End of Week 10: Walls, walls, walls.

Week 10 was focused on getting the wall frames up and a lot of progress was made.

Mid-Week 10 Update: 3D upwards!

With the skylight situation resolved, the project is back on pace with the wall framing going up.



Seeing from one end of the house all the way through to the other end:



The garage also got filled with gravel:

Woodworking Vise

I finally got around to installing a wood working vise on my workbench. I had already planned for a vise for the bench when I first made it, but I needed K's help to get it mounted on the table top since it was so heavy. I actually took off the top and flipped over in order to install it and then needed K to help me put the top back into place..

The vise is a Jorgensen 41012 Woodworking Vise which was bigger then I expected but fortunately fit perfectly in the 10" overhang that I had on the bench. My table top was exactly 1/2" short of the minimal thickness needed so I had to use a 1/2" plywood scrap underneath the top for the vise to mount against. Since I don't have a saw, I had to ask my friend, KH, at work to cut the pieces to size which I then sanded a little to get everything flushed. Installing the vise isn't difficult but the provided template to help cut the holes were actually a little bit off so we had to make some adjustments while we were mounting it.





There are three things left that I'd like to do to the bench: 1) install bench dog holes, 2) put a couple of wood blocks in the jaws of the vise and 2) apply a finish to the frame.

End of Week 9: Another Delay By the City.

The most common questions that people ask me about building the house are how long it will takes and whether the winter raining season will cause any delays. It's natural to think that nature or unexpected difficulties in construction might be the main causes of delays, but two months into the project the real cause of delays is the local government. Any problems that might arise from the actual construction of the building can be solved by an experienced builder quickly, but he can't solve city hall.

This was one those weeks where the crew had to work on some other things instead of the scheduled the wall and roof. The city decided that my sky lights (newer and likely more efficient but not "certified" yet) isn't more efficient so in issuing the papers they changed our plans to a sky light that 1) doesn't fit my roof, 2) is darker so lets less light through, 3) less efficient and 4) doesn't spread the light around the room. Basically, they wanted me to install a sky light that doesn't let in much light. What's the point of a sky light if it doesn't let in light?

This also impacts some other things that the city requires which could mean that I have to install things that the house don't need to get some the points needed for the house. The irony is that these requirements is to make people build greener and more energy efficient houses but the result is that I might have to pay more and install less green and less energy efficient sky lights.

The city is preaching to the choir here about installing more money saving items. Hey, I'd love to install the things that makes the house better, more energy efficient and better for the world. So why does the city make me install more expensive, less energy efficient and possibly have a higher carbon footprint in order to do that. Does that make any sense?!?

Fortunately, it looks like my GC and Architect is dealing with it and will be able to come up with some good solutions.

Standing on the base floor of the house:

More From Week 8

Insulation was put in between the floor and the crawl space:

End of Week 8: Getting Ready For Walls

Visually, there isn't much difference this week from last week until you start looking under the covers. The under floor plumbing and other pieces were completed along with getting the inspection passed means that next week the walls start going up. The crawl space beneath the flooring is deeper then I expected so that might provide some uses that I originally didn't think of. The crawl space is fully enclosed by concrete walls and should be a nice dry space.

The crew is doing final prep before installing the plywood floor decking:



It's hard to get a feel of the depth in this picture, but the plumbing and pipes can be seen:

Saw Options

Having a saw is, obviously, very helpful for woodworking. It's pretty difficult to do stuff if you can't cut and while I've mostly asked the stores to cut pieces to length for me it isn't always convenient. I decided to start doing some research to find a saw that fits my constraints: safety, space and cost.

Table Saw -- Recommended by nearly everyone as one of the important tools to have, a table saw is versatile and precise. It requires a lot of space (even the portable contractor's table saw), is expensive, and one of leading tools associated with woodworking accident (I'm not saying that it cause the accident, but rather a lot accident happens when people use the table saw.).

Jig Saw -- Handy and can do my types of cuts, not as expensive to buy, but not very precise.

Circular Saw -- Inexpensive, versatile and portable. Circular saws doesn't take much space and can do rip and cross-cuts. Even though it is common to see homeowners with circular saws it can still be dangerous. Whereas a table saw might kick back the wood back to the user, a circular saw can kick the saw itself back towards the user.

Miter Saws -- Can do many types of cuts, but not rip cuts. Moderately expensive and requires some space depending on the length of the wood being cut. Make sure you don't have your limbs under the blade while holding the materials to cut.

Plunge/Track Saw -- Similar to circular saws, plunge saws are portable and the blade is on the understand. The saw is completely housed inside until used for cutting and can start on the side of the wood. These saws also ride along a rail to give precise cuts. Some have anti-kickback features and with jigs can do the work of table saws. As it is hand-held, it doesn't take much space and for cutting plywood you can go to the wood instead of having to bring the wood somewhere. Moderately expensive.

Based on my criteria, I think a plunge saw fits the most with what I want, but I'd love to hear people's opinions.

Is Woodworking an Expensive Hobby?

Like many people, I wondered whether woodworking would be an expensive hobby. Seeing those fancy workshops like the New Yankee Workshop and all the different equipment workshops have I imagined that it would be incredibly expensive. However, like any hobby, how expensive it gets is really up to the person. A person can go and buy everything under the sun and easily spend $30k, or they can get buy with a block of wood and a knife/hand saw. In my case, I build simple stuff with just a hammer and power drill and ask the store to cut the wood to size for me. At some point, however, depending on others for things like cutting becomes limiting and so there are some basic tools that is nicer to just invest in. One advice I found is "buy as you need" and not try to buy everything up-front where you might end up not using many of them. This is the method I'm going with.

Relative to many other hobbies such as photography or computer/technology woodworking doesn't seem any more expensive. Most equipment suitable for amateurs costs $50-$500. Compare that with photography where lenses are in the same price range and the high-end lenses costing as much as a table saw.

The one thing that woodworking requires is a decent sized space and that might or might not be expensive depending on the person's living situation.

Bought a Bosch Router

A router isn't usually the first thing that experts advise beginning woodworkers to get, but it is such a versatile tool that can do so many things. From reading on the web, a saw of some kind is what is usually suggested, but while one can ask stores to cut for you they won't do the things that routers provides.

After researching the web and magazines, I settled on the Bosch router with both a fixed and plunge base. I might write up my experiences with it after using it for a few projects, but for now information on it is easily found on the web.

Ordered Appliances and Checked Out Roofs

Appliances got ordered and we decided on the roof color. At this point, we're done with pretty much all the decisions on finishes and details. We're keeping a careful eye on budget to see if anything else might eat into the contingency funds. If nothing unexpected comes up, some of that fund might flow back into the house on a few items that we dropped earlier, but now it's really just about waiting and watching the house come together.