Middle Space Construction

I am joining the two buildings now. The beams are left over from the Ecohouse move last year. They are 6x6 we cut with the woodmizer from tulip poplar at Romey Pittman's family land. There will be clerestory windows north and south sides to bring in as much light as possible. The studio weathered a harsh DC winter with no problems beyond a gutter ripped off by record snow.

A little nicer now

There comes that moment when preparation and patience pay off. This week was it for this building. Finishing the floor allowed me to install permanently the benches and bring in the things that make a space nice to be in. Kappy has been decorating the space and has already used it for her breathwork practice. She even dug out her sewing machine to hem the curtains.

Two coats of linseed oil

After sanding we put two coats of boiled linseed oil cut with mineral spirits on the floor. I also built a little rooflet to keep water off the sill.

Finishing the Floor

Finally getting to the floor, I have been finishing things from the top down, ceiling, walls, windows and now the floor. It was donated by Stan Fowler, former park ranger at Glen Echo here in DC. Old oak of different origins and conditions. Some of it sat outside , somewhat exposed to the elements. A lot of the boards were beyond recovery but most were still good. They sanded down with a fair amount of work. I think I hauled away two full wheelbarrow loads of sawdust. Next step will be to give the floor a coat of linseed oil.

Gable Windows

Thanks again to Rob Roy for helping us cut and install windows for the gable ends. We purchased 3'x7' lights of glass and are cutting them to fit. Unless my cutting improves I'll be visiting the glass store soon.

Benches and Windows

We have built two benches with storage space and one has a leaf to turn it into a bed. Also we purchased 3'x 7' lights of double strength glass which with the help of Rob Roy Mackey we will turn into gable windows. The plan is to make them double pane which while not thermo pane will be a bit better than single pane.

The Kitchen Sink Episode

The stud wall has a slip straw infill and lath strips for plaster adhesion. On the outside I painted the strips with a sanded primer. Inside plaster was clay, sand, cellulose and straw. Outside I decided to include just about everything I had used to date in the mix. That would be: clay,lime,sand,brick dust,blow in cellulose paper,shredded paper,straw, horse manure and prickly pear cactus juice. I wanted an even wall so I tacked up 3/8" screed strips over the studs. There has been a little cracking right along the spaces left after removing the screed strips. I have been filling those as it dries. The weather is perfect, about 70 degrees, light mist, cloudy.