 |
| Siding and fascia. |
 |
| A step! |
 |
| Bead board on the ceiling. |
 |
| That bead board really hides the innards. |
 |
| Right up to the brick. |
.
Saturday, May 31, 2014
2014-05-29 - Thursday - More porch progress
More framing happened on Thursday after the electrical inspection was completed. We're in the home stretch now.
.
.
Friday, May 30, 2014
2014-05-28 - Wednesday - Porch progress
More progress on the porch today. Things are clicking right along.
.
 |
| Soffit vent. |
 |
| Gable windows framing. |
 |
| Bottom plates. |
 |
| Carriage bolts. |
 |
| Crown molding to help match the house. |
 |
| Rafter brackets. |
 |
| Ceiling innards. |
 |
| Back door landing in progress. |
 |
| Fascia. |
.
2014-05-27 - Tuesday - Pots
Tuesday I trimmed the pot and lid. I'm not sure about the way it looks together. I'll have to revisit it later.
I also remembered to take a couple of photos of my salt fired hand pots. The left one has brown slip and the right one has blue, even though it looks black. There are no glazes on the body of the pots, just some slip. I put a liner in them and dipped the rims, the salt took care of the rest. I like the way these came out, but I think I will try other forms and surfaces in future salt firings.
.
I also remembered to take a couple of photos of my salt fired hand pots. The left one has brown slip and the right one has blue, even though it looks black. There are no glazes on the body of the pots, just some slip. I put a liner in them and dipped the rims, the salt took care of the rest. I like the way these came out, but I think I will try other forms and surfaces in future salt firings.
.
Monday, May 26, 2014
2014-05-23 - Friday - Electrician arrives and Binkley gets some sun
Friday the electrician arrived and wired in the lights, fans, and cable TV connection. Now we have to wait for the electrical inspection (hopefully Tuesday). After that, the connections can be completed and the framers can close everything in. One step at a time.
.
 |
| Recessed light and fan. |
 |
| The two fan connections. |
 |
| Power outlet and cable TV connection. |
 |
| The cable on the outside of the porch. |
 |
| Here will be a dimmer in the top spot and three switches in the bottom one. One for the two fans, one for the four recessed lights, and one for the spot light. |
 |
| An outlet. |
 |
| An outlet. |
 |
| An outside outlet. |
 |
| The wire in the soffit for the spot light. |
 |
| The enclosed wire going to the porch. A small landing will be built over this area. |
 |
| Protecting the wire. |
 |
| The big picture. |
 |
| The company. |
 |
| Binkley getting some vitamin D. |
 |
| He really loves the sun-warmed concrete. |
.
2014-05-22 - Thursday - Roof and salt kiln
Thursday the roofers came and well, roofed. This porch is really shaping up. Next up, the electrician.
Thursday night we opened the salt kiln after the inaugural firing on Tuesday. Everything was really toasty and there were some real standout pieces in there. I'm already looking forward to the next firing.
.
Thursday night we opened the salt kiln after the inaugural firing on Tuesday. Everything was really toasty and there were some real standout pieces in there. I'm already looking forward to the next firing.
 |
| Freshly opened. |
 |
| That's one of my hand pots. |
.
Sunday, May 25, 2014
2014-05-21 - Wednesday - Framing and pots
Wednesday the porch construction really took off! It was completely framed in and the rafters were installed. Things are moving and it's really starting to look substantial.
Wednesday night I decided to make a lidded jar, but the first lid was going to be too flat, so I threw another one and turned the first lid into a bowl. I'm not really sure about the shape of the jar at this point but I plan on pushing it a bit more when I get back to it.
.
Wednesday night I decided to make a lidded jar, but the first lid was going to be too flat, so I threw another one and turned the first lid into a bowl. I'm not really sure about the shape of the jar at this point but I plan on pushing it a bit more when I get back to it.
.
2014-05-20 - Tuesday - Decking and salt kiln firing
Tuesday the deck was built and the Trex was installed. Things are starting to look good.
I think the stars were aligned in my favor today. Several things happened at once where timing was everything.
First, some background info:
1. The builder needed the information on the shingles that were installed on the house in 2007, so I called our roofer.
2. The pressure washing people were coming today and they were also going to clean our dryer vent.
3. We need an inspection before we can finish the footings.
Stay with me on this...
We decide that the building crew will go to lunch when the pressure washing people arrive and we should start washing the house on the corner where the deck is located.
The pressure washer arrived and the building crew left.
While the pressure washer gets started out back, I talk to my neighbor for a few minutes in the front yard about her new drip irrigation system. Two more of the pressure washing people arrive. It turns out they are the dryer vent people so I let them in and escort them to the dryer.
