Alternative Home Builder: Week 28

Monday

Here’s what remains.

·         Kitchen bookshelf: Tom the Builder brings today for us to stain.

·         LP tank:  Meet with rep today.

·         Entry bench and shelves.  Tom installs today.

·         Kitchen Marmoleum tile:  Complete last few courses Wednesday.

·         Murphy bed:  Help Tom cut and construct Thursday.  Then paint and install.

·         Bathroom tile:  Tile Guy Trevor completes on Thursday.

·         Composting toilet:  Gave Tom drawings yesterday.

·         Yoga loft cork floor.   Complete last few courses Sunday.

·         Hang garage door.  Complete remaining trim.  Tom next week.

·         Electrical switches.  Fixtures.  Electrician John began yesterday.   Entry light works!  No more lantern.

·         Water in cistern. 

·         Paint closets.

·         Bathroom maple counter-top.

·         Kitchen red elm bar-top.

·         Kitchen EcoQuartz counter-top.  Three weeks?   Our new delay.

·         Plumbing fixtures (needs kitchen counter-top):  sink, faucets.

·         Solar Hot Water / In-floor solar heat (needs plumbing).

·         Stove, Fridge, Freezer.  Washing machine.

·         Yoga loft stairway carpet.

·         Touch-up.  Finish everything not on this list.  “Help mom.”

·         Clean.

·         Move-In!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

·         When it’s warm again:  Masonry heater American Clay surfacing.  Porch stone-work. Solar ventilation.  Landscaping.  Rainwater harvest.

This is the first time the list is short enough to actually list.

Tuesday

My day in a progressive quiz (Q2 answers Q1, Q3 answers Q2, …) so no reading ahead you cheaters!

Q1: In our composting toilet, what replaces the normal toilet bowl?

a.       Massive cistern beneath the floor where “it” all collects

b.      5 gallon bucket

c.       Two holes:  his and hers

d.      For criminy’s sake, forget the composting toilet and just flush her down

Q2:  What bucket color best hides skid-marks?

a.      Orange

b.      Black

c.       Gray

d.      Green

Q3:  Whose black logo-bucket did Mike want?

a.       Lowe’s gray logo-bucket

b.      Home Depot’s orange logo-bucket

c.       Menard’s green logo-bucket

d.      Fleet Farm’s black logo-bucket

Q4:  How far did Mike drive to get a black Fleet Farm logo-bucket?

a.       20 miles

b.      40 miles

c.       80 miles

d.      120 miles

Q5:  What will Mike do next time to shorten his 120 mile trip?

a.       Drive faster

b.      Get you to drive

c.       Instead of driving to Rochester and then finding out only Winona has them, call ahead

d.      For criminy’s sake, forget the composting toilet and just flush her down

Q6:  Since he’d driven all the way to Winona, what else did Mike get while there?

a.       Water, water, my kingdom for a glass of water

b.      A diagnosis.  I mean what else could that lady at the Blue Heron, the one over there who refuses to make eye contact, be thinking?

c.       A regular toilet

d.      Nothing.  He’d already gotten the LED bulbs for the dining fixture at Lowe’s in Rochester

A picture is worth a thousand answers.

Wednesday

ü  Kitchen bookshelf: Tom the Builder completed and brought for us to stain.

ü  LP tank:  Installed.

ü  Entry bench and shelves.  Tom completed and installed.

ü  Kitchen Marmoleum tile:  I completed last few courses today.

Right on schedule!  Perhaps I should schedule a date for my cold to leave.  Perhaps I shouldn’t push my luck.

Thursday

I felt first-day-of-school nervous.   Me?  Help Dave build the Murphy Bed (for your guest bedroom)?  After all, Dave is Tom the Builder’s finish carpenter.  He could finesse me a Sunday suit from the trunk of an oak.  And if that wasn’t intimidating enough for an all-thumbs gorilla like me, I had to arrive at 7:30AM, at their place, Fort Building and Supply in St. Charles, the sanctuary of the saw.   My only contribution, I thought, would be to play the instructional DVD and discuss issues.  And that began as rough as I feared.  Unlike the DVD, our Murphy bed recesses into the wall, so Dave said we should deviate from the instructions.  “Oh no!” I thought, but certainly didn’t say.  “Don’t change the structural elements.  They warn you over and over that the integrity of your bed (and perhaps your very life) are at stake.”  Yet, after a few deep breaths and a lot of “active listening”, Dave thought we could proceed to attach per the instructions.  And then, the magic.  I couldn’t figure out how we’d screw the bed to the wall in our tight space.  “We’ll build the header up-side down,” he suggested.  “Brilliant!” I smiled.  We got to work.  We had a good time.  We got it done.  As done as could be until we put the finish on it.  Dave pretty much did everything.  I just helped assure we did the right thing at the right time (typical Mike work actually).  And it was Dave solid (your bed will never squeak) and beautiful.  Too beautiful. 

 We’d intended to paint the bed to match the wall it folds up into.  But now?  I don’t know.  I do know what Dave would say.  “Painting nice wood is just wrong.”  I don’t know if he’s right or wrong, but I enjoy hearing his voice in my mind.  I wouldn’t mind another work day at the sanctuary with Dave. 

Friday