Journal of Progress--August 7-August 12

Monday, August 6, 2018

Finished the sheathing today. Not as finished as I’d like; I still have to caulk all the seams. Actually finished this morning, but spent the rest of the day cutting, fitting, and installing backer boards over the biggest seams in all four walls. Huge job, but we got it done!

 This inside shot shows the light gaps between the sheathing.

 Drilling in little boards to cover the light gaps.

 Showing the little boards on the inside.

 

 I’m finding out that I’m not really set up to have a helper. I typically have only one of each tool. I don’t have an inexhaustible supply of nails, screws, etc. Today we ran out of 1-1/4" screws. Had to substitute 2-1/2" screws, which do work, but they’ll make it hard (and dangerous) to install insulation. And so on. I often wish there was a Home Depot in Eureka.

Biggest problem of the day was, we finally got a guy from Rocky Mountain Power, to come out and look at what we’ve done. We need to install a secondary pedestal next to the meter pedestal. He will install it, but we have to dig up the conduit, cut it in two places, and install 90º elbows, with risers to bring the conduit above grade level. Also have to dig up the end of the pipe next to the transformer pole and move it so it’s 9" away from the pipe, instead of the 5" we currently have. That’s where all the phone lines are, so it has to be dug BY HAND. AGAIN. Took me hours last time, and I had a nice, deep, backhoe trench to shove the dirt into. This time, I’ll have to throw the dirt up and out of the hole. And I better get the Blue Stakes guy out again first. 

Also, they say we HAVE TO have “Mule Tape” to pull the wires with. I told him we were unable to find anyone that has any to sell, so he gave me some. Gotta be some good news, right?

Worst part is the timing. The Rocky mountain guy says it’s a minimum of three weeks after we get all that done until they come out and actually connect us up. Barbara and I have decided (both of us) to ask our neighbor if we can pay him for some electricity and use his line full time to run the new fridge. We’ll see.

 

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Our neighbor said yes on using his electricity on the fridge.  Yippee!   Don and the assistant covered the ends of the pipes for the geo-thermal cooling and heating system with screening so that animals and bugs cannot get into the pipes.

 The assistant organized the tool chest on the wall.

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Yesterday caulked the cracks between the sheathing, and built a table for the chop saw for cutting studs for the attic partition walls, for the downstairs partition walls, and for building trusses, if we can’t get them manufactured. Had my assistant cut the studs today, while I consulted with the backhoe man, entertained drop-in guests (!), etc. Our backhoe man really needs more supervision than I gave him. He did dig the holes where I told him to, even before Blue Stakes got here to mark them. They never showed up. then, in filling in the open trenches, he tore up the new phone line that we just laid. Old phone line still works, so I don’t know what the phone company will want us to do about it. He had a good excuse, though: the line passed right by a huge pile of junk, so it all looked the same to him, and he didn’t know about the new line. My take: new line should have been buried deeper anyway.

 

Don cutting 2X4 for the chop saw for cutting studs for the attic partition walls etc.

 Caulking the seams between the sheathing panels.

 The completed table for cutting the studs.

 The assistant cutting studs

 Throwing the studs up on top.

 A pile of studs

 Backhoe guy filling in the holes previously dug and making the new ones required by Rocky Mountain.

 

Took delivery of a trailer load of supplies from The Home Depot in Tooele, via  the electrician’s trailer. Heavy load: fifty 12-foot 2x6s. His little truck won’t haul that much weight, so he had to borrow a big diesel truck, and needed $20 for fuel. Unloaded the trailer and stacked the wood on top of the house, except for one board which split in two. I’m going to return it. I specified that the boards MUST be good quality, as they are for rafters. Not exactly what I’d call high-quality. 

Also, I ordered five pounds of 1-1/2" screws by phone. Was told they are available only in gold color. I said that was fine with me as long as they had Phillips heads. What he ordered for me, and sent, was five pounds of 2-1/2" screws. Happens, we ran out of those too, just after I made the phone order, so I’ll keep them and buy more of the short screws too. 

Started laying out the partition walls upstairs, but the sun was too hot, and my brain got cooked. When I realized that I wasn’t thinking clearly, I packed it in for the day, and set up the barbecue Our son bought me. It’s almost exactly the same one I had, which I had given him several years ago. We’re feeding the missionaries tonight. Steak--yum!

Thursday, August 9, 2018

We are affected by the smoke from the fires elsewhere.  Here you can see a distinct line where the wind has cleared up the smoke at lower levels and the still smokey skies at upper levels.

Below is a smokey sunset.

Work completed today was putting up the north wall of the attic.  It will have a dormer window with a window seat and storage space under the eaves.

Friday, August 10, 2018

Put up two of the attic walls: north and south. Then discovered that they were nailed down exactly even with the outside surface of the lower floor’s sheathing, necessitating moving the ends in one half inch. Grr!  Now, I notice that the opening for the dormer on the north wall is also too narrow, so I’ll have to move it, too. You move them by prying the top plate up enough to slip in a Sawzall blade and cutting the nails, then doing the same thing on the bottom. Works. 

 

Neighbor men came to help put up the long south wall.

 

Laid out the hearth in the living room corner, for the mason. One neighbor thinks it’s too close to the wall. Mason says it’s okay. I’ll believe the mason. Will get a picture of this later.

Electrician hurt his knee and cannot work in our ditch to fix conduit the way the power company wants, so it looks like I’ll have to do it. Grr again. More stuff I have to do instead of doing what only I can do-- laying out and building the attic walls.

 

Don filling the gas tank of the generator.

 

Saturday, August 11, 2018

Served in the temple, ate out, did laundry, did a Walmart pick up and stopped at a hardware store for sundries.  Gone for 10 hours.

Sunday, August 12, 2108

Went to church and then a meeting about Daily Dose, a church program to teach English to foreigners.  We are investigating whether we could participate in this and still meet our other obligations--especially, get the house done.  We decided it is flexible enough that we can do this.