Rick and Ellen's Homestead

[Redoverfarm]

Looking good Rick.  Good choice on the counter tops.  For the mud room have you considered just buying stock upper cabinets and using them as a base for a bench.  I have seen that done and it really is a simple fix.  Some have even added uppers above and then used verticle T&G to connect the two and placed coat hooks at the top portion. If you really want to get fancy add a wide mirror below the hooks.   The bench can either be something that you have planed down or even inexpensive countertops.

If it makes you feel better I have a similar location that I haven't done anything with since 2004.  Yep boots & shoes stacked in the corner.   

[Windpower]

Looks good !

The faucet/vanity looks identical to ours --- Kohler Fairfax in Biscuit (IIRC)

it is going to be so nice to get into that kitchen -- it was a life changer for us

[rick91351]

Looks good !

The faucet/vanity looks identical to ours --- Kohler Fairfax in Biscuit (IIRC)

it is going to be so nice to get into that kitchen -- it was a life changer for us

I do think I did see Kohler on the box....Plumber said that these are the first chrome fixtures he has installed in some time with all the other finishes there are.

I worked on the pantry shelves again yesterday.  I got then all up now I am going to do the face frames in place.  That is because of height and room to maneuver. 

I ended up with six shelves plus the floor.  The long wall was 56.5 X 17.5 = 988.75 sq inches.  The short run was 45 X 17.5 = 787.5 total of 1776.25 sq inches per level.

Because of several unknown issues of weight and size of what is going in there I just gave it my best shot.     I can not find any flex or give anywhere.





Only weak spot I really see is the corner where they meet up.  But using the sold walls on the bed room side and the kitchen side and outside wall and the living room side both 2 X 6 walls there.  There is no flex there.  There can be no torque because the way the shelves meet up so I think I am okay there.

The selves as I wrote before are 4/4 except for the top shelve and it is 3/4.  It measures 8 ft from the floor I don't see me climbing up there to store the anvil nor cannon balls.  Most likely would be Christmas ornaments & lights.  So with all that said - Ya' see anything I'm missin'?

     



 

 

[Adam Roby]

That's some nice looking storage, you can never have too many shelves. 

[rick91351]

Well I started and finished the face frames in the pantry today.  Well not finished finished they still need the nail holes filled and a little sanding.  Most likely the face frame will get a rubbing of like a medium Watco Oil.  I love working with pine; to me it is so much more expressive than other woods.  Not to mention cheaper.  $$$    I mean 

[rick91351]

We had a visitor show up a few weeks ago.  A male calliope hummingbird.  He kept buzzing the spot where the feeder was set up last summer.  Ellen set up the feeder and and a few days latter the whole tribe showed up.  We have a whole bunch of calliopes - a couple black chinned and even a few rufous have been feeding here.



One even got into the house bad thing in that they do not seem to know anything but go up.  So I herded it to a can light held a broom up there and it roosted on the broom until I got it outside. 

   

[astidham]

I really like the pantry shelving you built, I am going to try something simular when I finish our pantry... very nice!

[rick91351]

I really like the pantry shelving you built, I am going to try something simular when I finish our pantry... very nice!

Thanks I was trying to keep track how many board feet of lumber that was taking.

A couple things I would throw out there for anyone looking at a full time residence or a 'cabin' that would be used a lot in the winter time and chances of being snowed in.  We not being so much preppers but wanting really to escape the need to drive out of here in the winter times and early spring.  The drive in and out purposefully just for groceries and other sundry items if we could avoid that we would.  Not to mention if the storms move in you do not just drive in and out of here for a pound of hamburger and a can of pork and beans.  You pretty much do not drive out.  In the wintertime most trips to town start in the dark and end up there as well.  All that to say we planed our food storage pretty carefully not so much as a matter of convenience but of necessity.  This compounded with the fact as we get older the more we will not want to drive out. 

Second was where we put it.  Ellen gave up counter space really the whole south west corner of her kitchen.  We thought about going to the utility room with it.  We felt this area would save some steps.  Thankfully we did because we really did not have the utility laid out very well so we found out.  With a change in the water system we will pretty well will have that puppy filled up.

Third if there is a chance of the roads closing for washouts and slides or other natural disasters you really should look at keeping a month or two of food on hand.  This means more than a month or two it is more like three months worth.  This is because you do not get to choose when your disaster will occur.  Here at this location there are three roads to Boise.  One you never use winter time it is closed.  You never use it anyway because it is long and slow.  In the winter time it would take huge resources to get it open if you even could.  The direct road to Boise is open when it is 'safe to do so' but it washed out during the run off.  I have seen it closed for a couple years do to a slide.  The other road it washed out after the fires last fall major washouts.  Huge truck sized boulders were littering the road.  In other words if it all occurred at once....    So I guess in one sense of the word we are preppers             

[dablack]

I'm late to the party here but that granite looks great!  What you have in the kitchen is the same as what I had in the master bath in the last house.  Love that stuff.  I put in my own granite but I don't do below mount sinks and I don't do corners!  I design the kitchen where the cabinets do NOT turn a corner.  Makes the install much easier on me. 

