Quote from: MountainDon on April 28, 2014, 05:15:51 PM
So was the weather good for "ramping"   

Great weather Don.  Pretty hard rain on Friday but by the time I made it on the Mountain it was just a drizzle.  Stopped long enough to get the camper set up then the wind started.  But we all pitched in and got the canopy's up and the sidewalls.  Then supper after cleaning a few that one of the others dug before I got there.  After a 5 star supper of Fried ramps, fried ramps& potatoes, and ramps & scrambled eggs. Then the music till the wee hours.  I turned in a little early(midnight) but they continued until about 2am.  Fell asleep listening to some good tunes.   

Then Saturday I must have cleaned a couple bushel while others dug.  But Saturday & Sunday the temps in the daytime were 65-70F with a slight breeze. Perfect for doing nothing but eating.   

If you recall your trip across the Scenic Highway we were about 2 miles east of it and about 8 miles before the Visitor Center. 

Had a great time.  Well needed break.

hate to sound ignorant.. but can you tell me what a ramp is?   sounds like we missed a good time!  jt

Quote from: pocono_couple on April 28, 2014, 07:16:53 PM
hate to sound ignorant.. but can you tell me what a ramp is?   sounds like we missed a good time!  jt

jt it is a cross between a onion, garlic and a leak.  It grows in the wild in early spring usually a couple weeks after the snow has melted.  So they were not around when you were here.   Hard to explain but in the mountains it is a pretty big deal this time of the year. It is normally a acquired taste.  We use them in anything that you use onions in and a whole lot more. They are eaten raw, cooked, canned and frozen.

Here is a couple of pictures of some dug & in the ground

They are a kind of strong taste but we did the enjoy the fried potatoes and ramps we first cooked up; I did hold back on the quantity of ramps somewhat I think. Then ramps in an omelet with cheese and ramps and fried ham were tried and enjoyed.

Occassionally you stumble into quite a patch, Michelle was here this morning 

I hauled several hundred pounds to market last year from this area. There is no hiding what you've been up to when you get out of a car full of ramps. It is one of the non timber forest product crops we're going to try to get folks to grow in the woods here. With more small forest landowners and their desire to not harvest timber this is one way to grow something for sale in the woods. There's a lot of stuff at your feet. I'm hoping for morels on the tail of this rain.

Nice patch Don.  You have to rotate your crops so to speak.  Don't pick in the same patch every year or before long like everything else they will be wiped out. Bad thing about National Forest is that you have no control over who or how much they dig in certain areas. I have seen a couple patches completely wipped out to the point that it will be several years before they regain that area if then.  BTW retail in the markets was $3.59 a Pound the last I noticed.

Spent the last couple of days finishing the rough in on the Mini Split system. 

No it's not a spider.  It the 8 refrigerant/liquid lines coming to the outside unit.  I bought the closest length line sets that I needed for each run so there will be some waste.  They will need to be cut to length and flared again.   Not a conventional install for this type system.  Most are single units ran through the outside wall and down to the outside unit.  But since I am putting in 4 units it makes it a little neater job.  But running all the lines turned out to be a real pain.  The 1/4" lines were pretty flexible but the 3/8" lines were harder making the bends and turning through the partitions and plate.  It would have been nice to have a helper.  Several trips up & down to get the insulated lines worked to the exit point from the upstairs.



Inside chase of the line sets and communications wire.  I centralized all the lines to one area so if the need to preform repairs they could be easily located.





Only portion that remains is running the 3/4" drain lines.  Hopefully my HVAC guy will show up in the next couple of days, re-flare the lines,  vacuum the lines and charge them. 

That will be    John   

Looks like we lost the 3rd picture. 

The first two pics look great.  Thanks for the run down on the line length and difficulties. 

Austin

Hi john,
   good to  see an update...  and to know that you are still hard at work!   grass looks a little greener than when we visited..    let us know if there is a chance that you are headed north this  summer..  jt

JT I would really love to take a trip in your direction but it seems the summer is almost over for me as it will probably be fall or winter before I can get everything done that I have on my "to do" list.  But I will definitely keep you in mind.

