More Framing

Phase III

With the inside walls framed it was time to raise the vigas into place and build the decking over the studio and bath and bedroom. But first, Rick wanted to put up his "painting wall"

That done it was on to the vigas. Even though these vigas are very old they are still VERY heavy.  It took our friend Sam and Rick a little time to figure out the best way to get them up.

 Once they figured it out, it went pretty smoothly.

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This is how we attached the vegas to the bond beam. There will be a 6" bolt screwed in from the other side

Rick and Sam got up two vigas and Rick and I got up the last two with the help of a heavy duty car jack.

Then the deck went on.

Deck on - storage space galore!

The next task was to get all of the vegas up over the bedroom/bath area. This was more of a challenge because 1) the vigas in general were bigger and 2) we were not going to have the same maneuvering space we had for the studio.  We ended up bring them in through the windows in the sunspace. This was a big job and it took four of us!

Taking a break. I wanted to get a picture of the process happening but I was outside holding one end up while the guys worked on getting the viga up and over the top plate. My hands were occupied!

Done!

This is what the vigas look like from the living room.

Sleeping loft! There will be a short wall/railing all around.

Battery Shed

Before we can start plastering the outside (which we hope to get done before the summer rains start - that is assuming [and hoping] we HAVE summer rains) we have to build the battery shed. This is where the solar batteries will be stored and it's on the north side of the house.

It will have straw bale walls but they won't go up until after the roof is on.

In the process of putting up the rafters I realized that it was going to be VERY difficult to get in there to plaster between the bond beam and soffits if I waited until AFTER the roof went up so I quickly mixed up a batch of mud plaster. Luckily I had done some tests and had a "recipe" all ready to make. This is the first plaster on the house!

As I'm mixing up the dirt, sand, straw and horse manure I suddenly feel this connection to all the Pueblo and Hispanic women who have done this very same thing over the generations. Traditionally mud plastering in our neck of the woods was always the job of the women of the pueblos and villages. It's an honor and joy to be a part of that tradition!