Center Columns

Sore Phil was up early again, and had a second productive day. The east wall was done (shown from the corner with the south wall).

It was brilliant to do parallel walls, as he ran out of bituthene after finishing the long north wall (pictured with a corner of the east wall).

He finished about 2/3 of the long south wall.

He'll need another two rolls at least to finish the south wall and all of the west wall.

He completed the header over the door.

And then, in a fun giant leap forward, he set up the center columns, both for the center divider and for the wall of windows. It helps divide the space visually, as each of those columns divide the space lengthwise, and several are room dividers.

Before he could start with joists and center beams, though, he needed to finish off the detailing on the top of the wall. Waterproofing done, the top needs flashing (gray), and a layer of foam (greenish blue), then pressure-treated lumber.

The pressure treated lumber is, apparently, ridiculously heavy. Phil drills out the holes, then somehow manhandles it up, using scaffolding and brute strength.

Hard to see, in the background Abraham is using a new push broom to sweep the floor. Isaiah and I headed to the hardware store this morning, and I had my eye on a natural fiber push broom, but Isaiah saw a John Deere green broom with the name "Super Bulldozer" and that marketing sold him. At some point, we should probably have a conversation about how names don't necessarily mean much, but with an age he can still measure on his fingers, I suppose I have some time. I can let my 9-year-old be excited about a green push broom.

And then, in a very precious moment, I walked out the door and realized my good son was holding the door open for an older man carrying two gallons of paint, one in each hand. I asked him if Phil had trained him to do that (as I certainly didn't), and he said, "I don't think anyone trained me. I just thought it would be nice." It certainly was.

Waterproofing

Because of the massive rainfall on Wednesday night, Phil wasn't going to get an early start on Thursday. He headed up to town and checked on a few supplies, so it wasn't wasted time, but it wasn't an early day, either. In the end, he finished waterproofing where he had previously painted the conditioner; a few sheets around the window and door, but not much visible progress.

Happily, after re-reading the literature on the conditioner, he realized once applied, as long as the block remained clean, he wouldn't have to reapply it (so, not like a fresco). This morning he was out shoveling clay at 6am, trying to dig out some of the foundation that's been gradually refilled by erosion. The foundation was dirty, so he sprayed it down, which meant he would be working in muddy clay, and the block was wet again. Argh!

But after some breakfast, he started with the block conditioner on the walls where he hadn't shoveled and sprayed. All conditioner applied, he was ready to waterproof. And super happy to be done with the single use gloves and the respirator. That block conditioner, besides being extremely caustic, causes birth defects, so Phil made sure I stayed far away.

Phil is always creative about coming up with better ways of doing things. He had been applying the waterproofing top and bottom of one 3' section, then moving on to the next 3' section. He realized that, on the long north wall, it would be better to do all the bottom sheets first, then all the top sheets. Not only would that allow a nice shingle effect for any water, but it would allow him to do all the work without a ladder before he got started with the ladder.

He set up a cutting station, too, so that he could precisely cut the 5'8" sections that he needed. (The literature suggested that no one work with sections longer than 8'. So rather than applying it from top to bottom, in 12' sections, he cuts it in half.)

Since so many of our tasks have taken longer (!) than expected, I had mentally figured maybe half a month, or a month, for the waterproofing. So I was thrilled to see that, with a solid day's work (about 15 hours, from 6am to after 9pm, with just a few short breaks), Phil applied more than 3/4 of the bituthene on the long north wall, and did probably a third on the south wall. Plus digging out and applying all conditioner.

He suspects he will run out of bituthene before the walls are done. Rather than getting stuck without anything to do on a Saturday, he finished a bit more than half on the north wall, and is working parallel on his way down the south wall. This way, he can start framing before he has to run any errands. Brilliant!

So good day for him. As for the rest of us, we have been enjoying the air conditioning. I'm still catching up on schoolwork with the boys, since we didn't do much during my convalescence. It's not a hardship to read in an air conditioned room, though. They all create things and write or draw or play cards. Yesterday I was ready to do school and found Jadon writing in his lengthening story, Isaiah reading a science magazine, Abraham drawing a comic strip, and Joe ... well, Joe was sick, so he was sleeping. So much for school at that time. It maybe wasn't the scheduled curriculum, but they were all diligently working.

The little baby must be growing well. I have been laughing about my belly, which grew two inches in ten days. Most impressive.

And an update I've been meaning to give for some time: remember how Jadon had the horrible histamine reaction some weeks back? Someone recommended nettle and quercetin (oak) supplements. For the next week, every time he started to get a bit itchy, I had him take those tablets and shower off immediately. It worked. No more histamine reaction.

The Weather Thwarts Us

I feel like this entire year has been either one long cold snap or one long rainstorm. I cannot believe how regularly our planned building gets delayed by inclement weather!

