Wes's House

Dissolve Disolvution

2010-08-29T11:25:00.000-07:00

8/26/10
  The stove has been removed from the cabin. It is a mighty symbol of independence, or is it not, now that it serves no need, sates no hunger? Perhaps it's a relic? No, all the ashes have been removed, it houses no remains. It does have the patina of age. Rust, soot, oil. The only thing that betrays its false age is the shiny chrome handle for the door and also perhaps the modern warning label riveted to its face.
  One of the chimney sections too came with a warning label of some kind, but it was burned to oblivion during the first fire. That primary blaze which I had been so excited for filled the entire cabin with putrid, black smoke. Ironically, this label cautioned the user on many points but contained no instructions regarding removal before use. At first, I thought that once the chimney warning label was removed the smoke would stop. This was not the case. The smoke sublimed off the surface of the chimney itself, the black shiny paint melting, burning, and finally curing matte black, like watching glaze in a kiln transform into enamel. It wasn't entirely unpleasant, but mostly so.
  Subsequent fires became larger, longer and hotter and this annealing process rose up the dark pillar until the whole indoor section of the chimney had burned up to its current flat black finish.
  The rain sometimes came in. First, the chimney support box at the roof line filled with water and leaked. This was before the slip collar was installed. Even after, driven rain worked its way under the chimney cap, through the spark arrestor and down the tunnel on many occasions. Last year there was a lot of rain. Snow too. I still feel lucky that I didn't fall off shoveling the roof, a precaution from leaks.
  The only other leak came during Spring. It was on the backside of the house, the side adjacent to Outlaw Gallery. In that case, long storms had soaked the roof edge and water trickled under the shingles along the plywood sheathing, finally finding a release in a small gap in the styrofoam ceiling. The remedy in this case was to apply a bead of asphalt sealant on the edge of the shingles. I guess that needed a drip edge like the one on the bottom of the roof as well.
  The best way to keep the rain out was with fire.

Two Seasons Later: Cabin Re-cap (by popular demand!)

2010-07-25T08:01:00.000-07:00

Hey All,
Well, it's six months later. The house is still standing and doing just what it does. It's doing it right now.

I officially moved into the main house during the wintertime, into Emily's old room. Emily's room was ideal in every way. It had heat, was heated, and was warm even when it was cold outside. Among this, the home's former diner room offered a view of the backyard and cabin, was accessible from the outside, and kitchen-adjacent!

A sunny winter day in the cabin
was really wonderful. The south-
facing wall caught a lot of light.
Sadly, holding a full-time
job left me very little light
during these months.
The experience had by this
point taught me the importance of
calling in sick when my mind and
body demanded it. I highly
suggest everyone do the same,
today maybe. Call in
tomorrow, have a
good breakfast.

Keeping the cabin warm during the nighttime was very difficult. Conserving fuel limited my time in the house and my insulation methods were lacking. I had never hung the new door, never replaced the windows, and would find large holes letting in cold air on a daily basis. My bed, previously a plywood plank that doubled as a work table (see bed in table mode in photo right), was substituted with used couch cushions lined up at the foot of the hearth. Sleeping directly in front of the fire was perfect in that I could add wood to the stove without getting up, losing body heat and in which clearing the table became unnecessary. I was also losing a lot of body heat out the bottom of bed/table, which was completely uninsulated. The floor was very warm and dry.

Hauling wood home every day was a serious chore, and having fires with friends sparked anxiety as I watched a few nights' worth of wood being burned in a few hours.

Sophie stays warm by the light

We had an epic New Year's Eve party prior to my retirement to more conventional living quarters. It was a beautiful night full of friends, drink and fire. A year of haves and have-nots ended with an abundant chorus of popping champagne corks, coating the ceiling of the kitchen with bubbly effervescence. As many pointed out, "It was literally raining champagne!". That night the stove in the cabin burned long and hot with resident fashion designer Brian Stanziale manning the tinder. It was undoubtedly the hottest it has ever been in the little shack, and my guests appropriately responded by consuming food and drug in decadent quantities. We started cooking steak chili before dawn and it was done near sunrise as I finished up a cat-nap. Yum.

Coming Next: Snow gives way to Spring

Wes's Snow House

2010-02-11T19:34:00.000-08:00

It's Still Winter

2010-02-03T20:27:00.000-08:00

Howdy!

It's cooooold out!

Blog followers, you may be disappointed to hear that you'll have to continue to wait before being regaled with tales from the outskirts of normality, but your patience will be rewarded. In the meantime, I'll give you a little tease from the past few months.

by the way, i hate this new blog editor. what the hell is going on? oh well, at least I don't need the internet to eat snow-chilled pineapple while in a hammock.

Brooklyn gave me a lot of christmas trees to burn in January.red fur makes the world go 'round.

A Quick Update While He's Away

2009-12-29T13:43:00.000-08:00

Hola Amigos.

The house has been running strong since the thanks-giving post. It's mostly warm when the fire is burning, there's a new door that will be installed inside the old one tonight, and we're having a New Year's Eve party Thursday night.

I would like to say that an update is coming with loads of pictures, video, and megaphone crooning, but that is only one thing of many things that could happen in the near future.

-

If you make it over on New Year's Eve- ask to see the brand new, extremely alternative artspace Outlaw Gallery. If you are an artist or creative, submit work to outlawgallery@gmail.com.

Wes's House featured on Tiny House Blog!

2009-11-25T11:51:00.000-08:00

Hey All,
Please check out Tiny House Blog today! You won't be disappointed, probably.

photo by Patrick Hughes

This is a good time to give thanks (even if it wasn't Thanksgiving Eve, I'd use those words) to everyone who has made the last few months of life absolutely incredible. You have no idea how much you all mean to me!

Thank you (in some particular order that isn't well defined) Emily, Will, Arone, Vassia, Julie, Patrick, the Steves, Neal, Adam, Karolina, Vi, Jana, Darla, Myla, Amanda, Brian, Aaron, the Beach, my Parents, my Family, Paul, Gary, Drea, Lola, John, Krysta, Katy, Jose, the hardworking men and women of Home Depot, my bike, the weather, Crystal and her family, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Sophie, Levi, Anita, Chloe, Hans, Oliver and Mountain, Gosh and Tommy, other Oliver, Rachael, Susan, and the countless people that have made my experience here not only memorable, but cherished, as fleeting as these moments are!

We've come a long way, baby. I love you all.

I know your name isn't there, but it's not because I don't care, sorry!

Here are a few more! - Liz, Luke, Nate, Amolia, Omar, Pepper, Ben, other Ben, Marilyn, Amy, Teal, Sebastian, other Aaron, Matthew, ... Marcel, SITA and Maureen, Stephanie, Laura, Ramona, Brandon, Eric, Julia, David, ...

Other Events

2009-11-23T19:30:00.000-08:00

I'm going to try to fashion a blurry time line of other notable happenings in the past few weeks...

hmm...

Everything that comes to mind does not belong on this blog.

Oh yeah! I started blocking in the open gaps where the rafters meet the outer walls with left-over styrofoam from the ceiling. The blocks are being sealed with PL-300, the same foamboard adhesive that I used on the floor. The great thing about this particular product is the color! It is usually a nice light blue, similar to robin's egg. It belongs in the same color family as the green grout and reminds me of Tron. All places in which exposed stryofoam will join with any other material will be sealed with this stuff. It looks good.