Austin

[rick91351]

Austin you are never late for the party around here.  Really is a on going adventure.   

That granite she picked out for there is called 'Sapphire Brown or Blue' most likely has a bunch of names.  It is a multi-directional granite so they could have run it together if they had to.    The under sink mount was pretty easy.  They had drilled and epoxied in screw holes.  He says after the silicone sets the mounting brackets are almost useless but they do need to stay.   

I never have checked into it.  But now that I know this guy I bet I could order pieces cut or make my own templates and take them to him.  We are going to do a remodel on our church bathroom.  (Small building) Just a common bath.  That might be an idea.....   

[dablack]

It isn't so much the mounting of the below mount sink but the polishing of the hole!  The granite pieces I order are 24" by 84" and are finished on all 4 edges.  That is usually long enough for bathroom counters.  Cut off the extra length (84") on the edge that isn't exposed.  Cut off the extra on the depth (24") and use it as a backsplash.  I usually had parts left over that I can build a shelf in the shower or similar.  For the sink, I cut the hole and drop in the sink.  Easy.  It doesn't look as nice as a below mount sink but it isn't bad either.  You can get the drop in sinks cheap online.  Just an idea.  I love granite but I HATE paying for it. 

Austin

[OlJarhead]

Anything blooming yet?  My Crimson Beauty has about 16 buds on it this year.

[rick91351]

Anything blooming yet?  My Crimson Beauty has about 16 buds on it this year.

We here are about at a third bloom in the apples.  Peaches, plums and pears are in bloom.  A guy brought up a lot hives and they are about a half mile away and we are getting some of his pollinators.  My hives are still down in the valley and my bee guru says they are ready to come up if he gets a chance.  It got so hot and dry up here that by the end of summer we had to winter them down in the valley and still lost a hive or two.  Most likely will not be able to winter them up here in the future. 

[OlJarhead]

That's right, you started before me   Glad to hear they are doing well.  What is your altitude?

[rick91351]

That's right, you started before me   Glad to hear they are doing well.  What is your altitude?

We are right at 5000 here.

We scored some of those black raspberries and several new grapes from Saint Lawrence.  We were going to stick out neck out with a real garden this year.  Ya right....  no time no time.  Glad we had a sane thought there.  In fact Ellen is handling all the orchard plus cookin' and cleanin' and such this year.  Me I be home buildin'.  We are having a lot more moisture this spring than in the past two years combined I think.  Stuff is coming right along.

A couple years ago we put in an underground cellar.  Pressure tank is down there and that is about it.  Well this year it flooded we had the pressure tank floating when I found it.  We thought it was a broken water line.  Now we think it was a high water  So now thinking french drain around the cellar.       

[OlJarhead]

Thought you were up there, that puts you more than 1500 feet higher than me.  Our trees are at just about 3200 feet.  We get a late start to spring and only one tree is blooming so far (Crimson Beauty as mentioned before) but I'm hopeful others do also.

I think what I need is an orchardist to come along and help me get my trees better cared for

[rick91351]

Thought you were up there, that puts you more than 1500 feet higher than me.  Our trees are at just about 3200 feet.  We get a late start to spring and only one tree is blooming so far (Crimson Beauty as mentioned before) but I'm hopeful others do also.

I think what I need is an orchardist to come along and help me get my trees better cared for

Couple things to remember-

First - Rome was not built in a day.......

Second -  Fruit trees are not grown in a day as well...

To early of a bloom is a real problem.  Our orchard last year had bloomed and pollinated very nicely.  Then was the night of about 25 degrees up here.  What was left in bloom aborted and the all the fruit sloughed.  Last year was a year of vast troubles.   

[dablack]

As Rick and I have disscussed before, I put in 10 apples and a couple of pears around Christmas.  This is what they looked like March 25th.  I'm very pleased.  These are all southern heritage apples on M111 root stock.  I think this one is "Bevan's Favorite".





Here is what I can remember of what I ordered.  I have the list at home.
Bevan's Favorite
Horse
Mary Reid
Summer Banana
Dixie Red Delight
Kinnaird's Choice
Enterprise
Goldrush
Yates

They all bloomed this year and three of them have little apples on them.  I'm hoping to add four or more pear this winter and a couple more things that I haven't decided on.

Austin

[OlJarhead]

That's tough, but you've gotten some apples from them?  Or not?

[rick91351]

We mostly just go through and pick blossoms really thinning them to totally removing them from young trees.

So yes we have had apples (Snow sweets)  but will allow more to mature this year.

