Drywall, Heater, Solar Equipment, Bathtub.

I seen the dog in the corner of my eye and something just did'nt seem right. I guess she wanted to have a birds eye view while searching for mice. That seems to keep her occupied while I'm busy doing my thing.

For a while there we had some pretty good rainfall happening. The creek was alot higher and wilder than I've ever seen it before for a few days there. A long with the rain came a fair bit of time off from the pay job, and I did manage to accomplish a few things on the house.

I got my loft door framed in, then I insulated it, and will vapour barrier over the whole the thing for now. I think it will be alot easier to install the door once the the deck is built up there, and who knows when that will be. It could be this summer, but it could also be not this summer. The other gable end is insulated with vapour barrier installed. I still have to insulate the ceiling.

The basement outer perimeter is drywalled and most of the main floor perimeter is also. I just have the bathroom to do on the main floor perimeter. I have one 15000 btu propane heater hanging on the wall down stairs so far, but it is not all plumbed in yet. There will be another one of these just like this one on the adjacent wall, but both will be on the same end of the house. Anything vulnerable from freezing up is in the same area as these heaters, and the bathroom and kitchen is directly above. These heaters don't require power to operate, but I have equipped them with the optional fan so I do have the option. I expect to be able to walk away from my place in the winter for days, and have nothing freezing up with just these two heaters running. Unless, of course if it gets so cold that the propane freezes off. -42 propane quits moving, and it is quite possible to reach those temps here, usually if it is that cold, I think I'll just try and be here. I realize that heaters should be mounted lower to the floor, but these are direct vent heaters and the exhaust goes out at least a foot above grade. Larger direct vent heaters would'nt pass the location/distance codes, unless they were mounted on the floor and had a B type vent system. The b vent system gets it's combustion air from inside the house, and I did'nt want that. The b vent system also requires a chimney to be run all the way to the top of the house. Did'nt want that either. I don't expect my two heaters to keep the house at a comfortable temp, but you never know, they might. Yet to come is a wood stove for the basement, and possibly a smaller forced air furnace more for use in the spring, summer and fall. I'm pretty sure that I could also use the forced air furnace in the night as the fire burns down in the winter, but I sure would not expect it to run constantly for days on solar power alone in the winter. I'll be doing alot of experimenting in the near future.

I purchased some more goodies online. All the stuff on the second plywood backing board. Plus a new inverter that is not installed yet. Shown is an Outback 60 MPPT charge controller, solar panel combiner box, and an ac/dc disconnect box. This is the main power in connections all in one convenient place. The Magnum 24 volt to 120/240 volt inverter mounts right on the face of that disconnect box. This system is going to be pretty high tech for me. So far the power that I have in the house is still coming from my shack through an extension cord. But it's all solar.

The plan is to have my batteries right in the basement so far, but that could change also. I could possibly have 24 6 volt batteries, depending on the the size I choose to buy. It could be less but larger batteries, I'll have to do some pricing out when the time comes. It would be nice to have the batteries in a box outside, but then it just seems like more headache to try and keep the batteries warm. In the last two winters that I have lived off grid, I have started the generator alot of times just to warm the batteries up. They lose capacity the colder they get, and if they were at room temperature, I probably could have gotten away with not starting the generator on alot of the winter days or nights.

I don't feel real frugal lately. I do shop around and get the best deal I can find, but I did spend more on some things than I have planned on. It's not like throwing the money away though. I'm sure it will increase the value of the house. When you go shopping for things like bathtubs where I'm from, there sure does'nt seem to be much of a selection. I guess I probably could have ordered something. I'm actually quite happy with my new tub though so far. I thought it was going to be quite the chore to get it from the trailer into the house, but it actually went pretty good.

I laid it on its side to get it in the main door, then had to skid it through the kitchen and into the living room, where the vaulted ceiling is, to stand it up. Then back through the kitchen and into the bathroom. I had to do some debuilding to get it to go through the bathroom door. The door header had to come out as the tub was too high.

I can't wait till I'm using this baby instead of showering in town, or the RV all the time. My bathroom is quite small, so I could'nt really get far enough away for a good picture, but it's looking pretty darned good so far. The tub seems to be a good fit.

Well it sure has been nice to find a little time to get a few things accomplished, but it has'nt rained for awhile here now, and I'm actually wondering why they hav'nt phoned me to go to work yet, but I'm glad they did'nt. Just trying to get as much done as I can before it happens.