There are so many different adhesives made by PL that I may have to use some new materials to have a reason to have more colorful lines defining the edges of my home (I just sent PL a message thanking them for their product. Ironically, their slogan is "Unseen, but not Unnoticed." I am proving them half-wrong).

Sloan NYC fashion designer Brian Stanziale bought me a cast iron skillet a few weeks ago as a house-warming gift. We cooked over the outside fire and it was goooood. In fact, it felt just like our summer cabin-camping trip except with less rain. We made a stir-fry with onion, pepper, chicken and some other stuff. There was no need to season the dish at all, but we poured some Southern Comfort on top to make a bunch of pretty flames anyways. We stayed up late and drank and smoked a lot. Will was chillin', and Emily and Arone got home some time and hung out for a while too. We made stove-top espresso on the wood stove indoors and roasted marshmellows. It was by far the hottest the cabin has been ever. Very early in the morning we got up and made sausage. Boom.

The extremely drafty front door has had some minor improvements. There is a lock, and the major gaps have been blocked up with the frame shop scraps. It still needs a lot of love. At night, I stuff a bunch of fake fur around the edges to stop the draft. It works alright.

I bought an electric guitar on a gray Saturday afternoon. At the time, it was important that I started recording a song as soon as possible, but nothing got done that day. That was also iron skillet day methinks.

Will and I played Mariokart 64 outside last weekend. It was sweet. The game station stayed set up all evening, and I had a nice group of visitors over for the first time. We had more fire stir-fry and more impressive, Beef Ribs as a second dinner. Later Brian and I made s'mores. We didn't have graham crackers, so we used powered donuts instead. LIVING!

I'll edit this and add photos later. bedtime!

Wes's House featured on SloanNYC!

2009-11-22T11:14:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas in November! Or as it's sometime called, Christmas in Shoppingtown!

Roof Completion, Sweet Hang-outs

2009-11-22T10:02:00.000-08:00

Will helped with some shingling one day right after work. The sun dropped so fast those days I had to get home right after the day-job and start working immediately to get anything done. We just about finished as the dusk turned to night.

Shingles done and done.

Possibly the next day we installed the flashing. I wasn't really sure what I was doing, but the results please me. It was pretty simple- concrete anchors into the brick wall to secure the flashing, flashing sealant around the perimeter. Done and done. Will filled in the gap between the crossbeam and the brick with Great Stuff beforehand.

Aluminum flashing. 8'' wide. It is anchored into the brick with some fancy blue screws. They came with a terrible masonary bit that became dull after a couple uses. It was the only one in that size available to me this day, so we I just put up with it and forced my way through the mortar. It's sealed with some goo from HD. This particular goo has the ability to adhere wet surfaces to dry. That's pretty bad-ass.

This is Great Stuff. It is a great all-purpose sealer and gap-filler. It gets everywhere, so wear clothes you don't care about. Gloves too if you have them. Don't overfill anything, as this product expands a good bit by itself.

The remaining chimney length arrived and was easy to install. It screwed right where it needed to be, it was level, and I was happy. I built a fire and lit the sucker.

Chimney! It looks crooked, but it isn't. It is missing the trim collar that closes the gap between the flashing and the chimney. I haven't found any of the high-temp sealant that is reccommended to adhere it, so it remains hanging on the cabin wall. After one really hard rain, the support box filled up with a little water. The fire that night boiled it all right out. It should probably get covered asap.

Contents Unconfirmed. Received From "Longo" on 9/8/09. 3 of 3 Package(s). Measured by GT, no check.

I built a beautiful little fire- crossed the kindling, larger logs on top, etc... This whole rigmarole was pretty unnecessary since the wood scrap from the frame shop went up in flames nearly instantly. Then again, if you aren't crafting a good home fire, you aren't getting everything you should be getting out of having a home fire. Craft.

The paint on the outside of the stove pipe started smoking once the fire got hot. I was planning on this, but not nearly to the degree I experienced. It was damn smoky and filled the house with nastiness. The paint went from a satin black finish to very glossy, then to matte black. There was a plastic sticker on one piece I hadn't removed- that smoked a bunch, holy hell. An hour or so later, I deemed the house suitable for hang-outs and life was good. We sat on the rug and enjoyed.

More Adventures in HD, Roofing Times

2009-11-22T09:09:00.000-08:00

Sometime we installed shingles. I can't remember when. I started blogging this morning (Sunday, November 22nd) under the impression we shingled before installing the chimney, but my images don't agree with my memory. This has been an ongoing problem (problem? Not the right word), but it is good I lead a life in which no one suffers any terrible consequences due to absent-mindedness. It is cause for concern though. My body is getting achy and not young, my brain is getting achy and not young. Time to exercise these things by getting very high and doing calisthenics. Eating good food is a likely cure as well.

Moving on- I don't remember which night, Patrick helped with most of the shingles. Home Depot was a serious shit-show that day. Miraculously, it was busy, yet there was NO LINE for the registers. We had three bundles of shingles and various other building goos and goods. Of course, the check-out girl could not figure out how to scan the shingles. She called for help, asked us to wait, and helped the people behind us.

The People Behind Us:

The guy in charge of the deep-as-hell posse behind us on line pondered out loud "who he was gonna piss off today" as he gave the check-out girl a head-toe-head-toe. This did not bear good tidings. He then theatrically pulled out a very thick wad of bills, singles, licked his thumb like a music video pimp, and started counting them one at time. They paid for their order completely with one dollar bills and a gift card for about $27. The bill was in the $400 range. All the cash needed to be counted three times by two HD employees. It felt like like a long time passed before we were helped, and even then I had to go get the sku number myself. If only we had a camera.

HD lesson #18 - Buying something weird? Don't see a barcode? Write down the sku and production description yourself and save hours on line. Better yet, take a digital photo of the price labels for everything you buy.

Whoa-o, we're half-way there. The man at HD with the gold teeth told me each package covered 100 square feet of roof. He was really wrong. We got about 45-50 square feet from each pack. It was better that we didn't buy them all at once because they would have been far too heavy to get home without injuring ourselves.

The shingles were so damn heavy I nearly plotzed. The handcart from the backyard couldn't take the weight, and one wheel started to come off the rim on the way home. It will need repair. Later, we ran out of shingles and had to get more. This time, our HD representative scanned those things without any trouble at all, but Patrick had noticed a sign- "15% off all roofing in stock". I asked her if that sign meant prices were marked down 15% or if we should get an additional 15% off.

Ug.

That question cost us another 30 minutes sitting in line. It's like HD is a series of precarious and delicate scientific experiments done in a clean room by tall, skinny men who live on coffee and any small contaminant can send the whole operation flying into a mish-mash of atomic particles and wasted time.

Signs should convey information quickly and efficiently. In HD, signs confuse and send rigid consumer systems hurdling out of control.

Anyway, we got the rest of the roofing materials home and ate dinner at a cafe around the corner. Dinner was good. The bathroom had a giant wood door that inspired me to build one for the house. We went home. We were tired and done working. After Patrick left, I started roofing again.

