Sunday, July 31, 2011

Starring Contest

After having supper, I got up to get something from the kitchen area of my shack, and to my surprise there was a deer standing on the top of the hill right outside the window of the shack. It kinda caught me by surprise at first. The deer was looking at me as I was very still trying to remember where the camera was. When it started eating some weeds on the hill I made my grab for the camera. We had a bit of a starring contest, but obviously, I won. I am always looking over my shoulder and checking around before going outside from the shack. That could have easily been a bear, which if it was would more than liking run away at the sound of me opening the door, but you never know.
The following pictures are in no particular order, just a bunch of random pics since my last post.
Since my last post I did find some time to build, but I did work at the pay job a fair bit too. I just had a pretty good splurt of work and today was the first day back building for awhile.
I finally got the loft all insulated and the vapour barrier up. I also managed to get a little more drywalling done. Still a bit more drywall hanging to do yet though, but it is getting narrowed down. So far I have purchased 66 panels of drywall. I did'nt think a small house like this one would take that much. I might even have to get a little more yet, but I'm not real sure yet.
All the heavy rainfall that we have been getting has sure been taking it's toll on the creek banks. I've owend this property for probably over ten years and have never seen anything like this. Build a house overlooking the creek and guess what happens. lol. I'm not real concerned at the time, but I do have plans of doing some kind of erosion control for future flooding. If it were to rain like this for a few years straight, I would probably start to worry a bit if I did'nt do something. The water level is'nt overly high in this photo, this is just some of the aftermath.
I have been doing a fair bit of trucking lately. When I snapped this photo, I was kinda stranded out in the middle of no where for a bit. There is four belts on this truck, and for some reason they all blew off. I suspect one broke and caused all the rest to derail. I managed to salvage one belt for each set of pulleys to finish hauling what I had to haul and then get home. Alot of squealing was going on when the fan kicked in. So I managed to finish the day with half the belts anyway.
The insulation in the loft ceiling is R40 value. I thought would take a shot of the space above the insulation which will be the ventilation space. You want to have some ventilation above your insulation. On my house the air flows up through the soffits under the roof over hang and goes out through the vented ridge cap. That's what it is supposed to do anyway.
Just a shot of some of the wetness we've had around here lately.
Before I did my drywall surrounding the tub, I wanted to test it for leaks. My first test actually failed. What a mess downstairs. So I redone the drain and overflow installation, and this time it was good. But, as I was pumping the water out of the tub, I accidentaly bumped the drain plug with my pump, and I made another mess down stairs. I don't have the tub completely connected in the basement yet.

Disclaimer--IMPORTANT


This is a personal blog, mainly for my own use. I am building a house with my own two hands, but I am learning alot of things as I go. I do not claim to know what I am doing, or if anything I do is even close to being done correctly or safely. So please, if you are planning on using any of my ideas or methods for your own use, please get professional advice before actually following through with your actions. I will not be held responsible for any injuries or damages of any kind caused by information or comments from this blog.

6 comments:

  1. FCH - Can just imagine the mess downstairs...

    Glad you got your insulation done - that'll certainly help yo this coming winter...

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  2. Gonna be warm and cozy! Bummer about the little flood in the basement. But, the good news is, you haven't installed the carpet! :))

    We had tons of rain here this spring, now it's dry as a bone. Even the fields of corn are praying for rain… it can't come soon enough. And these hot temps!!! Good grief. How hot is it up there? It's 6:30 p.m. and 91 is actual temp, not including heat index. I'm ready for fall!!

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  3. Looks like you have caught up on some of your rain! We could use a little more!

    Looking good around the home place, my friend!

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  4. Hey Dani, it's no biggy though, the mess in the basement. It gave me a chance to try out the floor drain. I guided the water to the drain and mopped up most of it, and a day later it dried. Both times. The insulation seems to be doing it's job already. It used to get fairly hot up in the loft on the sunny days, but now the whole house seems to keep at a nice temp during a hotter day. I just tell it will hold in the heat in the winter.

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  5. Hey Lynnanne. The flood was'nt a real big deal. It is wood floor in the basement, but things are sealed and chaulked with butyloid type chaulking and then painted over. The floor drain works also, so it was'nt a real big issue. I'm sure the mansion is going to be very warm and cozy. I can't wait to start experimenting with the heat systems. It will probably take a bit to get things just right though.
    I'm hoping you get some rain soon. It's not real hot here, but it is nice. I think today was in the 25 celcius area which would be around 76 farenheit, I guess. Our summers are usually hotter than what we have been averaging, I think. I don't mind some heat, but what alot of places are getting down south, could put me to the test I guess.

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  6. Hey Jim, we're pretty good for rain for now. Everyone is out trying to get the hay off the fields now. But I know what that means, pretty soon I think I can predict that my boss is going to want some bales hauled. I sure seem to get busy at work everytime the weather turns nice, but I guess I should'nt complain.
    Thanks Jim, I'm hoping for some rain for ya soon.

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