Finishers are Finishing

Two weeks ago, we had Fidel, Juan, Victor and Pedro over to plaster our concrete walls.  Fidel and Juan had been here before working on the interior walls.  Now that it is getting cold, they are glad to have interior work. 

At that time, they had almost finished the first floor walls (those under the second floor). They also worked on the wall on the west side of the living room at the first floor level.

Juan, Victor and Pedro were back today, joined by Keith (welcome back) and Carol.  They started plastering walls on the second floor.  They decided to mix the mortar on the second floor, so they used Tom's ladder winch to transport the bags of mortar mix and masonry cement up to the second floor, and a wheelbarrow, and other tools.  They were very impressed with the ladder and want one of their own.  Carol using the ladder winch

By lunchtime, they had gotten one bay (east side 6 ft width) covered with a base coat and almost troweled. After lunch, they finished it and started on the second bay.  I should say that Victor mainly was preparing the second bay by chipping knobs of concrete away and spraying a bonding adhesive on the surface.  The others were working with the mortar - making it and applying it.

After lunch, Bill worked on getting the air compressor working at a higher psi. He was lucky and had the guys try it out.  They were able to spray the mortar on in one hour what took them about 3 hours before.  They were much happier seeing how well it worked.  They like troweling it smooth much more than flicking the mortar onto the wall, and waiting to see if it falls off or stays on. Pedro spraying mortar

So, we have two bays on the east side with a base coat of 'plaster' applied.  We look forward to the next time they work with us, and the progress that they will make.

A Green House and The Carpenters Are Back!

Within a week of the last posting, the brown strewn straw turned into lovely green blades of rye grass.  So one could say that we are mostly green as of this moment.

The carpenters arrived this morning to install the three remaining sliding doors on the West

Annex.  And they will be framing out the wall to the tunnel/pantry.  They are here for a short visit, and we look forward to another visit when we have plastered the walls where they need to do more framing.

Another 'green' - which is described as 'blue', but looks green to me.  Part of the tunnel changed from the gray natural concrete to a Senergy sky blue.
Hopefully, we have only enough paint to finish the other two bays of the tunnel, and NO MORE.

Erosion Control Measures Taken

 All of the bare dirt has been seeded with annual rye grass seed, and we sprayed straw on top of that.

 We should have minimal outside work to be done in the winter (unless the stucco guys get here).

We will be getting some mulch and putting it on bare relatively level parts where vehicles will perhaps drive near the house.

 Two other outside projects may need to get done as weather permits:  the pump house and the house earth tubes.

We were inside the house, on separate occasions, and we later remarked to each other how warm if felt.  Our min/max thermometer read of minimum of 68 F and a maximum of 78 F.

 We did see some turkeys out today near the house and Bill remarked that they were probably scratching in the straw.

 

Getting the Exterior Ready for The Winter Season

Bill, Carol, Kim and Danny worked Thursday (26 Sep) on installing the umbrella in front of the garage.   
Why?
The garage wall will absorb the heat from the sun - even with it's insulation.  It will penetrate into the structure, heat up the interior and radiate thru the inner walls into the earth (no insulation there). The purpose of the umbrella is to prevent moisture from penetrating our heat-sync under the garage and its perimeter (and over the garage, when we install that bigger umbrella in the spring).  Water will take away any heat that would be stored there.  So, this umbrella extends the footprint of the garage another 12 feet to the South.  
How was it installed?
Danny took away about 16 inches of dirt, tapering it about 1 inch every 4 feet.  We laid down 6 mil polyethylene sheeting, blueboard insulation, and another layer of 6 mil polyethylene sheeting.  There was some pea gravel on the side ditches (east and west) and at the outer edge (south) between the plastic sheeting.  Then Danny covered it all with dirt to within 4 inches of the finish grade.  
It doesn't look any different, but hopefully will make a lot of difference in the interior climate of the garage, and the house when we get to that project.

The Mound is Complete

Next steps, mulch and seed to protect the exposed soil from the weather.  We still have plenty of dirt in piles near the house.

We (Bill, Carol, Brad, Kim, and Glen) installed the hydrant at the garage.  Next step there, is to extend the french drain, grade the dirt for installing the umbrella, install it, cover with topsoil, and seed. That is in front of the garage.  The top of the garage still needs it's umbrella. And the front NEEDS it's stucco.

Meanwhile, next week, we intend to try out the mortar sprayer for interior plastering.  

Rain Caused a Delay on Covering, But LOOK at the West Annex!

We had an inch of rain overnight.  We had one wet spot in the West Annex and as you can see, it was probably coming in the doorway which is wide open.  So we are might happy at the very dry interior.  The EPDM waterproofing on the shotcrete, and the ice and watershield on the end-walls, have proved to be the needed answer.  

Danny has more digging to do to allow water to runoff, but the entrance looks wonderful!

We're Almost There (House Covered)

The house is just a white seam down the middle of the hill of dirt. 

Perhaps TOMORROW will be a day of celebration!