Austin sorry about the photo. It should be back on that post.   The internet last night could be classified as poor at best.  Wasn't really sure I could upload anything.  Yes the line set which consist of the two lines pre-insulatedand only come in specified lengths.  Just didn't want to take a chance on running short.  Never know going in and out of the chase holes and that stiff stuff.  So I err'd on the side of caution.  Like they say it is better to have too much than not enough. 

Another photo of one of the air handlers in the Mini Split system.  This is one of two in the apartment.  They are the floor models which was the only option I had since I didn't have sufficient wall height for the wall units that I post pictures of earlier.  I had to go ahead and put drywall on that one before I mounted them.  Well not really but it made for a nicer job not having to cut out around them. 

I'm really liking it.  So we have two upstairs and two down?  You are really getting them in there quick!

Finalized the installation of the Mini-Split system yesterday.  If it runs as it did during testing I am completely satisfied with the results.  I guess time will tell but it is ultra quiet in comparison with the 3.5 ton Trane unit that I have in the house.  A lot of nice features that will make fine tuning for individual rooms. 

Here is a picture of the outside unit after the lines were cut to length and connected.



Now I will have to get moving on the rest of the framing and drywall.  But not this weekend.  Having a music gathering at Dogtrot this weekend.  Time for some fellowship and relaxation.

looks great John!
i might have to do the same type of hvac in my house...
the estimates I have been getting are unreal 

Looks like a lot of work!  After a decade in North California (Redding area) with an average of 40 days a year above 100 degrees Farenhite I'm happy to be in western Washington where we think it's hot if it gets into the mid 70's.  Not much need for air conditioning around here which suits me just fine.  Hottest day I remember in Redding was 117...  Hottest day around here, maybe 95.

Wish I could join you for your music gathering at the Dogtrot this weekend, but I'll settle for playing with the Washington Old Time Fiddlers tomorrow. 

Hope Steven is enjoying surveying.  My first summer foresty job involved almost two months of boundary line surveying with a staff compass and two-chain trailer tape (a 150 foot long metal tape which allowed for correction of slope distances almost automatically).  Lots of steep ground and we weren't trusted with chain saws so I got a lot of experience with a double bladed cruisers axe.  Most of the lines had not be surveyed since the late 1800s. 

The tools we were using were pretty similar to the ones used in the original survey 100 years earlier.  The only  thing that had changed was the tree names.  I learned that Oregon Pine in 1876 was Douglas-fir in 1976.  My father had a summer of surveying back in the late 1930s as well. 

Now it is all lasers, survey-grade GPS and fancy theodilites.  My survey prof at college had literally "written the book" and while he could be a jerk he really knew his stuff.  Still work with survey data on a regular basis, last time was yesterday...

Someday I hope to get out and visit and try some of those ramps!

Enjoy your weekend, it looks like you have earned it.

Cool mix; the old squared off logs and modern A/C.

Well it has been some time since I updated my progress with the apartment.  Trying to get my outside projects complete to beat the winter.  I guess in doing so I suffered a few setbacks.  I have had a disc problem with the lumbar region of my back off/on after surgery in 1995.  It comes and goes if I rest for a week or so and limit my activities.  Well it has been well over a month and still hasn't responded as it has in the past which is usually just a week at most.  Then to add to this I seemed to have developed a rotator cuff injury.  Can't figure that one out but the symptoms are all there with limited movement of my right arm above my shoulder.  I have an appointment the first of the week to access the damage and prognosis of treatment.  This getting old is for the birds. 

Anyway I have been trying to get a few things done.  Started framing the short knee wall in the storage areas of the apartment.  Sort of like trying to work in a coal mine.  A friend has been doing some construction and has saved all the 2X material he had left over which exceeded 12" in length.  I only had to purchase 8' 2X's for the base plates.  I just finished one side and have the other side yet to do.  I wanted to get this done before I started on the drywall.  Speaking of which I doubt that it will be anytime soon that I am able to start on that portion of the construction.  I guess as they say it just "depends" .

Here is a picture of that framing.  All the area will be drywall with the exception of a little triangle wall adjacent to the air handler which will be plywood for ease of removal if I ever have to preform maintenance on the equipment. The opposite wall adjoining will be drywall which is further away from the lines.



