Entries Tagged 'Lifelong Learning' ↓

 

 

Click on photos for better resolution.

 
Greg and his crew started working on installing the solar panels yesterday and today. They won’t be able to come tomorrow, but will hopefully do more next week.

And even better news–the building inspector is planning to meet Andy at the Forest Service gate tomorrow morning. Presumably that means he will give the shed his blessing so we can finish the inside. We plan to get it insulated, install a heater, workbench, etc. so Andy has a place to keep warm and work on projects, or at least have a cozy place to have his lunch.

What about you? Any news to share?

български икони

 

 
As I mentioned before, things are slowing down up on the land now. Andy is plowing the road when needed, and we’re gradually planning our little kitchen and bathroom. At Steve’s suggestion we went to Pittman Brothers in Santa Fe last Thursday to start talking about the process. They’ll design the kitchen and bathroom for us and provide the cabinets and counter tops. First we have to choose all of the sinks, faucets, appliances, etc. and give Steve the dimensions. As we understand it he’ll draw a set of preliminary plans that satisfy the building code, and we’ll take them back to Pittman Brothers to talk about our choices there. Apparently that will be our first draft and they will show us drawings of what it will look like so we can make changes if we like.

Some people may think this is overkill for an 8 X 8 foot kitchen, but there are so many little details to decide in the project we decided we can use all the hand holding we can get.

Steve and Pittman Brothers also suggested we go to Dahl Plumbing for the sink, tub, shower, etc. and we made our first trip there this past Tuesday. That’s another very fancy place, but we did appreciate the hour and a half Glenn, the fellow we talked to, spent with us. In the first picture above he’s showing Andy a shower head, and the second picture shows the sink we may get. (We’re not at all sure about the faucets he showed us.)

The adventure continues.

Did you have any adventures this week?

View of shed from a distance. For better resolution click on picture.
 

View towards the east from our clearing. For better resolution click on picture.

 
No one except Andy went up this week. Joe and his crew had planned to go up Monday, but it was way too cold. It’s warmed up since then so if he doesn’t come up tomorrow we’ll phone Steve to find out what’s happening. Greg, the photovoltaic fellow, was planning to start installing the solar panels today but his schedule changed and he now plans to go up December 20-23. It doesn’t matter because the batteries won’t come until the first week in January. He plans to finish the installation then.

So Andy and I went to Santa Fe to talk to talk to a designer about our kitchen and bathroom. We felt comfortable with him so the next step is to figure out the appliances we want, get their measurements, then go back to the designer with the house plans and details. We weren’t looking forward to this step but it shouldn’t be too bad now that it’s clear exactly what we need to do. We actually got farther along today than we expected. We do know from experience that taking the first few steps is usually the hardest. I will let you know!

How was your week?

For better resolution and more pictures start here.
 

The radiant heating system has been laid and the house pad has been inspected. Everything is ready for the concrete to be poured. We had thought that might be postponed because of the storm that’s supposed to hit us tomorrow, but tonight Joe phoned to tell Andy to be at the gate 8:30 tomorrow morning to let the concrete trucks in. I will let you know how it goes.

Joe has also been working on getting county approval for the shed. We’re not yet sure if that has gone through…we’ll believe it when we get an official piece of paper in our own little hands. We’re not supposed to start using it until then. Presumably in the fullness of time, or hopefully sooner.

How did your week go? And how is the weather where you are?

Forms for the stem walls of the house. For more pictures start here.
 

Installing the propane tank. For more pictures start here.
 

Mounting the poles for the solar panels. For more pictures start here.
 

A lot happened this week. We now have the propane system installed to the house and shed sites, and the forms for the stem walls of the house and the mounts for the solar panels are ready for pouring the concrete tomorrow.

Tuff Shed had planned to build our shed today, but there was a mix up about the building permit so now the estimate is next Tuesday at the earliest. And it took a lot of effort for Joe to get permission to pour the concrete for the stem walls tomorrow. An inspector was supposed to come up today to give the go ahead, but there was some disagreement about just which one would have to come up. I’ll spare you the details, but Joe will be able to pour tomorrow. He won’t be able to get the concrete pumper though, so they will have to use wheelbarrows… the permission to pour came too late to reserve the pumper.

