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TBob

Awesome Friend
Neighbor
Joined
Dec 4, 2017
Messages
262
Location
At home in the Ozarks
Some of you may have seen from the start when I started building my house with my son on another forum.
Finally got a little more done.

Lowes had a sale on cabinets, 25% off so we picked some more up and my son and I hung them.

Doing the ground mount for the 10 320 watt solar panels in a week or so when the ground dries out..a week of rain has made everything "squishy" here.

It's been either too cold or too wet to do much, or at least I'm using that as an excuse :)

Tuesday the new engine comes for the cement mixer so I'll be able to pour the bases for the pump house, the outdoor burner, and my wifes "saloon".

I still have more cabinets to get, but it's all about the money :)...oh, and the stove isn't going there, it will be on the left wall, just had stuff in the way to move it now....thats a spot for more cabinets.

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I like that ceiling. Is that reclaimed wood from something?
No, those are cedar dog-eared fence boards. We poly-urethaned them and put them up, they are also used for the walls in the lofts.

here is a better look at it...those are 12 volt RV mushroom lights...yes, I'm totally off grid, they won't bring power up here.
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Never a waste TBob! We can all lear and provide some input as well, so have at it!
 
I love to watch people's projects coming out of the ground. I feel like I walked in in the middle of a movie without knowing the first part of the story.

Now it's obvious it isn't reclaimed but it doesn't lessen the attractiveness of the ceiling knowing that.
 
Ok then, from the top!

My son and I have embarked on a journey to build our future home in the Ozarks. Yes, we've made mistakes, and I'm sure we'll make many more before we are done. It may not have been the best planned and built, but it will serve us well until we build again.

The beginning...my son is nailing the joist hangers in. He has been a big help, I couldn't do it alone.

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So the well is drilled and cased... 479ft, cased all the way as they hit caves/voids at 75ft, 200ft, 320ft, and 400ft. Drilling was slowed for a bit when the case setter broke and had to go in for repairs, but it's done now.
Static level is 180ft.
Recharge rate is 18 gpm.
They recommended setting the pump at 430ft, but really? Why so deep? Why not at 230ft? He said he couldn't estimate the recharge rate at different depths, and the 18 gpm was at the bottom of the well.
Due to the casing going all the way, it added an extra $4800 to the cost. Ouch.
So...on to building the pumphouse, and to find a solar pump that meets my needs for this well.
Now if the weather will only cooperate, been raining forever with more to come.

The static level is actually at 233 ft, as measured by me with a line and a 2 liter bottle.
Don't know the recharge rate at around 300ft which is where the solar pump will sit.

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Finished the subfloor today, will start building the walls tomorrow. Gets hot early, so my son and I are only out a few hours before I have to work. All in good time, slow and steady. He's learned to run the nail gun pretty well.

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We had a visitor today, first time my son has seen one up close, and first time up here. Just a baby.

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Went to work this morning, it was nice and cool, planned on getting the end wall up, supports for the loft, and the loft joists in....unfortunately, things never go as planned.

Got the end wall up, and support posts on the right hand side. As I was cutting the supports for the left hand side, the compressor went BANG...and all the magic smoke came out. It wasn't even plugged in at the time.

The start capacitor blew...so I pulled it out we packed it in and came home and will see if we can get a new one from one of the electric stores here.

Anyway, here is what we accomplished, although you can't see the supports for the loft joists.

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Well, a little more progress today. Built the 4th wall and put in the support posts for the 2nd loft. Tomorrow I have a friend coming out to help me lift the wall into place, and to put up the loft joists...as much as my son wanted to do it today, he just doesn't have the strength or height..maybe next year Once the wall was built, he went and picked some blackberries while I was cleaning up. He's now happily eating some ice cream with fresh blackberries on it

Here is a shot of where we are at, My son is nailing the top of the wall, and you can see the 1st loft joists behind him.

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My wife joined my son and I on this beautiful day to pick blackberries while we worked. Our place is covered in them.
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She picked enough to make a cobbler and a pie today, and over the next couple weeks we'll get enough to make jam and freeze some.

We got the 4th wall up, and the second loft joists in place. Now to do the roof...not looking forward to it we'll do a 8:12 pitch for headroom in the lofts.
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It's been a bit since I was able to get out and get anything done, but made a little progress.

Squared it up, added the top plate, threw up some decking to stand on, and added some sheathing on each corner. Started framing the roof, and will have it finished this week.
Here are a couple pics:
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Little more done today, rafters in, cross ties in, and started the purlins for the metal roof. Had to throw some planks and decking up in the middle that will come out later...easier than using a ladder.

Next for the soffit and gable ends. Might be a couple days before I get back out. Neighbor stopped by to see if I wanted to butcher his chickens for 50/50, and of course I said yes. Tomorrow I'll be doing that in the morning, and Thursday I drive across the state to drop my wife and son at the Amtrak station for their trip....ahhh, I get a vacation not.

