A walking tour

On Friday our neighbors to the south stopped by to say hello. We talked for a few minutes but they didn't have a lot of time. He said he had gotten his tractor fixed and his bush hog* sharpened and would drive it over and mow some paths for us through the fields. I wasn't expecting him to do it so soon.

Apparently yesterday while we were at a wedding in Indianapolis he came by. This morning I found at least a half-mile of trail running up and down and up and down our hills.

Though it wasn't particularly hot today, especially compared to the last few weeks, it was humid and uncomfortable, so I took a break and took some pictures around the property. Here they are in my Picasa Web Albums space. They are in no particular order. I just walked along the various paths he mowed.

More than halfway through the album you can see the fence at the south boundary. Greene View Springs is on the left of the fence. The neighbor's property is on the right. The next two pictures show the west boundary fence as I walked north. Way in the distance you might be able to make out the state highway which is our north boundary at that point.

Near the end of the album you can see an enormous oak tree. The diameter of its foot print is at least 100 feet. And, finally, the last two pictures show views of the barn from the south west and along the north wall.

You're welcome to view other albums in my public space from various trips over the past few years. To do so, click on "Ed's Public Albums" near the top left of the page.

---------
* It turns out that "Bush Hog" is the name of a company that makes equipment for homeowners, landscapers and agriculture. "Brush hog" describes a heavy rotary mower. Many people use "bush hog" for "brush hog" just as they use "Kleenex" for "facial tissue."

Guest book added

I added a simple guest book to the blog because I'm curious to know who's following along. It'd be great if you'd sign in, especially if you're a repeat reader. When you post your entry, if you enter a comment, you can choose to make it visible only to me. You'll find the guest book link in the column to the left.

Of course you can send a message to me whenever you wish.

Let's not do that again

We got home just after 10PM from unloading a rented trailer in the dark.

In fact, we unloaded the trailer 5 times this weekend. I don't know if I can survive another holiday like this one.

The place we rent the trailer isn't open on Sundays so with a Saturday rental one gets two days for a one-day rental. On a three-day weekend we get one day more.

Saturday we moved the cabinets from the ReStore in Bloomington to the barn early and then got one more load of heavy things from the old place in Indianapolis and filled the rest of the trailer with lighter items from my daughter-in-law's garage.

Sunday I emptied the garage in Indy and we got it unloaded at the barn just as it got dark enough for the lights to come on.

Today we moved almost everything from the old site at Raccoon Creek. I took apart the tent platform I built last fall while we were making barn beams. The 4X8 panels were saved but the pallet bases were too far gone and will make good firewood some day.

We moved about 80% of the patio bricks we had moved there more than a year ago. Also retrieved were all the clay and most of the plastic flower pots, more steel shelves, the picnic table, a metal glider with side table, some concrete blocks, three garden benches, a stock trough and other miscellaneous outdoor items.

We had the very old (100 years or so) porcelain sink on the trailer that was removed from the Indy house years ago, but it is very heavy and just one item too many to get the trailer on the road. (Some day the old sink will be hooked up near the garden work area.) The trailer's tires were so flat we just took the sink off on the north side of the bridge to be picked up another day. We had to use two large 2X12 boards to get the car and trailer over the hump at the bridge abutment.

The left tire still looked so flat that we stopped within a few miles to check the load. The trailer's left fender was warm indicating that the tire had been rubbing it. We moved some of the paving bricks to the car and many more from the left to the right side of the trailer. The rest of the trip was uneventful, but with the delays at the bridge and in reorganizing the load it was dark all the way back to Greene View Springs.

And that's why we were unloading the trailer in the dark.

I set up a few lights to see the path to the brick pile, but when the lights were turned off it was very dark again and the stars were beautiful. The Milky Way was very visible almost directly overhead. Watching the night sky will be a favorite pastime when our home is built a bit farther down the hillside and even more removed from other light sources. Long ago we decided we would not use outside lights at night except when they were truly needed, and a beautiful night sky like tonight just reinforces that decision.

Two outta three ain't bad!

The LVL beam was delivered this afternoon. It was on a huge flat-bed trailer which was skillfully backed down the gravel driveway to within about 4 inches of the barn door. Then the trailer was raised to make our pushing it off easier. It took three of us to get it down off the truck safely.

Big surprise, though, it came in two parts. Both are 32 feet long, but one is 1 3/4" thick, the other 3 1/2". Even our salesman at Lowes didn't know 3 1/2" is the thickest LVL that the manufacturer produces. At first I thought, "Great, it will be easier to lift it in two pieces," but that won't work. There's no way we can align and nail the two together on top of 7'6" posts without risking our safety.

The "Handling & Installation Recommendations" provided with the beam describe just how many and where nails should be placed to connect the two. If the beam were more than 7" think I'd have to bolt the pieces together.

