QuoteFred's 6'8" tall...

Ah so what ? He should shop for longer shirts   Good thing he's not 6'11" ;DThere'd really be a bad moon risin , instaed of just crack a tow a east of jawa  

 Perhaps our intrepid camera man / poster / adminasstrator could use a , ah , different camera angle.    

Wow -- change the camera angle-outstanding-the solution was right there in front of me and I couldn't see it- the thought never occurred to me. :-/

I guess that's why you get the big bucks, eh? PEG.

I guess we really are smarter than all of us -- no -- wait -- you're smarter than any of us -- no, that's not it -- it's my face and your --- no that's not it -- it's your face and my ---no,  I'll never get it right --- nevermind. :-/

Glenn said:  "My wife said I should fix it so I didn't look like a failure to all the people on CountryPlans.  She has this way of twisting the facts.  :-/  Maybe she could get a job in Washington D.C. "

Well... that was the only statement I thought would really motivate him   ... I was afraid of falling through the roof if the leak continued & kept the wood wet underneath  :-/ - I had just been up on that part of the roof, on the slick plastic that would slide when you walked on it - had to fix a window - it's very steep - that's the area I fell on while putting dirt on the roof originally - at that time there was a 12 ft drop to the ground  :-/ - & at the bottom of that area was where I had just fallen again  I guess it would be a good way to get rid of a wife...  

So I guess either he wanted to keep me around or he didn't want to look like a failure to the CountryPlans members  :-? ...  

Well, I finished plastering the roof, also went over the areas I plastered yesterday - altogether, I made up 13 cement mixers full of cement & climbed up & down the roof at least 3x's that many as the only way I could carry the black plastic cement thingy up that slope was to break each mixer full iinto about 3 portiions... so got my exercise today!  :-/ I wasn't too sore from yesterday & wanted to finish it up - we had a light rain last night & it sprinkled on me a couple times while I was working, today.

Whew, glad to get that job out of the way for the time being - will do one more coat, sometime... gotta go to the valley tomorrow for a few days for my regular work.  

Sassy made me work on her bathroom so I am posting a picture of what we did -- actually I wanted to get something done there too--- just the little problem of getting around to it.  I can't finish the walls till I finish the wiring, the plumbing, the floor etc-etc.



The floor is once again the India style plunger pier floor -jute reinforced 1" thick concrete- I added extra piers in the area of the legs of the tub although it would likely have not been necessary, but being one of those rush jobs where there is never time to do it right, I thought it would be prudent.  I put piers every 6 inches around the edges since the existing floor was not joined to this one.  

Color was added on  the top layer only- dump and smear technique -- rocks were simulated with the trowel.

The new floor is only in the area under the tub - it was originally going to be a shower but Sassy found a tub she wanted.

That looks awesome (especially the paneling)

Thanks, Bart.  The paneling is White Fir logs, sliced 3/8" thick and untrimmed both edges.  It is done board over board (one down- one up like board and batten) with enough lap to keep the underlying edges from showing.  They are nailed down with 1 3/4" brads and the seams are also kept tight with brads shot in as necessary.

The area around the tub is waterproofed with DEFY.

That is a neat tub. Not everyone would have the right place to situate something like that. looks like you did well again!

Sassy found it on the net at a reasonable price.  It is a reproduction .
Sassy decided that the best faucet was a nice brass hose bib - looks a bit old - couldn't do much about the shower valves without selling an arm or leg.  Besides - I already plumbed it for a shower.

Cute tub.  Is it 4 feet long or (the much more common) 5?

Amanda, it's the 5ft model - I wanted to be able to stretch out my legs - my feet just touch the other side so it's just right - any smaller, I'd have been cramped up.    I'm really pleased with how the bathroom is turning out.  

I've been thinking I need a 4-foot one.  But maybe I'd better go sit in one!



The five footers are less expensive.

And I like the idea of standard shower plumbing with a free-standing tub.  Let us know if it works well.

