Details, Details, Details...

I'm off in Ohio for a training class (work related). Not the best timing as all things seem to be converging on the house project.

We're scrambling to get a bunch of little things in order. The concrete guys need to pour the footing for the masonry heater, and I need to make sure I have the size right. I'm not sure if we are going to be required to use outside combustion air (a topic that has a LOT of implications), which may or may not impact the footing size.

We want to insulate on the outside of our basement walls and under the floor slab, but we are having a hard time finding the insulation we want to use. Home Depot is our main supplier of materials, but they will only order this (2" Foamular 250 extruded polystyrene) in quantities of 48 sheets. No matter how I slice it, this leaves me with several hundred dollars extra in insulation. Must find new source.

Mike, our timber framer, is gearing up to but the deck and the timber frame up in the first or second week of May, but I'm not sure if the basement walls will be ready to be backfilled (or if they need to be). We're also getting floor joists from a reclaimed school house, but we need to hook up with the salvage guy and get him to deliver them.

Whew! Bottom line is that there are a lot of little details we have to keep track of over the next few weeks.

The straw clay walls need to dry approximately 12 weeks before the first frost. Getting the walls up sometime during the first part of June would be ideal because that would give us plenty of buffer before first frost. There is, however, a lot that needs to be done before then.

Here's a rough order:

1. pour footings and basement walls
   
2. frame up exposed portions of basement
3. erect timber frame
4. put on deck (first floor)
5. erect larsen trusses (framework for straw-clay walls)
6. run electrical conduit in larsen trusses
7. get well installed (need a lot of water for straw-clay walls)
8. get straw-clay mixer built and working (Heidi's dad is working on this)

Geez. That's a lot to do.

Oh, and we sold our house (3 days after it went on the market). We got a good price, more than we had budgeted for... which is good because I think we are going to need the extra money. We've already gone over budget on a few items (well and septic... ouch).

I get back from Ohio on Friday night. We move over the weekend. Close on Thursday. After that we will be living in a pop-up camper on site. Porta-potty's been ordered!

So... our lives are a little hectic right now.

This is an adventure. This is an adventure. This is an adventure. This is an adventure.