Minor-major set-back #1: we had been putting the nails in the wrong place.

Minor-major set-back #2: there was a thin plastic film covering the mastic on the underside of the shingles that we neglected to peel.

Mastic is a tar-like sealant that heats up in the sun, gluing each row of shingles to those underneath it. Since we didn't remove this film, the shingles were not going to adhere to one another and would not weather/wind-proof themselves. Mastic.com is a funny site. I don't know why I find it funny. Maybe because the homes pictured are the complete antithesis of my life right now. Hmm, maybe not- sprawling, excessive, self-important, un-focused, do these words describe me? those giant homes? At least one of us is on the right track. Hopefully me.

"I'm a homeowner. I'm a Contractor/Building. I'm an Architect."
- mastic.com

Another aside- there has been an emergence (re-emergence?) of small home building all over the country. The New York Times Home section has been featuring an awful lot of small remodeled country cottages and I've been passed info on small pre-fab trailer homes.
Roald Gundersen is building homes with entire trees in Stoddard, WI.
This guy is building around boulders.
There is quite a community in favor of simple living and small homes.
Check out Tiny House Blog (this one is really worth your time)!

Back to shinglin': It took an hour or two to go back and peel the plastic from each piece we nailed down. Since we didn't nail them in the correct place, this was possible without removing anything, but it was a supreme pain in the ass. I just about finished the shingling that night, working past midnight maybe.

end scene.

Back-Logging, Post-Dating, Post-Homelessness, Take Two

2009-11-22T07:42:00.000-08:00

Buckets. of Sunshine and love.
How to Begin? Not at the beginning, that's for sure. Let's pick up right around the time it really started to get good- right around the time it really started to cook...

Saturday, November 7th we put in the chimney (most of it)!

Here's the hearth grouted. I put some green food coloring in to give it the weird soft pastel color. It's growing on me.

The chimney arrived in three shipments. The first two boxes may have actually made it to the house proper doorstep on Wednesday, possibly Thursday November 5th. Another two came a few days later.

and Holy Hell was I ready for them. The first nights in the house were cold. Very cold. I slept in some clothes and even threw my leather jacket on top of the blankets to help out. Sophie only slept with me a few of those days, Emily's bed was much more comfortable I'm sure. Yet the weekend came on fast and strong. Patrick came Saturday morning to help install the chimney.

That morning, I blocked in the cieling support box with extra 2 x 8s and got everything leveled and plumb. I don't own a plumb bob, but the movie-prop orange window weights did a good job of hanging on a rope to help center the stove.

these are "movie-prop orange" window weights. They are heavy and manufactured for the sole purpose of pulling down on string.

We had to finish the roof before the chimney was completed because there was a good sized-hole in it still, which took a good portion of the day. It was no different than before, cut styrofoam, nail it in, cut plywood, screw it in- although we were out of the long 4'' screws. By chance I had bought a box of 3 1/2'' nails, they worked fine for tacking the plywood in place. Tarpaper and shingles followed.

This is a view of the support box installed with the slip connector and stove pipe. Light is visible from outside, the plywood hasn't been installed yet.

Patrick working out the plywood situation. The support box is what is defining this square hole. It had to be trimmed flush with the roof so that the flashing would fit on top.

The circular saw had just finished its job for the day when the power cord got caught under the blade gaurd while it was slowing down and got all cut up. I think Patrick felt bad about it, and at first I was bummed, but it really is no big deal. I'll let you readers know when I fix it.

Oops. I'm tempted to fix this myself (it wouldn't be hard), but I'd like to use and abuse this saw for the next decade and wouldn't mind having it professionally done. I've asked everyone if they know an electrician, but no one does. A dying breed perhaps? I should start hanging out around tech schools.

Sophie is wondering how she can get on the roof and chill with us.

Stove install was fairly simple. I didn't have to seal anything, and didn't have to cut anything save one exception- The cieling support box stuck out the top of the roof about a whole foot. It seemed that this was designed this way, but the flashing provided was only large enough to fit over the chimney, not the support box. Had I been able to see these parts earlier, it wouldn't have been difficult to adjust the order so that cutting off the top of the box wouldn't have been necessary. It was a bummer, by far the most frustrating part of the day, trying to cut off the top of this black metal box sticking out of my roof. Finally we decided it needed to be un-installed to be cut. It all went better once I had access to all sides, and then I re-fit it and reattached the rest of the chimney assembly.

Flashing pictured right of Pat. It does not fit over the support box.

The collar attachment simply slipped over the flue of the stove. The black stovepipe lengths had male-female connecting ends. Those joints were secured by three sheet metals screws. There was a special slip-collar length of pipe which could shorten or lengthen the stove pipe hieght so that the pipe could be installed after the support box and create the perfect length at the same time. See the Stove Install link for diagrams and detailed instructions. Mine is the "BX26E, Standard Boxwood"

This stuff just slides together. Like it was built that way. It was hard to mess up. I highly reccommend owning a wood stove sometime.

It looks like this thing is ready to roll! What could possibly go wrong?

That's when I realized we were out of chimney pieces. There was no double-wall chimney to go out the top of the roof! I called Northline Express and left a message. It was a serious bummer. My order was missing a 48'' piece of double-wall chimney, the bread and butter of the whole shabang. Later on Monday I got a hold of them. It turns out the chimney was damaged during shipping, so it wasn't delivered... why didn't they call, or solve the problem then? Companies need to be bringing their a-game, it a depression, come on. Their service team on the phone was always really nice though, that more than made up for the late delivery.

It's unbelievable how much power one can weild simply by being nice.

be nice for christ's sake.

Holy Moly!

2009-11-17T13:32:00.001-08:00

Hola Amigos. It's been a while since I rapped at 'cha. Here's the skinny-

I've been living in the house since November 4th! The stove has been active and rolling since the 8th! We've been cooking on the fire since Brian brought a cast iron skillet over last Saturday, the 14th. Other things great and small have come to pass.

There is much to show and tell. My chill cabin times have prevented me from going on the internet except during my day job, so I guess the flood gates are open now. Prepare for a number of updates coming in the next few days.

First Night in the House

2009-11-05T15:42:00.001-08:00

Last night was the first overnight stay in the house! Holy buckets, shit is happening for real!

I had the day off from work and it was a beautiful morning in the city. Darla made me some tea for breakfast, then we set out into the world- her to the train, me to the photo lab to drop off some film. After returning to the apartment, I packed everything I could carry and rode to Brooklyn. It must have been a sight. There was at least 50 lbs on my back. To think how much one can accumulate in only 2 1/2 weeks in one place... it reminded me how packed with Stuff the old apartment on Hart Street was...

Speaking of stuff, we watched a great monologue about stuff by the late George Carlin last night during World Series commercials at our neighbor Crystal's (Krystal's?) place. It was a treat to be reminded how good he was. The Yankees won. NYC DUH!

This was preceded by a salmon, rice and green bean dinner, with apple crisp for dessert. -and delicious and cheap champagne! It was fairly unceremonious, but lovely. Exactly what my tired bones were looking for.

