Workshop Light Well gets Trimmed

Over the last few weeks we've been constructing some jamb liner boxes for the 8 windows in our workshop light well.  Six of the windows were straightforward rectangular ones, but the two end windows have an arched top.  To get the curve correct, I built a form and laminated the curve from 4 thin pieces.  Once the glue was cured and the curves trimmed up, the end boxes were assembled and pre-finished.  The project culminated this weekend when we rented some scaffolding and installed all of the boxes and the mitered casings.  We also rigged the window winder extensions, so we can now open the centre windows which are 19' in the air from a small step ladder.

The "Black Shack"

Looking back to a post on December 31st 2011 shows the initial assembly of a metal car port structure which was purchased with the intention of making it into a wood storage shed.  Condensation is a big problem with metal roofed sheds so our first job in enclosing it was to spray the ceiling with a  2-part expandable foam insulation.  With that complete we framed the two side walls using 2" x 8" which allowed plenty of room to attach the shelves that will hold all of our wood bits.  The sheathing plywood is formwork material purchased at a big discount because the coating was flaking off but worked very well for this job.  The final step for this fall was to wrap the whole thing in black tar paper to keep the wind and wet out.  Siding will be installed sometime next spring-summer which will serve to spread the project over three calendar years!

A Table for the Deck

Last summer when I was building the veranda deck around the house, I culled out all of the best fir 2 x 6's and stored them in the garage to dry over the winter.  So, on the first weekend of summer holidays, I decided to see if I could put in a marathon effort and build a table in two days.  I came close but needed another evening to finish the construction and a few more hours to apply a couple of coats of finish.

So far  so good - seats 8 easily with room for pizza!

Landscaping & Grass Planting

With this being considered one of the best times of the year to seed a new lawn we have been focussed on getting our summer deck and landscaping project completed with a nice bit of grass on each side.  We had two dump truckloads of topsoil delivered last week (24 cu.yds. total) but then our Bobcat driver got tied up at another job so we started moving dirt by wheel barrow late last week and completed all of the moving, spreading, rolling, levelling and re-rolling on the weekend.  Evidently a cubic yard can fill 6 heaping wheelbarrow loads, so 6 x 24 would be the number of wheelbarrow loads that were shovelled in by hand, dumped out and spread.

The first three photos show a 12 yard pile that was moved on Sunday taken in 1 hour segments and no, in the third picture I am not wearing a dirty white T-shirt and/or long reddish-brown gloves!

Is This a Food Blog Now?

We are happy to report success from the wood-fired pizza oven.  To our loyal blog follower, Gerry, the last photo is for you!

Trellis Complete

With the posts drilled and notched and the beams and arches cut to size and drilled, it was a "simple matter" of assembling all the pieces like a large kit.  The arches are spaced at 30" on centre and the lateral strips are at 19" on centre.  Two honeysuckle and a planned wisteria have been planted with the hope that the trellis will eventually be covered with the vines.

Trellis Posts and Arches

The trellis project started with some left over metal roofing which determined the arc radius that was to be used for the 20 cedar arches.  The roofing was set to be used as a rain shelter over the pizza oven so the rest of the trellis post and beam structure was designed to make that work.

The posts were end-drilled to accept the 12" of rebar that was left sticking out of the 6 concrete piers that had been worked into the plan.  The posts also had to have notches cut and holes drilled to accommodate the galvanized bolts which hold the whole structure together.  The posts were then set on the piers with a large stainless steel washer to isolate the end of the post from any water on the concrete..

The arches were laminated from 5 pieces each 3/4" thick.  Each morning we would clamp-up a new one, then the next morning mark out the bird's mouths and lateral strip locations, remove the arch from the form and start over again.

Patio Paver Slabs II: Installation

The paver installation began by spreading a thin layer of sand over the area and rolling it completely flat.  This was assisted by our feline calico helper who enjoyed the flat sand, especially as the sun warmed it up.  Once the first few slabs were located it became a pretty straightforward matter of setting them down in the pattern.  A few had to be cut and initially I used my skilsaw with a diamond masonary blade which was slow, dusty and shortening the life of the saw with every cut.  Eventually I rented the gas powered cut-off saw which was much quicker and replaced dusty with muddy, but got the job done.  The whole process was completed in 2-1/2 days and involved moving just over 6 tons (12,800 lbs.) of paving slabs not counting sand!   

Patio Paver Slabs I: Preparation

One of the big jobs on this summer's list was to acquire and place the paver slabs for our back patio which connects the veranda deck surrounding the house to the new pizza oven. This is a size of approximately 15' x 36'.

We chose to use the same pattern as the house floor marble tiles but using pavers which were three times the size.  Inside 4" x 4" white and black marble become 12" x 12" dark grey and green outside.  The big squares which are 8" x 8" inside are 24" square (and weighing 92 lbs. each) outside.

Once the design was completed, the materials were ordered and arrived on a truck with a piggyback forklift which was able to deliver them nice and close to the area where they were needed.  The amount in the photo is about 1/3 of the total delivery.

Pizza Oven Part II - Stucco & Tile

With the metal lath in place, the next step was to apply two coats of mortar "scratch" coat.  We used a product where you weigh the cement powder, sand and measure the volume of water to make the paste mix and trowel it on.  The day was a warm one and things started setting up a bit quickly.  The colour coat was a "just-add-water" product which comes white but I added some "chamois" coloured powder to get the terra cota colour.  This coat went on very nicely and was a pleasure to use by comparison the the first ones.  The final step has been to use some of the left over house floor tiles to cover the original concrete slab.

Pizza Oven I

Once the suspended slab had cured we abused our friends Steve & Sam who innocently came over for dinner one night and found themselves helping us place the 490 lb. oven shell in position.  The next step was to jack up the oven (using the jack from our Triumph sports car) so the mortar could be applied on the insulating pad.  With the mortar in place, the oven was lowered into place and the chimney also mortared in.

The next phase was to place 3/8" of sand on the floor of the oven, then install the fire brick.  The three layers of insulation blanket were wrapped around the concrete casting and the whole thing held in place with aluminum lath and tie wire.  Stay tuned for part II - Stucco ...

Vegetable Garden

One of the items on the list for this spring has been getting some raised beds and deer fencing in place to start a vegetable garden.  The process began with having some Alder trees felled to let a bit more sunlight in.  Once that job was done (trees down in 40 minutes - clean-up of trunks and branches: 40 hours) we got some cheap 2 x 8 lumber and built some raised beds which were putdown over a blanket of corrugated cardboard.  The boxes were filled with combinations of composted chicken manure (from Seth and Mary-anne next door) leaf mulch and chipped branches.  The paths between the beds were then set with chips from the felled Alders.  The final process was building a deer proof fence which included three access gates (also made from the by products of the felled Alders and some leftover white-painted Cedar from house parts.  First sowing on June 20th.... now awaiting some sun!