Very handsome bath Glenn. I want to come down and sit in your tub... Looks like a good fit. I have my new bathrobe on even as we speak.

Miriam could sit in the rocking chair and scrub my back when it gets a little tingly.  

It's Sassy's bath, John, but I don't think she'd have a problem with it as long as the two of you didn't try to get in it at once.

We could even send you in a cup of Mariposa Coffee Company coffee.  Maybe a glass of Mt Bullion Winery wine for Miriam.  

Ummmm, sounding better all the time.  

By the By.... so you are using the Indian jute plunger slab that Ken Kern talked about? Most interesting! Must use 2/3 less concrete than a conventional slab.

Yes, John.  Plunger slab all the way in this room.  Actually uses about 1/4 the concrete of a conventional floor.  Nothing over 1" thick.  

Since this area was a cutout from the original slab, I added extra plunger piers around the outside edges, then a couple in the area of each tub leg.  The piers are from about 4" to 12" deep and about 1 1/4" diameter - made by repeatedly ramming a digging bar into the loose fill-- takes about 30 seconds per pier.  Piers are poured with grout before  doing the slab.  We used just a rich sand/cement  mix so we didn't have to deal with rock. Color was poured on top and smeared in with the trowel to give an uneven color to the top of the slab - better yet , put 2 colors on and don't overwork it .  Note that the loose fill only has enough compaction (near none) to support the plunger piers and the thin jute reinforced concrete floor.  The fill is expected to settle a bit in the next few months separating from the underside of the slab (about 1/2 inch sand just under the jute for final fill aids separation and embedment of jute into bottom of concrete).  

This separation forms a bit of a moisture break and insulating air gap under the slab.  In England it is common to rototill the earth fill about 8"deep before completing the slab.  I don't know how common it is there now but I read that somewhere.

I think I need to draw up a detail of this so others can use it. (Something more than Ken's sketch  )

What about its use in wet cold soils? Do you find the floor is colder and damper in wintertime? And, I assume, this isn't carrying wall and roof loads. It is interior to any load bearing walls and done after the roof is on, right?

Due to the air space, I would say not colder and damper.  If moisture gets under the slab it will cause the air gap to increase by causing the fill to settle more.  A vapor barrier could be added under the final sand layer if desired - I'd use 6 mil poly and not worry about the plunger pier penetrations going through it.  Moisture making it's way up would be minimal.  

Non bearing floor - yes - we used a rubble trench footing under the bearing walls or where we didn't want moisture coming through to get under the floor - we had a roof valley draining right outside behind the sink area across a walkway to the bedroom outside door.  As I recall, this floor was rated at 40 to 50 PSF but in practice had supported 250 lbs per foot.  It could be done before the roof is on but inside of the bearing foundation and ony if time was allowed for it to gain strength.  Normal foot traffic loads would be OK but concentrated loads would possibly break through in the first 4 weeks.  Heavy equipment - truck - forklift etc. would be a no-no.

The sand is necessary under the jute to allow the cement to flow around the jute causing it to reinforce the bottom of the thin slab.  Even a failure in this floor would be very easy to repair but I haven't had one yet so haven't done it.  The edges broke a little around the hole before we changed to a tub.  I just flowed the new floor into the cracked sections (appx 1"x 3" - 2 places) and worked the grooves out to match.  There has been no cracking and the floor is getting stronger every day.  Concrete gains most of its strength in the first 4 weeks then slowly continues to get harder.  

The only cracks in the original bathroom floor are where we went from fill to solid rock, but they are hairline fractures - nothing highly noticeable.

I would shoot for 1" of concrete + or - a little won't hurt.  I have always felt that a 4" slab in a house is way overkill and a waste of resources be it materials or money.  
4" of concrete is adequate for a big truck.  Most of us are just little 100 to 400 lb people.  

I would say that this floor will never be any colder than an on grade slab, and possibly warmer due to the air space.

QuoteVery handsome bath Glenn. I want to come down and sit in your tub... Looks like a good fit. I have my new bathrobe on even as we speak.

