Building a stick frame house in the woods in 90 days

[FairfaxStu]

my digital antennas are here
Peter

Antennas plural? Are you installing one at your house as well? I assume you are referring to the Channel Master bad boy array antenna for HDTV. Like I told you before, the pre-amp for that unit is what seals the deal. I can pick up digital OTA (over the air) channels from over 60 miles away in Baltimore and my antenna is in the attic, not outside.

The antenna I used is:

Channel Master 4228HD Long-range outdoor rooftop HDTV antenna at Crutchfield.com

The amp I used is:

Channel Master 7777 High-gain mast-mount UHF/VHF TV antenna preamplifier at Crutchfield.com

-Stu

 

[TheFlatlander]

Just wanted to drop a quick thanks. I have watched this thread for the past 4 months or so and appreciate all your pictures and write-ups. I looked forward to the updates everyday, Additionally, I learned a lot, as I assume so many others most likely have also. House turned out very nice. Your mom is very fortunate that you were so involved. I hope mom enjoys her new place, as she should. Tell her we all said "Hello".

 

[Don87]

Thanks for including us in on your Mom's house build.

It's been an exciting read, and I couldn't wait to come in off the road on weekends just to catch up on the progress.

It looks very nice, despite the problems along the way.

 

[Don87]

Thanks for including us in on your Mom's house build.

It's been an exciting read, and I couldn't wait to come in off the road on weekends just to catch up on the progress.

It looks very nice, despite the problems along the way.

 

[pclausen]

Things are getting close to completion, but there are still things being fixed. The fridge is finally being moved into the house today, and the washer/dryer will hopefully be connected today as well. The builder is assisting today with hanging some of mom's cabinets on the walls, etc.

I hope to have time to take some updated pictures this afternoon. The rain has been crazy these last 4 days or so, although I was able to get in about 7 hours of log hauling yesterday on the high side of the house until I got down to the low side.

Stu, the antennas on the chimney will be the DirecTV one and the one for Internet access. Internet guy came out Saturday, but was unable to pick up either of the access points they have deployed in the area. They will be back tomorrow and try again, using my house as an AP. If that doesn't work, I guess she'll have to settle for dial-up until I can get an "alarm pair" or dry loop going to my house from Verizon.

Verizon came out yesterday to look into the terrible hum on the line. He was unable to fix it and will be back today. Until that gets fixed, dial-up might not even be possible...

 

[edlegault]

This has been a great adventure to follow. I learn a lot from these type of threads. We start our build in Eastern Washington state soon and I hope to post a few pics and comments on our small (3 acre) mini farm as we get it started.

 

[FairfaxStu]

Peter:

All that I can do is chuckle and then feel bad for you on the crappy communications connection options in your neck of the woods. The chuckle part is knowing what you do as a "real job" and the feel bad part is knowing that you cannot do anything about it beyond what you are doing.

So 2 questions: What does dear Mom think of the place? How are you making out on the electronics and deer fence?
-Stu

 

[dave1949]

Peter;

What do you think of the Woods stump grinder? How does it get re-positioned for the next pass on the stump?

I have a bunch of stumps in my future and I am wondering what your take on the grinder is?

Thanks.

 

[FairfaxStu]

Peter;

What do you think of the Woods stump grinder? How does it get re-positioned for the next pass on the stump?

I have a bunch of stumps in my future and I am wondering what your take on the grinder is?

Thanks.

I am pretty sure he likes it since this is his second one and is much larger than the original:

So, Peter, it is like we are addicted to crack. Pictures please?
-Stu

 

[pclausen]

Lol, I took pictures last night, but then I stayed and had a few drinks with the family that had arrived from Denmark, and then I forgot to take the camera home with me when I left. :laughing:

Mom went to use the washer for the first time today, but it made a loud noise and water went all over the floor and into the basement. Not sure what the issue is. Perhaps some transport screws or something needs to be removed before first use?!? Will have to look at it tonight. My wife called me also and told that our washer (less than 5 years old) was smoking during the spin cycle and smelling like burned rubber. When it rains it pours...

Stump grinder is great! Did about 50 stumps the other day. That is one of the few PTO implements that I have that will drain my PTO power and make me wish I had gotten a more powerful one. It only grinds on one direction, you then sweep back across the stump, lower the grinding wheel a few inches, and then go at it again.

Here's a video from when I was first learning to use it. I have gotten a lot better at it now with over 500 stumps under my belt.

Stumpgrind.mp4 - YouTube

 

[tractchores]

Lol, I took pictures last night, but then I stayed and had a few drinks with the family that had arrived from Denmark, and then I forgot to take the camera home with me when I left. :laughing:

Mom went to use the washer for the first time today, but it made a loud noise and water went all over the floor and into the basement. Not sure what the issue is. Perhaps some transport screws or something needs to be removed before first use?!? Will have to look at it tonight. My wife called me also and told that our washer (less than 5 years old) was smoking during the spin cycle and smelling like burned rubber. When it rains it pours...

