Sunday, April 4, 2010

Wish Lists

Today when Scott and I were walking around the block and discussing the upcoming building season, I brought up the wish list. It includes items that we really need for season two. Because we are working within the confines of a budget, we're looking for creative ways to obtain the use of the following items:

1) a box scraper for the tractor to be used to level the ground
2) a refrigerator to replace the ice chest we've been using in the yurt
3) a post hole digger / auger so we can plant the trees we've ordered from the conservation district
4) a band saw to cut the braces for the timber frame
5) bucket forks for the loader on the tractor to move the king trusses out of the garage and into place for raising the frame
6) a mortar mixer to mix the plaster for the walls

We hope someone reading this blog will be able to help with the list. Can we rent these? Does someone have them for sale at an affordable price? Any leads are appreciated.

Floor Plans

This is one of the original drawings our architect, Wayne Bingham, made for the design our house. Because the bales of straw we'll be using are eighteen inches wide, there are two measurements for square footage  The interior of the house will be 1772 square feet. Our Logan house has 2050 square feet, but the space in the Torrey house will be much more usable. The exterior of our Torrey house will be 2025 square feet. When the plaster season rolls around, I've heard that we'll wish the house was much smaller.



After many hours of discussion with our family and friends (the people who really know how we live), there are only two changes we've made.

First, the masonry stove in the middle of the living space has been moved to the wall between the main living area and Scott's office on the left. We will build that wall out of adobe bricks. Our intention is that the heat from the stove will transfer to the bricks. That will provide additional heat to Scott's office at the same time it warms the area in which we will spend most of our time.

Second, the large wardrobe in our bedroom will need to house the solar water heating system. That means half of the closet space will eventually contain a 300-gallon water tank plus all the mechanical equipment that goes along with the system.

By the end of this summer we should be able to see the hope in the plans as reality on the ground.