Miriam could sit in the rocking chair and scrub my back when it gets a little tingly.  

About the tub, John.  I'm afraid I overstepped my authority.  I told Sassy you wanted to use it and I said one at a time--- she said, if you can both get in it, have at it.  No problem on her part.

Gee, do you mean both me and Sassy!?

What was that address again?  

I failed to make myself clear again, but must warn you that we used to frequent a lot of hot springs.  

A long day of work on the underground complex today.  It may not seem like I accomplished much but, I'm doing the work of at least 5 men- designer, engineer, architect, contractor, labor.

This makes for a lot of head scratching and hat changing.

Here's what I've got.  Sassy has given me a deadline of the December 16th barbecue and family/friends  get together (you are all invited BTW) to get something done on the cabin so it doesn't look the same as it did last year.  We don't want people to think I've been sitting on my bum for a year.  Her dad asked if I had it all closed in, so I thought that might be a good thing to work on before they make their pilgrimage to the underground command post.

This is the shortcut archway and door frame from the front main entrance of the cabin to the laundry room which is now in the lower level entryway.



I leveled the ground with a pick, shovel and my 4 foot long Big Johnson.  This was rather like work.  After putting down a vapor barrier I put the PT wood door frame down.  It was nailed directly to the hard clay with four 60d nails -6" long.  I tested the ground at over 200 psi with no problem - that works out to 28800 lbs per foot.  Who needs concrete?





I wanted to try to leave the bark on the trunk but in case it comes off later, I am grooving it down to wood with the chain saw.  This is actually a tree that grew about 10 feet then got it's top broken toward the ground and it kept growing.  The leg on the right is actually the top of the tree.  It is about 6" dia.  The trunk is about 10" dia.

Looks pretty cool, Sweetie - oops, forgot that I wasn't supposed to use endearments on a public forum, sorry, Baby...    Thank you for not keeping me in suspense for several days until I get back up to the underground command center - at least I will get some sleep instead of wondering what in the world you are doing... very Hobbity... I like!  

And John, you are most welcome to bathe in my tub...  if Mariam doesn't mind, maybe all 4 of us could try & fit...    just kidding!!!    

And yes, we expect to see all you CP members on 12/16!  

If we keep getting more people in that little tub, it may be best to go fill the hot tub.  Who knows how many more are going to want to jump in. :-/

....and quit calling me names.

...and she wasn't kidding.....

...you know it's nearly impossible to shock a nurse....

... somewhere further back in this thread, I think there is a reference to the 3 carloads of old nudists who came to visit us at the underground complex.   Friends of friends but at this time they were just looking - we didn't have to figure out how to get them all into the tub.

Sassy's working and demanded another update so she made me go out in the dark and take pictures.  She gets to look at break time and can't stand the suspense. :-/

Here's what happened today.


The roof sheathing got put on.  Full 1" plywood - I don't care for plywood but it was given to me free - pallets of half sheets - actually fruit bin bottoms near half a sheet in size.  Free makes me be within my guidelines of not being expensive or recycling.



The steps and landing are made out of it also.  I got treated wood from a cleanout sale at the lumberyard so used it under the plywood but still put plastic below it.  The entire stairs and landing is going to be covered with colored stucco.  Since I found out that stucco is an ancient art invented and used by the Romans, it is allowed also.  It minimizes materials used as far as concrete goes and is a pretty final solution.  Not much rework ever needed (ferrocrete if you don't want to call it stucco.)



Elevation was such that I either had to add another step or make a bit of a steep stair.  8 1/4" per step.  Steep stair it is - this is just an alternate way down to the laundry and great room.  If I can't do those steps I can go around.

There is a 12" or so diameter tree overhead as you go down the stairs -to the right that I had to allow clearance for plus get the person low enough to get under it without hitting their head.  Fred tried it out and it was a success.  He's about 6'6" and didn't hit his head - I have over 6'8" in all locations overhead.