Rick and Ellen's Homestead

[rick91351]

One of the small  homesteads here had a large tank buried and it started giving them trouble.  My buddy with the equipment was hired to dig and see what was the matter.  Both ends had collapsed and cracked.  They had him remove it.  My place was close so he tossed it out here in case I can use it.  Nothing goes to waste like that up here at Prairie so it seems. 

I am sort of thinking of chain sawing the middle out and using the top and bottom for raised beds or   Any ideas will be entertained. 





       

[Windpower]

Looks like you are almost ready to move into the place

If you got heat and plumbing everything else is luxury as one of my carpenters said ......

although getting it drywalled before moving in saves alot of mess

Weather is coming into winter here too,  we are supposed to get some snow today

[rick91351]

Idaho Power pulled their wire and sat their transformer but did not connect it because we were missing a couple lugs that I thought they installed.  (Their side of the meter base)  I knew I had to install the lugs on my side for the disconnects.  I also discovered apparently they own the meter base once the meter goes in.   

Right now we are waiting on the wire for the pull to the house.  It is in three inch conduit but will be pretty filled up when we get done.     It is to be in Boise on Tuesday.  We are short one Arc fault breaker for one bed room.  I think it is to be in on Thursday.  I went to an electrical wholesaler to get some what we use to call mule tape to pull the wire with.  That was a no show as well, then I found out someone up here on one of the ranches has a large spool of it.  We became very good friends during the fire.  That was where I helped fight the fire the most was on his property and the State ground that borders it.   I should not have any trouble borrowing it so his nephew says. 

Looks like you are almost ready to move into the place

If you got heat and plumbing everything else is luxury as one of my carpenters said ......

although getting it drywalled before moving in saves alot of mess

Weather is coming into winter here too,  we are supposed to get some snow today

WOW!  Do I ever hear you on the dry wall.  There are couple brothers that live between Sun Valley and here.  They have done jobs up here in the past and did great.  I got a bid from them.  It seemed sort of high but they do good work and don't seem to be eating pills and downing energy drinks just to function.  A couple contractors I know down in the valley really say they do not have any favorites anymore.  They to say it is a crap shoot who they get when they arrive.  I want to get them in and out so I can start my wood work this winter.

When we got our second shear inspection I asked about occupancy.  I am trying to find our legal right to occupy as a owner builder.  The building inspector says sure you can move in just as soon as you final.     Then went on to say he knows what happens especially up here where like us living in a fifthwheel and it is getting down in to the single digits and then plunging to -30.  So we are pushing hard to get it done enough to make it 'live able'.  The plan right now is to finish the one common bathroom and the smallest bedroom and maybe the utility room.  I then hope to seal that off from the rest of the house so I can use my saw, planer, router table and be able to sand without too much mess if I have my dust collector set up.  I am getting so stoked about that.  Goal is to have it finaled when the snow goes off in April.       

         

[Squirl]

I am sort of thinking of chain sawing the middle out and using the top and bottom for raised beds or   Any ideas will be entertained. 

Looks like two haves would haves would make good stock tanks.  I would paint it black to protect from U.V.

[Don_P]

Yes the POCO owns the meter base although in many jurisdictions you bought it. The entrance and inboard is yours and your responsibility. The entrance between the meter base lugs and the main disconnect is a toughie. On temporaries I've had to work on that wire and refuse to work it hot so I've clipped the seal and pulled the meter to de-energize the entrance line. Back when they visually read meters I would tell the meter reader what I had done the next time he came out and he would reseal it. When they went to remote reading I've not had anyone to tell untill we switched to permanent power. I've never had a problem but this is an offense. Back in the day they would sometimes have a problem with folks jumping the meter, I've not heard of anyone that crazy in a long time.

Is that a 60's Fairlane behind the shop?

[Rob_O]

Is that a 60's Fairlane behind the shop?

Looks like a '67 by the tail lights

[rick91351]

Looks like a '67 by the tail lights

Right on!  I bought it the day I graduated from high school in 1970.  It had been rebuilt in the late 70 since is gone way down hill.....

[Windpower]

289 ?

[dablack]

Can't believe I'm just now seeing this thread.  Everything looks great.  Really looking forward to seeing it finished. 

The Fairlane is nice but I'm more interested in the bumpside (67-72 Ford truck) that I keep seeing in the background.  I've owned more than seven of them over the years.  What is the story with it?

Austin

[rick91351]

289 ?

Yep but hardly stock.....  It is still in good  / great shape I do need to pull it and tear it down as it has not been ran for years.

Can't believe I'm just now seeing this thread.  Everything looks great.  Really looking forward to seeing it finished. 