Monday was great. It was our 13th anniversary (a day I had once hoped would be the "finished" date), and Phil and Jadon plowed ahead with the flooring. They put in the rest of the full-sized sheets. They made sure to leave an opening for easy access to get to the crawl space (which will, of course, have a cover soon).

They dismantled the stairs, and lifted out the rest of the stuff to put in the final eighth.

All was moving along and then, about 6:30pm, the rain began. Phil covered the tools with the scaffolding and plastic, and moved the chair underneath. When it was time for dinner, I couldn't find Jadon. He was down there, under the plastic, reading in the drizzle.

Then it began to pour. We had a river running down the driveway. With such a deluge, Phil opted to be done with the flooring until we have a roof on. Otherwise, we'll be left with standing water and no easy access for evaporation.

But the amount of moisture prevented the next step on the building. We need to put up waterproofing, but to do that, the block needs to be dry (or at least not drenched). So Tuesday, with the block still soaked, Phil ran some errands and dealt with indoor stuff until late in the day. In the fading daylight, he tried to put up a wooden lintel over a window (wood instead of concrete for strength), but the task required too much fiddling to finish.

Tuesday wasn't quite a wasted day, though it felt like it a bit.

Today Phil headed out to start waterproofing. First the block conditioner goes on, which requires an hour to dry to tackiness. This is a caustic fluid, requiring respirator and gloves. And, like a fresco, the worker should only paint on as much as he'll use in a day. And if it gets rained on—it needs to be reapplied.

Then the bituthene goes on. To get the corners really thoroughly, first a small sheet goes on the corner, then a second layer goes on again.

Phil, working alone, did a great job getting the bituthene smooth.

While he waited for the conditioner to dry, he finished the lintel over the window. Looks good!

The rain from Monday had not quite evaporated when I went out in late afternoon.

Within minutes of my visit, another deluge began, where a trip the 30' from RV to trailer wet the clothes through. Phil had rigged up a more sturdy work camp under canvas, including radio and fan (and, I believe, book), so he was a dry and happy camper. (That is, until lightning took out our electricity for some hours. He was still dry, but no longer supplied with electronic pleasantries.)

But, again, progress halted four hours before nightfall. So much for taking advantage of longer days! And with that much rain, we probably won't be getting an early start tomorrow.

The last two years, we've watched in disbelief as storm after storm skirted us to the north, so that Charlottesville had rain several times a week, while we were dry for almost a month. Hmm. The year I have no garden at all, the year a bit less rain would suit me well, the rain comes.

Flooring, Day Two

Phil had to move the cows a long way, from the farthest point of the south pasture, across our land to the north. He was up early, moving the cows in the heat of the day, gathering posts, reeling line, moving the waterer. Getting the cows to move through the chute took only 5 or 10 minutes (compared with four hours last spring! Yay!), but the total task took somewhere over four hours, including a lot of hill walking.

Belle was extremely grumpy that she could see her friends, but could not join her friends. I could not tie her in to milk, and once out of her paddock she refused to go back in, so I finally just tethered her and let her be. By 11am, with her friends moved on, she was ready to stand and milk. But her babies refused to move out of the shade to drink the milk! Strange thing to see.

Phil, exhausted from his lifting and working the day before, took a nap and cooled down. We finally got out to build after 1pm. I hammered the last 48 nails in the side hangers. Phil carried down the middle beams. I had been wishing for a chance to screw those together—it sounded much easier than hammering! I had my chance soon. It was not actually easy. The laminate was sturdy, the sun intense, and when I was done, I went to lie down. Cardboard under the plywood, with work humming around me, allowed me just to fall asleep and dream about a black widow over my head when Shadow came up and stuck her face in mine.

I could hammer more hangers. Always more to hammer. Whereas I think the day before took 40 to 60 whacks per nail, I was cruising along at about 30, feeling good about my efficiency. Until, in order to stabilize the center beam, Phil hammered in a few. I watched in disbelief: after he got the nail started, he could pound in a 3" nail in seven strokes. Then five. Then FOUR.

With the gauntlet laid down, I did manage to drive a nail in 15 whacks. Clearly an improvement.

I noticed something sweet, something I hadn't seen before, in one of the concrete foundation blocks. Someone had written Phil & Amy.

And Jadon 2013 Apr.

And Joe Isaiah.

On the final side, there was Abraham. And I had thought, "The poor baby, no identification." But no! There was a little "?" for the new one. So sweet.

We finished 3/4 of the joists. Phil and Jadon got started on plywood sheets, with Isaiah helping intermittently. Then Phil put up some bituthene and rimboard along the far wall, and we finished all joists on the north side. Since the final eighth then contained all tools, the workspace, and the stairs, we held off on those for another day. We'll load up all final materials onto the finished plywood before we remove the stairs. It was sure a mess in that final eighth.

