High energy day!

Mondays I never quite know what to expect from the crew. Days off can sometimes be more tiring than working days and sometimes it takes a day or two to get back into the groove. But all of the crews showed up in great spirits and eager to pull out the stops. Peter organized our crew to start mixing the mud (fiberglass reinforced concrete) and I started cutting channels for the wiring and plubing for the airconditioning in the LOGIX ICF blocks.

Because the center of the ICF blocks is filled with solid concrete I use an old electric chainsaw to cut grooves into the foam. The plubing and wiring are pressed into the channels and then I use cans of foam to close up the gaps once more. I was quickly pulled from my task with an arriving truck full of lumber, questions from the plumber and a meeting upstairs with the carpenters to decide where the walls and doors would be located. A customer who dropping by to talk about a sculpture pulled me from that task... and so my day went.

Peter and the crew were determined to sculpt the rock work over the length of the entire east side of the house. I thought it ambitious but encouraged them to give it their best shot. Matthew applied the first thin layer of cement and then Peter followed, shaping his layer to look like stones.

The day was warm and the sun shone bright on th east wall all morning. Just after a very fast coffee break a panic call was heard from the east side of the house. HELP! All hands were needed to carve! Everyone dropped the tools they were using and picked up carving tools to sculpt rock. The quickly drying concrete waits for no one.

Once the first batch of concrete was carved it was back to applying the mud once more. This time Matthew was mixing and both Bec and Peter were applying the mud. They were determined to cover the entire length of the wall before quitting time.

Hailey, Bec and Peter had to work a little past 4:30 to accomplish the task but with the help of the entire crew they met their lofty goal!

When you visit a Disney park there are hidden Mickey's for those who know what to look for. On our house we are hiding hearts instead. There will be plenty before we are done. Some are obvious, while others much less so. Can you see the hidden hearts in this shot?

In spite of the temperatures reaching into the eighties and a strong and hot wind blowing the crew beat the quickly curing concrete and pulled off an amazing amount of work. THANKS!

-grampa dan

Turning straight into curves

Tomorrow I'll turn Peter and the crew loose on the sculpting of the outside of the house. I have to get busy planning and cutting of the hundreds of curved pieces we will need to convert the straight lines of the ceiling trusses and joists into the curves we want when we are done. This is done by fastening curved plywood pieces to the trusses, and then screwing strips of wood to those. Once the wooden armature is in place we'll then staple on the lath and apply a coat of fiberglass reinforced concrete to a smooth curved finish. It is the best and fastest way to get the compound surfaces we desire.

There are a number of areas we will be starting with. The first are the two bonus rooms upstairs. The dormers are across from each other and they will be blended together in a compund curve to hide the beam overhead. The red marks on the photos show the shapes I need to design.

The next area is the curved ceiling that is high over the living/dining room area. It will feature a cross arch over the bridge that bisects the big barrel ceiling perfectly. A heavy crown molding will circle the room at the eight foot level with LED lighting that splashes across the ceiling in a dramatic fashion.

Downstairs an arched ceiling will begin in the entry hallway and go through the house, under the brindge and into the bedroom hallway. LED lighting will also illuminate this archway.

Other arches will be formed over the main bath tub, in the ensuite bathroom, up the stairs and in other smaller areas of the house. It is a lot of work but the effect will be one of the things that define this unique house and separate it from the rest.

Years ago when we did this kind of work the drawing was done by hand, largely by eye. Once I had a pattern piece we would trace out more and use the jigsaw to cut them out. Now of course, things have changed. I design on the computer and then send the cutting files to our CNC router. ALmost as fast as I can load the machine it cuts sheet after sheet of plywood perfectly. It works many times faster than we could ever do it the old way - by hand.The machine can follow the unseen line perfectly - something I always had a great deal of trouble with. 

While many wish for the good old days, I love the modern ways of doing things!

-grampa dan

Instant trees (almost)

Today was a relatively quiet day on the jobsite. The trades were all off for the weekend. Our crew was limited to Peter, Hailey and myself. Bec came to help when we were in a hurry to carve the mud and Janis poked by regularly to help us make decisions about how we would do things.

Today's project was to sculpt the first of the trees for the porch area. We dragged out our old paddle mixer, dubbed the 'PURPLE PEOPLE EATER' on account of the vicious blades that whirl to mix the concrete. Peter and I took turns mixing the grey concoction and we both applied a heavy coat of mud to two trees that flanked the round entry doorway. As always we weren't content to merely do one sample tree. I took one side while Peter tackled the other. In a constant (but friendly) game of one upmanship the surrounding walls got a coat of mud as well and before we were done the whole west wall of the house had gotten the treatment, save for some rockwork at the bottom. By lunchtime the mud was applied and it was time to begin the sculpting.

We worked the theme of hearts into the cut ends of the tree branches just for fun. It's subtle but there for those who look.

The trees changed the look of the entry, making it instantly magic. 

The trees and beams lining the porch will have to wait until the soffits are in place a couple of weeks from now. I can hardly wait!

As we admire the new look of the house this evening it was a little hard to believe it was only a few short weeks ago we were paintling lines on the lawn and imagining how the house would look. Now, at last it is taking shape!

-grampa dan