dcyrilc
Super Member
If I remember correctly, the main floor garage is hers for bringing in groceries. His should be down stairs.
At Home In The Woods
- Thread starter Obed
- Start date
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If I remember correctly, the main floor garage is hers for bringing in groceries. His should be down stairs.
Coyote machine
Super Member
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- May 4, 2009
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- 22 SANY SY 50U, '10 Kioti DK 40se/hst KL-401 FEL, loaded tires, KB-2485 bhoe, Tuffline TB160 BB, Woods QA forks, MIE Hydraulic bhoe thumb & ripper tooth, Igland 4001 winch, & GR-20 Log Grapple. Woods BBX72" Brush Mower. Diamondplate aluminum canopy
Obed, you're welcome.
BTW, I noticed your bucket on the Deere is not too big, (width wise) and only has two teeth. If you plan on doing more trench digs I might look into a wider bucket and more teeth. An 18," if it would fit, would do 1/2 again what you have for capacity, if yours is a 12" currently. And hiring a pro to do the elect/gas/water lines trenching is well worth the expense. You won't believe how fast a pro who does ditches can get them done!:thumbsup:
That way you can focus on getting all the things your former cm screwed up fixed to your satisfaction. Once and done is my goal on any big expensive project. If the hired workers can't meet that need then its adios for them. Building is too expensive doing it once- doing things twice is an unfortunate consequence of lack of the proper skills or the correct attitude or a little of both on the worker's part. Don't tolerate it.
Keep up the good progress.
Also, It appears your house wrap is not taped at the seams. You should buy whatever the product's tape is and do ALL seams- horizontal and vertical throughout the entire exterior. Do not use duct tape- you need to use what the manufacturer sells or just use the Tyvek tape sold at most home center's. It's not cheap, but neither is letting water or cold air through the seams, which will cause problems.
BTW, I noticed your bucket on the Deere is not too big, (width wise) and only has two teeth. If you plan on doing more trench digs I might look into a wider bucket and more teeth. An 18," if it would fit, would do 1/2 again what you have for capacity, if yours is a 12" currently. And hiring a pro to do the elect/gas/water lines trenching is well worth the expense. You won't believe how fast a pro who does ditches can get them done!:thumbsup:
That way you can focus on getting all the things your former cm screwed up fixed to your satisfaction. Once and done is my goal on any big expensive project. If the hired workers can't meet that need then its adios for them. Building is too expensive doing it once- doing things twice is an unfortunate consequence of lack of the proper skills or the correct attitude or a little of both on the worker's part. Don't tolerate it.
Keep up the good progress.
Also, It appears your house wrap is not taped at the seams. You should buy whatever the product's tape is and do ALL seams- horizontal and vertical throughout the entire exterior. Do not use duct tape- you need to use what the manufacturer sells or just use the Tyvek tape sold at most home center's. It's not cheap, but neither is letting water or cold air through the seams, which will cause problems.
"I dug a trench between the transformer and where the electrical pedestal will go in preparation for the electrician's conduit".
The trench needs to go to the opposite end of the transformer, you went to the rear. The door opens on the front where the secondary connections and the primary right angles are. You can probably extend your trench up side of the trans where the tempo is and come in under the side with a sweep. Be careful digging, that primary is very unforgiving.
The trench needs to go to the opposite end of the transformer, you went to the rear. The door opens on the front where the secondary connections and the primary right angles are. You can probably extend your trench up side of the trans where the tempo is and come in under the side with a sweep. Be careful digging, that primary is very unforgiving.
OP
Obed
Elite Member
The roof is on!
The roof on the back side of the house still needs some step flashing around the chimney and sidewalls of the back dormer.
A section on the back of the house only has felt on it because the porch and deck on the back side of the garage and house has not yet been built. They will be built after the brick has been laid.
The roof on the back side of the house still needs some step flashing around the chimney and sidewalls of the back dormer.
A section on the back of the house only has felt on it because the porch and deck on the back side of the garage and house has not yet been built. They will be built after the brick has been laid.
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dcyrilc
Super Member
Any word yet on what to do to fix the truss problem?
