OK, so I definitely deserve some teasing. We now have all but three of the windows and one or two interior doors, but still no foundation. I also bought 3 locksets so the house is now very secure.

The doors and windows are from Renew and continue the eclectic theme. All of the interior doors are beautiful, but not-a-one matches. Some people pull off the mismatched dinner ware aesthetic… I hope to pull off the mismatched door and window aesthetic. Of course, the whole point is to save money–and I need to have the windows and exterior doors before I frame the house–which hopefully isn’t too far into the future.

I also got a great deal on ICF’s (insulated concrete forms) off of Craig’s List. ICF’s are big insulated panels that you can pour your concrete stem wall into. They stack like Lego blocks and make pouring and insulating your foundation a simpler quicker task. They run around $2o for a 4′ long section, but I picked up almost enough to do the garage foundation at $7.50/section.

Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF's) in John's garage

Pro: $70 for all 3 Con: 3 different keys

Scott, professor/friend/architect, and Thom, classmate/friend/international man-of-mystery. (We just unloaded more windows and doors into Thom's basement. What's left in the truck is Scott's Renew treasure.)

Cool arched door

I am going to be really good at framing doors. Oh, and we could use some hinges and door knobs.

When I was up at Renew (which, by the way is a fantastic place to get great building materials for cheap) last week to get the material for the bunks I also purchased another 9 windows, 3 beautiful solid fir exterior door slabs, 1 exterior glass door with jamb, and a cast iron sink with hardware and marble surround. The windows are all Marvin or Marvin-Integrity windows (high quality). By purchasing these windows I have given up a fair amount of solar heat gain in favor of saving money and getting very well-made windows. The fact of the matter is that no one knows to purchase windows with high SHGC (Solar Heat Gain Coefficient). Sales reps, for the most part, don’t know it even exists. This happened because the Low E coating, which was first introduced in the South to keep heat out, was brought up North because it also has insulative value. Unfortunately, manufacturers and sales reps fail to promote that by putting the Low E coating on the second surface in from the outside of a double pane window instead of the third surface, one can go from a a SHGC of about .3 (30% heat gain) to .5  (50%).  As a reference point: 2 panes of standard glass lets in about 60% of the heat (SHGC .6). I wouldn’t mind buying a simple window like this, but then  I would have windows that do not insulate well.

So, the dilemma is spend twice as much money on windows–money I don’t think we have–or sacrifice solar heat gain. Time to do some energy modelling.

Fixed picture window

Marvin windows

Doors and sink

Pictures by Thom

On Monday Chuck came with his portable band saw mill–a Timber Harvester made in Waterloo NY. Adam, John, Thom, and Dylan were a big help carrying and stacking the lumber, moving the logs, and draw-knifing the bark. The lumber is gorgeous! Especially the cherry, some of which had exceptional grain pattern and color. Most of the lumber is sawn to 1″, we made a few 6×6 posts, and a few 2″ slabs. A lot of the wood is live sawn–with the bark on one or two edges. We did hit a few nails, but what really damaged the blades, much to our surprise, was the Drylock paint that I had used to seal the logs. Although we knew that paint had abrasives in it, we didn’t think that it would have such an impact–we could see sparks when the blade hit the end of the log. All in all a big success! Thank you everyone who helped!

Sawmill arriving

Sawmill setting up

Making stickers from strapping

Quarter sawing oak

John Carrying Board

Spartan removing the bark with a drawknife. The bark looks nice, but creates a moist environment for bugs to live in.

Spartan and Thom Stacking

Dylan watches while Chuck and Adam change the blade

Done stacking and stickering. I will need to redo the roof still, but for now, this is good.

All pictures except the last two are by Beth and Thom.

We purchased about 5000 feet of clear red cedar tongue and groove siding off of Craig’s list. Retrieving it from Easton Mass over 2 hours away near Boston was quite the adventure. I rented a 15′ trailer for the occasion, but before I could do that I needed to get a brake controller installed on the truck. (A brake controller allows one to utilize a trailer that has its own brakes.) I probably should have had a hitch installed as well, but I ran out of time to get that done. It was quite risky putting such a heavy trailer on the bumper.

Loading up the trailer and strapping it down went well–or so I thought. Though no boards fell of the trailer, two of the stacks were slowly slipping off the back. Luckily I saw what was happening and readjusted the piles and straps. Lesson: make sure that the the straps are putting solid pressure on all of the boards. Not more than several miles later I heard a bang followed by scraping coming from the rig. It turned out that the cotter pin that held the trailer tongue jack fell out requiring another pit stop on Route 2. I was relieved I was not at fault, and I used my last strap to fix the jack in place.

The adventure wouldn’t have been complete without violent winds and sheets of rain. At least the storm didn’t last long and occurred during the middle of the journey home. An hour of air rushing through the boards no doubt dried out much of the moisture that penetrated. In the end, only the 16′ and 17′ footers that were overhanging the trailer were wet by the time I arrived home. Next time, I won’t cheap out on the tarps.

Before going to John’s barn in Gill were the boards are now safely stacked I stopped by our current residence grabbed some dinner and a couple of ibuprofen for my stress-induced headache. We finished unloading the boards after dark and they are now safely stored in John’s barn in Gill. Thank you again John!

Cedar in seller's basement

Back home in Greenfield

Back home in Greenfield

Last Saturday night Hannah and I went on our shortest bike camping trip to date. After going contra dancing at the Greenfield Guiding Star grange we camped on our land! Unfortunately, we didn’t sleep too well. This was due to a combination of the excitement, us feeling somewhat exposed on the property, and a mouse that was, for hours, trying to tunnel under the tent.

The morning after we camped on our land

Yesterday morning Brett, John, and I made quick work of getting all of the logs lined up on one side of the property. We tied each log to the truck, and redirected the pull with a block. You can also see that I painted the ends of the logs so that moisture doesn’t escape rapidly from the ends–which would otherwise cause checking in the wood. Hannah made delicious banana muffins that we ate once the work was done. Thanks again John! Thanks Brett! Next step: build bunks for the boards to be stacked and air-dried on.

This past weekend we chipped all of the branches. A BIG thanks to Andrew, Guy, Josh, Keja, and John!

Amanda, our friend and landlord, is purchasing some of our firewood. I accidentally broke the rear window on the truck unloading a heavy log. Luckily the insurance paid for it; no deductible. Incredibly we got same day service on the replacement. If only more bureaucracy worked like that.

A couple of weeks ago we picked up 6 Anderson 400 series windows off of Craigs List. Saving about 1/3 the retail cost.

I’ve been working on this coffee table since last fall. The red oak table top shows about 167 rings, however, the tree is no doubt a couple decades older–it came from 25-30 feet off the ground. The oak fell on its own, the purple heart and cherry butterfly dovetail keys are from my friend’s scrap wood, the dimensioned wood is made from bed and futon frames that I have picked up at the side of the road, and the hop horn beam wood legs are from our fire wood pile; so I am proud to say that this project used 100% reclaimed wood. The cracks are filled with 2 part clear epoxy and it is finished with 3 coats of Polycrylic. Even though it was supposed to be a satin finish it looks more like gloss.

My full attention for projects can now be oriented towards home design and construction.