Also picked up a little forced air bathroom heater.  Got it roughed in.



   

Hi John,  sorry to hear about your back issues.. nothing like that to remind us just how vulnerable we are..   hope you will be on the mend soon...  a little down time is never a bad thing.. kind of forces us to re-evaluate priorities..  appreciate those around us.. important stuff like that!   take care,  jason

The time sure has flown by since my last post and the last time I had worked on the apartment.  I guess you could say this is my winter project.  Well I am back in the saddle again. I was also waiting for some additional funds to purchase the drywall.  All came to the tune of some $1200 .  Sure has increased since the last purchase of drywall when I was working on the cabin. Anyway I probably got the same price as Lowes but I had to go to a lumberyard because they were the only place I could find a boom truck for deliveries.  Not really that bad as they delivered the drywall on a load by itself for a mere $35 and traveled one way some 60 miles.  There was no way I could have moved it from the ground floor to the second floor without the boom.  It would be doubtful that I could carry 8' sheets up the stairs and make the turn at the top let alone 12' sheets.  Not to mention the extra labor of lugging all the sheets up the stairs. It still took me and my son about a hour to take it off the boom and stack it in three different location to avoid an excessive amount of weight on the truss's at one pile.  I borrowed a wheeled platform from my neighbor and attached 2 -2X6 to create a trough for the double wrapped sheets.  Easier than carrying then. 

This is one reason that I never finished installing the deck at the kitchen door.  This allowed the boom to set the sheets 1/2 way into the kitchen door.  Now when the weather breaks I can finish that chore as well.



My least favorite part of construction.  DRYWALL.  It is really not that bad if you have 90 deg walls but with the attic truss's in the apartment it can be challenging to say the least.  Part  of last week and this week was hanging the flat and sloped ceiling.  About another day and I can move on to the kneewall.

Anyway I have hung 13 sheets out of 56 of 4X12X1/2.  Oh I forgot I have 7 sheets of blue board for the bathroom that I still have to tackle but there is some plumbing that I need to do before it.

Drywall is at the top of my list of "I'd rather not..." Competing with having a root canal done...

You changed something at that rear wall beside the door? 

Quote from: MountainDon on January 14, 2016, 02:16:07 PM
You changed something at that rear wall beside the door?

No Don that was an older picture when the addition was under initial construction.  It was just the first picture I came upon in my library of photographs to illustrate the loft door. 

On an added note I got all the main sloped ceilings done and have moved on to the straight wall stuff.

Looking good!   

At least you only have the easier straight walled sections to go...

Last time I had drywall to do l let someone else do it   

Quote from: Pine Cone on January 15, 2016, 12:54:33 AM
Looking good!   

At least you only have the easier straight walled sections to go...

Last time I had drywall to do l let someone else do it   

Well when I said I had all the sloped portions done wasn't entirely accurate.   I was talking about the main living area.  I still have the storage space behind the knee wall on each side to do.  But the level of finishing would not have to be so precise as it will be storage.  A lot of room back there for storage as they measure roughly 65"(knee wall) X 80"(ceiling) X 72"(floor).  I did basically the same in main part of the house and they are stuff full.  There are certain areas of the vertical walls of the main living area which I will have to hold off covering to enable me to get the sheets back into that small space.  If not I would have to cut the drywall in pieces no larger than 30" to get them through the access doors.    These spaces would be what you call "conditioned " spaces as they will be insulated.  You can see these area on the right and left of the main room in the older photograph when it was being framed.   

There is just something about paying for something that I can do.  Am I comfortable doing it. NO. Can I do it.  YES But it is a lot cheaper than hiring someone else.  The price would be more than the price of the actual material so I will take my chances. $$$$$   

Moving right along.  Going to tackle the bathroom wall which was thrown off by the inverted truss direction when framed. http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=14234.0.  Should be able to bring it back in line by padding it out. 





I had a few more photo's but seems that photobucket is being contrary this morning.  The biggest challenge is maintaining a straight & level transition of the ceiling/sloped wall and the kneewall/sloped wall.  But as I have said before nothing a good mud man can't take care of.