After the game, I immediately got ready for bed, grabbed my cat, and hopped in bed. Shortly thereafter, the realization that my sleeping bag was absent came to mind, but sleep came too fast to go get it. Sophie slept under the covers with me. The first hours were glorious sleep, almost deafening and blinding- that is how good it was. Bombs were falling and I paid them them no tribute. Then the cold crept in as Sophie crept in and out of the covers. We woke early, said hello to the sun, and got ready for work.

The Chimney is on Its Way

2009-11-02T14:25:00.000-08:00

After work today I ordered my chimney kit from Northline Express. They have a pretty good website, but it provided little confidence that my order would contain everything necessary to have a functioning stove. I tried to call customer service after measuring the ceiling height.

Earlier at work, I wrote the 800 number down on an overmat drop-out, but after dialing, I was directed to a "party line". Having a full share of "party" this weekend, I attempted to recover the real number using the internet on my phone. The resolution was too low to read the phone number graphic, so I guessed a few times before setting the desktop computer up.

The imac knows all.

I was on hold for a while, but the woman on the phone was really awesome and funny. She was having a long day, but you wouldn't have known it speaking to her. She hooked me up.

It wasn't cheap.

Thus, I repeat my wallet-cracking mantra, "Beats Paying Rent, Beats Paying Rent". Hell yes. BPR! BRB!

CMJ!

Getting Ready to Get Warm- Stove Time!

2009-11-01T06:42:00.000-08:00

Halloween Day 10/31/09! -

Today was so awesome! I woke up around 7 a.m. to early morning ramblings from the party the night before that was still going on. Slightly nervous about accidentally waking up, stumbling into a party and getting drunk before my Wheaties, I went back to sleep until 9. Talk about sleeping in! Amolia and Sam were still up after my beauty sleep. We chatted and I internet-ed. Amalia went for a walk, I got showered, dressed and rode out to Brooklyn.

But first I needed to fix my bike. I have been carrying my bike pump around due to a slow leak in my rear presta valve, but Halloween morning I found a staple stuck in the tire that was causing a less-than-slow leak. It was time to buy a new tube and tire. New bike parts are the best! Bike Habitat fixed me up with an Armadillo tire, a tube, and a patch kit. The guy at the counter took some money off because it wasn't what I really wanted, so that was nice. They all seem nice there. And they have free air outside, bring your own presta adapter though.

The sun never sets on Brooklyn. This is the Willy bridge from Delancy.

Brooklyn was sweeeeet! I was in a good mood and ready to chill in my house. It was warm and muggy, damn near hot. Emily was up when I got in and she made some Bustelo for us. Later, she made more coffee and some garlic quesodillas that were really delicious.

The old cassette player had been serving me well, but it was time to upgrade. I busted out the computer, the receiver/speakers, and the record player. I finally got the Buke and Gass cd on my ipod! Those songs have been stuck in my head every day and now they are accessible at any moment! It's the future! It's the 90s!

Hell yes! we're only a bunch of food away from a Sunday-fun-day here.

The goal today was to build a hearth for the wood stove and tile the top as a fire barrier. The first step was to open up the stove to get some measurements. It was like Christmas in July on Halloween!

Stove Crate. It wasn't as heavy as it looks. Maybe it is. I don't know. It's broken down now. Maybe I should burn it today.

Semi-assembled stove. It looks cool and reminds me of Northern Wisconsin.

I drew up some rough plans for the stove platform. It was designed to be way over-built. Yet before building would start, I needed to go to HD and buy the tiling supplies. It was important to avoid cutting tile and do everything as simply as possible, so the final plans would be tailored to my materials.

On my way down the alley to go to the Depot, I knocked myself to the ground walking into Will's window's baby cage in the alley. It hurt like hell and left a dent in my head. It isn't the first time I've done this. Note to self- "Learn From One's Mistakes" There's styrofoam taped on the corners now, thank god.

I had a letter that needed to be mailed to my friend in Wisconsin, so I brought it on my walk to HD. Favorably, on Bedford there was a postman picking up from one of the big green boxes. I gave him my letter, but he immediately noticed it was completely void of postage. He gave it back, but then while waiting for the light to change, found a stamp in his pocket and accepted the envelope. It was nice! Love love love. I wished him a happy Halloween.

The tile colors available at HD were abysmal. There were some 12 x 12 tiles on sale for under a buck, and they were also the most "colorful" (earth-tones... with a little green) so that's what came home with me. It seems like all the large tile there is meant for patios and gardens, not trippy house-cabins. I also bought a 12 x 12 square composed of 144 little green and brown glass tiles to add a little decorative trim to the front edge. My plan is to add food coloring or something to the grout to add some pizzaz to this thing. The first finished project in the house must have some color! Color!

Shopping List:

12 - 12 x 12'' tiles

1 - 12 x 12'' glass mosiac tile

an economy trowel

an economy rubber float (for grout)

pre-mixed adhesive and grout combo

a big sponge (reminds me of the printshop)

tile spacers

Once I calculated the platform size, the frame was constructed from left-over 2 x 8s and covered with 3/4'' plywood sheathing (left-over from the roof). I attached the frame to the floor with big angle brackets from the inside before the plywood went on top. That really firmed up the floor a lot! This was a promising sign- As more things are installed, the floor will get more sturdy. Right?

Tiling was pretty easy and there wasn't a lot of space to cover. This was all good news, because before I started we smoked a blunt in the house proper's living room. Sophie was chilling on my little round table the whole time, laying on some clothing that was an acting cat blanket. I moved it out near the door so she could watch outside. It started raining softly, then hard, then hardly, and back to softly. The weather was so amazing. I wore a t-shirt all day long.

Mock-up of tile. The space behind the platform is going to be filled in with stones and brick found in the house. The sides will have to get finished with something interesting. I might go with shag carpet after reading an article from the Home section of the Times the other day.

Sophie doing what she does best. Hearth frame in foreground.

Tile installed. Ain't no thang!

Detail. This will take 3 days to dry, then I can grout. I might need to put a space heater or one of the hot lights on it to make sure it dries. The house is pretty wet and those big tiles don't let a lot of moisture out. I want to stain the grout a brighter color- either green or a contrasting orange... orange might be supremely ugly. We will see.

Everything got done before nightfall! Stellar day. I chilled, listened to music, hung out with Sophie and went through my photos and negatives for a while before biking back to Bowery to start Halloween-ing. Good times. Can't wait for next halloween.

Aaa-oooooooOOOOOOO! Ah-Hi!

Things Come Together

2009-11-01T05:48:00.000-08:00

Thursday, 10/29/09 - Went to Home Depot after work today and bought a roll of roofing felt (aka tar-paper) and a five-pound box of roofing nails. The roll was only $20 and claimed to cover 216 sq. feet. The cabin footprint being less than 10' x 20' gave me great confidence that one roll would be more than sufficient. As it turns out, the roof is actually 12' deep (ah-hi!), so the nice new roll puttered out right before the last two foot strip.

This tar-paper was sweet. It was clean and didn't make my hands dirty. It also had white lines marking out regular intervals on the inside of the roll. it made keeping things lined up and getting proper overlap really easy.

Two strips of tar-paper installed. I snapped a chalk line to put the first strip out. The subsequent strips were easy to lay down with a few marks 34 inches above the edge of the previous strip. This gave a 2 inch overlap. The edges of the felt have lines marked out too, so measuring wasn't even really necessary. The piece of plywood at the bottom of the photo has been used to cover the hole where the chimney will be installed.