The Fairlane is nice but I'm more interested in the bumpside (67-72 Ford truck) that I keep seeing in the background.  I've owned more than seven of them over the years.  What is the story with it?
Austin

That would be Pastor Joseph's rig.  I know nothing of its history other than he dropped a 390 in it a while back when he blew up the 427? that was in coming back from Northern Idaho after seeing his terminally ill father.  It was weak and sick when he left and came back and it died when he got back up here, in fact he almost made it to the driveway where he lives.    As I write this he has the front end out if it and putting in a all most new rebuilt that he fell into.  Same gears, hubs and linkage and for almost free.  Free is cool up here    The young man gets by on almost nothing.   

[dablack]

A 427!  Where did he get it?  Those are RARE and would sell for good money.  Even if he is confused and it is a 428, that is still a rare engine.  I parted out a 1966 mercury Colony Park wagon a while back that had a 410 FE in it.  That was a mercury only engine.  It was basically a 390 block with 428 crank (IIRC).  Sold it to a guy that was restoring a Marauder.  The FE engines always crack me up the way the pushrods go through the intrake manifold.  Just weird.  At least the distributor is on the front of the engine as God intended.  I've always been a 289/302 man or a 460 guy.  My two daily drivers for years were a 68 cougar with a 302 and a 71 F100 short bed with a 460.  Neither engine was original but they were both fun.  The only other engine I ever messed with was a lincoln only motor in a 66 lincoln continental coupe.  It was a 462 (not related to the 460).  I loved that car.  Rode like a dream.  The doors were about six ft long!  HA!

Sorry to hijack your build thread.  I can talk classic fords all day long.

Austin

[rick91351]

I spent a good part of a day putting in blocking for hand rails and such in the bath rooms, and the blocking for the wainscot in the house.  Sorry the lighting was not the best.





We got the exterior doors in as the siding guys are scheduled in

Front



Back



As we are getting ready to call for an electrical inspection and we then will be covering stuff up I thought I would show one of the eight heavy hold downs call for by the engineer.  Those bolt to and 18 inch j bolt poured in the foundation wall and bolt to a 4 X 6.



This is one of the two lighter weight hold downs. They were a smaller size j-bolt and on the opposite end of the house than the huge ones.



Engineering called for six of these on both sides of the house



The siding guys got here today about noon it was getting late when they knocked off but WOW can those guys work hard.  Again sorry about the bad lighting but I/we sure liked how it is coming out.   

[Windpower]

Great progress

what kind of siding ?   it is looking good

those hold downs are impressive --- I did not realize Idaho was in a hurricane hazard area......

[rick91351]

Great progress

what kind of siding ?   it is looking good

those hold downs are impressive --- I did not realize Idaho was in a hurricane hazard area......

The siding is a cement fiber siding by CertainTeed with a Colorguard by Woodtone stain.  The stain goes on with several applications according to the sales people.  The first coat is a lighter color and cured.  Then it gets a darker stain and the machine squeegees it off and cures again. So they claim.

I think part of the reason for the tie downs as they are is because of the open porches on both ends of the house.  While we do not get hurricane hazards as such winter is a world to itself, and the reason many people do not choose to live up here year around.  120 pound snow loads and 90 mph wind load planing and or engineering is now required.

It is strange what the building department did involve into and now changing again.  One time in this county as in lots of counties around the nation anything went.  Then they had several building failures and law suites of course.  The building department was more or less fired and they hired a real building inspector.  With that he and the county fathers in a knee jerk they said anything above a certain elevation engineering was required.  Nothing could be built without an engineering stamp.  Since we started on this project and after I spent $3000 for engineering and drafting.  We now are returning to a more lax building requirement.  But it will never go back to when in doubt build it stout - some peoples ideas of stout are just not there.  It is now more like Don_P explains so well about requirements and engineering and not having to hire a real engineer......                     

[astidham]

siding looks great!

[Pine Cone]

Really looking like a home is about to happen!

Both my wife and I really like the siding.  Looks like you have a busy winter ahead of you doing finish work on the inside, but you wouldn't want to get bored by having nothing to do...

[rick91351]

My logger neighbor and I this time of year go in and harvest the beetle killed trees on my property.  I was busy this year with the house and just did not have time to help.  He needed some saw logs.  I told him to get what he needed and if he found a couple good wood logs and were not to much trouble I ask him to drop them off on the way by. 



Great to have neighbors you can work with like that.  This was yesterday the day before the snow.

