Building a stick frame house in the woods in 90 days

[s219]

Some good suggestions already, and I will add another option -- using a hole saw or chisel bit to drill holes in the soffit within each rafter cavity. You can then apply pre-fab vent grills or any other solutions to cover the holes. I think they even make round aluminum vent grilles that are made to pop into round soffit vent holes -- if you can find those and get a matching chisel bit, you're all set! Just drill your way down the soffit and pop the vents in the holes.

We have hidden "soffit" vents in my new house which has rafter tails exposed and no upper fascia or soffit. There are three or four 1-1/4" holes drilled into each rafter cavity through the lower fascia boards between rafter tails, with screen stapled over. Then cobra mesh placed over that and a trim board covers the mesh with 1/2" nailing spacers to maintain a gap. The actual inlet is then in a slot at the bottom of the fascia, right above the siding (which partially tucks in the slot).

So the soffit vents don't have to be huge individually. It's in the aggregate that you get flow going.

 

[Don87]

Stu, This is what they are talking about: S-168, White, Soffit Vent, With 1/8" Mesh, 58 SQIN Free Area. - product summary - Bing Shopping

This is just an example, as other styles are available(some as low as 4 bucks each), and super easy to install.

 

[pclausen]

Hi guys. Sorry for the long absence, but as Stu mentioned, things have been pretty slow lately due to rain, miserable hot and humid temps, and other work and family obligations.

The other issue is that the stone guy has been MIA for weeks now, so I decided to hang the gates myself so that the deer fence could be completed. I had to correct for the block columns not being plum in any directions. Turned out pretty well though. The gates are true to each other to about a 1/16".

I have clamps holding the top block on the right column until I put in rebar and fill the columns with cement.

A couple of shots from the inside looking out. The left column (in this shot), will be have some cap block added to match the height of the right column.

Part of the deer fence

Shed is done, just need ridge cap and paint at this point.

Started a little on the final landscaping using rocks from around the property.

Got my trailer cleaned up now that it's done with its logging duty for the time being. That little Ford 1700 was barely able to move it around, after all, that trailer weigh more than twice what it does, empty. I did make sure the GN was locked onto the 2 5/16" ball more moving it.

Before:

After:

 

[jdonovan]

if its a slow period and you have some time, it might be interesting to hear your reflections back over the whole of the project.

What you learned in the process, what you would do different, what came out just as expected etc...

 

[pacerron]

Peter,
It looks like the swing pin brackets are bolted through the gate frame so there is no vertical adjustment without drilling new holes?
What about frost-heave down there? Up here that would not be enough clearance from the gate to the gravel in the winter.
For security of the gate, itself, you might want to turn the top swing pin down on each side. That way the bad guys would have to
spend time unbolting the the brackets before grabbing the gate, which is a little deterrent.
Ron

 

[pclausen]

Ron, I though about turning the upper pins down, but it would have made adjustments a real pain. Besides, there is a pedestrian gate within 20 ft with no means of locking, so securing the main gate would not have added much deterrent effect anyway. Also, I'll likely add motion activate web cams at some point.

There is a slot and a hole on the brackets that mount on the gate. The is maybe 1/8" worth of play in the hole if needed down the road. Being aluminum, the gates are very light for their size.

Picked up the 52 bags yesterday

Unloading

A little more landscaping was also done yesterday

Both columns poured. You can just make out the rebar sticking out the top

Used 12" all-threads in the sides that was bent and inserted into the columns before the pour

Top of one of the columns. No point is filling the center. It should be plenty strong as is.

Had a few left over bags. That trusty Husky mixer is still going strong after what must be close to 1000 bags having been mixed in it at this point.

 

[mjarrels]

I'm just accross the mountion... stone work is not that hard. Brick lock type S. Just wait for a cooler day. A few sticks to hold stones in place until the cure. I did my entire basement and front/side of the house by myself. Probably saved $14.000 dollars. Worst part... nobody told me about coners stones.

mark

 

[pacerron]

Peter,
The security I was referring to was about keeping your 2k$ gates from being lifted off the pins and gone in a few seconds.

 

[FairfaxStu]

Peter,
The security I was referring to was about keeping your 2k$ gates from being lifted off the pins and gone in a few seconds.

Good point, Ron. Theft in that area is not really a problem, however.

Peter:

52 bags @80 lbs per bag is over 2 tons. That Silverado Duramax 3500 is a beast.:shocked:

 

[s219]

I put stone veneer on some columns the "hard" way, with mortar. It's not really hard, but a little slow and messy. One of my neighbors did it entirely with construction adhesive and it turned out very well, and was of course much easier and faster. I'll be curious to see how it holds up over the years, but right now it seems like a smart option.