OP
Obed
Elite Member
Cyril,
The wife worked out a solution with the truss designer. A total of 3 floor trusses will be moved in order to accommodate the fireplaces and chimney flue. Two floor trusses below the attic floor and one truss below the main floor will be moved. The 2 attic trusses have cheap OSB subflooring screwed to them (but not glued) that can be unscrewed, making the trusses not very hard to move. The truss below the main floor will be tougher to move because it is under 3/4" Advantech tongue and groove subflooring that is glued and screwed to the trusses.
In addition, we will have to shrink the master bath by 3". If we didn't shrink the master bath, we would have to move two additional main floor trusses (for a total of 3 main floor trusses instead of one). We chose to shrink the master bath in order to minimize the damage done by moving two extra trusses that are glued to the subflooring.
Obed
dcyrilc
Super Member
Sounds like it didn't come out too bad. Could have been a lot worse. Is the new contractor still working out well? It's good to see that you have most of the roof on and protecting the house. At least that will keep the snow outside where it belongs.:thumbsup: No more having to shovel snow out of the living room. LOL
What came about with bringing out the inspector and you living in the trailer? Hopefully, no cans of worms opened? You guys have been through enough for several families already. Also, how are the wife and baby doing? Give them our warmest regards.
What came about with bringing out the inspector and you living in the trailer? Hopefully, no cans of worms opened? You guys have been through enough for several families already. Also, how are the wife and baby doing? Give them our warmest regards.
OP
Obed
Elite Member
Windows installations began today.
This is the living room window on the back side of the house. It is made of four 3' wide windows that the factory joined together. I took Eddie's suggestion and made sure we have the good window tape. The wife and I verified the windows are square by measuring diagonally across the window from corner to corner to make sure both measurements are equal (within 1/8"). I saw the installers reading the Anderson Window installation guide as they were installing the windows. That made me happy.
This is the living room window on the back side of the house. It is made of four 3' wide windows that the factory joined together. I took Eddie's suggestion and made sure we have the good window tape. The wife and I verified the windows are square by measuring diagonally across the window from corner to corner to make sure both measurements are equal (within 1/8"). I saw the installers reading the Anderson Window installation guide as they were installing the windows. That made me happy.
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OP
Obed
Elite Member
Dilemma
From the street to this point is about 900 ft. The natural gas line and phone line have been run in the same trench. The problem is the phone line (black) shown in the front of the picture comes out of the ground at a different place than the natural gas line (yellow). Ignore the grey conduit; it is empty and will not be used. I don't know why our road contractor brought the phone line out of the ground at a different place than the gas line. The gas company will dig the trench between the yellow gas line in the picture and the house in order to connect the gas to the house. But I don't want the phone line (which is also our internet line) to get cut.
So I started digging along the phone line by hand to find where it meets the gas line. But this is taking forever because I'm afraid of cutting the phone line and I can only remove a handful of dirt at a time.
Does anyone have a suggestion on how to find where the phone line runs between where the gas line comes out of the ground and where the phone exits the ground? This distance is approximately 10 feet.
From the street to this point is about 900 ft. The natural gas line and phone line have been run in the same trench. The problem is the phone line (black) shown in the front of the picture comes out of the ground at a different place than the natural gas line (yellow). Ignore the grey conduit; it is empty and will not be used. I don't know why our road contractor brought the phone line out of the ground at a different place than the gas line. The gas company will dig the trench between the yellow gas line in the picture and the house in order to connect the gas to the house. But I don't want the phone line (which is also our internet line) to get cut.
So I started digging along the phone line by hand to find where it meets the gas line. But this is taking forever because I'm afraid of cutting the phone line and I can only remove a handful of dirt at a time.
Does anyone have a suggestion on how to find where the phone line runs between where the gas line comes out of the ground and where the phone exits the ground? This distance is approximately 10 feet.
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CurlyDave
Elite Member
Does anyone have a suggestion on how to find where the phone line runs between where the gas line comes out of the ground and where the phone exits the ground? This distance is approximately 10 feet.
This is a job for what is called a "line locator".
It is two devices. One puts an RF signal on any of the wires in the phone cable, even an unused one, and the other is a receiver which allows the operator to trace the cable.
