majority it will be a solution.

Not A Rush Fan

   During the election melee I was accused of listening to Rush all the time and forming opinions not based on what I think, but instead by words streaming from my radio.
   While working at the new place, I was, in fact, listening to the radio when 'Rush' happened to come on.  I decided to really listen and give an honest appraisal of what I thought.
   I listened through the whiny voice inflections.  Lots and lots of words that just never went anywhere.  In the beginning you think it's going to say something but really never does.  I'm not sure why there's been so much staying power; I didn't hear a single thing that made sense to me, out of what little I could understand.
   Geddy Lee is WAY over-rated.

Comin' Along

    As soon as I got the insulation in, it rained HARD.  So before we left for Temecula I took off all the plastic wrap and left the batts loose to dry out.

    With the insulation in place, it's time for the floor tongue-and-groove panels.  They're 1" thick.  Construction adhesive avoids a squeeky floor later.  After the panel's in place it's nailed down.

    You always put the panels down so the groove side is out;  that way when you beat it into place with a block of wood and a...persuader, you don't mess up the tongue.

   A perfectly aligned and installed subfloor can be tested by seeing if a soccer ball will levitate without moving over any given spot.   Here, Patrick is amazed by the results.

  I gotta go to work for 48 hours and more rain is coming, so I put down plastic sheeting.  I'll just frame over it and cut it away later.  It's really exciting to be framing.  You can see where the plumbing and electrical come through .

Floor Framing, Rough Plumbing

Got past a major hurdle---the rough plumbing and floor framing inspection.  There were quite a few little things I was concerned about.  The inspector didn't share my concerns.  He was very complimentary....The rough in plumbing had to be temporarily extended up 10' , then an inflatable plug put in the lowest point of the plumbing, then the whole thing filled with water to check for leaks.  (The plug is called a 'weenie'.  I'm going with large piping so I never have to worry about drain problems...Turns out a 4" weenie is hard to find.  My brother Jim was with me as we went around the plumbing supply place, and had to inform the owner he didn't have a weenie big enough)  Fortunately a plumber at the shop sold us his well used weenie for half price. (Oh grow up)

The inspector was very impressed with the framing progress.  Now the most fun stage starts.  First some strapping (I'm using scrap OSB) goes under the joists perpendicular, then the 14" batt insulation goes in.  Then I can put down the subfloor.  Then I get to start framing.  THAT is the most fun stage of the whole project.  I just wish it were Spring instead of early winter.

The Modelling Gig

Mike (my old partner on HazMat, pre-helicopter) and I got a job for the last 5 days working for DuPont.  There's a huge Safety Council convention in San Diego right now, same place they hold ComiCon.

I only got pictures of Mike.  Once the demonstration begins there's no one to get pictures...We were demonstrating the superiority of Tyvek suits compared to SMS suits, doing a '16602 test'.  Every half hour or so, a DuPont guy would start talking and gather a crowd.  I would be there with him while he explained 'Two actual San Diego Firemen' were helping them with the test...We both had on paper suits that were very absorbent.  Mike had the SMS suit on over that, I got the Tyvek suit over mine.  He'd get in the chamber first and march in place for 60 seconds, slowly turning 360 degrees, while 5 nozzles sprayed water with black dye in it at him.  He'd get out of the chamber and disrobe in front of the crowd, showing how much permeation there was.  Then I'd get in the chamber and do the same test.  When I disrobed, my undersuit was spot free. 

Really, I offered to be the dirty suit guy every day, but Mike refused.  So I had the easier of the two jobs and got to stay mostly dry.  At the end of each day there was lots of scrubbing of the chamber to do.

The pay was really good.  The weather has been wet and rainy so I can't work on the new place anyway so this timed out perfectly.  I'm kinda glad it's done---it's true what your hear.  The glamourous world of modelling is a lot of work.  

Nature Trail To Hell!

     We've been planning this ride for some time...Recently AnnaMarie and I were at the Ocean Beach street fair and saw this poster.  I stopped to try to figure out where it was exactly.  The lady selling the poster and matching t-shirts knew what I was trying to do and said, "C'mon, you can do it; you'd be the first!" 
    I realized it's exactly where we planned on ending the ride, right where Highway 78 'T's into Highway 86 at Salton Sea. 
    58 miles, starting at my house at Lake Cuyamaca (elevation 4800') ending at this sign (elevation 227' below sea level).  October 16th.  We will leave early morning; if you want to get here the night before and carbo-load, great!
    What You Need--- 1) A bicycle (duh) 2) Sustenance 3) Spare inner tubes 4) A good attitude.  We will leave cars at the endpoint and drive up the road a few miles to one of Mike Friese's Salton City homes for a victory BBQ.
    What We Need--- 1)A chase driver.  There must be somebody wanting to participate but not wanting to pedal. 2)Hot chicks to staff the victory BBQ.  AnnaMarie's the first volunteer meeting all requirements.  3)A cool t-shirt would be good
     Other info---this is a fun ride intended for non-riders.  Not a race.  Anyone that wishes to bail and ride in the chase truck will be welcome to do so.  Alternate plan for the ride if the Santa Ana's are blowing (a headwind would be unfun) we'll go the opposite direction to Mission Beach.
    This is a not-to-miss event.  Celebrity bicycle mechanic James L. Vandewalle will be coming from NorCal at great expense to participate.
     Back to the lady with the poster--I may be getting this wrong but I think she said her husband, who is going blind, took this photo and they are selling the posters/shirts as a fundraiser and awareness raiser for blindness.  If there's interest, I'll contact her and see about buying her shirts with this image

Smaller Beams

Perfect combination of good weather and days off and a minimum of other have-to-do's makes for some good progress.  You can kinda see why the big beams went the way they did. The heavy timbers are where the wrap around deck is.  You have to have a minimum 1" step down from inside to outside.  The interior framing is 2" higher than the exterior since the decking is 1" thick.

The part with the funny angles is where the bay window will be.  It's cantilevered out like the deck.  It's about 6' off the ground already, and there's two stories to go---this is going to be a tall and skinny house!

I'm learning to really like the I-joists.  They are perfectly staight and very stiff and light.  The hangars go in pretty quick then you cut the joists to size and they just snap in.  I made the mistake of pre-staging some hangars upside down over some already installed joists.  The vibrations from pounding made them settle down and clip themselves in.  They don't come off easy...Oh well, lessons learned.  The part that isn't done yet is where I have to do the rough-in plumbing.  I'll hang a few of the joists so I can hang the drainpipes from them but still move around without having to crawl underneath a completed floor---one of the advantages of doing everything myself is planning steps out like that.

The floor frame is very sturdy, even before the subflooring is down.