I wasn't sure how many nails to use. While at HD, I flipped through a book about making out-buildings and sheds to see what they recommended. It said something vague like, "use only as many nails are needed until the shingles are installed". I figured a nail every 24 inches seemed as good a rule as any, so I went with it. At the edges I doubled the nails, and on the bottom edge I put a nail every 12 inches. That might be overkill, but I haven't been making much of a schedule for myself and I had no idea how long it would be until shingles were up.

Word on the street is that once the roofing felt is installed, it can pretty much be left to itself out in the open without worry for a few weeks. It would be a thrill to get rid of the big blue tarp, but it will have to stay up until the shingles and flashing are installed (There is still a gap in-between the brick and the roof).

This small man-made lake lives directly above my house. It would be a good idea to keep a hose up there to siphon water into the abandoned backyard behind my place. It must weigh a ton. Emily said one day a Jewish man was up on this roof dumping this quagmire into her backyard, completely flooding the place! She put the kibosh on that tout-suite, and now it doesn't seem like anyone has taken care of this situation all summer. I'm going to take matters into my own hands and remove this before this gets unloaded onto my house some day before winter.

Flashing is basically steel sheet. It weather-proofs areas of the roof that need additional protection. For my house, I'll put flashing all along the top of the roof where it meets the brick and around the chimney. The chimney kits I've been looking at include special shaped flashing, so it should be easy to install.

Dark photo of the top of the roof. See the gap? The house had two old rolls of roofing felt inside, so I'll still be able to cover this up without buying another roll.

It got dark, so I packed up and put the tarp back on. A good day for the cabin! It was a chill time working by myself, but I ran out of daylight fast. The shingles will have to go up on a day off because it would be cool to get the whole rest of the roof done in one shot. Exciting! A finished roof will be a good reason to move in. I just need to build or find a bed now.

There have no new developments in getting an intern. The hiring process is temporarily suspended for now, but I am accepting applications to put on file. Interested parties should email them to wjulfig@gmail.com.

There is Totally Wireless in my House

2009-10-31T17:41:00.000-07:00

First Blog Post From Inside the House!

Much to tell.

Tar-paper is on the roof, the stove is assembled, Patrick made me a skateboard shelf and there is now a tiled platform for the stove to sit on (it'll take three days to dry).

More and photos when I have time. It's Halloween night! I gotta go eat dinner and get all weird!

love,

Wes

First Meal in the Cabin

2009-10-26T23:33:00.000-07:00

We ate our first meal in my house tonight. Will and Patrick helped build a table, temporarily seal up the big holes with plastic, and clean out the house proper's basement. So we done got treated to KFC straight from Bedford Ave.

I'm glad they gave us corn on the cob instead of in a bowl.

We cleaned our plates. Bitchin'

My Parents' Housing Project Eclipses Mine

2009-10-25T20:54:00.001-07:00

This is only one of two additions my folks added to their Northern Wisconsin lake home/cabin. it's both "en" & "dis"-couraging.

I didn't work on the house all weekend. Tomorrow and Tuesday aren't looking so hot either. The good news is I'll be moving in on Wednesday! It's crazy. I have some vague plans to whip a desk and some shelves together, but no real solid ideas. This past weekend has been good for the soul, but not so much for the mind and body... Anyways, some slacking is good for me.

To be honest, it won't be a true move-in anyways. I'll continue to stay in the city until the house gets a little more weather-proofed and heated. The stove is on its way, but the chimney is yet non-existent. It will probably take another week before it'll be a suitable place to stay. See you then!

Everything Was Beautiful Yes Those Days

2009-10-24T08:11:00.000-07:00

It's a beautiful rainy Saturday morning. There is no house news to report.

No News is Good News

Only Old News is Good News

Sometimes Bad News is Good News

Bowery House. Love this place. That's an order.

His name was George, but everyone had always called him Gregory. It wasn't explainable.

One day he visited the zoo and felt a profound connection to a giant rodent, the Capybara.

indow to him.

arrows

things look pretty good to me

flags for the future

racks and tools

blue and new

sport hammock-ing, backstage

catapult to satiation

Neal's View to the landmarks i knew

fancy parks, squirrels, pop up ads

No Snow is No Standing is

How can anyone stand to not be smiling? The power of no or none is actually a negative value. To take the square route, mankind had to create a construct to allow it to exist in a rational world. Thus, the base of no or none can not be expressed in a natural language and the product should be treated as such -Carefully, like the smallpox virus, deep down, toeing the edge of extinction.

as long as it is somewhere

slides

art handling experience preferred

emily got me this really great window.

Family Times

there's a tree in my house and yes there is

anyone want to name my skull? it's a contest. you win something.

two lights chop saw circular saw hand saw hack saw hand jig saw three cordless drills level screws and fasteners drill bits and sockets wrenches chalk line angle gauge ratcheting tie downs gloves power strip extension cord ladders tarp caulk gun staple gun vise grips torch safety goggles hammers nails screwdriver sharpie- this should rhyme

standing by the wall above our head

Good Wood god bone

Staples

these ended up being three winners, lined up like roll call. everything was beautiful that day.

A Roof Has Been Raised

2009-10-22T16:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Patrick and I got all the insulation and plywood installed!

It was a good day. First thing I cleaned out all the brush that had been piling up around the house. The ladders have never been so maneuverable. An old basketball rim and backboard was also added to the big pile of stuff.

The yard cleaned of fallen tree branches. We have lots of kindling now.

Once Patrick arrived, we laid in some more styrofoam and hauled the remaining sheets of plywood up on the roof. I tacked in some 2 x 4 pieces to keep everything from sliding off the house while we worked on the insulation. We covered the entire roof, save one 24'' x 48'' section right in the center of the top of the roof where the chimney will be installed. It is also a perfect hatch to the roof from the big ladder inside.

Access hatch/chimney hole. The place is kinda dark now that the roof is up, but the styrofoam gives the place a nice clean white ceiling that reflects a lot of radiant light. Once the stove is in, electricity is the next thing. I'll need lights to work in the house during the day now.

View of the chimney hole from the interior. The big ladder is perfect for working on the house. This ladder was almost definitely built by the original owner of the work shop. There is a matching ladder that is much bigger that Will found in the basement. It is awesome! It's also too heavy to safely move by one's self (I almost dropped it into a second story window leaning it against the house!).

Speaking of chimneys- I neglected to mention that the stove has been ordered and is on its way! I really wanted "The Lit'l Sweetie", but Vogelzang told me they were back ordered until November. Ebay had the next largest model for a really good price, so expect a photo of me cooking chili on the more modest and descriptively-named "Standard Boxwood Stove" in a few weeks! Yum! This one has two cooking ranges.

The next item on the grocery list is the chimney. Vogelzang suggested Duravent chimney systems, and unless something amazing and cheap comes along, I'll go with them. Their installation manuals are available online and are very informative.

It gets dark super-early these days. The sun is also a little lower each morning during my commute to work. Today, in order to fight the season, I went to work 20 minutes late. The sun was slightly higher than it was the previous day while going over the bridge. Hell yes, and to hell with you, short days!

Enjoy those light holes while they last.

Foil tape left overs.