 

[OlJarhead]

Spent an hour with one of my employees who's had an orchard in the past and is building a new one now.  He put in 1800 trees this week.

Learned a TON from him in that hour!  Man I might have to buy him something wet and go spend some more time there!

[_JT]

210 ft from the meter base to the house.  We used 3 runs of 250 KCM and a I think a 100 KCM as an equipment ground. 

My electrician put his meter on it when we were done hooking it up, energized the line and we had very little voltage drop.  MY HVAC friend was up the other day and said the same thing.  Side note using aluminum wire be sure and use a anti oxidization paste on your connectors.  We are running the house on a air to air heat pump with a electric back up.           

I realize we're well past this point, but wanted to jump in and clarify, just for other future builders. Voltage drop is caused by the resistance of the wire (inherent in the type of metal and how much of it there is, so increases with distance), and the load running through those wires. Standard ohm's law stuff (V=IR). Which is to say if you hook up a meter to a system that isn't currently powering any loads, you will read whatever your source voltage is, regardless of how far away you are. In other words, you will not see any voltage drop if you don't have any current flowing. And the voltage drop will be worse at high currents than at lower levels.

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Great build -- really enjoying the read. I went to college in Montana, and I love the part of the (wild) west.

[GSPDOG]

I do think I did see Kohler on the box....Plumber said that these are the first chrome fixtures he has installed in some time with all the other finishes there are.

I worked on the pantry shelves again yesterday.  I got then all up now I am going to do the face frames in place.  That is because of height and room to maneuver. 

I ended up with six shelves plus the floor.  The long wall was 56.5 X 17.5 = 988.75 sq inches.  The short run was 45 X 17.5 = 787.5 total of 1776.25 sq inches per level.

Because of several unknown issues of weight and size of what is going in there I just gave it my best shot.     I can not find any flex or give anywhere.





Only weak spot I really see is the corner where they meet up.  But using the sold walls on the bed room side and the kitchen side and outside wall and the living room side both 2 X 6 walls there.  There is no flex there.  There can be no torque because the way the shelves meet up so I think I am okay there.

The selves as I wrote before are 4/4 except for the top shelve and it is 3/4.  It measures 8 ft from the floor I don't see me climbing up there to store the anvil nor cannon balls.  Most likely would be Christmas ornaments & lights.  So with all that said - Ya' see anything I'm missin'?

     



 

This looks great Rick are the Pantry doors the ones from Menards?  How do you like them? Thinking of using something similar.

[rick91351]

I realize we're well past this point, but wanted to jump in and clarify, just for other future builders. Voltage drop is caused by the resistance of the wire (inherent in the type of metal and how much of it there is, so increases with distance), and the load running through those wires. Standard ohm's law stuff (V=IR). Which is to say if you hook up a meter to a system that isn't currently powering any loads, you will read whatever your source voltage is, regardless of how far away you are. In other words, you will not see any voltage drop if you don't have any current flowing. And the voltage drop will be worse at high currents than at lower levels.

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Great build -- really enjoying the read. I went to college in Montana, and I love the part of the (wild) west.

Oh we had plenty 'juice' flowing back then.  Start of winter - the electric back up on the furnace and no insulation in the lid rather no lid hung and had to get some heat going for the dry wall crew.  Normal winter would have been impossible to build up here.  We were still going walk about in January looking for snow.     Cold but pleasant walking.  We only got like two feet and did not last very long.  Then the rains began and we end up at about normal per the NOAA site up here.

I still have to run the power to the shop yet.  I have electrical down there sort of.     I don't think I am going to need that big of wire going down there as I just don't see it being that busy.  Conduit is in and all but funny Ellen said she sort of figures the house trumps the shop.   

Love the great state of Montana - sort a second home state.  We had kin folk scattered all over there at one time.    Most have passed on now.  Where in Montana did you attend collage?       

[rick91351]

This looks great Rick are the Pantry doors the ones from Menards?  How do you like them? Thinking of using something similar.

You know I think our closest Menards is in Casper Wy.  700 miles away.  I do want to visit one some day.  I don't understand why they do not open a few stores in Idaho - Boise - Twin Falls and Idaho Falls. 

I found the pantry door at may favorite lumber yard.  In the reject and seconds 'section' (out in an old barn).  We were going to drop the corner pantry - got talked out of it.  So put the door in on the door package.  I got such a deal on the doors in this house from that lumber yard.  Misordered Knotty Alder doors I had dibs on for a couple years.  I had told the owner I would take them.  However sell them if he could.  I really did not know when we were going to start.    They got sold to someone else - when they framed for the doors they did not frame for that size so I got them back.  The owner of the lumber yard said it was just to be.  The only doors that I really had to pay full cost on minus my builder discount was a 2'0" Knotty Alder for a small linen closet and the sliders for one bed room.  Exterior doors were seconds because of the fake wood grain did not match up.