Stump grinder is great! Did about 50 stumps the other day. That is one of the few PTO implements that I have that will drain my PTO power and make me wish I had gotten a more powerful one. It only grinds on one direction, you then sweep back across the stump, lower the grinding wheel a few inches, and then go at it again.

Here's a video from when I was first learning to use it. I have gotten a lot better at it now with over 500 stumps under my belt.

Stumpgrind.mp4 - YouTube

You may still have the shipping pins / bolts in your washer. The front opening washers usually have 3 - 5 pins in them to hold the drum steady during shipping and have to be removed before first use. Not sure if that would cause water to spill out unless only 1 was left in and it ripped a hole in something...

That stump grinder looks great! A lot easier than doing it by hand, wish I had one.

 

[FairfaxStu]

Stump grinder is great! Did about 50 stumps the other day. That is one of the few PTO implements that I have that will drain my PTO power and make me wish I had gotten a more powerful one. It only grinds on one direction, you then sweep back across the stump, lower the grinding wheel a few inches, and then go at it again.

Here's a video from when I was first learning to use it. I have gotten a lot better at it now with over 500 stumps under my belt.

Stumpgrind.mp4 - YouTube

Holy cow that is impressive in both what the SG can do and how you took the video. Does the SG-100 articulate from front to back also? It appears to have that capability from why I can see of the hydraulics. My tree dude has a tow behind grinder with a 3 cylinder diesel engine. When he was grinding my massive oak tree stump, that sucker was shaking his 3/4 ton dodge around like a rag doll. That was an impressive unit because all he had to do was get it close to the stump and then use the hydro control panel to move stuff around and tear it up.
-Stu

 

[mkane09]

There is nothing like the right toy...uh, tool...for the job. Awesome!

mkane09

 

[pclausen]

So the first issue with the washer was that the shipping bolts had not been removed as suggested. There were 4. This basically kept the suspension from working at all, which caused it to shake violently during the spin cycle. The rubber on the bolts was pretty chewed up. There is even a sticker on the back of the washer clearly stating that the bolts must be removed before use. I guess nobody bothered to read that.

The more serious issue is that there is a leak in the drain pipe in the wall. It would appear that one of the carpenters shot a nail through it when installing the baseboard. So now the wall need to come back out down to the floor level to fix.

Anyway, here are some new pictures finally!

Driveway done

Stonework at the front mostly done (still missing slate caps)

Rake fascia finally redone

Here's a shot of the deck railing after painting

Kitchen. Red arrow is the corner that needs to be made into a 45 to allow the fridge door to open all the way

Few more kitchen shots

Living room

All the spare furniture (thankfully a lot of the large items were sold at auction, or the basement would have been completely full)

Log pile that keeps growing when it is dry enough to work. Mom is going to pick up the dogs tomorrow and put them on dog runs out back until the fence is up.

Internet connection attempt today was a fail. Not strong enough signal with the trees. So plan B is going with the dry loop from Verizon to my house.

DirecTV is scheduled for Thursday, hopefully that will fare better!

 

[Pixguy]

Is this the first washer these guys have installed? Geesh
Looks like you've had to break open the hooch to forget some of the problems.

Looks great, I hope your mom enjoys the new place.

 

[FairfaxStu]

Peter:

Great job on the electronics as I expected. It looks like you installed alll of the speakers perfectly. I know that Stanley had some issues with the deck railing, but it looks fine to me.

Stanley, what say ye, sir?
-Stu

 

[dave1949]

Peter;

Thanks for the stump grinder video, I see how it works with the swinging action now.

I am just beginning a 15-18 acre woods-to-pasture project this summer. Next year will be the year for stumps probably. Been considering my options and definitely not looking to throw a bunch of money at it. I doubt I have the right tractor power (37 PTO hp) and hydraulics for the grinder that would really do it well.

I will probably end up chainsaw cutting as close to the ground as I can what I can't dig out with NH backhoe attachment. I figure once I can travel through it with a bush hog, I can control the root sprouts and seedlings while I work on it over the next several years. There aren't a lot of big trees in the area, and about 3-4 acres are already clear.

For now, I am taking out the gamillion trees that are crowding the ~ 1/4 mile logging access road and stacking them ready for the chipper. I will need to eventually get 53' chip trailers through the road--and keep the mirrors on the cabs. :laughing: Once I get those trees out of the way, I can get some stone hauled in to fix the soft spots.

 

[dave1949]

The house is shaping up. The fascia trim looks much better. Sorry about the shipping bolts and nail through the drain pipe--you'd think they could miss that.

Anyways, getting your Mom moved in is a big hurdle behind you now thank goodness. Your life should be getting less complicated soon.

 

[murphy1244]

That drain pipe should of been protected by a steel plate so crap like that don't happen. Is this the first house they built?

 

[FairfaxStu]

You mentioned family in town. Does that include your brother Jakob? If so, I will take some time off from work to see you guys.
-Stu