Anyway, here is todays progress:
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Alrighty then, a little farther along.
I picked up a door and some windows, and after the church chili cookoff today, I enlisted the help of the pastor to help me lift the door in place...but by the time he got there, my son and I had it in...apparently the chili my son ate gave him the extra strength required to lift it

Almost completely dried in, have to do the gable ends yet, but might ask a couple locals to do it...I found that heights are beginning to bother me and the older I get, the less I bounce.

I'll frame the windows out later, just working to enclose it before the bad weather.

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Just another short update. Gable ends filled, window installed over where the kitchen sink will be. I used a smaller window and turned it 90 degrees for this.

I have also started the addition that will be the bathroom, and will put the walls up today...hopefully.

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and my wife and son waiting to move in

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So, with the holidays and vehicle repairs, haven't had a lot of time or money to do much...but here are a couple photo updates.

Got the tyvek clone on the house...what a pain in the keister with 2 people. I used a 10ft pvc pipe with a collar to hold the 3ft roll high enough for the top row...worked great. The windows leaning against there are for the green house I will build..they were free and I got about 50 total.

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And my son started putting up insulation...didn't have the heart to tell him he shouldn't have yet...need to drill and wire and install boxes first

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This is where I am at. More windows to pick up this week (for the house this time) and ordered the siding, which is #2 Cedar. Will go out tomorrow to build the wall separating the add-on room into a utility room and bathroom.

Would I do some things differently next time? Yes. I would probably not use balloon framing with fire-blocking, I would do standard framing.
I also made a mistake and didn't do a double center on the frame for strength, so added more posts underneath.
It's a learning experience for both my son and , but will eventually provide us a home.
Total cost to what you see right now is around 7500, not counting the well.
 
Well, it's been a while yet again. Life, weather, always seem to get in the way.
Here is a quick upload of the end, with a couple windows installed. I'm headed over to get something done today as well, not sure whether it will be steps or another couple windows.

I framed the windows inside, then used a sawzall to cut out the sheathing. I didn't frame the windows while building the walls, because of not knowing what size windows I would end up with.

These are 36x36. from a resale shop. They were almost new, installed on a log home and the guys wife wanted white, not brown. I think brown looks much better on a log home than white...but, glad she got her way, I picked up the windows cheap, $35 each instead of the $110 new cost.

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Got another window installed today, trying to do this in between other things, and man...I wish I could just devote myself to getting this done to the exclusion of all else.

Here is my son cutting out the opening...tomorrow after church he wants to put in another window, but do all the framing work himself...so we'll go back and do another one tomorrow.
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and here it is.
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Just a teaser. We're doing board and batten style with #2 cedar. We're using 2in spacer blocks between the boards, and they will be hidden by the 4in battens. Some people use full length 2 in spacers but we're doing the budget build, so every bit helps. We could have butted the boards together and used 2in battens, but some of the boards would have looked awfully small...this way it helps the boards look bigger.
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It's been some time since I did an update. With my mom dying, traveling back to Wisconsin for the funeral, my health issues, and shoving a rusty nail all the way through my foot, I haven't been out to work on it in a couple months.

My son and I are back at it, and here is where we stand as of today before we left. Another day and we should have the front done.

I may start on the inside, get the wiring and plumbing run, as we'd like to move out there by this fall...we'll see how it goes.
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Building this with my son has been an awesome bonding experience, and we've both grown in the last year. If you have kids, make sure you include them. They will surprise you, even if you think you know them.

My son turns 14 next month, and will be getting his learners permit the following week. He has driven our dirt road almost every day for the last year, so he has had plenty of practice. He has his own address assigned by the OEM (Office of Emergency Management) already, as he wants to start building his own house next year. Amazing how "adult" he has become in 1 year.

And.........
When you start to side your house, start in the back, so by the time you get to the front you have everything figured out.
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If the rain holds off, we'll be going back to finish the front tomorrow, then to get rid of all the wasps that have made their home inside, and start wiring.
 
Neighbors are having some logging done, and they leave a lot behind. All 3 neighbors have told me to come get all I want. Here is 1 of the piles, there are 3 more like it and a few smaller ones.
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Here is a pic of my son putting the last battens in, it's nice having someone young climbing up and down, and i can just cut. Makes it go pretty quick.

lastbattens.jpg

And here is a pic of the front completed.
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I've been asked why only 1 window on the front, so here is my explanation. On the right, where the window is, will be the family room...there are 2 windows on the end, and one on the other side. The side with no windows is part of the kitchen, it will be all cabinets and food storage, no need for windows. There is a window on the end above where the sink will be, and a door, and window on the back side in the utility room, and a window in the bathroom, in the back. Plenty of windows . There will also be a window up top on each end, when I find the style I like, at a price I like
 

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