Today was our first heavy snow so I did my first heavy snow ritual.  Combined some gas, diesel, and was short any used motor oil so omitted it from my recipe and went a lot heaver on the diesel.  It is the day I always burn my 'green piles'.  Green piles this time of the year are hardly green and are usually very brown and burn with a vengeance.  We do thinning of pines and pile them in green piles when the pine beetles are searching for stressed trees.  The pine beetles sense the thinned trees and limbs in the green piles are stressed and are attracted to them.  They lay their eggs in them and  we burn those piles in the fall or early winter.

Green pile when I piled it this spring - summer



Now a pile of ashes





Took a few photo from around the place with snow.










 



               

[OlJarhead]

Great Update!

[MountainDon]

I like pictures of burning crap in the snow. 

[rick91351]

I like pictures of burning crap in the snow. 

Yep to me there is just a couple things about it.  It signals winter and two I have yet to have one to off and get away and go out of control.  I hate the thought of having to call 911...  for something I have done.   And the next snow it is all covered up again. 

[Don_P]

I was glad to see the rain here night before last. We had been in the smoke for 3 days with a wall of smoke coming over the Nat'l Forest to our north. It was dry after leaf fall and something got out of control. I haven't heard the cause or damage yet. To be honest up there fires historically went through every 5-15 years before smokey the bear. Since about '28 we have supressed them and one of the pines has become rare because of that. The neighboring mountain had a large prescriptive burn a couple of years ago, but without prep and all the duff on the ground now I wouldn't want to be the one to have a hot fire get out of control. For us fire would help control some of the thin barked weed tree species but if one of my fires got away it would endanger several neighbors... one of the reasons for Smokey the Bear. I've used the saw and one of Monsanto's more famous products to slowly work on them. 8 point Fri.

[rick91351]

I read you loud and clear....  I have fallen back on Monsanto's claim to fame as well.  We tried some Telar on Knapp Weed this year.  My wife stewed and figured and refigured to not over dose.  She got the dosage right.  We sprayed and sprayed.     To bad the Knapp Weed did not know it.  It did wonderful this year for Knapp Weed.  Both the unsprayed and sprayed.  No one knew or could tell us why...  Me I think it was in the zodiac......      

Here the USFS uses prescribed burns.  When we lived in town you would read in the paper where they were going to light them off from time to time.  Up here where papers are not....   Undoubtedly it is on the net somewhere.  I have never tried to find such.  Might even be on the Boise National Forest Homepage.     I use the Prairie browser -  When I start smelling smoke of that type the best thing to do is ride the four wheeler over to The Y-Stop General Store and get a cup of coffee, a pop or a candy bar and ask as if you don't care really, 'Forest Service said anything about any burns?'  One of the rangers always it seems drops one of the notices off there.  Court the owner will as the Prairie Sage bring forth wisdom.  'Yep burnin' over in Smith Creek or Meadow Creek.  Sure stinking stuff up, be a couple days.'  Really don't know what I would do without Court some times.  He has visions of retirement or selling out.  He makes the best double cheese burgers with ham.  And his news is better than most any bodies around.     

Might sound sort of strange but fires like that smell differently than a fires out of control.  Brush and the stuff they try to burn out just does not smell the same.  If that is negative nothing at the Y-Stop you can take a ride and look for smoke.... There are several great rides that let you look out on great vistas and are a great break for the day.           

[rick91351]

Hey guys and gals I need some help.

Remember the pile of 1x5 or 6s that I had sawed and stickered for the floor last summer?



Well its time is growing short.  I have wanted to finish planing it and tongue and groove it but it has been a little hectic for such.  With the house and all.   

Now Ellen has come up with an idea that has worked for others up here.  She is wanting to hold it as wide as we can and not tongue and grove it but edge joint it.  Then counter sink screw holes and screw it to the subfloor then plug and sand it.

A very high end home up here we have never seen inside of has such and has worked well up here with fir.  Another has pine and it is great as well done much the same way.  We know the people real well and know they would love to show it off to us.  But I guess my question is.... got any ideas pro or con.  How far apart would you countersink the screw holes and what kind of screws would you use?  Am I over looking something?  I have done tongue and groove hardwoods and been around even more being laid but this approach is a little out of my comfort zone until i get it screwed down........














i

[Redoverfarm]

Personally I would not go this route.  Chances are that there will develope gaps between them from just humidity changes itself.  It would be more likely to cup since there is no T&G to keep the face in alignment.  If I went this route I would make her sign a wavier that she is the one to keep the dirt out of the crack. 

[Don_P]

Ditto, I wouldn't, but I have. If it is intended to be fairly rustic I guess it's ok and that floor turned out fine and has never had a call back. Pine or fir are going to move less than a denser species. Is the wood quite dry now? Either way I would get it as dry as possible. If there is a shop with a molder anywhere within reason I'd take it in and have it T&G'd, screwing and plugging takes longer as well.