By 9pm, we were all wiped out. Joe had come down in late afternoon to ask if I would read him a book. I gratefully headed into the shade of the house and read to him until I fell asleep. That would have been restorative except I had two dreams back to back that startled me awake: Phil would come in and say, "There you are!" Oh, the guilt of slacking off!

With about 12 sheets of plywood to go, and just 40 more nails to hammer into hangers, we are really getting close to begin done with the floor!

Flooring

Thursday morning, Phil ran some errands. He spent the afternoon cutting through 7" diameter columns. Our saw doesn't extend quite that far, so he hacked through the center with a handsaw. It took a while. Not only that, but in order to have a professional outcome, Phil had his surveyor level out, to ensure he cut the columns to just the right height.

Then he finished two long walls of rimboard. That meant he first cut up the bituthene, a waterproofing product that is sort of like a thick sticker made of asphalt. Simply remove the backing and stick it in place. But it doesn't come pre-cut, so piece by piece, he stuck it up.

The rimboard, too, did not go in easily. He dropped from a 3/4" bit to a 1/2" bit, and so when he tried to put the rimboard on, once in place it stayed securely. But to get it on required a lot of hammering. But at the end of the day, three walls had support in place.

Today was a day for flooring. We were ready. No rain predicted, sunny weather in the low 80s, summer solstice: perfect! I decided in advance that I would do what I could for Phil all day. Jadon, though, ended up being a bigger helper, as he went down probably before 10am and worked solidly until Phil quit for the day at 9pm or a bit later.

The first thing Phil and Jadon did was put in the center beam. When Phil was thinking about what materials to order, he initially had considered a solid center beam. Then he remembered that he does all heavy lifting alone and by hand, so he opted for manufactured lumber, 3 pieces screwed together once in place. Jadon helped with that. One end of the first section rests on the concrete lip (no rimboard in that precise spot); the other rests on the precisely cut 7" diameter column.

That took care of the long direction. To hold it in place, Jadon and I hammered in ingeniously designed holders, both to the perimeter rimboard and the center beam (lined up precisely by measuring with tape measure along the perimeter, every two feet, then with a string line snapped over the center beam to line it up perfectly).

These holders were, happily, extremely strong. I don't know how often I hit them with the hammer while driving nails, but they deformed almost nil. The tops needed to be precisely 3.25" apart, in order to grip the I-joists perfectly. (I-joists named because, from the side, they make an I. Another way of getting a good deal of strength of material without too much weight.)

So I made tick marks, and the little windows at the top showed the ticks easily. If I was more adept at hammering, the holder has two tabs near the top; a talented hammerer could knock those in to the wood as a preliminary stabilizing force. I simply hammered two nails in the top two spots. Each holder required ten nails.

When both perimeter and center holders were in place, Phil carried a precisely cut I-joist over and fitted it into place. The holders gripped the I-joist firmly, so Phil or Jadon used a wooden mallet to whack the joist down to the bottom of the holder. The bottom has additional tabs to keep the joist from moving up, sort of like those horrible "do not drive backwards or huge nails will pop your tires" speed bumps that show up occasionally.

I would get the holders started. Then Jadon drove 9-gauge (fat) nails 1.5" into the perimeter. He did two pounds of nails today, and then, having met his personal goal, he decided he was done. It was close to 7pm before I caught him sitting down to take a little break.

I don't know how tired his forearm will be tomorrow: driving through rimboard was not easy, and he hammered from a squatting position, hammer held vertically.

I did the center beam holders, using 3" ten penny nails. I realized after I got started that my hammering experience thus far in life has been primarily hammering little brads into drywall to hang light pictures. I don't know that I have any prior experience driving construction nails into serious wood. It's ridiculously more difficult!

You wouldn't think, if you kept your eye on the unmoving nail, that it would be very difficult to hit with a hammer. But I had times when I would whack seven times and hit the nail once. (Okay, that didn't happen often, but what a lot of wasted energy!) After about three hours, I was totally done. My forearm was about to fall off, I was faint from the heat of the sun, and, well, I'm 23 weeks pregnant!

But after a half hour or so of sitting inside, out of the sun, resting my arm, and eating a peach, I was ready to return. And, you know, that rest must have been what my body needed, because I could see how much more momentum I had, how much more each swing drove each nail. Driving nails: an acquired skill. Not a lengthy time to acquire, but still.

By late afternoon, we had finished just about half the I-joists. Phil started to bring down the plywood flooring.

Flooring needs to be laid sort of like blocks: one sheet needs to not line up with another sheet. They need to be offset. To keep the squeaking down, and to form a better bond, Phil used a large caulking-type gun to put down a line of floor adhesive on all joists and rimboards that would touch the plywood. Put the plywood on top, tap into place with wooden mallet, then screw in place, using the pre-printed symbols on the plywood as a guide. Jadon and Isaiah were eager for that job, so Phil passed it to them.

