What's Happening Inside?

This has been my plan since the slab was poured.

As you know, if you have read these entries from the beginning, the plan has evolved.  But when the slab was poured, I was committed to the placement and layout of the bathroom, the placement of the work space wall and power in the floor for the table saw.  This is still the general layout.

Every time we make the trip from Virginia to Illinois, we need to bring as much of our stuff as possible. So, even before we had a place to put it, stuff was piling up.  So, I started building the shelves on the West side (top of floor plan).  I soon realized that I needed to build the wall that the shelves abut, first.  I probably could have just built the short section that attached to the shelves, but it seemed more efficient to build the whole room first.  So the stuff got piled a little higher.

We did spend quite a bit of time working there this Fall, but the progress inside was interrupted repeatedly.  The last couple of entries explain a couple of the things that were a higher priority: the outside stuff needed to get done while the weather was nice, and the wood stove needed to be found and installed before the weather turned too cold.  The inside work went slow, but I did get the power breaker box installed, power brought into it, 2 ceiling lights working, the work space/bathroom framed out and the lowest shelf built.  The long list of things to be done next inside the shop includes: finish shelves, wiring, lighting, plumbing, and drywall.

During our most resent trip, Jan spent part of the time getting to know her new twin Granddaughters in Minnesota.

 

When she re-joined me and saw the new walled in space, she said, "We could live in here."  I was more than a little bit shocked.  But the more we talked about it, the more sense it made.  Our very first plan was to build an apartment in the end of the shop to live in for a while.  That plan was much bigger; something we could rent out later.  We abandoned that idea as too much of an expense and we would not want rental property attached to the shop.  We  had settled on buying a camper trailer to live in during the next phase; either building a spec house or our own.  Standing in that space in the shop, we realized that it is basically the same size (maybe bigger) as we were considering for a camper.  

The only major thing we would have to do to make this a livable space versus work space, is to install a septic system.  As a shop, I planned to use the bathroom strictly as a grey water set-up (utility sink, shower), but had roughed in a toilet for possible future up-grade.  I am hoping that a septic system can be installed far enough down the hill to serve our future home as well.  I did consult with our septic guy about a system for our house (not really looking at hooking to the shop at that time).  He said the site was do-able, but, we will need to clear and build the driveway and clear the house site in order to gain access to the place where the septic system would go.

The space that will become our temporary home will easily revert to work space when we move on.  The only permanent thing will be 6 feet of base kitchen cabinets that will serve as our kitchen and later be storage and bench space.  This will also give us a place to keep (and use) much of our furniture, helping with a potential storage problem.  One other good thing about this:  living within the shop, in 300 square feet, with no real kitchen, and a funky bathroom will be MAJOR motivation for building a real home.

Heat for the Shop

I have figured all along that I would heat the shop with wood.  I've done it in the past and it makes lots of sense.  A woodworking shop generates almost enough wood waste to keep it heated.  And I have an unlimited supply of firewood on 20 acres surrounding the shop.  I will have the back end of the building closed off  10 foot deep and the full width for cleaner and conditioned space.  That space will be able to be heated and cooled mechanically, so the heating in the main space is less critical. I had been looking for a stove on eBay and Craig's list and in classified ads for a while.  I finally found a beautiful stove on Craig's list, but it needed a little repair and was an hour and and a half away in Centralia.  I bought it anyway.  It was made by the Curtis Co. in St. Louis. I spent a day or so repairing it and a couple more installing the flue and chimney.  When Jan came back from Minnesota, she built the first fire.  Later, I'll install a ceiling fan up high over the stove to push that hot air back down and help circulate it.  I also plan to close the walls behind it with cement board and (probably) tile.

A walk in the woods.

