BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: jacqui.c
Date: 01 Jan 11 - 08:12 AM

Happy New Year to you both me dears.

So glad you got the roof on before the rain started.

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: maeve
Date: 01 Jan 11 - 08:14 AM

Up early, covering the salvage wood from the early morning rain.

We're still in the camper, Bobert. We have no way to move in to the yurt until the skylight, doors, and wall insulation are in and the woodstove installed. I'm hoping for plumbing and electricity; we'll see what is possible. And no, we don't have a portable heater.

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: maeve
Date: 01 Jan 11 - 08:15 AM

We cross posted, Jacqui. Thanks. Happy New Year to yourself and Himself, too.

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: Leadfingers
Date: 01 Jan 11 - 09:45 AM

Indeed !! Happy New Yurt Greetings !!

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: Bobert
Date: 01 Jan 11 - 10:06 AM

Well, the portable heaters wouldn't do much good until you are enclosed (doors, skylights, windows, etc.)...

I have two of them that have two round burners and sit on top of a 30 pound propane cylinder... They aren't real expensive to buy and run and do a purdy good job... Once you get enclosed I'd think that one unit would make things comfy...

Wish I could beam them up to you....

Heck, wish I could beam myself up, too... I enjoy gerry-riggin' temporary electrical stuff (safely) while doing the rest of the wiring to code... Nuthin' like havin' real electricical...

Get some rest... Ya'll deserve it...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: GUEST,kendall
Date: 01 Jan 11 - 10:18 AM

Can you use a small electric heater? He does a good job in our camper. (According to Gordon)

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: maeve
Date: 01 Jan 11 - 11:12 AM

Windows are pre-installed in the wall panels. We've closed off the doorways to make use of the passive solar heat. The skylight hole is covered, until the skylight itself is installed and the roof seams shingled.

Thanks, but no on the heater, Kendall.

More later. There is work waiting for me.

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: katlaughing
Date: 01 Jan 11 - 12:14 PM

What a busy and fruitful this New Year is for you, maeve and TL! It is so exciting and heart-lifting to read of it all coming together. Happy New Year!!

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: gnu
Date: 03 Jan 11 - 05:22 PM

So... did you get snow? Were the lads back today or did they have the day off?

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 03 Jan 11 - 08:39 PM

enquiring minds want to know!

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: My guru always said
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 02:46 AM

Sending Yurt Blessings!

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: maeve
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 07:32 AM

I didn't take time to post yesterday,partly because I'm tired and working hard, but also because so many of surrounding threads were negative. I just didn't want to be in their midst. This thread is likely to reflect the hurry-up-and-wait nature of our construction project; many posts rushing onto the thread, followed by some contemplative space.

The roof is ready for the skylight,with much less wind to deal with today and tomorrow. Most of the roof joints have been sealed and shingled. One door will be framed in and hung. The hay mulch will be cleared from the basement where, over a sheet of plastic, it has kept the ground and top layer of crushed stone from freezing. The insulated concrete slab will be poured, weather permitting, in the next week or so.

I'll spread the hay over and around the hundreds of potted perennials and shrubs now lined up in the big vegetable garden. I've already followed Bobert's suggestion to use vole repellent there. We have no way to water them, so the hay mulch will help retain sufficient amounts of moisture without allowing too much to accumulate within the pots.

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 10:14 AM

Hay is a great by-product of this construction project! I use it for mulch, sometimes straight from the feed store, and always when it has come out of the dog houses. (There's a lot of hair in it that birds make use of. I found several nests in the front yard last year with the long guard hairs from my catahoula woven into the grasses and pine needles and such).

How will they get concrete into the basement? Is there a doorway they will use, or will they lift a floor panel? Inquiring minds are enjoying observing this process from afar!

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: maeve
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 10:22 AM

Basement windows have not yet been installed, so they'll lift the temporary plywood cover from the closest one and run the chute through there. The lucky fellows who specialize in insulated slab pouring will be down below getting the concrete to do as it's told. Afterward, the super-insulated yurt foundation as well as the yurt itself will hold plenty of heat for proper curing to take place.

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: maeve
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 01:31 PM

The roofing is complete, ready for the skylight, The temporary skylight ring brace has been collapsed and disassembled. All of the hay and plastic sheeting is gone from the basement, ready for a heater to dry it out in preparation for the Ceremonial Pouring of the Sanctified Insulated Slab.


