Starting on the Powerhouse

Sorry I haven't blogged for a while. Our routine has changed a little. We were working on the house Monday through Friday, and then doing computer work (including the blog) at the weekend. Now, we are doing all kinds of different things, any time we can get to them. We trade off working and playing with Leo, and do any 2-man jobs while Leo naps. So, now that blogging doesn't have a particular place in my routine, I don't seem to do it at all!

Now that the house is so far along, our main focus for this year will be developing the other systems further. We will be increasing our power, water and food systems considerably.

We still have some building work to do, which we have started. We are converting the first building we built and lived in into a bathroom, powerhouse and hallway. We have wired up the two partition walls, and put a scratch stucco coat on the powerhouse section. More photos.

We have started our first round of seedlings inside in soil blocks. Once they are big enough and the weather is warm enough, we will be transplanting them out in the garden.

Leo is doing great. While I stucco, Abe has been taking him for huge hikes. He is a natural born hiker it seems. They walk down in creeks and the river, and it's hard to get Leo to leave the water's edge. For photos for this month, click here.

South wall

We have made a lot of progress the past couple of weeks. I am now able to work full time again, and I had forgotten how much I love stuccoing! I have no pain in my stomach at all.

We've been leveling (with a two inch incline over thirty feet) and stuccoing the gutters, which are now ready for rain. (photos)

We have also begun on the south windows. The south walls of the dining room and living room are almost entirely window. This not only allows for solar gain in winter, but also year-round growing, as there are flower beds (which will use grey water from the bathroom and kitchen) at their base. Abe welded up and hung the window frames and we are now stuccoing around them. It has really changed the look of the place. (photos)

Have finished digging out the cistern hole, which is the next project once we finish these rooms. (photos)

We feel as though the end is finally in sight. There's still a lot to do, but each week sees the list get smaller and the house look prettier. We are ready for this too be done, that's for sure!

Slow week

All in all, we have had a fairly slow week, because...
1) the weather has been bad, with wind, clouds, and a little rain (unfortunately our tanks are currently disconnected from our gutters due to building!!).
2) we have been sick with a cold. First Leo had it, though not too badly. Then me, with one day of fever, and 3 days of being congested and weak. Abe has been tired for the past couple of days with swollen lymphs, but it had looked like he would fight it off. Now, it looks like he's getting it.

Having said that, we did get some accomplished. We put the brown coats of stucco on the connecting ceiling, got some more framing done, added a couple of levels on the bottle wall, and have finished the first rows of bricks for the ceiling on the entrance way.

The brick ceiling is interesting. Using plaster of Paris, which dries very fast, we add bricks in an arch. This system has been used for huge roofs and is supposed to be very strong, with builders able to walk on top of it without any additional reinforcement. We will add cement on top of it for added strength (just in case!) and then insulate it and add the roof. We will post more photos of it here as we progress.

Ceiling

We have been working on the roof again this week. Actually, to be more precise, we are working on the ceiling. We are doing it first, then adding layers of insulation, and then we will pour the concrete roof and gutters.

The ceiling consists of a wooden ridge pole and arched, wooden rafters, onto which we will attach smooth tin. Abe and a friend have been cutting and bending the boards - soaking them in water and then bending them over the finished room's roof and adding weights. It is now really starting to take shape. For photos, click here.

Meanwhile, another friend and I have been stuccoing the domed ceiling that connects the rooms we're working on to the one we've finished. We had at one point planned to do both the roof and the ceiling this way, but doing overhead stucco (from underneath) in a pain, quite literally. For photos, click here.

We have been through several ideas for how to do the roof, and we still do not feel that we have found the answer. So many people focus on walls when considering building techniques. They are not an issue - walls are easy and fast, no matter how you do them. The money and difficulty lie in the roof. Concrete is super strong and durable, but has no thermal mass or insulation. Tin is super fast, but has no insulation and is not durable. There are many different ways of doing it, but we have yet to find the perfect blend of cost, speed, efficiency, durability and energy.

We will continue to work on it and try out new ideas. The entance way ceiling is going to be brick, so stay tuned for photos on that next week-end.