Here are some photos I took when we went on a walk down into Moss Hollow the Monday after Thanksgiving:

Fall is the Best Time to Plant Trees and Shrubs

Fall is the Best Time to Plant Trees and Shrubs

It"s also the best time to find bargains on plant material.  I had been resisting buying any more plants, since we will be moving all our stuff 800 miles, but just couldn't stop myself.  We had another trip planned to So. IL. the end of October.  With Hurricane Sandy on it's way, we got out of Dodge.  We took both my truck and Jan's car.  A week later, she drove on to spend a couple weeks with her daughters and new twin Grand-babies in Minnesota.

A few days before we left, I saw that the Leesburg Home Depot was closing out all their nursery stock cheap. I couldn't resist.  I bought a bunch of azaleas and rhododendrons.  I also started digging and dividing the perennials that we have collected or moved from our last place in Georgia.  Pots filled the floor of Jan's back seat and the entire back seat and floor of my truck.  We usually leave Mr. Q (my parakeet) with our landlord, Walter, but since we planned to be gone for about a month and were quite sure his power would be off for an indeterminate time (remember Sandy was on her way), he rode with me.  He actually seemed to enjoy the ride.

Jan planted the azaleas and rhododendrons in the "island"  under the big walnut trees between the driveways.
We planted the first load of perennials, day lilies, bee balm, cone flowers, daisies, along the new board fence.  And 5 burning bushes went in the ground by the gate and at the end of the shed.  Earlier, I planted 3 bargain trees from the Carbondale Lowes (pink dogwood, coosa dogwood, redbud) along the inside of the fence. 

Actually, before we planted anything, we built the three board "Virginia" fence and hung the gates.  The space between the gates, at the end of the "island" (right behind Jan in the photo above) will be a horse jump/sign.  I have my eye on a large cedar tree near by for this.  Hopefully next trip.  Next year, with the fence painted black, the jump built, and all the plants growing, it will look amazing.

In The Trenches

The buildings are up, doors, windows, gutters, and cupola.
The white stakes and pink tape indicates a tentative plan for board fence and gates.  I needed to figure this out to be sure I didn't put the water pipe where I will want a fence post later.

The next thing was to spray foam insulation inside the shop shell.  We chose a high density polyurethane foam.  It has a high R value, adds some structural strength, and has a more durable surface.  Some of it will be left exposed so the harder surface is important.

Of course, I had nothing to do with process.  This work was done by a local insulation contractor.

My next thing was trenching in the water line, the power, the grey water drain and the gutter drain.
The water line runs from the main line (that we found when the water company turned it on) to a small manhole with a T and valves where it branches towards the shop and stubs off for the future run to the house.  Between the valves and the shop, I installed a frost-free hydrant.  I rented a walk behind ditch-witch trencher to dig the trenches, almost 300 feet total.  That all went pretty well;  finished a bit early and was going to return the machine so I could get a jump on cleaning out the trenches.  As I was running it on to its trailer, the handles jerked up sending a lightening bolt of pain into my shoulder and then dropping down slamming the fore mentioned shoulder.  Well, I got the machine back to the rental place and then a trip to urgent care.  No broken bones, but no more work for a while either.

This should be a clue why I haven't updated in a while. 
After a bit of rest and massage, we returned expecting to find caved ditches full of mud or baked clay.  Actually, things looked almost as I left it.  I did hire some help with the physical digging (my shoulder is still pretty jacked 2 weeks later).  Al (from the foundation insulation digging) and Grady (Ellie's wedding planner, among other talents) saved my health.  It still took quite a while to get all that pipe and wire in the ground.  I used 1 inch PEX tubing for the water and made the connections with shark-bite fittings.  They are very cool and incredibly easy, but expensive.  The pipe just shoves into the fitting and it locks in.  That's it!  It can be released with a little tool.  I did have a problem with the transition from the main (schedule 40 pvc) and the pex.  I had to buy a special fitting to make that transition ($38).  All good.  No leaks.  Fill in the dirt.

                                                            Jasper kept busy, hunting.

The Shop Gets Built

Rick's crew was scheduled to set the roof trusses next.  They would set perlins and windows and lots of odds and ends before the closed in the walls.  I figured I had enough time between the big concrete pour and when they covered the walls to rough in the plumbing and pour the bathroom floor. That gave me the option to run the concrete chute in through the wall.