After the delivery I began marking and drilling the floor where the posts will stand. Sandy began clearing a trail through the tall grass toward the spring.

The lumber will be delivered tomorrow while we're running around picking up cabinets and moving the last of our belongings from two sites in Indianapolis.

When I got home I found the packages from the plumbing supplier in the hallway.

Delivery day tomorrow

Tomorrow we are scheduled to get three deliveries: the laminated veneer lumber (LVL) beam; all the dimension lumber, nails and brackets; and the water manifold, PEX tubing, tools and fittings for the water delivery system. The water related items are coming to the apartment, but the other two shipments are going straight to the barn.

I'm hoping the beam gets there first so they can help me shove it into the barn. Once the rest of the lumber arrives we won't be able to get a truck within 20 feet of the sliding door. The beam is approximately 400 pounds so if the barn is blocked I won't be able to move it inside by myself.

If I'm lucky the DeWalt nailer I ordered online will show up too. At that point I'll be out of excuses and will have to get started.

A few days ago, while coming back from the county recycling center,

Greene County Solid Waste District
R.R. #1 Box 61A, Switz City, Indiana 47465.
812 659-3788, 800 281-1930
(No functioning web site)

            we passed Jones and Sons, a concrete block manufacturer right here in Bloomfield. They have a pile of broken blocks at the side of the parking lot and today I asked if I could have some. They sell them by the truckload for $5, but since I only needed a dozen or so I was told, "Help yourself."

I loaded the trunk (and went back for another trunk load at the end of the day) and took the first load of blocks to the barn to use to elevate the lumber that will be delivered. With the second load I should have enough to get the entire lumber load at least 18 inches off the ground.

If we use a rubble trench foundation (Wikipedia entry) for our house I may be able to get all the "rubble" we need from the Jones plant.

Now all I have to worry about is that the beam gets there first tomorrow.

Some special pictures

Here are some pictures from a few days ago that aren't related to Greene View Springs but pretty important to me. After seven months at sea my younger son got home from the Persian Gulf this weekend. What a relief!

   

Windows, cabinets and siding

Since my last post we have taken grandkids to Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana, and made a nearly day-long visit to Indianapolis. But we've been busy planning and making drawings to try to assure ourselves everything will "work" as we want it to.

Today we spent most of the day in Bloomington getting things for the apartment building project.

First we visited Bloomington's Habitat for Humanity ReStore. It's one of many such Habitat for Humanity stores across the US and Canada where Habitat sells donated building materials that cannot be used in the construction of new Habitat homes. Some material is new, surplus from building projects, and some is removed from homes being remodeled.

We found a window the right size for the landing in the stairwell-to-be. Then we found an entire set of kitchen cabinets, 12 units in all, built of solid oak. I won't brag about the great price (plus an additional discount for the next two weeks on everything in the store) except to say that the units are in great condition and about a quarter the cost of roughly the same set of units with laminated surfaces priced at a big box store. They had been in the ReStore for less than two days and we were lucky to find them.

Next we visited a salvage yard to look for some steel plates to spread the weight of the posts for the second floor over a larger area of the concrete slab. I found two thicker ones that had holes in them already, and one about twice the area of the others that could be cut in two. The three pieces together weighed over 100 pounds!

Just down the road the owner of a welding shop cut the larger plate in half and burned two small holes into each one for bolting them to the floor.

I'll bolt each of them to the floor through small pieces of plywood and attach the bottom brackets that will hold the posts in place to the plywood. The alternative would be another hole in each plate and a few-inch-long pin that would extend from inside the post into the concrete. Too much effort. The weight on the posts will make them nearly impossible to move, so the simple method I'll use should work just fine. The post bases will look something like this:


Then we stopped at Lowe's to order the siding, 72 - 4' X 8' sheets, about a case of large adhesive tubes for the rough floors, and some double joist hangers for the areas adjacent to the stairway openings. Lowe's cannot deliver the adhesive on the truck with the rest of the material because it is considered a hazardous material. (It's OK for the untrained consumer to take it with them in a car though!?)

Then we were on our way home. Temperature on the bank sign: 100!

Another friend at the barn

I have been finding evidence of a visitor at the barn almost every day. First it was shredded toilet paper. Then some cracker crumbs disappeared. We are concerned that someone might decide some of our fabric items, like sleeping bags, tents or stored material, would make good nesting material.

So I set a humane trap in the barn on Monday and both yesterday and today this little fellow had sprung it. Well, yesterday it might have been one of his/her relatives, but who can tell?



Both times I have let him/her go near the compost pile we have started. I hope he tires of the game before I do. We don't want to take more drastic measures.

Yesterday the last of the old Tyvek was removed. The barn looks better without it.

