Life Update

We are still alive and enjoying our home. Due to the pandemic, our daughter, Anna, has come home to live with us. This has changed our lifestyle, responsibilities, priorities, and our ability to get things done. We are happy to have her home and thriving.

Just the GOOD news:

With Anna home, we are testing the handicapped accessibility design. The wheelchair gets around very well (the china cabinet window glass is still intact! There is some wall marring due to poor driving abilities - that are improving). Maneuverability in the bathroom is great. Handicap number 2 is unavailable as it is still a 'work room.' In the winter months, we do use a room heater in the bathroom. Hearing when Anna has a problem at night - Kim's hearing is degrading; Bill can hear well to alleviate that need.  Sound travels rather well; we have some rooms that are insulated and one can be isolated from all noises there.

Climate control of the building is working well enough. We are using the HVAC less this year than last. 

Wear and tear on the house: The floors are wonderful, easily steam cleaned.  They can be sanded and urethane reapplied if marred or gouged.

Weathering storms. Lots of rain has occurred.  We have only one area of concern with water 'seepage.'  We are remedying the situation, and investigating possible longterm remediation. Wind has blown over nearby trees and tree limbs; the house remains undamaged.

New house adaptations: in-house gardening We have been growing lettuce, tomatoes, peppers indoors.  Notice our seed collection on the table as we are saving seeds also.

Outlook for the future- there is a lot yet to do in life...Projects:  West Annex - we have changed it's secondary function (primary function being to give more light to the dining room).  Instead of installing a therapy pool, we are looking into an indoor gardening area. West Patio - lots of on-your-hands-and-knees work.  Earth Tube Maintenance - Some of our parachute cords in the earth tubes are no longer intact. These were to be used to clean the earth tube.  We have cleaned the Dryer Earth Tube, and have the others on our to-do list.  Green House/Solar Chimney -  Garage upgrades What if the power grid fails? Food production Demolishing old house! Better ways to mow the roof(s) Back Door and New French Door to replace a patio door

Installing the Insulating Umbrella Part II

We made a scaffold at our pullpoint which made it possible for the cable to operate in a line of sight manner. This reduced stresses on the cables and pulleys and made it easier to unload the scoop at the top. The challenge was to balance the bracing cables against the pull load.

Scaffold on the right of a pile of dirt that Bill pulled up

Dirt ready to go up

That pile of dirt is now up top

Working behind the scoop, walking up the hill, unloading the scoop, and walking down the hill pulling the scoop back down, was not easy work. Each pile of dirt at the bottom of the hill requires about 12 trips with the one-horse-scoop to get the whole pile to the top of the house.  We were able to move a maximum of two piles of dirt up the hill a day on good weather days, when the body was again able to take the stress.

But we are very glad to say, THE INSULATING UMBRELLA IS INSTALLED.  THE DIRT IS COVERING IT. THE GRASS SEED IS PLANTED AND GROWING.

View from the West

View from the East

And VOILA! After waiting many days, we now have grass......we are contemplating ways of keeping it mowed.

Installing the Insulating Umbrella - Part I

Our landscaping expert had convinced us to contour the top of the house his way, letting the dirt settle a bit before tackling putting the insulating umbrella on it. We knew we had a steep contour to deal with – 6 – 12 as in a 6 inches rise for 12 inches horizontal run of the roof. And at the top, it is rounded over to meet the other side. Danny had sloped it so that it was not as steep, so he could climb it in his track-laying skidsteer. Unfortunately, he died. Bill had been thinking how was he going to change the contour of our roof so that we could put the insulating umbrella on it and cover it back up with dirt and sod or seed. We did not want the excessive amount of dirt on the hillside, possibly being too much for our retaining walls. We needed to take away about 2 feet on the sides, putting some of that on the top. He calculated renting an excavator with a long arm to be uneconomical.

One day, Bill saw a one-horse scoop in someone’s front yard used as yard-decor. He had used one as a boy helping his father. Bill has a way with the English language. He approached the owners and talked them into selling it to him, and he brought it home and repaired it.

Bill talked his wife into being the horse, and he would handle the scoop. Actually, being the horse meant driving a skidsteer which was connected by cable to the one-horse scoop via a pulley system. We worked at this for no more than an hour a day as lifting the handles of the very heavily-laden scoop (Bill’s job) was a weight-lifting feat. He was able to relax his muscles by raking out what he had moved that day. And Bill was somewhat happy to get some rain days for resting.

The first layer of plastic

 Keith joined us, and tried his hand at being the horse, and at being the weight-lifter. Both were difficult jobs. When the skidsteer had a mechanical problem, we switched to the tractor. Wife found the tractor easier as the velocity was set and the steering was less sensitive. She only had to get in the correct gear – forward or reverse, and keep an eye on the weight-lifter and his load. Then Keith and Bill were the weight-lifters.

 We actually only tackled about 28 feet of the length of the house. This was the section over the bedrooms, leaving about 36 feet for later. Finally, the surface was shaped and ready for the umbrella. Meanwhile, we met Ernesto. He and his son helped us to place the umbrella on that half of the house- all in one LONG day. Then on subsequent days, Bill, Keith and wife worked on covering it up with dirt using the one-horse scoop, rakes and shovels.

Ernesto and son helping layout the insulation

The second layer of plastic

Adding dirt on top of the umbrella

View from the West, scooping dirt where it is needed

"Scooping" topsoil up to the top

Straw bales form the boundary of the insulating umbrella

Straw blanket on top with rye seed

GRASS!

Once it was covered with the straw blanket, we planted rye grass seed and tall fescue, along with some strategically placed sod, to hold the dirt until the rest of the umbrella was completed.