Patrick and I were just about to put the last screws in the plywood when Emily brought us some hot toddys to enjoy on top of the new hang out spot. We had light, music, a fire (below us) and beautiful yellow and green leaves mere feet from our faces to enjoy while we laid on our backs, enjoying the fruits of our labor. I am into it! It's too bad the roof can't stay clean bare wood forever, it will never be more enjoyable to lay down on. -at least not until we put a deck on in the springtime.

Fire, fire, smoke and lights.

Early evenings and late nights.

Presents and changes, nothing stays the same.

Commence the Roof Construction!

2009-10-20T19:13:00.000-07:00

Today we started working on the roof itself! The roof, sloped, rising or falling, covering and concealing. Shelter! The one thing Stonehenge is missing.

Patrick and Will helped a lot today! We didn't work long, but accomplished much. About 20% of the roof is now covered. First, we put a running 1 x 10 across the end of the eave. This gave a 2'' lip for the styrofoam to sit against. The 2 foot styrofoam sheets were laid in vertically and nailed in with roofing nails (I spent two trips to HD looking for the nails with plastic washers at the heads, but couldn't find any longer than 2''). On top of the foam the plywood sheathing was installed horizontally.

Spider Patrick making it happen.

Teamwork.

For those building themselves- always install your beefy materials across as many supports as possible. This increases the overall strength of the structure. In this case, the styrofoam only runs over two rafters, but the plywood is screwed into five rafters. Also, stagger your seams. I did a good job staggering my seams on the floor, but zoned out today and forgot to do the same for the roof. No biggie though- it'll get sealed up and be really strong when it is done.

We can now chill on the roof! Holy buckets of new chill spots! I can't wait to get really high while really high.

Good times. We'll do more tomorrow. The forecast is looking gooooooooood.

fuckin'-a Bubba (my dad taught me that).

Sunday is not my Day of Rest

2009-10-20T17:33:00.000-07:00

...even though I was brought up Roman Catholic (we drink a lot. it was okay).

What could be behind this green door? How does it open? Magicking?

Moving on- Sunday was rainy. As every cloud has a silver lining, the moody weather Sunday morning afforded us a gentle and more eased version of Home Depot than I am used to. Consumers note: Stormy mornings equal less people at the hardware store. Or any store maybe.

This is a fully-loaded orange cart. We had to buy some twine just to make sure everything stayed put. As soon as we got home and cut the twine, a bunch of styrofoam blew off and was damaged. This stuff is both expensive and fragile, let it be written.

A nice HD employee let me know the styrofoam didn't have a UPC and I'd need to go get the digits for the checkout girl. This is what digital cameras were made for. My good friend Patrick likes to take digi photos of Google Maps wherever he is going. It is genius.

Emily helped me pick up all the major roofing supplies:

16 sheets of 2'' x 2' x 4' white styrofoam

8 sheets of 3/4'' x 4' x 8' plywood sheathing

1 extra brace for rafter hanging

15 angle brackets for whatever

4'' screws for the roof

nails for the styrofoam

100 square feet of white gypsum-backed tar paper

a roll of twine

a tube of Great Stuff (you should always have some of this)

150' of cold weather foil tape

We were able to roll all this back home on the orange cart. I wouldn't have been able to do it alone. A line has been crossed in which I can no longer continue the project without some sort of buddy system. My knee hurts and I can't continue to lift things without help or I'll end up hurting myself in a bad way. So come help already! I'm also going to be posting an ad for an unpaid internship soon. The management gave one request- the intern must be really cool in order to be spending time hanging around the house. I think they'll stay busy enough not to "hang out" much. Interested parties please send me an email.

Sophie loves her new house. She likes to come in and talk about what furniture I should build for her and where the furniture is going to go. She thinks the chandelier should go "there".

Stashed styrofoam.

So we got all the stuff stashed in the house. The Bustelo was running strong on top of a delicious open face egg and cheese bagel sandwich and a sugar-free red bull. My eyes were still a bit flat, so I smoked a cigarette while cutting the last notch for the first to last rafter.

Self-timers still baffle me a bit. I would think that the timer icon with a "2" next to it would be longer than the icon with no numbers. In fact, the "2" setting is about 1/10 the delay of the non-quantified setting.

...there we go. May I interest you in some clear liquid? or a small mammalian skull?

The last two rafters went up easily, but my body was screaming sickness. It was time to close up shop and go home to the city (home is in the city for the next few weeks) somewhere around 4-5 p.m. I got to bed by 9:30 that night. Holy Buckets of sleep.

Mostly Constructive Construction

2009-10-17T07:38:00.000-07:00

This is a Brooklyn rain gauge. It looks like we got three joints of rain on Thursday.

Yesterday was a good day for construction. Work let out right on time, it wasn't raining, and it wasn't too cold (and it was Friday). I headed over to Emily's backyard and started working without too much dilly-dally. The tarp had filled up with water again and was leaking into the house. This was no good. The floor had some standing water in a localized spot. I mopped a little of it up and put the space heater on it. By the end of the night, it was dry-ish on top, but there is plenty of moisture between my plywood and foam. Zoot alors! It doesn't seem like something to worry about now, there are bigger fish to fry.

After a few rafters went up, Will fed me a really good peppers, rice and beans dish. It was the perfect spiciness. Emily and John came back from a walk and we smoked in the living room while looking at coasters, cats and each other.

Rafters in progress. I cut these channels because I wanted an over-sized eave to protect the old wall. It will also be a place to sit in the rain and snow and hang pretty things from. I'll probably add some braces later, and a running board on the face to support the roof while it goes up.

Getting back to work was difficult. When I accelerate in any direction, it requires buckets of energy. Energy expenditure behind, I done got oriented and almost hung the whole roof.

working at night went well. I blew a fuse early in the evening with both lights plugged in with the space heater and the music going. Someone turned something on in the house and that was all she wrote. Electric is now at the top to the priority list along with everything else. Sloane NYC is going to loan some light cans for the project which will be awesome, but I'll need my own power line as to not compete with the house.

The circular saw needed a blade change. The speed and ease of the new blade was immediately noticeable. Getting extra blades is completely necessary for any job like this, do not attempt building a structure without sharp tools. I will look into getting my old ones sharpened.

Hung beams. I mostly worked under the tarp the whole night. The interior didn't provide space to do things assembly-line style, so I cut one beam at a time, put up the brackets, cut out a channel in the outer wall, step-by-step for each beam. There are two left. My place felt like a house working with the door closed. The big lamp also kept the place just warm and comfortable enough so my fingers didn't get cold.

Being stoned had its advantages- the music sounded great coming out of the little cassette player, many ideas for construction and interior design sublimed from the sawdust, and I wasn't cold a bit. On the opposite side of that coin was devoting a lot of time to staring at things, immobile and rapt for minutes at a time.

Good news- "Staring at things for minutes" has been also filed into the "PRO" pile, because these forays into the shallow subconscious were just the kind of breaks my body and mind needed. By the time I had packed everything up, it was 1:30 a.m. and time to go to the city for "sleep". "Sleep" usually consists of going to the store and drinking, or going to Bowery and drinking and internet-ing.

Piles of Ibuprofen were also on the menu (my knee is "okay", but should probably be getting more rest).