Just then my cell phone rings and it's our roofer. He's in the front yard, so I go out to meet him. He tells me that our shingles are GAF Timberline Charcoal Gray Natural Shadow style. He points out that my neighbor has the other charcoal gray style, High Definition. Good, now we can match our original shingles.
He mentions to me that while the pressure washing is going great on the soffits, there are a lot of catkins from our willow oak trees on the roof and he recommends that we get them removed. I ask the pressure washer if he can get that stuff off the roof and he says no, but the dryer vent guy has a blower. The roofer asks the pressure washer about getting his daughter's house washed and I notice a guy with a clipboard walking down the driveway.
I go inside and ask the dryer vent guy about cleaning the roof. He says sure, gives me a reasonable price and I give him the go-ahead.
Now there is a guy on the roof with a leaf blower, a guy pressure washing the house, two guys building the deck, and my head is spinning.
I walk down the driveway and the building crew is filling in the footing holes since they passed inspection (ah, the guy with the clipboard!). Progress.
All this happened in less than 30 minutes. It was insane.
---
The day got even better since we fired the brand new salt kiln at Clayworks that night. There were some tense moments when one of the burners wouldn't stay lit because of a thermocouple failure, but Adrienne and Rich figured it out and the heat continued to climb. Soon we were pushing salt "burritos" made of newspaper into the ports, dumping salt into the flame channel from a piece of angle iron, then spraying soda ash.
It was hot work, but it was fun and there was a high level of excitement for our first firing.
We should be able to unload it on Thursday.
.
I think the stars were aligned in my favor today. Several things happened at once where timing was everything.
First, some background info:
1. The builder needed the information on the shingles that were installed on the house in 2007, so I called our roofer.
2. The pressure washing people were coming today and they were also going to clean our dryer vent.
3. We need an inspection before we can finish the footings.
Stay with me on this...
We decide that the building crew will go to lunch when the pressure washing people arrive and we should start washing the house on the corner where the deck is located.
The pressure washer arrived and the building crew left.
While the pressure washer gets started out back, I talk to my neighbor for a few minutes in the front yard about her new drip irrigation system. Two more of the pressure washing people arrive. It turns out they are the dryer vent people so I let them in and escort them to the dryer.
Just then my cell phone rings and it's our roofer. He's in the front yard, so I go out to meet him. He tells me that our shingles are GAF Timberline Charcoal Gray Natural Shadow style. He points out that my neighbor has the other charcoal gray style, High Definition. Good, now we can match our original shingles.
He mentions to me that while the pressure washing is going great on the soffits, there are a lot of catkins from our willow oak trees on the roof and he recommends that we get them removed. I ask the pressure washer if he can get that stuff off the roof and he says no, but the dryer vent guy has a blower. The roofer asks the pressure washer about getting his daughter's house washed and I notice a guy with a clipboard walking down the driveway.
I go inside and ask the dryer vent guy about cleaning the roof. He says sure, gives me a reasonable price and I give him the go-ahead.
Now there is a guy on the roof with a leaf blower, a guy pressure washing the house, two guys building the deck, and my head is spinning.
I walk down the driveway and the building crew is filling in the footing holes since they passed inspection (ah, the guy with the clipboard!). Progress.
All this happened in less than 30 minutes. It was insane.
---
The day got even better since we fired the brand new salt kiln at Clayworks that night. There were some tense moments when one of the burners wouldn't stay lit because of a thermocouple failure, but Adrienne and Rich figured it out and the heat continued to climb. Soon we were pushing salt "burritos" made of newspaper into the ports, dumping salt into the flame channel from a piece of angle iron, then spraying soda ash.
It was hot work, but it was fun and there was a high level of excitement for our first firing.
We should be able to unload it on Thursday.
 |
| Screen under the decking. The Trex is installed using hidden fasteners. |
 |
| A close-up of the fasteners. |
 |
| Inspection permit. |
 |
| Forced air burners on the salt kiln. |
.
Saturday, May 24, 2014
2014-05-19 - Monday - Footings and plates
Monday the rest of the footings were broken out of the old step and concrete blocks were placed in the holes.
Progress.
.
Progress.
.
2014-05-16 - Friday - Construction and devil dog
Friday the footings for the porch were dug and cut out of the concrete slab. Binkley inspected the holes for accuracy and miscellaneous smells. Apparently they weren't all that interesting.
Since we have a large step-down now and the area is littered with deep holes, I posted a sign on the back door to remind us that the deck we lived with for 15 years was no longer there.
Later Binkley tried to make me give him a treat using his hypno-eyes.
It worked.
.
Since we have a large step-down now and the area is littered with deep holes, I posted a sign on the back door to remind us that the deck we lived with for 15 years was no longer there.
Later Binkley tried to make me give him a treat using his hypno-eyes.
It worked.
.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)