As it turned out, the concrete truck driver thought it would be best if I wheel barrowed it in from the big door opening.  That wasn't too bad as we had a very nice floor to run the wheel barrow on. I used blocks of Styrofoam to leave space around the shower and toilet drain pipes so I could set the flanges more precisely later.

It all went well.  Sorry I didn't take a picture of the finished floor.  I set a capped toilet flange to leave the option of a toilet for the future.  There is a drain for a utility sink and a floor drain in a lowered area at the end of the room for a shower (or dog wash, etc.).  The drain runs under the slab (2 feet deep) to a T and clean-out just out side the building.  I also stubbed in a water supply pipe.  The outside connections to these pipes will be done later.

By the end of week 2, it looked like this.  Yet to be done, overhead garage door, gutters, and cupola.

 Originally, we had designed the shop to have a 16X24 foot open shed addition, but when laying out the site, we couldn't make it fit.  So, we opted to build it detached.  I had decided to put it parallel with the shop, even with the front with a 23 foot space between.  This was as far from the shop as I could place it before it got too close to the power pole, or road, or the place where Jason buried the trash left from clearing.  The spot for this shed needed to be leveled   But after Jason leveled the spot and we could actually see it, we realized 23 feet was not enough room to turn a vehicle (or especially one with a trailer) into the shed.  Jan and I scratched our heads and tried all kinds ways to make it work.  Finally, we simply twisted it a bit towards the front.  It's not great, but it is possible to pull into the shed and still have enough room to drive between the buildings and around the end of the shop.

I've been wanting to hook up the water since we first started burning our cleared brush, but it just hasn't worked out.  I did make a move in that direction, though.  I called the water company to come out and turn on the water, just to see if we had any problems with the valve, etc.  The meter is way off the North East corner of our property, at least 300 feet from our driveway.  When they turned the valve, the meter spun and didn't stop.  Something was certainly wrong.  Turn it off.  We walked down the road toward our drive and there was a nice river flowing from a spot on the edge of the road by the driveway.  I dug it up and found that when the phone company ran their wire, they shredded our water pipe.  Oh well, at least now we know where the pipe is.

Now, I've got to get back to work for a while.  I mean work where I get paid rather than work where I pay.
Next time we see Moss Hollow, the shed and shop should be built and I can run the power and water and get Jason to do a finish grade.  Then lots of gravel, finishing the inside of the shop, landscaping, and planning the next phase: house.

Pure Inspiration

A while back I had a crazy idea.  I was thinking about cleaning up the bottle dump on our property.  Although it poses a bit of a clean-up problem, it really is one of the only remnants of the historic occupation. 

It came to me in a flash.  The idea was to use the broken glass in a column of light.  A series of them would be stunning marking a path through the woods.

So, when I found myself with a little free time, before the concrete was due, I thought I'd give it a shot.  I wanted to give it a heavy, concrete base, so, since the concrete truck was coming anyway, I made a simple box form and installed a 1.25 inch PVC elbow in the middle with a length of pipe sticking out the side and a florescent tube cover vertically up the middle.  I fashioned a 6 inch diameter column of hardware cloth; ready to be stuck into the concrete. I had a 6 inch PVC cap ready as well.

                                           This what it looked like after the concrete was set.

I fed a 50 light string of clear LED Christmas lights through the tube.  I think next time I will put the lights in before the concrete. It was a bit dificult to get the plug to make the turn through the elbow.

  I then set broken glass from the dump in the space between the clear tube and the hardware cloth.  Then capped it with the PVC cap.  It looked like this:

It certainly didn't look like much in the daylight, but at night it ain't bad.  It looks pretty much as I had pictured in my vision.  I don't see much I would change.  One thing, for sure.  I had used 1/2 inch hardware cloth.  Some of the sharp glass does stick through, so next time I'll use 1/4 inch.