Mixed Day

Post date: Jun 24, 2015 3:28:14 AM

Mixed day today.

I went to the local sawmill and picked out six 6” diameter poles that will be hand-cut to become vigas. They were poles when I saw them, meaning they had be put through the lathe that strips the bark and makes them uniform diameter. This, of course, is much to mechanical for the local artistic types, so they will get a bit of touchup by humans with drawknives.

They also didn’t have any 10” diameter poles for me to use on the corner of my porch, so they will have to make one of these. This work will take 4-5 days.

I was able to sort through four piles of rough-sawn DougasFir (which they call Red Fir here) to pick boards for the ceiling of the porch. The sawmill does not put ‘stickers’ (separators) between layers of green lumber, so many of the boards are stained with mold and definitely not dry. We (Julian and I) piled these atop the van and I brought them back to the job site, where I started to sand the fuzz off one flat surface and both edges.

I was finally able to connect with the welder who will fabricate brackets to hold the trellises that shade my windows in summer. He will also make a bearing plate for the porch post to keep it from touching the concrete. This is supposed to reduce rot. However, my porch posts in Seattle have sat in the rain for 90 years and are not rotten — although the wooden base on which they rested was replaced about ten years ago.

I worked with my interior designer on the doors (for the last time, I hope — they need to be ordered) and the bathroom tile design. I think the bath is mostly settled. The kitchen, however, remains up in the air. Well, not quite. We have cabinet and countertops chosen. Oops, no, I forgot about the cutting board, so we’ll have to put that in. Well, we are getting there, if slowly.

The carpenters (only two today) finished decking the roof and got a good start on the sheathing inside the parapets. They may have finished, but I left about 3pm.

I drove to Santa Fe (180 miles round trip) to look at and sit in the prototype of the car I want to buy. Of course it has to be manufactured yet, but I’m hoping.