It could have been a lot worse. We’re grateful for what was accomplished.

Hopefully you had at least as many successes as setbacks this week.

There were good news and bad news this week. The septic system was installed, inspected, and buried:
 

 
The shed site was prepared and inspected:
 

 
And the trenches and rebar for the footings for the house were installed and inspected:
 

 
The good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, they will pour the concrete tomorrow, even though it’s Veteran’s Day. That is indeed good news.

On the other hand, Andy has been hobbling around because of back trouble the past two days. I got out our emergency cane and we’re joking (we hope) about buying an emergency walker. But chances are active rest will stop the spasms in the fullness of time.

How are things going with you?

(Andy took a gazillion pictures this week, especially of installing the septic system and preparing the shed site and footings for the house. They start here.)

The site of the new shed is to the right of the driveway.

 
The weather has been “slightly less than perfect” the past couple of days, so construction has been briefly halted. We’re expecting more good weather before winter sets in for good, but just in case the truck and snowplow are ready:
 

 
Steve and Joe weren’t able to get the building permits Friday because we didn’t have a house number. But yesterday when Andy was up there two fellows from the county came up and they all decided our address will be 75 Woodcutters Road. So Joe made the two-hour-each-way trip again today. Presumably he succeeded this time and progress is being made.

 
The above picture is of Andy, Greg (our solar engineer) and Joe (our contractor) using a Solar Pathfinder to see what trees still needed to be cut down to keep them from shading our photovoltaic panels. The picture was taken Wednesday and hopefully Joe will start building the supports for the array next week.
 

 
The last four trash containers were still there, but they were finally removed that afternoon, so progress continues to be made. There is clearly a long way left to go. In the fullness of time….

 

 

 
Andy spent some time this week cutting down more trees to open up the view. I spent hours on the internet getting an education about roofing options and how we would need to install each of them. Steve (our architect/project manager) recommended asphalt, but we decided we really needed metal, both for durability and for lightning protection. It turns out there are metal shingles now, not just the standard standing seam panels, and they may be what we choose.

As far as I can tell the metal shingles are less complicated to install than the metal panels, but all roofs require care. YouTube has some great videos about incorrectly installed asphalt roofs. One of the problems with asphalt is the mistakes aren’t as noticeable until the shingles blow off or the roof leaks. As I said, I’ve learned a lot. Getting skilled workmen can be a problem in the mountains of Northern New Mexico, so it’s nice to know the potential problems ahead of time.

Tomorrow Andy is going up with the well driller to see which pipes need to be replaced in our water system, and tomorrow afternoon we have an appointment with the solar engineer who will design our photovoltaic system. So things are starting to happen.

Steve had continuing education classes in Santa Fe Monday-Wednesday, but presumably we will hear from him soon. We can’t get started on the foundations for the shed and the house until he finishes the plans and gets a building permit.

I’ve sent away for samples of roofing and siding materials so I can pick some colors. We received two samples of siding today and they look quite different from the colors on their website. Final decisions about the outside of the house can’t be made until we see what our possibilities are and how they fit together. There’s a good chance I’ll get that information before it holds up progress. I do believe in planning ahead!

What about you? Do you have any projects you’re working on? If so how are they going?

We actually have a set of house/cabin plans now. (The structure is only 768 square feet.) We may change some details, but they should be enough to start applying for a building permit. The interesting thing is since we don’t have a house address or lot number, Sandoval County wanted a survey of our land. Just a receipt from the taxes we’ve been paying for the past 35 years wasn’t enough. Fortunately we had a survey made years ago and could actually find it. That saved a lot of time and money.

I spent a lot of time looking at siding colors today, and tried seeing how they might look up on our land:

 
The colors probably aren’t accurate, but they’re better than nothing. And it does keep me off the streets and out of trouble.

Is time whizzing by for you too?