We spent most of last year finishing
Randy's barn (our "practice house") and continuing to clear
the driveway on our property. The old shack has been completely
torn down, without the use of power tools, only Jeff, a hammer, and a
crowbar. Jeff found a load of concrete chunks on Craigslist,
and had it dropped off to use in raising up the low spots around the
front of the drive. (Funny enough, we realized after the fact
that the load came from the old gas station right at the end of our
road here!) We also chose a building site, and it didn't result
in marital strife!
After the barn was completed, in
November, we lacked direction. Jeff and Randy were just cutting
what wood they had, stacking the beams up in piles. Then, the
neighbor at our property, who owns a tree service, dropped off 4 dump
truck loads of trees in Jeff's parents' backyard. (If I were
Linda, I would have FREAKED.)
It just so happened that right after
their backyard became logging insanity, Randy found out he had to
have bypass surgery. In a panic, Jeff began thinking of others
who could come and help him out with all of these trees. If
there's one thing Jeff can't do alone, it's move trees and hoist them
onto the sawmill! He thought to call Corey, who just happened
to need flooring for his barn. What do you have a lot of when
you are cutting beams from the middle of trees? 1 bys.
The two of them worked through the piles. Randy was stuck...
and antsy.
It was at this point that Randy came up
with an idea to let us mock up the first floor of our house in his
backyard. Yes, build it in the backyard. Remember, this
is not a typically built home. It isn't built with nails, but
with jointed and pegged beams. We would be constructing the
house, numbering the pieces, and then moving them to the site.
Randy also contacted the county about
building the house on a foundation of pillars. Because we
haven't sold any of our houses at this time, we don't have any
money. A foundation is, well, a pretty important step in
building a house. So, we are trying to come up with a creative
way to begin building our house, before we have a lot of money to
spend. Of course, we could always come back and close it in for
a basement, but we could get started now... and getting started is
the first step towards getting finished!
As he began feeling better, Randy and
Jeff cut the corner braces for the house. We need about 80
braces. Each 6 ft 3 x 8 will have a decorative arch. This
was a trick. A jigsaw wouldn't work, so they borrowed a
portable band saw. This didn't work, either, since it was
designed for metal. Randy saw, online, that someone used a
skill saw for the arch. To their surprise, it worked. It
was tricky because they had to make a cut from the top and a cut from
the bottom, lining them up in the middle. To compensate for
this, they cleaned it up with a chisel and sander.
Currently, they have finished 25
braces.
Jeff, Randy, and Corey have cut about
1/2 of the 4 huge dump truck loads of trees. From this, they
have cut all of the needed foundation beams. (For those
concerned, we will be treating it all with Tim-Bor.)
Jeff had a shoulder injury from a bout
of drunken bar boxing back in college, and it has worsened over
time. He is now doing six months of physical therapy to try to
strengthen the incredibly loose/torn tendons and whatnot.
Needless to say, that shoulder has been slowing him down in the past
few months! Hopefully, it will continue to improve... and we will
continue to plug along.... in spite of our lack of funds!
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