We had Thanksgiving dinner in our new 'kitchen.' It was just a bit chilly but tolerable. We could have slept in the new loft by Christmas but the heat continues to be just a kerosene heater in the basement for the entire house.
Our shell has been finished and is weather tight but there are several major projects that must be done before we can call it a home. Exterior siding [we are wrapping the house in Typar - like Gortex for the house] and will finish with board and batten siding by 2003. There remains the interior framing, finished floors and walls, drywall installation on the interior shell walls, bathrooms and the all important Kitchen
It's winter and we need to heat the new addition so the first and
most important task is the chimney.
Work starts on December 14 with cutting the concrete floor in the basement
next to the chimney footing. It was poured for a very large fireplace foundation
but we have eliminated the fireplace and will use the space for an elevator.
The elevator has to have a 'pit' six inches below the basement landing so
the car can level with the floor. A hydraulic driven diamond saw is
used the make the cuts then the blocks of concrete are removed We installed
a new 'floor' in the pit with insulation beneath. One radon gas venting pipe
had to be rerouted a bit.
The elevator pit. We have cut a 10 inch deep hole in the concrete footing right next to the chimney footing. When the new concrete is poured it will be just over seven inches deep. Good work for a stormy day.
slab removal
typar
photo
Typar is added to the lower half of the outside the house for wind and moisture proofing. The upper walls are somewhat protected by the roof overhang and will be done last
The chimney was started shortly after the elevator pit was finished.
Two masons first built the chimney using standard chmney concrete blocks
and tile liners.
The chimney is at 44% of the height to the roof in the photograph at the
left. There is much more than just throwing the blocks and liners together.
An extra four inches is added to the three sides that will be faced in stone
from the first floor up except in the elevator shaft. The stone work will
take as long to add as the basic chimney
Stone facing is added to the chimney. Those white things are wedges used
to hold and space the stones while the mortar sets
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Clean up after the masons were finished took more than two weeks. We had to scrub all the flooring to remove ground-in mortar and cement dust. A rug 'steem' cleaner with brushes was used and had to be repeated several times to get things back nearly to normal.
All through the winter and spring our hot tub continues to provide a great place to relax after a day working in the relatively cold interior or slipping on the icy drive and walkways we have had to contend with this year
Tod muds in an outside
corner of the hoistway
at the chimney
Our furnace is a "Yukon" multi-fuel hot air unit that will burn either wood or oil and switch to oil automatically if the wood is used up. It's big and has a very large heat exchanger to capture as much heat from the fuel as possible. A probe is placed in the supply plenum to preheat our domestic hot water.An air conditioner evaporator in the supply plenum was added when the ducts were installed.
< Interior framing started in February with the upstairs bedrooms, bath and hall followed by the hoistway (elevator shaft) and then the downstairs kitchen, mud room, bath and halls. Basement framing was finished with completion of the furnace and hot water heater room.. This room has to be airtight with outside combustion air intakes so the combustion will not 'use up' the air in this air tight building..
[above] Corey adjusts one of the 2 x 12 wood guide rail planks,
part of the backing for the elevator tower structure. This is the main
support for the elevator and is within the hoistway wall
Our elevator, an Access Industries "LEV" model, was ordered in February and arrived on March 28 on a flat bed trailer.
The Erector Set as it arrived
A complicated Erector Set with many boxes and heavy steel parts. The steel counterweights come in ten and 15 pound chunks. About 40 of them all in one small box. The elevator is fully automatic with a 3 by 4 foot cab and power driven gate. Digital controls and a UPS backup power supply will bring the cab down to a lower floor in case of all too often power failures here on the CVPS power system
Larry holds one of the two roller chains that carry the
elevator.
The elevator installation started on April 2 with the installation of the tower. This support and guide has the drive motor on top and rails that carry the sling (that holds the cab) and 750 pounds of counterweights The rail comes in sections that are moved into the hoistway and bolted together
Looking up from the first floor
The tower is complete and the lift motor has been added at the top. Now two chains are fed over two drive sprockets at the motor to connect the counterweights and the cab. Next the main controller is placed at the top next to the motor. Many wires have to be routed to this important unit
Above: Larry wires the control panel in the cab. Far above: Scott connects cables to the cab door and limit switches. Left: Larry hands over the elevator key to the new owner who spent the next night having his ups and downs. First use was bringing in firewood
As this page ends a deck has been started at the north end of
the addition. At left above Ken Duffy and his crew from Crown Point Builders
discuss the job. Finishing the first floor interior, heating plant and
plumbing will be covered next.