Disclaimer--IMPORTANT


This is a personal blog, mainly for my own use. I am building a house with my own two hands, but I am learning alot of things as I go. I do not claim to know what I am doing, or if anything I do is even close to being done correctly or safely. So please, if you are planning on using any of my ideas or methods for your own use, please get professional advice before actually following through with your actions. I will not be held responsible for any injuries or damages of any kind caused by information or comments from this blog.

Some misc. pictures and stuff.

It's a dogs life. Sometimes I wish I could trade shoes with the dog.

I could really process some firewood with this baby. Feller bunchers are not the nicest things to haul, but I guess it pays the bills to be hauling something.

I don't ever have to worry about falling off the road this winter. Guess I should put some new glass in the old pickup sometime. And maybe even clean some of the junk off the dash. But then I would never find anything.

The stairs are pretty much stationary now.

The framed walls at the stairs are not permanent yet. I think I will leave it that way for a bit, until I get some drywall on the inside, just incase things are too tight. I am definatley not a pro at alot of this stuff, and I am not sure exactly the best way to do walls at the stairs, but I'm just kinda planning as I go. Modifications are a great possiblily.

I've been trying to get all the framing done, so that I have some place to run wires and switches and all that. My buddy, the plumbing inspecter came out yesterday and signed all my plumbing off. Which means it's all good. It's not completely all done, but it's all good. They seem to be interested mainly in the drains and there vent lines. Anything that could cause a health risk I guess. There is plumbing, that is just not feasible to do until other things are done first. This inspector is also the wood stove guy, and the gas inspector. He has been quite helpful to me so far.

The weather here is still pretty cool for this time of the year. But I just know that things should start to warm up and start to melt soon. Lots of snow also means possibly a longer spring break. By the end of March usually work comes to a pretty good slow down as alot of the roads come off of winter weights and are banned from truck traffic. Practically all the bush will be impassible until late spring/summer. Good deal. I've got this major itch to get some building done. Tomorrow I'm heading into town for some more building supplies, unless work phones me that is.


 
Disclaimer--IMPORTANT


This is a personal blog, mainly for my own use. I am building a house with my own two hands, but I am learning alot of things as I go. I do not claim to know what I am doing, or if anything I do is even close to being done correctly or safely. So please, if you are planning on using any of my ideas or methods for your own use, please get professional advice before actually following through with your actions. I will not be held responsible for any injuries or damages of any kind caused by information or comments from this blog.

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Some Walls.

The above picture is the larger section of the north facing wall. That will be the only window on the the north side.

This one is the larger section of the south facing wall. That window will be the largest in the house. There will be another smaller window on the south wall.

This is the west facing wall (back end wall). There will be a small window and a 32 inch door which I did'nt quite get done framing yet. Looking at the position of the window in these walls, it may look like the window is low, but they are all 76" to the top of the window. I don't know if that is a real common height or not, but it looked good to me. The walls are 10 feet tall.

Starting to Frame the Main Walls.

It started out to be one of those days right from the start this morning. I started out bright and early in the morning really eager to get to town and get some supplies quickly and head for home to build. I never even got out of the yard and the battery light on the old GMC comes on and the charge gauge is reading lower than normal. So get out the meter and test the alternator itself. Sure enough, it's had. So that was'nt a major deal though. Nothing that a little over 300 bucks could'nt cure and a bit of my time to change. Good thing the old Dodge was rested up and eager to go for a cruise. Then stopped at my favorite bulk fuel place for my monthly shower. lol. April fools. It must be at least once every two weeks. April fools again, I am actually a clean kind of a cat.

So I went over to my favorite lumber suppliers old yard to check out my trusses that I had them build for me last fall, thinking that I did'nt want to be waiting on them. lol. I sure hope they are not to badly warped out of shape. They actually looked pretty good concidering they sat out in this yard all winter. I need to have a look at them so I can plan my weekend framing expedition a little bit, as I hav'nt got a clue. I was planning on building my own rafter system, until I found out that it is a no no with the permit people. They have to be manufactured, or stamped by a professional engineer if I remember correctly. My rafters are the only item left in this yard, as they moved shop. I had to sneak in under the gate. Their new shop is'nt real far away, so I guess they should be able to load me up without a problem when the time comes.

I had a bunch of other running around to do in town. I even went for a drive around a couple of new parts of Grande Prairie looking at partially built houses as I drove by. Just to kinda see how different things look at different stages. I bought 25 sheets of OSB for my walls, some groceries and I should be all set for the Easter long weekend. I came home and put that new alternator in the GMC. It was a little over $300 and it has a lifetime warranty. Whatever that means. I think my reciept will probably wear out or get lost before that time comes.

I did manage to get a little bit of building done. It's not much, but it is a good feeling to get started on this up above the basement building. I should be able to get a good start in the morning.