Today we spent the time making room in the barn for the lumber that will come next week. We ordered lots of lumber, including a 32-foot laminated beam that will allow me to use 12-foot joists for the second floor instead of 8 footers. With 12-footers there will only be three posts in the middle of the barn floor so moving around should be a lot easier than if two rows of posts were erected.

Eumeces fasciatus

I spent the whole day tearing off old Tyvek from the barn and caulking the cracks between the exterior sheathing. DuPont says Tyvek should be covered with siding within a few months of its installation. This has been on the barn, uncovered, for at least 8 years. New, one cannot tear it; as is, I can tear it into little pieces by hand.

Every so often today, my new friend, a common five-lined skink (Squamata suborder Sauria Eumeces fasciatus), would climb up the wall to see what I was doing. I couldn't get to my camera fast enough to catch him, so this is a picture I found on Wikipedia:



If I get a chance to photograph him myself, like when I'm not on a ladder with a caulking gun in my hand, I'll add a picture of my own.

Let's get on the map

Here are a few ways to look at Greene View Springs.

This link will take you to Greene View Springs in Google Maps. There you can zoom in and out, fade between picture and map, and get directions from wherever you wish.

And here's a picture:


You can see the pole barn and the old bus that was next to it. The pond on the left is just to the west of the property, but the smaller pond near the bottom right is included. The Google Maps link shows the property boundaries.

The road to the right is County Road 725E. The picture must have been taken a few years ago. There is snow on the ground and the gravel appears to be freshly placed. It is a bit less visible currently.

Stop by to see the place, but please give us a phone call first. Our phone number is 812/825-1666, but, since we're outside a lot, my cell phone might be a more reliable number: 317/946-4673.

Getting our water turned on

Greene View Springs already has a water connection and yesterday we paid our deposit/membership to get it turned on.

Tomorrow we hope to buy a manifold water distribution system for the barn. These work like an electric junction box. Each fixture in the building is attached to the manifold directly. The "pipe" (blue for cold; red for hot) is easy to run, has no joints, and can be installed by an amateur (me). To get it through a wall stud or floor joist one just drills a hole and pushes it through.



Once I install it I can hook up each appliance as needed, starting with a simple laundry tub and the washing machine. I've already plugged in the refrigerator. With a water source I'll really be in business, and we can start doing laundry without pumping coins into machines in Bloomfield's laundromat.

Since the "pipe" is flexible, I'll be able to move the tub and washing machine around when I insulate the walls behind them and while we are raising the second floor joists. When all the work is done, the tub can be bolted to the floor and the wall.

Plans for the pole barn

We have set up the large shelving that was in the greenhouse at the old house. Now, for the most part, there is a place to put everything that we moved from Indianapolis off the barn floor.

We are planning to build a second floor in the barn that will cover 4/5ths of the area. I'm using a great program called SketchUp. It's free from Google. If you decide to download a copy, I'll send you a drawing of what I'm planning that you will be able to rotate in any dimension and even take a walk through.

In the mean time, here's a picture:



The ceiling has been removed and windows have not been placed yet, but you get the idea. The stairs come up through the center of the room to a landing next to the bathroom. The bathroom and bedroom are the only interior walls once you come into the large room from the landing.

In a few days the entire contents of the barn will be sorted out and stowed. Then I'll start caulking the seams between the exterior sheets. Next will come the floor for the plans above, and then new Tyvek and some sort of siding. I don't want to put up the Tyvek until we have found the siding we want to use and are ready to apply it.

Once it's all ready we'll move in and eliminate the rental expense of the apartment.

Emptying the storgage unit

Today we had a "free" day with the rental trailer so we moved the whole 10 X 20 storage unit in three round trips between the barn and the unit. That took all day. It's about 40 miles each way, so getting three trailers-full loaded and unloaded and making the trips without a speeding ticket was quite a feat. It was dark when we finally left the barn.

The property is ours!

We finally closed on the new property. No surprises.

On the way back to Bloomfield we stopped off to see how much TYVEK wrap costs. Much of the original wrap has deteriorated and needs to be replaced as you can see below. The entire west end is currently unprotected. We'll start looking for some type of siding that will go over it.


Handsome isn't it?

Then we went out to celebrate at Bloomfield's Mexican restaurant. Ole!

Major move

Tonight, with my son's help, we moved a truckload of big stuff: refrigerator, washer and dryer, sofa and love seat, file cabinets, tables, shelving, bookcases and lots of boxes.

With the key to the barn, everything that won't be used in the apartment went straight there. Then we wrestled the sofa up the stairs to the apartment. By the time we got back to Indianapolis it was nearly midnight.

Too bad there's still a lot of things in the barn that need to be moved by the seller. We can't organize our stuff well and still leave a path for removing their stuff. Hopefully they'll have it all out of there soon.

Tomorrow we'll do one more truckload of things too big for a trailer.