A misty decision was made to use some twine i found under the floor to tie up some of the old house. I think I'll leave it like that. This is the kind of place where doing things right meets doing things right now.

Music Machine. Last night I listened to The Clash, The Cure, Sleeping in the Aviary, Nouvelle Vague, Bob Dylan, The Ponys, and Television.

First Rafters Up

2009-10-14T18:16:00.000-07:00

Today I went back to work and hung the first two rafters in the afternoon. I had imagined myself figuring out all the angles with trigonometry like I used to as a math rock star. Instead, I couldn't remember how to do SOHCAHTOA to save my life and ended up drawing it out full scale on the floor and measuring the angle with my right triangle.

The days have been getting dark extremely early this week, so today's production was shut down as quickly as it began. Getting everything out, opened up and then put away and covered took as long as the actual work -mostly because all the 2 x 8s needing shelter in the house due to the incoming weather.

I'll throw some photos up later. It's taco time!

A Few Days Off

2009-10-13T10:33:00.000-07:00

It has been cold. Monday I spent time working on some small paintings and general r & r. The quality of the r & r was so great that it ended up leaving me unable to walk this Tuesday morning.

My left knee no longer has an anterior crucial ligament (ACL). This anatomical stabilizer is given the surname "crucial" because it both sounds rad and is fairly literal. So, in the course of the evening, my knee ended in a compromised and contorted position (*) resulting in it not being able to straighten out or support weight.

So I took the day off work! Hell yeah.

On waking, a 25 point to-do list was compiled for the next 24 hours. 11 of 25 have been completed, which makes this already a very productive Tuesday.

I painted a picture for my grandmother. She isn't long for this world. I think about her occasionally, and feel shamed for not spending time with her this past year.

As soon as Lost Highway is over, I will sketch out how to cut my rafters, and maybe even screw some braces onto the large beam on the brick wall. that might be a good way to loosen up my knee without doing any lifting. Onward and Upward.

Today was a Beautiful Sunday

2009-10-11T16:46:00.000-07:00

Today was Sunday.

Sun day fun day

twinkling lawn blinking

beckoning come on!

Sunshine on my shoulder makes me happy (in sing song).

Sunshine is why the tarp had to come down even though it creates such gorgeous little moments like these. It has a great noise too, bright and crisp like a smurf rice cracker. I can't say enough good things about the tarp and feel it is a pretty awesome thing to own.

Today I got out to a late start again, but amen to that.

Some time after noon I took the tarp down and drank from a 40 with the sun on my face while Bob Dylan played on the cassette player. It was time to put up the beam on the brick wall. This would end up taking the rest of the daylight hours.

I had to go to Home Depot again because i couldn't find a 9/16'' socket and needed a larger drill bit to make holes for the bolts I was driving into the bricks. I also bought some washers. Emily had advised me to go to a nicer small hardware store around the corner, but they were closed.

Today marks the first pangs of frustration. Getting the anchors to do their job was tough. It was probably because i was just using skinny carriage bolts, not real anchors. They worked really well when building the last loft, so (I figured), as they say, "if it ain't broke"...

Two posts on brick. ladder. i put two anchors in the middle post, because it will be holding a brace that is going to straighten out the opposite wall.

Aforementioned brace. The 2 x 4 in the image was screwed into the crossbrace to prop it up. I needed Emily's help to get it in place. We tried forcing the wall in by hand, her pushing outside, me pulling inside, but couldn't get the last inch. Since being brutish didn't work, I used a ratcheting tie down to pull to wall in from the 2 x 4 prop.

Here I'm using the same ratchet trick to straighten out the side wall. This method worked really well and I'll probably use it a lot when securing the outer walls to the new framework.

Good News- It was a beautiful fall day- warm, sunny and generally full of good vibes. I listened to Lou Reed, Echo and the Bunnymen, Nirvana, and Emily worked on a variety of iTunes playlists I could hear in between tape flipping. Sophie and I chilled in the hammock for a while and Will made me bow tie noodles.

Both crossbeams are up and there is a brace straightening out the far long wall. Moving forward. Next issue: Wes tries to hastily notch and hang a beam without assistance!

There's Kinda a Floor

2009-10-10T17:34:00.000-07:00

after the "weird scene". the beginning of a night that would lead to a day off!

I took a day off of both work and house building on Wednesday to start this blog. Thursday, the 6th day of construction, it was really important to get my tarp back up- the place was kinda trashed. The area where we made movie rain was buckling and there were a lot of leaves and various debris lying about. it didn't bother me much because i'm not particularly proud of the floor as it is. The cassette player worried me a bit, but it sounds just fine.

Will helped me anchor in some 2 x 4s on the brick wall to screw down the tarp. it worked reasonably well, but the masonary bit that came with my anchors couldn't always get through the brick or cement. i'll have to buy a better one next trip to the store.

the blue tarp properly installed. It casts a really odd light on everything, which makes everything both inside and outside more beautiful.

(see above).

I also had to add a brace to the back wall. Once the tarp started blowing around in the wind, it was pulling the walls all over the place. I really hope we can avoid any storms for the next week, because those walls need some love before they could weather a big natural event.

Friday I priced materials at the store and felt pretty confident the plan was worked out to a "t". Then I went out far too late and slept in. Home Depot was a half-zoo. The wait to get a big orange cart was long. Only after I offered a man in line some help loading his car in exchange for his cart was I able to procure one. he worked for Snapple, and on my declaration that Snapple was pretty good, he gave me three bottles. Carrying three bottles of Snapple while shopping for huge pieces of lumber was a daunting task. I stuffed my leather jacket pockets, feeling like college but without booze.

All my wood on my hard-earned cart. not pictured, three bottles of Snapple.

A man named Larry got me to hire him for transportation back home while I was in line (or as New Yorkers call it, "on line"). I had a ton of stuff. no way was I going to be able to push it home on the sidewalk like the floor materials. While loading the 16 foot 2 x 8s, the wood got hung up on something and somehow tore the side of my right ring finger off. It didn't hurt, and I didn't know there was a problem until I went for the next piece and there was blood all over my hand. oh well. it didn't bother me much today, but I was worried it would. all is well that ends well.

still, it's pretty gross.

After my finger issue, I needed some food, so I ate. slowly I gathered enough steam to clean out the cabin floor and the pick up the piles of junk around my front door. After finishing the last little corner of the floor, it was time to make leek and potato soup.

Emily's dad was over fixing things in the house proper, while I got up the first posts and crossbeam in my place. There wasn't much to it, but it was an important accomplishment being the first raised lumber all screwed down and good to go. The outer wall is falling away from the house, so the next step will be to pull that in somehow.

first overhead lumber. I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel! Honestly, I've barely started and am hallucinating already.

done and done.

The Dust Settles

2009-10-08T19:37:00.000-07:00

Mostly empty cabin-house.

At this point, we were left with a blank canvas. The house already felt somewhere between a million and a billion times better than it was prior to the clean out. The roof was completely open and there was mostly dark, plush soil under our feet. Leaves and Stars.

It was a perfect clubhouse.

and then the Construction began.

the empty house with plastic sheeting on top of the dirt. My memory card got fried when the camera died whilst uploading, and photos of the bare floor were lost. No loss, really. There wasn't anything there (update, files recovered! see above -wes).

