Tuesday, July 31, 2007

I have finally finished the clerestory wall! Wooohooo! I ran all the trim and installed the base of the light fixtures yesterday. Did some touch up on the trim; filling nail holes etc. Oh, I do need to touch up a little paint on the wall where I smeared it putting up one light fixture but other than that, it's done. Now, I just need to insulate the wall on the right (against the attic) and sheath it once and install the ceiling fans (which I don't have and can't afford right now) and I can get rid of the scaffold.
This is just a close up of the windows. I built the picture frame trim down on the ground and then just carried it up in one piece and installed it on the windows. This was easier, given the circumstances of the windows, than taking it up there and nailing it up a piece at a time. The inside trim has the linseed oil/beeswax finish on it. This is all a select pine that has been stained with Olympics new, custom-color premium stains. I really like them. You don't have to use a wood conditioner on soft woods with these stains. You can see in this photo the beginnings of my light fixtures. More about those later. I'm still working on the globes.
On the exterior of the windows I wanted a finish that would hold up to more strenuous conditions so I used a Spar varnish. This is the best type of clear exterior wood finish that looks really great too. This type was rated as an interior version also, so it had very little odor. I expect these windows to be open a lot so I extended the Spar inside on the sashes too. The large overhangs on these windows don't allow much rain to get on the windows but it can happen and during the winter, these windows will receive a lot of harsh sunlight as they are south facing and work to absorb heat for the house.
Allen installed a temporary kitchen sink that he had salvaged out of an old house he has been working on. He loves these old cast sinks but I hate them. It will do for now though. So, the water is working in all the house now; kitchen sink, toilet. No shower yet though. I imagine that the kitchen will be the very last thing to go in so it will be pretty rough for a while.
I think I need to add to my water filtration system too. I have one separate sediment filter now but I think I may need a finer one to help cut down on what goes into the last filter. The filter cartridges in the main one are $100.00 each so I must help extend it's life as much as possible. They said the cartridges should last 3 years but with these heavy rains lately we were getting a lot of sediment out of the spring. We raised the foot valve below the pump to about 4 feet off of the bottom of the spring and I think this helped also. I also need to shock the water system once before we really start drinking it to make sure and flush out any bacteria. At times, the water has sat in the system for a few days without new water being pulled in and it got a little smelly at one point. We try to run the water a good bit every day just to keep things fresh.

I will try to post again soon; it seems like I have been very unorganized lately but I think I am getting back on track. I am kind of running out of things to do that don't require a lot of money so I have been trying to assess things and see what can come next.

Edit: Allen says I have to correct myself about the sink. It is not a cast iron sink but enameled steel. So there.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

So when you want to open those windows way up there, how will you reach them?

MamaHen said...

Hey Pablo! Well, there are a number of ways. They make motorized hardware for these type situations and they also have hardware extensions that work manually. I have not researched them at all yet to really see what is available but have seen several varitions of such on several of the commercial/residential jobs I have worked on.