I've begun using the dry, loose hay to protect the perennials, shrubs, and trees I mentioned. Some are nursery stock; others are for our new plantings in the spring and summer.

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: gnu
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 01:59 PM

They've hung up yer shingles! Great!

SRS... `... with the long guard hairs from my catahoula woven into the grasses and pine needles and such`` The dog must be annoyed with the cheeky blighters.

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 04:20 PM

This dog sheds gobs in the spring. Here is a nest, the fuzzy part is dog.

If there is extra hay, use a tiller and work it into the garden soil. The biological activity will benefit from it.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: maeve
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 04:23 PM

The skylight is in place and sealed. Some touch-up paint on the rim and removal of the protective plastic, and doors will be tomorrow. Maybe the bathroom walls too; the only interior walls to be built for now.

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: maeve
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 04:39 PM

Hay there, Stilly. In all of our years of gardening here I have never had extra hay. We've used it for soil building, land stabilization, plateau building, mulch, house banking, no-till gardens, veggie storage, raised beds, compost... you get the idea. We build the soil, plant, mulch, harvest, replant, mulch, etc. Even the raised garden along the road was built solely from hay bales, discarded potting soil, and tired sod from other places.

By now, there are very few gardens here that need tilling. On the other hand, nearly every garden and outbuilding will be changed or moved now that the house is gone and our new one built.

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 04:47 PM

I have beds like that also. You may be tempted to move the soil from the old locations to the new when you rearrange your out buildings, but healthy soil all around is good for everything in the proximity.

Have you chosen home interior materials for their healthy character? Paints without fumes, insulation without formaldehyde, healthy adhesives for flooring, etc? It seems to me we nuke ourselves in our own homes with some of the materials.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: maeve
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 04:53 PM

Of course, Stilly. We've lived in a healthy way for many years. We know what we want and what we can afford. We'll be living in an very healthy insulated shell for a long time hence.

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 05:05 PM

As those stages come along, I'll look forward to the list of products or processes. I have stuff in my garage I need to take to the toxic drop off site, and eventually need to get some new paint, etc. I think the non-toxic paints weren't as available, or available at all (here) in 2002 when I started this work. Now as things come along to redo, I want to do it better.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: maeve
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 05:10 PM

I may or may not go into that detail here. As I said, finishing the yurt will take a very long time. I don't intend to continue this thread indefinitely, since I'll be busy working.

If I make a list of products we like I'll be glad to send you a copy. The fact is, we use very few commercial products.

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: maeve
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 05:26 PM

Returning to the yurt... We're hoping the doors will all be installed tomorrow for sure, since another storm is on the way for the weekend. That will leave the bathroom walls, basement slab, and basement windows and doors to be installed. After that, we're on our own installing exterior trim, as weather allows.

We'll have the super efficient woodstove set up and insulated pipe run through the roof. TL has already built a raised base for the woodstove, so it's now my job to pick up the fireproof layer and tile it over. The woodstove will provide our heat and serve as our cookstove for the winter.

Once the basic wiring and plumbing are in and working, the cellulose insulation will be blown into the walls, and a vapor barrier added.

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: Bobert
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 05:34 PM

I'm excited fir ya'll, maeve... Ya'll will be so happy to have a tight yurt to hang out in... Don't make it so tight that ya' can't get yer woodstove to burn...

BTW, when you say "hay", do you mean "straw"??? Hay has alot seed which make alot of weed... Hope you mean straw...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: katlaughing
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 05:41 PM

Hope we get to have a virtual move in day party!

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: Nancy King
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 05:51 PM

It all sounds wonderful, maeve, and absolutely fascinating to follow the progress! Thanks for keeping us all in the loop!

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: maeve
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 09:49 PM

Bobert- I'd love to be able to pay for straw. We use hay; usually someone else's free old winter house banking. Straw would be much better, but it isn't in the budget. The woodstove has a cold air inlet, so we're all set once the thing is installed. If it didn't we'd have to open a window.

kat- You are welcome to celebrate as you wish. We will, for the most part, still be rough camping even after we move in, whenever that may be. I hope we have many sunny days so the passive solar gain overpowers the lack of good dry firewood. I suspect I'll soon be tired of seeing insulation on walls instead of plaster, but we'll be grateful for them nonetheless.