The Drips of Condensation in the Tunnel

We went into the tunnel, our cold cellar, many times over this past winter, as we had pumpkins and spaghetti squash awaiting our use.  We noticed drips on the ceiling.

Thinking about it, we realized that the ceiling is only about a foot underground, so the winter cold was getting thru to our tunnel and the warm air from our entering the tunnel was condensing on the ceiling. We had the insulating umbrella on the tunnel near the house, but not at the end thinking that we wanted the earth temperature to keep the tunnel cool. Our problem was that there was not enough earth to keep it warm when 10 degrees F outside. 

To fix the problem, at the end of the tunnel, we dug down to find the roof of the tunnel. Then we applied a sealant on the end wall to repair any damages from digging down. Knowing at this point exactly where the concrete started, we were able to leave about 6 inches of dirt on top of the tunnel's concrete shell as we dug back about 6 feet. 

We installed the umbrella onto this portion of the tunnel and covered it back up.  If there is a portion of the tunnel without the insulating umbrella covering it, it now has at least 3 feet of hard packing clay 'dirt' on top of it. The new covering of the tunnel has 4 inches of closed cell foam on top which should give at least R20 insulation. The insulation is tapered where the dirt is deeper, such as on the sides and the end. For example, the end which is shown in the picture has 3 inches.

We also built a segmented wall around the end of the tunnel, so in addition to the 3 inches of insulation, there is over a foot of dirt and 16 inches of block wall before daylight. Notice the pink flags. These flags indicate the line of insulation at the end of the tunnel.

The next project is to complete the umbrella installation, that we started last fall, on the rest of the house. There may be some adjustments/repairs to the segmented wall, and a beautification process of the landscape once the machinery and dirt moving is done.

What's Been Happening The Past 19 Months?

Progress Continues. In little steps.  Every once in a while, we have a BIG project. And we still have projects, big and small on the agenda.

I'll describe on the inside, room by room, what's 'been happening.'  The outside will be another post.

The Mud Room is a bit better organized with a dryer installed and working well. The room is very soundproof, due to the appliances being there.  But it is the primary entrance.  Our problem was that we couldn't hear anybody knocking. We now know when a visitor has arrived as we have a doorbell installed and working. It can be heard throughout the house!

Handicapped Bathroom I is painted and has curtains, the vanity and sink have been installed.  Some organizing is still needed and the transfer fan (to bring some heat in from the bedroom) needs to be enabled.

Handicapped Bathroom II has the toilet, antique tub and vanity installed, but is still a storage and workroom.  It is painted and well lit.

The Master Bedroom still needs some painting and trim added.  It has curtains and a functional closet, phone and internet. The floor is not as smooth as we would like, but we can live with it at this point.  It is partially furnished with a bed, night table, and lamps. And visitors have slept here, not George Washington though.

The Standard Bathroom is fully functional.

The Dining Room is furnished and has a ceiling light fixture. It is in use daily.

The Kitchen is becoming somewhat more organized. The clutter of daily use is evident.

The Living Room is less cluttered, more livable.  We actually enjoyed dining in the living room, and watching the wildlife outside for the first year, prior to the dining room becoming furnished.  We are also using part of the living room as a greenhouse.

The Work Room has monitors and computers, light, power, internet and phone.  I need to clean out and organize the room better; there are building supplies to be moved out.

The Earth Tubes still need grates, but a plan has been thought out. A prototype is in the design stage, involving an OEM floor drain grate and a milled piece of  8" PVC pipe in the coupler as it's support system.  We have acquired a router to do the milling...

Upstairs, the Library has a kitchenette installed, a phone, table and lighting. We still have the Earth Tube fans to bring online. All doors in the library are REAL wood doors with latches from the old farm house that was torn down in the first blog entries.

The Jack and Jill Bathroom is fully functional.

The Office, has a daybed, desk, bookcase, chairs and plants, phone and internet.  It is all painted and at least partially in use. There is a functional closet.

The Guest Bedroom is painted and furnished. We installed an arched door that Warner built; and its latch and the bathroom latches, are also from the old farmhouse.  There is a functional closet.

Micheal Farraday Room is our utility closet, housing the phone system and internet hardware.

Harry Potter Room currently is miscellaneous building supply storage. It may become a linen closet, and will still have room for Harry Potter.

The Garage exterior doors, windows, and trim are 'in the process' of a facelift.  The entry to the garage has been paved with old bricks and slabs cast with truck-cleanout concrete.

There is a cleanout pipe for the septic system that has been 'cleaned up' - cut off, capped and shallowly buried, so we can find it if we have to use it.

The Outhouse (built early on for construction workers' use)  had been moved closer to the garden and a new roof attached.  Now, it's for our use as tool storage or defecation as needed.

The Umbrella on the roof of the house was started in October. Because of the size and nature of the project, we planned to finish only about half of the umbrella.  That was accomplished in November. The process involved shaping the dirt, laying down plastic sheeting, blueboard insulation, plastic sheeting, straw blanket and then adding and shaping more dirt, straw blanket and grass seed.

Other things are going on that are not particularly of any major effort, but need to be done nonetheless. For example, we are trying to get the subsistence farm operations going again: bees, garden, orchard, etc. And, of course, enjoying living and working here.

Certificate of Occupancy

The Certificate of Occupancy is 'in the mail.' We have met the criteria for occupancy, and now can focus on making it livable.  Here are some pictures.

Stairway, Second Floor Railing, and Kitchen (Unveiled)

Lots More Work To Do

Electric Panel Trim

Making lists of little projects to get done and getting them done so we can soon live there.

Stairway Progress

Warner Having Fun