Electricity!

September

The electricity arrived today. Hook-up was completed just after the noon hour to our great relief. All windows and doors are in, and the plumbing rough-in is done. We are now preparing for the insulator to arrive and seal up the walls and ceiling for winter. We still have to get a chimney up for the heating plant but that should only take about a week. When the gas pipe is laid, we will be able to get the fill sand we need to get the radiant heat piping into the first floor. I am waiting patiently for the day when the house is sealed-up in preparation for the winter. I plan a two week hiatus to recover from the work, the summer heat, and all the pressures that come with racing against the weather. We will have a long winter to work inside framing partitions, hanging wall board and building staircases, but right now, I need a break! Jim

Indeed a lot has happened. Today, while the electricity was run and hooked up, I was up on the cupola roof finishing up the shingling. Thankfully the weather has been improving. Sam

My uncle requested that we post a picture of what the finished house will look like. Below is a link to the Hudson, WI house that will be very similar in size to ours: http://community.pressenter.net/~octagon/

Grunt and groan

Aug 3

The heat here has been enervating. We’ve had only two days of normal temperatures in the last six weeks. Every other day in the period has been in the upper 80’s and nineties. But, by far the humidity has been the worse problem. We sweat just standing still. The afternoons are often unbearable. As a result the progress is slow. We have the sheeting up on four of the eight walls. A rudimentary staircase is in to the basement and the second floor, and I have begun to frame out the interior walls on the first floor. Today the electrician stopped by to begin wiring the exterior walls and to set the electrical panel. The cupola is framed and six of the eight sides are roofed. We have also begun the stone facing in order to prepare for the setting of the electric meter. This has been one of the hottest summers on record here and has delayed progress by at least three weeks. We are hoping for a long cool fall in order to catch up. Jim

A real pattern has set in. In the morning I grunt, Jim groans, and we decide to start the day working on the house. Depending on the humidity we are able to work until ten o’clock and have a tea break. A few complaints from Jim about the weather and arthritis, and I smile, nod, and wipe the sweat from my brow. After we are recuperated, we head back to the worksite to either continue on the task we had left off on, or as the sun turns full bore from behind the maple and hackberry that shade our site shift to a shadier spot and start a new task. A groan from Jim to show he still moves. I grunt to acknowledge and move in the pattern of our day. Sam

Spinning our web

There are spiders in our house. Some are big some are small. Most spin webs others do nothing at all. They weave in the basement. They crawl up to the cupola. From the bottom to the top there seems to be no crevasse that they do not take up. This has been made their home more than ours. They have appeared from nowhere and disappear out of sight. They weave and toil all through the day and night. I saw and I hammer until heat or dark ushers me home. They ignore both and spin, spin, spin. I do not quit, each day anew, I toil and nail until this building is through.
Sam

Cupola

July 12

The heat and humidity has really slowed things down here. It was a whole week in the 90’s and outside work was only possible for a few hours in the mornings. We did get a two day break and managed to get the cupola framework up and in place. The roof will have to wait as the heat has returned. The final shape of the house is now visible and it is quite a show stopper. We have also begun to get the sub-floor in over the kitchen and some of the second floor. Jim

The roof

June 16

The roof is almost on. We are now able to keep the plate dry in the rain that comes every couple of days. After tomorrow we hope to begin to put on the wood sheeting on the second floor walls. That will entail installing the first windows on the building and should provide a hint at what the finished structure might look like. (With the roofing in place the third floor attic looks a bit like an Indian teepee.)

The days are becoming hot and humid and we should be able to work inside in the shade once the roof is complete. There is still so much to get done before the weather changes in the fall that the mind becomes numb contemplating it all. Overall the shape and size of the building is pleasing to the eye. In order to install the electrical hub at the back of the house we will have to complete a small portion of the stone facing. It will be interesting to see how that changes the appearance of the house as a whole. Jim

I told Jim that I have nothing to say. What is there to say? There is morning cool and work. There is afternoon heat and work. There is evening shade and dreams of more work. I cannot look too far forward or I may become overwhelmed. I cannot look backward for that is a pit where no salvation may be found. I look down at hammer, nail, board, and am work. Sam

Roof rafters

June 1

Last week we began work on the roof structure of the octagon. We hired Nick to help out and Dave, back from the north, helped for three mornings. All but 9 rafters on a single side are now in place and we are nailing up the first rows of roof boards in hopes of keeping the incessant rain off of the plate. It has been a lot of long hours and days. I tell Sam that when he is my age he’ll wonder how I’ve managed to keep up the pace. If the weather cooperates we should have a dry work place in a couple of weeks. The wood structure was tough, especially with 48 jack rafters to cut with a handsaw, but it looks good and the final height and shape of the finished house is now visible.  Jim

Second floor

Dave and John came this morning unexpectedly to help set the timbers on the second floor (Good thing that I spent yesterday evening cutting and measuring them so they were ready!) Sam decided he wanted to go with the 1866 barn framing timbers for the main supports rather than the laminated beams we made up for the rest of the structural members out of 2x10’s . It makes for a little more work but the look should be worth it…especially the one that has the date on it in big black numbers. Sam had to square up a damaged side of one using the adze…an experience only few have had in the last century! We started at six and were done by ten. Now for the attic joists!

Jim

Dennis stopped over yesterday morning and today to help us set the attic floor joists. He was an immense help. The days are really heating up and we must take breaks during the heat of the day. A few days of futzing and we will be ready to think about roof rafters. A little bit every day gets the job done.

Sam