Nancy- Thanks for being interested. I confess the process is still less exciting for us than it is for others; we know we're still a long way from being home. We did tried out the acoustics and loved the sound. Even without wallboard, inner walls, or echo-softening textiles, it is glorious.

It is a joyful and holy space for us.

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: Janie
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 10:53 PM

Clearly, constructing a yurt is in many ways as with any other house. The exterior walls, floor and roof go up like "Bob's yer uncle!", and the interior work goes on....and on....and on.

Still, a significant "new beginning," though that is not quite the right way to describe it. It represents moving forward along a different route than first plotted toward the fruition of a long envisioned dream.

As with Nancy, I also really appreciate you sharing this journey with us. Most of us who are posting are a good bit older than you and TL. I think we have a better appreciation than you may realize of your situation and the hard work still ahead. I hope you will understand the excitement and enthusiasm we express as being the only way we know to offer support digitally, since we can't show up for a "barn raising." Please do not misapprehend that as a lack of comprehension. Hear it as admiration and support for the choices you are making to live a life committed to your core values, even when doing that makes the present harder than choosing an easier, softer way.

My inner mother-hen just wants you to find a way to be able to get warm and stay that way when you need to:>)

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: katlaughing
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 10:54 PM

I understand, maeve. When we lived out on the WY wee prairie ranch, we had to haul our water from town, about 15 miles out. Quite an adventure in the winter as we had a 225 gal tank on a trailer hauled by our trusty 4WD Subaru. The last year we were there, they were putting in water lines and cut the gas lines, so we had no heat but a cheap woodstove from Monkey Wards. We put it in the kitchen, lined up with the long hall which led past the bathroom, the kids' rooms, past the front door and into our bedroom, farthest from the heat source. We banked it up every night, but by morning, on the WY high plains, it was always really cold and windy. No insulation, cinder block walls and open ceiling boards. We look back and think we must've been crazy, but we were just young and the kids loved it. It was built into the side of a hill with windows all the way round with a flat roof just waiting for a second story or something to be added on. We never could afford it. Last time we were up there, it was the same. I wonder do they make rectangular yurts?**bg**

I love that is a sacred place for you and you've already tried out the acoustics!

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: maeve
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 11:12 PM

Janie and kat- Thanks for your posts, too. I suspect we're not quite so young as some may be thinking; chronologically, anyway! Certainly there are those here who have life experiences that allow them a clear understanding of some of the challenges. I am happy for friends to be excited on our behalf. I trust that our response can and will be different, though still joyful.

Some friends and friendly strangers in realtime life are disappointed to find that with this beautiful start of a yurt in place we can't now sweep in to finish and furnish it right away. Thus I try to remember to offer a gentle warning that won't be quite such a fairytale...

Nor do we want it to be.

Remember please, y'all: we are hopeful, joyful, and grateful for all kindnesses and thoughtful messages, even when my posts reflect some of the other emotions and challenges. This kind of thread is very difficult for us. We are private people who are long accustomed to being mostly on our own. Growth opportunity here, so sometimes we have growing pains, while other times we will establish healthy boundaries. Thanks for walking alongside!

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 05 Jan 11 - 06:19 AM

I thank you for letting us be part of it

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: jacqui.c
Date: 05 Jan 11 - 07:40 AM

Looking forward to coming up to visit when we get back from Florida.

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: maeve
Date: 05 Jan 11 - 07:44 AM

We'll be happy to see you then, Jacqui. I hope it's warmer there than it is here!

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: SINSULL
Date: 05 Jan 11 - 08:10 AM

Wish I had a lottery ticket - a winning one. Then we could all update, refurnish and heat with abandon or at least without checking the bank statements daily.
Thank you for letting us ride along, maeve and TL.
SINS

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: Bobert
Date: 05 Jan 11 - 08:25 AM

Reminds me of the old saying, "No gains without pain"...

But there is also a beauty in it as ya'll will be building your own house and living in it before it is finished... It makes it all that much more of value to you on a spiritual level as well as a dwelling level...

When we bought this farm the entire house needed renovation and addin' on to and we slept on an air mattress for a year while we were doing it... Wouldn't trade those memories for anything...

Thanks again for sharing, maeve...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: maeve
Date: 05 Jan 11 - 02:30 PM

Yes, we'll keep on plugging.