Both the phone company and the electric company have them and skilled operators. Try calling the phone company and see if they will trace the underground cable for you.
This is a job for what is called a "line locator".
It is two devices. One puts an RF signal on any of the wires in the phone cable, even an unused one, and the other is a receiver which allows the operator to trace the cable.
Both the phone company and the electric company have them and skilled operators. Try calling the phone company and see if they will trace the underground cable for you.
OP
Obed
Elite Member
Nails, Nails, Nails!
We have nails in the front yard, lots of them.
The wife checked the cost to rent a nail magnet; it was $30/day. Today I went to Northern Tools and bought this one on sale for $60.
I put a trash can and the magnet inside the house as a hint to the workers to help keep the nails in the house.
We have nails in the front yard, lots of them.
The wife checked the cost to rent a nail magnet; it was $30/day. Today I went to Northern Tools and bought this one on sale for $60.
I put a trash can and the magnet inside the house as a hint to the workers to help keep the nails in the house.
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OP
Obed
Elite Member
The new contractor is doing great! He's easy to deal with. He's open to hearing how we would like things done. He has fixed things that we didn't notice or ask him to fix at no extra cost. His crew gets here early and works long days. He has worked along side his crew most days. They worked on Saturday. The other day my wife came up to me and said "I could almost cry." I braced myself thinking something must gone wrong with the house. The wife then says, "It's so nice to not have to worry about how the house is being built."
Yes, the wife had the inspector come out and look at the house. The inspector made some suggestions but her eyes were much more forgiving than ours. The good news is the inspector did not say a word about the camper. The office where she works is also the zoning enforcement office. So it looks like living in the camper will not be an issue while we are building the house. That was a relief.
Cyril, thanks for asking.
A picture is worth a thousand words. The wife and baby are both doing great. I love being a dad. Our little girl is almost 8 weeks old. She has gotten much more alert recently. She sits in my lap and watches me intently for many minutes without changing her gaze. I think that as far as newborns go, she has been pretty easy to take care of so far.
Overall, things are going really well now. The weather has been like a tropical paradise the past week. Lows in the mid-fifties, highs about 80, 30% humidity, and sunny. We have a contractor who is conscientious and knows what he's doing. Everyone is healthy.
And the roof is on.
On Easter Sunday this past weekend, the wife and I went out to the house and thanked God for our property and house and dedicated them to Him as a place to care for our family (children and older parents) and to use as He directs. It seemed a fitting thing to do as we remembered all He has done for us. As Easter symbolizes new beginnings, it seems to me that our house has a new beginning with all the quality work that was done during the days surrounding this Easter holiday.
We have been blessed.
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jinman
Rest in Peace
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Obed, it seems you're making so much progress that I don't know how you keep from tripping over it.
All of a sudden, things are moving very quickly. Maybe that's because doing things right the first time really is the shortest way of doing something.:thumbsup:
All of a sudden, things are moving very quickly. Maybe that's because doing things right the first time really is the shortest way of doing something.:thumbsup:
jayste
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All well said and deserves a heart-felt Amen!
May the Lord bless you and yours. Like my signature says below, Joshua 1:9.
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
Obed, it seems you're making so much progress that I don't know how you keep from tripping over it.
I couldn't say it any better, so I just quoted what Jim said!!!!!
Nice to see things coming together for you. At one point I was worried about the house you were building, but now I'm feeling allot better about it and think you are on the right track to building the dream house you deserve.
Good Job,
Eddie
radioman
Super Member
After a long winter with a frozen toilet, baby born, fired contractor, messed up things in house, etc I am sure you are almost breathing a sigh a relief. Just don't let up and keep an eye on things to keep it moving along. :thumbsup: congrats, this sure has been a interesting reading.
dcyrilc
Super Member
I'm glad to hear that things are going smoother. It has to have been a very stressful winter. I pray that things run smoothly for you as they progress from here.
God bless.
God bless.
buckeyefarmer
Epic Contributor
You are going to invite us all to the open house? You know, the technical consultants
Looking good!!
number 1000, wooo hooo!!
Looking good!!
number 1000, wooo hooo!!
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