Winter is Here!

Winter arrived this week with a vengeance! While we didn't have a ton of snow (maybe 3 inches) we had horrible wind and now it's bitterly cold! Needless to say, we are grateful for the wood burning stove. While the lack of insulation in the ceiling allows heat loss, the fire does provide warmth enabling us to continue work - which we're doing. (I keep reminding myself - and Rick - that this time last year we were stacking bales and all we had for protection was plastic!)

Tongue & Groove, "Lintels" and Drywall

We've got two major tasks ahead of us: installing the tongue and groove ceiling and drywall on the framed walls.

Slip had to be applied to the top of the bales before we could start on the T&G. Once the slip was done baffles had to be installed between the trusses to allow air flow.

With baffles done we could finally start on the T&G BUT we could only do two courses because cob had to be stuffed in the crack between the T&G and the wall. Our walls aren't very even so there were gaps of varying sizes. If we didn't stuff cob in the cracks we would risk losing a lot of insulation once we start blowing it in. Thankfully I was able to get the cob work done before the bitter cold hit us.

Here you can see where the cob was stuffed in the cracks.

This is looking from above. The T&G is on the bottom right.

Tongue & Groove

In order to make sure the first course of T&G was level all around the whole house, we used a water level to mark all the trusses.

Rick using the water level

A test.

Ready...

First piece nailed up!

First two courses.

Three courses in the living room!

"Lintels"

We didn't have to install lintels above all the doors and windows - we used boxes attached to the trusses to hold the bales instead - but we decided we did want the "look" of lintels so we got some rough cut 2 x 6s and cut them to fit. We're very happy with the way they look.

Drywall

Before we did all the rest of T&G we decided we wanted to put up the drywall first. That way the T&G will butt up to the drywall instead of the other way around. We figured it would be easier that way.

We are total novices at drywall (as we have been with most of the tasks involved in building this house!) so we started in the studio. The studio walls will be mostly covered by model train layout and shelves so we could practice here without worrying too much about the way it looks.

Studio

Studio wall from the living room.

Bottom half of the wall done!

The high today is supposed to be in the mid 20s but there's a fire in the stove and it's sunny so after lunch we will be back out there putting up more drywall. Things are moving along.