Stilly, I thought of you this morning as I was researching a wall finish some of the yurt owners have liked. Here you go: http://www.americanclay.com/learn-about-american-clay/loma


The two yurt doors are in. They are fine, Energystar certified doors; just not special. They'll work until we build or have built what we want. The bathroom partitions have been built. The reserved cedar siding has been added over and beneath each door.

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: LilyFestre
Date: 05 Jan 11 - 02:39 PM

Quietly watching from the sidelines and feeling a deep joy for you both!!!

:) Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: ClaireBear
Date: 05 Jan 11 - 02:56 PM

What Michelle said (far more eloquently than I can). 34.5 degrees in the tent this morning ... so of course, I thought of you!

Fond thoughts,
Claire

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: mouldy
Date: 05 Jan 11 - 03:14 PM

"If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well".
These things can't be rushed, (despite what seems to my amazed brain to be a speedy procedure).I think the very nature of the yurt through evolution and materials is organic, and it will dictate its own pace.

I just wish I had smellyvision on the computer so that I could share in the cedarwood.

Andrea

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: katlaughing
Date: 05 Jan 11 - 03:36 PM

That roll on plaster is pretty slick! Neat VIDEO . Thanks for the info, maeve.

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: maeve
Date: 06 Jan 11 - 01:05 PM

Another cold night here; 2F/-17C.

It's good to have the doors installed, although the glaring white of the primer coast is a mite unsettling. The beautiful skylight changes the acoustics dramatically; not badly, just different.

We'll have a work slow down now. We hope we can have the electric cable and meter installed tomorrow. Beyond that, woodstove installation, plumbing, electric wiring, wall insulation, etc. will have to wait until we see what is possible.

We have the job of overlapping the underlayment that closes the gap at the wall joints, applying the special seam tape, attaching the insect blocks, and attaching the exterior trim and fascia boards. The latter must be trimmed to fit but we haven't any way to do that nor do we have scaffolding or an appropriate ladder, so we'll have to find a way to manage. After all that we have tinted caulking to apply.

Lots of things to figure out.

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: gnu
Date: 06 Jan 11 - 03:51 PM

I have lathe and plaster in my house. It sucks. Might be fine in Calleeforneeah but up here in the Great White Freeze-Thaw North, it sucks. Every time I do my back exercises I see the cracks and wonder why they used plaster when gypsum board was available, easier, cheaper and easily repaired or altered in future. Not one crack in Mum's house next door... 3/8ths GB.

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: maeve
Date: 06 Jan 11 - 04:56 PM

Funny typo, "primer coast". You don't suppose I meant "primer coat"?

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: Bobert
Date: 06 Jan 11 - 05:18 PM

Gn-ze... You can use 1/4 inch wallboard right over the plaster... Glue and screw it with 1 5/8 inch course black drywall nails, tape and mud and presto!!! Real walls and with no cracks... Trust me, it works great and is cheap... Like $6 a board (4 X 8)... Sometimes under $6... No removing plaster... Very fast... Very nice...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Jan 11 - 08:15 PM

Fingers crossed the stove installation comes soon - that will allow for not only comfort, but hot water. Such a luxury!

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: gnu
Date: 06 Jan 11 - 09:27 PM

Bobert... that's fine if you HAVE to do so. But, my comment is that maeve should not have to fix cracks in the future.

Maeve... to what surfaces will you be applying this clay?

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: katlaughing
Date: 06 Jan 11 - 11:13 PM

Ain't it great to have a bunch of avuncular friends, maeve?**BG**

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: Janie
Date: 06 Jan 11 - 11:46 PM

5 years ago I could use avuncular in a sentence. Today, I have to go back to kat's post twice to be sure of the spelling, and now I gotta go google the definition.

Subject: RE: BS: New Beginnings - new foundation (maeve & TL)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 07 Jan 11 - 12:25 AM

You're part of the avauntular crew, Janie. :)

My mother's house in Washington State had plaster (it was built in the 1920s) and because the walls were so thick it stayed cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. That clay on the walls looks interesting. I have a form of custom paneling that the folks who built this house put in in 1976; the "picture frame" pattern is classic and one of these days I may get up the nerve to paint it. It is beautiful as wood paneling goes, but with so much wood in such a large room it is quite dark all of the time. Good luck making the choices on this!

SRS