Where did the summer go????I know....building our home!
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| Jim finishing the Welcome sign on our temporary front door. |
Our property was a beehive of activity for most of the summer as we worked towards lock up.
The warmth of the sun was welcome as we worked outside on our property, prepped inside and escaped when we could, occasionally heading to Kaleva Beach in search of either cedar for our future deer fence or unusual rocks.
The deer fence will be a combo of cedar slats and metal deer fence.
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| Jim found some great pieces of cedar on the shoreline |
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We spent days enjoying our task of
accumulating cedar slats for the deer fence. |
We made a point of creating beach time at least once a week. Pack a lunch and away we went. By the end of summer we had a substantial pile of cedar slats ready to be installed next spring and we had found more beautiful stones for a future project.
The Ford F150 truck and lumber rack have sure come in handy, especially when you're carrying 12' slats of cedar home.
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| The gorgeous slats are at least 6' tall with the majority being 10 - 12' long. |
Meanwhile, back at the house...Things were happening. The team helping us build our house had some vacation time in August but they were all back by the last week of summer under spectacular sunny skies to get the roof on. Chris, Campbell, Brian and Billy installed the roof trusses then roofing materials. It was a welcome site to come back to from a quick down island buying/research trip. Windows, our dining room french door, sliding doors were all added next.
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Most of the plywood is over the joists here. It was a very wet day.
The plywood floor was soaking up water like crazy.
That's the nature of building in a rain forest area. |
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| The first metal pieces are laid in place. |
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| View from just outside our future deer fence. We'll have a wonderful private garden outside the bedroom. |
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For now our main floor will be the 'workshop'. Jim built sturdy shelving and designed some scaffolding
we will use for the next year while we embellish the space. |
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| It's the little things like caulking and sealing cracks that will make this house super solid and insulated. |
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| The start of the ceiling rib project....a creation from Jim to craft a most unusual ceiling. |
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Jim cut out 1/4" plywood to create three different sets of ribs. One from each shape creates the 'wave'.
Each one was carefully sanded and stuffed with insulation. |
We knew that working on the ceiling, installing insulation, putting up a vapour barrier, etc. would be challenging without the right scaffolding. Jim puzzled over it and came up with the design below.
Each 'cube' is on sturdy wheels. Thick planks join the two cubes together. We can easily roll it as a unit with me pushing one end of a cube and Jim pushing the other one. Planks and plywood over the stairwell mean we can walk from scaffold to wall anywhere. Brilliant!
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| Yes - I can use a drill as well as a camera. |
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Can you see the beginning of a wave across the ceiling? An innovative design
idea by Jim. Pine boards will run across the joists. That's another story altogether! |
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The ceiling shape is the first of many unusual artistic features we
will be creating in our home. |
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| The last pieces of the curved ceiling ribs going in ...after dinner. |
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We do stop many times a day to admire the view!
Sunset last Friday - taken through our dirty windows but it still was one of the most amazing so far! |
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| Always working! |
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Fall is in the air as we continue inside work. Siding and shingle
art will be added to the outside over the coming months. There
will also be a chimney sticking out once we install the wood burner. |
So...that's what we've been up to lately. This week we will be framing a portion of the lower level to create a temporary studio apartment to live in while we finish the upstairs. Our electrician, Kane, is coming later in the week to start the electrical.
All in All...we love Sointula and this journey. We're collaborating well, and finding our friends in Sointula great resources for who to call or where to buy something. We're beginning to solidify design ideas for the bathroom and kitchen and think about our future garden. The studio will be great to spend a few months in while we work on the rest.
Until next time...
Jim and Tricia Bowen
250 818-0095
tandjbowen13@gmail.com
