start of chimney

We finally got the rock that we've been waiting for. Here, Jim and his son, Zeb, are starting to build the chimney. Since the chimney is behind the stove, it's easier to build it before building the stove itself.

3-D woodstove puzzle

Today, Jim and his crew poured the cement slab (shiny-looking thing in the back with stuff sticking up out of it) which will be the base for the woodstove. All the blocks you see are (most of) the pieces for the woodstove core. They had been sitting outside on a pallet for several months - we took them off the pallet and brought them inside to make sure they were all there and were in good condition (they were).


The woodstove kit manufacturer (Temp-Cast) recommends doing a "dry assembly" to make sure you know how everything goes together before you start. I assembled the kit out on the patio as much as I could (the rest was too heavy/high). Besides what's shown below, there is a bake oven that goes on top and there are shallow "U"-shaped channels that go on the sides. (Exhaust gases actually travel from the top of the stove down the U-shaped channels, then out the bottom back of the stove to the chimney - the chimney stands alone on top of the slab and does not sit on top of the stove.)

the big hole - gone!

At long last, the huge hole that we've had in the floor for so long is being filled with a new woodstove! This picture shows Jim building the cinder block foundation for the stove.

Tomorrow, he'll pour the slab that rests on top of the cinder block foundation and on which the stove and chimney rest.

why your ankle hurts

Skip, you idiot, your ankle hurts because you hit it with the wood-splitting maul today (check the date of the posting), remember? So as not to be confused with the many other aches and pains you can't remember how you got, we're talking about the pain in the upper left side of the left ankle. You brought the splitter down on a chunk of log, but your aim was a little off and the log went flying in one direction and the maul was apparently attracted to your foot. Lucky for you the maul had lost most of its momentum by the time it got your foot and all you have is a little "reminder".

Then, tonight you got this, uh, brilliant idea for using the blog to remind yourself where all your aches and pains came from. Hey, having some body part hurt is one thing, but not remembering how you got it is really dumb. I mean, what good is the pain if it doesn't remind you what stupid thing you should not do?

You thought twice about cluttering up the blog with this stuff, but then you finally decided: "hey, it's my blog - I'll put whatever I feel like putting on it - and if either of our faithful readers don't like it, let 'em get their own blogs!".

Figured out yet why the underside of your left foot hurts? Maybe because you spent most of the day yesterday standing on a ladder cutting off the ends of girders which were sticking out past the roof line? Then why is it just your left foot and not your right foot? Putting your weight on your left leg while sawing with your right arm maybe? But, wait... wasn't it hurting before yesterday? So maybe you were shovelling (gutter drainage) wearing sneakers instead of boots and that was what set it off ... working on the ladder all day just aggravated it. ... but that's going to have to remain a mystery because you failed to 'blog it!

yourself

real close

As all both of our faithful readers have noted, we have not updated this blog for a couple of weeks. Truth is that we just don't have any time (or energy) left over after working on the house. So, if I can focus long enough, I'll try to bring you up-to-date...

The biggest thing that remains to be done is the fireplace. But we're next in the mason's queue. Yesterday, he came and dropped off some tools and after he takes about a week off, he'll start on our fireplace. I told him that the fireplace would make or break the house and he assured me that it would make it.

The shower has been almost done for a couple weeks now. It would have been done again today, but there was a slight mix-up with the tile. Frankly, the difference was so small that if Malcolm hadn't pointed it out, we probably never would have noticed ... but he's too conscientious about his work to let it slide. Anyway - one more week.

Betty has been sanding and oiling logs (rafters, girders and posts). It's messy work and is a bit precarious - she has to work standing on a ladder which is on top of a scaffold. (Today, the ladder slipped and she fell - luckily to the top of the scaffold and not all the way to the floor.)

Dale, our general contractor, has finished everything he personally needs to do. When he gets back from a little time off, he'll take care of any loose ends.

I've been installing lights and appliances - water softener, water heater, washer, dryer, dishwasher, range, kitchen sink (with garbage disposal and instant hot water dispenser), bathroom sink. The only fixture I have not installed is the throne (waiting for Betty to finish sanding and oiling in that part of the house).

A week ago, we passed the final inspection for the septic system and can now put it to use (just clothes washer and sinks so far).

I need to finish up all the electrical stuff so we can have the electrical final inspection. Mainly, all I have to do is install the ceiling fan and a ceiling light - that plus keep my fingers crossed that I've done everything correctly.

We also need a drywell/drainage inspection. Since the drywell is subterranean, all we really have to do is show pictures taken during installation. However, I still need to plumb the one remaining gutter as well as the water softener discharge (can't discharge into the septic system, since salt inhibits microbial activity, so the discharge from regeneration of the water softener has to go into the drywell).

Other than that, there is a bit of work to do with the steps leading to the entrances. Today, Betty and I agreed that as soon as we got a breather, she would tell me her thoughts on that and I would tell her how I'm going to do it anyway.

Oh, another thing that we need to do is to sand and seal the floor. The floor is 2x6 spruce tongue & groove - same as the ceiling, but unlike the ceiling, the floor took a real beating during construction. Actually, for all the abuse it's seen, it doesn't look all that bad - sort of like the way you would expect a nice old wood floor to look. A little cosmetic surgery should make it look great! Anyway, we don't need to do this to pass the final inspection, but we intend to do it before we move in.

So... we're very close to having a done house. Betty and I are very much looking forward to having this done. Not that we intend to move in right away - we do not - we just need to get back to some semblance of normalcy (i.e. get back to our day jobs). We've both declared that we would never do this again.