I carried on with perimeter wall hangers. (I figure: Jadon can use the driver tomorrow to screw down flooring. If I can spare his arms a little, so much the better. And there wasn't much else for me to do.)

After a short bit, the first flooring was in. All four brothers were desperate to experience the wonder of flooring, so they all climbed up. Some (all?) pretended they were on a raft at sea. It was adorable.

Even the brothers who weren't working were happy to be where the action was. The little brothers came down maybe around 4pm, and they watched and chatted with us, more-or-less stayed out of the way, but still stayed in the thick of things. The walked the plank (center beam); they practiced balancing on the rimboard; they stuck Sam the stuffed dog up through the joists. They're homeschooled: they come up with ways to entertain themselves.

Once some of the plywood was set down (although not nailed), the fun increased. While Jadon screwed down a sheet, Isaiah laid down on the center beam while Shadow tried to nibble on him. The little boys walked aimlessly around. Activity at all times!

As I headed up around 8pm to milk the cow, I left some busy workers.

Phil came up the driveway soon after to get another tube of floor adhesive. He realized he needed to move Belle, so he put the next line up. She was antsy, eager to get to her new paddock, and it was a bit intimidating to milk her (I don't usually feel like that). When Phil was done setting up her paddock, I said, "Will you just sit for a few minutes while I finish? I want you to put her in her new pen."

"Sit for a few minutes? I haven't sat all day. I'd love to!"

And he wasn't exaggerating. He had eaten nothing (not hungry, just thirsty; two gallons of kombucha between the workers was enough to tide him over ... I guess?). He had been on the go since probably about 8am.

And now, twelve hours later, he sat for the first time. When Belle was moved, the cool evening air washed over us. "I think I'll be done for tonight," he said.

And in a moment that probably will make every man thankful not to be married to me, I said, "Oh! Don't you want to keep going? It's such perfect weather, and I have to go make dinner anyway."

The look he gave me was one of incredulous disbelief. But he went down anyway, along with four eager boys, and they got a few more pieces of plywood set in place as darkness fell.

First Wood

Phil was up long before me, moving blocks out of the concrete building. Two by two: pick up, carry up the steps, over the ramp, onto a pallet. When I left for my midwife appointment, he headed out to move cows. When I came back, the cows were in a new paddock, the calves were in a new paddock, and he was moving blocks, two by two.

It took all morning and early afternoon, but he was finally done. The interior space was about as empty as it would be.

The boys and I worked on our project of chipping away the excess mortar and grout from surfaces that need to be clean. I assigned the older boys to work, but when they were done, Abraham came out and volunteered. He did a great job with hammer and chisel: you can see the difference between the surface he has finished (in the background) and the pile of concrete to be removed (in the foreground). This will help our waterproofing membrane stick without tears.

The inside ledge will support the floor. It needed to be extra clean, so I worked on cleaning it up all the way around.

Phil then started interior work. He cut up the bituthene (waterproofing, appears black) and then cut and drilled rimboard, a fabricated board that will support the floor.

I am glad he's getting started on the rimboard. That was delivered right across the driveway near the construction site. The rimboard inhibits mobility. We have it covered well, and it looks like a good thing: the crazy amount of rain we've had lately has runoff in sheets and deposited clay and rocks over the plastic cover.

By the end of the day, Phil had finished about 1/3 of the rimboard, and was much encouraged. He's had some bituthene experience and he'e figured out how to install the rimboard. Such a fulfilling, productive day. First wood: in place!

I went to look at garlic harvesting. Only about ten plants have the bottom six leaves dessicated; with the intensely wet spring we've had, I suspect it will be some time yet before the garlic is ready to pull. While heading down, though, I was thrilled to see a calla lily I planted last year actually blooming. I had no blooms whatsoever last year, so I had written off those end of season plants. And I still think most died, but how delightful, to have such a lovely, rich bloom so unexpectedly!

As for animal life, a raccoon took out two chickens last night. Phil was almost beside himself: he was ready with gun and light, but when the coon took the bird, his spotlight died. Four spotlights in four years, and not a one of them worth the price paid. He recharged the light and was ready again, gun in hand. He sighted the coon but the light died then. Argh! When our chickens have all been taken out by predators—again—I think we will probably construct some kind of more permanent bed, or something.

In happier animal tales, we routinely come across toads. They are under boxes and buckets, hopping in front of footsteps at dusk. But though we often hear the tree frog song, I haven't ever seen one. Today that changed.

Isaiah found a tree frog: "It was crawling up the wall!" said Joe, clinging to the concrete. It also clung to the smooth side of the RV.

The amazing stickiness provided by the suction cups on the feet.

It was a fun little animal to carry around, to hold vertical.

Perhaps in an effort to be as amazing, Joe used the scaffolding as a jungle gym above standing water.

So did Abraham.