Shelving on the wall nearest Emily and Will's proper home. These shelves will remain completely preserved. the exterior will be sealed from the inside and the roof will cover this area, but it will not be insulated. Think indoor/outdoor closet/atrium with a sunroof. It will most likely be hot-boxed on a daily basis. Resting on the shelves are bottles full of unnamed liquid. Emily claimed she would drink some for five dollars, but immediately reneged on the deal once Will was willing to put up a few bucks.

Saturday, 10/3/2009.

The Wednesday prior I had ended up going to a nearby Home Depot and purchased everything I would need to build my floor.

The list is as follows:

6 - 10 foot 1''x6''

12 - 3/4'' 2' x 8' styrofoam sheeting

6 - 3/8'' 4' x 8' plywood

1 - large heavy mil plastic sheet

1 - large blue tarp

(i will check my receipt for accuracy)

Floor in progress. The pink styrofoam had tongue and groove on the long ends. Those pieces were secured using a styrofoam adhesive called P-400 (check for accuracy). The plywood resting on top was cut with 45 degree bevels and rests on vertical 1 x 6's along the perimeter. These boards were leveled prior to laying down the floor. There were a few large chunks of concrete along the walls. Some couldn't be easily removed, so i built the perimeter around them.

Will helped the day prior by removing debris from the dirt floor. Mostly he was in charge of getting rid of the large concrete chunks that were apparently a very loose foundation for the original wood floor, now completely removed. We kept finding more and more objects in the soil- bones, more tools, bottles, bricks, and the skull of a cat-sized mammal. Will attempted to take on a large stone near the front entrance, but when he gave it a whack with the pick-axe, it didn't budge a bit. "Harder!" I said. Sparks flew, but still the stone did not yield. I gave it 4 or 5 serious hits with similar results. We tried to dig to the bottom of the stone, but never reached the end and decided that it would serve as a perfect place to put my wet shoes in the winter.

door parts. and a ceramic igloo.

The floor ended up being much softer than I was hoping for, but has since firmed up (there was what sounds like a seriously trippy party in the cabin last Tuesday night that probably tamped it down a lot. I was absent having a seriously trippy party for Brian's birthday in the city). An unnamed "weird" scene from Emily and John's film (see accounts here- really, it's awesome) was shot earlier that day and included some really great looking props and special effects created by Emily herself. In the aforementioned scene, the main character Immaculada (played by Emily) is manipulating neon machines that create weather inside the interior. It was fun, and I got to spray Emily with the hose when it was time to make rain. John informed me this was also Emily's directorial debut.

It is likely the floor will remain a little too soft for long-term living until some additional flooring is added. However, I believe it will be fine and perfectly insulated for this winter once a rug gets thrown over the top. Under the wood stove there will need to be some sort of fire barrier anyways- eventually everything will come together.

The First Steps

2009-10-08T19:17:00.000-07:00

Moments after deciding to renovate and move into the rickety green shack I was already convinced that it would come to fruition. Convincing others wasn't as easy, but since this had little effect on the project, others were allowed to scoff- most just wondered. This wonderment was the first clue that we were moving in the right direction.

Emily in the house on Day 1.

On (blank day), we began moving flotsam and jetsam out of the house. It was nearly full of rotting wood and other organic treasures. Within minutes, masses of magic slime were discovered on many of the broad, nearly black wooden boards, a good omen. That first day Emily and her brother Will helped a great deal, and we created a large pile of junk against the brick wall and a smaller, but much longer, pile on the chain link fence opposite. Metal items, tools, and mystical objects were piled on the dead lawn next to the fire pit.

Nighttime interior views after Day 1 or 2. The brick wall above is our next door neighbor's exterior wall. Look at the lower image. There was a LOT of stuff in here. It would be a dream to meet the man who worked here. He had created a very large vise and an equally large jig of some sort, probably for making windows. There was a lot of glass, locks, hinges, window weights, various metal sheeting and rod, strips of wood, door knobs, tools, nails, etc. I could go on and on. Later posts will likely include images of these priceless and rust-covered objects.

The beginning of the large pile of whatever.

We had dented it, but it would require a few more mild sessions before all the debris had been removed. This included at least two days in which the remains of the roof were demolished. We had filled a half-dozen contractor bags with smaller junk (mostly tar from the roof) and ended with a pile of mostly useless wood as high as I am tall. If memory serves, most of this was performed after my day job, hence the short days. My soft-focused memory also recalls the first burning of the "burnable" wood, and the first few Sport Hammock-ing trials.

Interior view of the house after the majority of the debris had been removed. Note the gaping hole in the ceiling. This was a bummer, because the wood could have been well preserved had it remained dry. Had there not been a hole, I may have been tempted to renovate the roof, but it probably never would have been as warm or structurally sound as what I have planned. This way we can also add skylights.

Who can say how many days had passed? This is why there is now a blog.

Why Am I Doing This?

2009-10-07T12:30:00.000-07:00

This is a question that I expected to be asked more. Perhaps those that know me know me well enough to expect the answer, "Because I can." Those who don't know me get an oversimplified "I broke up with my girlfriend."

On paper, this appears a little dramatic, but it has been a completely organic and unforced endeavor. I left my last home, now also a large unfinished renovation project, completely unsatisfied due to the lack of closure and the fact that I no longer had the home I worked so hard to build.

the old home "before". note the bedrooms under the mezzanine. the lofted area was finished with carpet and had a very steep staircase leading up on the right. the decision to move this platform was mainly driven because i wanted to free our giant window up and get more light into the rest of the house. on the bottom is a view of our first house-warming party. we got very drunk and spilled red wine all over our carpet. this was a great thing, because it ended any discussion regarding saving the horrible carpet. pictured left to right, Aaron, me (Wes), Amalia, Brian, Myla, Omar.

the old home "during" and "after". the black staircase wasn't moved at all. most of the mezzanine could be moved without any alterations, just careful de-construction around existing pipes and electrical work and then replacing piece-by-piece against the other mezzanine.

more views of the new mezzanine. there is now a bedroom adjacent to the black staircase and the ceiling fan has been taken out. it still needs some drywall on the outer walls and heating should be run in from the large, single heating duct, which is now slightly isolated from much of the apartment.

When my good friend Emily suggested that the shack in her backyard needed a makeover and a caretaker, it was a challenge right up my alley. It didn't hurt that the aforementioned backyard is completely magical and includes, among other things, a fire pit, trees, a large table, many inviting chairs and a large brick wall. It feels very private yet very inclusive.

views of the backyard. on the top you can see debris that was removed from the house and Amy planting seeds in starter pots behind the leaves. on the bottom are house friends Michelle, Sebastian, and the queen of the castle, Emily.

There hasn't been a single visit to this spot that hasn't been remarkable in some way. why wouldn't i want to build my new home there?

Welcome to My Home

2009-10-07T11:29:00.000-07:00

Me in my house

Hello All!

I am building a small home for myself in an existing structure in Brooklyn, NY.

The function of this blog will be to document the construction, inform readers interested in similar projects and sprinkle a little whimsy into the world.

This undertaking will hopefully inspire others to attempt difficult and unwieldy goals (it is also a big "fuck you" to The Man).