Why Torrey?

We did get away from construction two times this fall. Beautiful hiking is only a short distance away.

Thanksgiving Bonus

Because setting the bathroom tile went so smoothly, we had plenty of time to work on a few more projects.

We installed all of the light switch and outlet cover plates.

We make and installed trim around the kitchen and entryway doors. Here is the kitchen door before trim.

Here is the kitchen door with trim.

We also installed trim around the bedroom door.

Thanksgiving

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, we made a trip to Torrey with one goal in mind - to install the tile on the bathroom floor. This needed to be done because our cabinets should arrive sometime after the first of the year. To our great pleasure, we completed the task without any gnashing of teeth or pulling of hair.

First we measured the floor, determined the layout of the tiles and snapped chalk lines to guide our work.

We began laying the tile in the corner farthest from the door so we would not tile ourselves into a corner.

Here Mary applies thinset mortar

and carefully sets a tile in place.

Scott measured

and cut tiles as needed.

After one and half days we had all of the tile set. We left a narrow space of untiled floor on the right because the cabinets will cover this space. The cabinet maker will shim the cabinets to accommodate the height of the missing tiles against the wall.

Scott applied the grout.

We chose a color that was as close to the color of the tile as possible.

Here Scott is removing the drying grout from the surface of the tiles.

In the book, Setting Tile, by Michael Byrne, we read that a poor grout job can spoil a good tile job. 

We hope we have the best of both.

Rain

When we say we are moving to Torrey, most people visualize a hot, dry desert town. We don’t really dispel that perception because, if everyone knew what it is really like, it would be filled with people. Instead, it is a summer tourist town. People from all over the world enjoy its red rock scenery, verdant meadows and nearby alpine forests. Capitol Reef National Park is only a few minutes from town. But once the tourist season passes, the not quite 200 local residents get their sleepy little town back. On late fall days, they can walk down main street and not see even one car pass by.

At an elevation of 6830 feet, one might guess Torrey would be very cold, but winter temperatures range from 0 to 60 degrees, and summer temperatures range from 50 to 90 degrees. Summer has a monsoon season, and you can usually plan on plenty of rain after the 4th of July. Sometimes it is more than plenty of rain.

Rain on a straw bale house is dangerous. It can melt your plaster walls, and, if it gets a chance, it can rot your bales. This is why well-designed straw bale houses have large overhanging eaves protecting the walls. Our deep porch serves this purpose.

We have added two additional features that will keep moisture away from our house. First we created a dry river by grading an 8-inch swale around the house. We then filled the swale with gravel, the idea being that rain water on the roof would be directed to this dry “stream bed” and away from the house. We also hung chains from the rain gutters and buried the ends in gravel-filled holes in the dry river bed. At the base of the chains we stacked flat rocks in such a way as to deflect water running down the chains away from our porch posts.

Often visitors ask about the purpose of the chains. Scott tells them that, because it is so windy in Wayne county, we need a way to hold the house to the ground. Of course, now you know the real story.

We're Almost Home

I’ve always had lofty goals. For this, our fourth building season, I hoped to have the plaster work totally completed - the entire house as well as the garage. We are close.

Here you can see Scott and Jerry working on exterior plaster.

Next summer, the fifth and, one can only hope, last building season, we will put the final coats of plaster on the exterior of the house and all of the garage. That means finish work and landscaping are all that remain.

It’s almost time to call Torrey home.

The Help

Finish plaster. Finish plaster. Finish plaster. This was the mantra of the summer. Now that fall has arrived, I keep walking from room to room in order to convince myself that it really is true. The interior plaster is completely finished. And, thanks to Scott’s experiments and ultimate successes in creating the perfect color palette, the walls are even painted.

Scott's Work Station

Looking From Scott's Work Station to the Storage Area

Looking from the Storage Area to Scott's Work Station

It wouldn’t have been possible without Cali and Jerry. In June, when they arrived in Torrey, they had just completed a straw bale internship at Community Rebuilds in Moab. After an entire summer of day-in and day-out plaster work, they have become true plaster artists.

Cali and Her Last Tree

Jerry's Last Day - Exterior Plaster

Artists always sign their work.

Home Depot Treasure

When we moved Dad’s table saw and joiner to Torrey, we realized we now had the tools to turn the wood left over from timber frame construction into window and door trim. Even though this do-it-yourself capability extends our building timeline, it also helps us achieve a goal of minimal construction waste. It also allows us to match wood types to the rest of our house.

Door and windows before stain

Door and windows after stain

Looking the other direction

However, one day, on a field trip to Home Depot, we perused the millwork aisle to get more ideas. Despite our own milling capabilities, we couldn’t say no to the beautiful vine and ivy pattern we saw. It will grace our interior walls as door trim and baseboards. The green man corner block came from Heartwood Carving.