Building a new house and shop (2 Viewers)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

When we bury a gas (with a trace wire) or electrical line with a we trench down 24" then sand 12" . Then we install a pressure treated 2x6 with 3 " sand, the warning tape and then complete the back fill.
 
When we bury a gas (with a trace wire) or electrical line with a we trench down 24" then sand 12" . Then we install a pressure treated 2x6 with 3 " sand, the warning tape and then complete the back fill.

That is thorough! I have no codes or inspections to deal with here, but of course as a matter of safety I want to do it well. I trenched 24" deep, then filled about half with cushion sand (just eyeballed), then laid the tracer wire, and the caution tape on top of that. Then finished backfilling with more sand and the soil removed by trenching. My main safety concern was/is pressure testing all the lines.

Going to install the second-stage regulator today, and connect the buried poly line to the CSST house service line. I don't anticipate actually having any appliances hooked up for some time, but I'd like to have those two lines connected so there is nothing open outside and it is ready to go.
 
Work continues slowly; mostly boring stuff like skim-coating drywall mud over the STO plaster, and plastering new territory with the STO. Thank goodness for my Bose mini soundlink bluetooth speaker, at least I can have some decent sounding tunes playing pretty loud while I work. Skimming the drywall mud is particularly tedious with a 10 or 12" drywall knife, like the builder uses and showed us how to do. There is a steep learning curve, and a lot of sanding between coats when you're not good at smoothing and feathering. We're buying some new tools, long flexible scrapers with rounded ends, made for skim-coating drywall mud, that we hope will help us a lot. Using these tools, you mix the mud thinner/more liquid and roll it on with a purpose-made heavy-nap roller, which by itself will save a ton of time and effort over applying all of it with a regular drywall knife and tray. Will try and get some photos when the new tools get here and we can try them out.

Outside, I finished connecting the buried poly propane line from the 500 gal. tank to the CSST pipe that goes under the driveway and into the house in conduit.

I have all the parts for it, but I'm not going to connect the buried poly to the propane tank until we actually install some propane appliances in the house. It's the same tank we're currently using for the barndominium, so all I'll have to do is tee that line out of the 1st-stage regulator and run it through a shut-off valve. Meanwhile, just capped the riser as per the photos in a previous post.

2nd stage regulator.jpg
 
Last edited:
Nice job and a very big one. When I re-did our kitchen, I knew my weakness would be drywall and found a drywall 12” rotary orbital sander on a telescoping handle. You attach a vacuum hose to the handle and turn it on….clean, smooth and dust is really minimized. After that: a sponge and a 5 gallon pail of water it was perfect. At the time, the best $150 I had spent in some time.

since I hate sanding, it is now in it’s box on the top shelf in the pole barn and will probably stay there. My kids will probably go through my stuff “X” years from now and say ” what did dad do with this thing?”
 
Nice job and a very big one. When I re-did our kitchen, I knew my weakness would be drywall and found a drywall 12” rotary orbital sander on a telescoping handle. You attach a vacuum hose to the handle and turn it on….clean, smooth and dust is really minimized. After that: a sponge and a 5 gallon pail of water it was perfect. At the time, the best $150 I had spent in some time.

since I hate sanding, it is now in it’s box on the top shelf in the pole barn and will probably stay there. My kids will probably go through my stuff “X” years from now and say ” what did dad do with this thing?”

IH8 sanding too; will probably buy a drywall sander/vacuum soon, whatever they cost now. Though I would hope to never use it again after this house is done!
 
So I stopped at Home Depot yesterday for a few odds and ends while I was out, and they didn't have a single power sander in stock, was pretty surprised. I guess I will do a little research and just buy one on Amazon, or have HD ship one to my store.

I've already learned my lesson on dust control while grinding the form seams on the bare concrete before plastering. I have an older 22-gal. shop vac hooked up to my Makita angle grinder, and it makes a huge difference, though I have to stop pretty frequently and clean the dust out of the vac filter or efficiency goes way down. I figure sanding drywall mud will be about the same; a lot of fine dust. I have to use a respirator when grinding the concrete; the cement dust is nasty in your nose and can't be good for your lungs.
 
If it means anything….I am over 1000 miles away from you and HD and Lowe’s in this area had nothing. Ordered it from Amazon and it was here in 2 days…don’t forget a few extra sanding discs….the 12” . my 10 gallon shop van needed a filter cleaning within 25-30 minutes. took it outdoors and bumped it into a tree about a dozen times.
 
Last edited:
Nice job and a very big one. When I re-did our kitchen, I knew my weakness would be drywall and found a drywall 12” rotary orbital sander on a telescoping handle.
Picked up a second hand Porter-Cable version years ago: Porter-Cable 7800 4.7 Amp Drywall Sander with 13-Foot Hose | PORTER-CABLE - https://www.portercable.com/product/7800/porter-cable-7800-47-amp-drywall-sander-13-foot-hose

As you say, money well spent. Had it out again a few years back to patch things up in the shop:
001-jpg.1455961


I see DeWalt even makes a 20V cordless version: 20V MAX* Cordless Drywall Sander (Tool Only) | DEWALT - https://www.dewalt.com/product/dce800b/20v-max-cordless-drywall-sander-tool-only
Seeing how quickly my 20V grinder depletes a battery and I'm not sure I'd go for cordless, though.

Even Harbor Freight has one: 5 Amp, 9 in. Variable Speed Drywall Sander - https://www.harborfreight.com/power-tools/sanders/drywall/5-amp-9-in-variable-speed-drywall-sander-59166.html
 
I have some memories of that week…none of them great….

nicest thing though is the job came out very nicely
 
So, the Mrs. and I have been working pretty steadily, maybe 3 hours/day (I still have consulting work to do), 5-6 days/week. But it's mostly just boring stuff that I rarely if ever stop to take a picture of - plastering concrete and skimming that with drywall mud and insulating the hot-water PEX lines. Here is a photo of what is going to be our family room, that we have plastered entirely ourselves, and has one skim coat of drywall mud and working on a second:

thumbnail_IMG_2587.jpg


The light hanging from the top is just a temporary; eventually there will be a large ceiling fan suspended from there. The dark spots in the dome are outlet boxes for additional lighting.

I've also been using my tractor and front-end loader to put more soil up on top of the house, filling in some low and/or thin spots, trying to get more insulation up there.
 
Attention to detail takes on another level of meaning when you’re working on something that you know you are going to have to look at for the rest of your life.😉

Drywall is one of those things.
 
@mudgudgeon all my earth home dreams come to life in the form of Lee's beautiful (and very long, holy s*** this thread age) home build

Sorry for the length Jessica; we've been working on it for 5 years now. Taking a long time because we're not borrowing any money to do it. Thanks for the high praise.
 
Definitely not in our budget so I commend you for making a dream a reality, however long it takes
 
I'm sure you're ready to move in!
 
Slow and steady wins the race. We are wrapping up our build in Idaho and needs some final paint on the inside and some metal trim outside. Just like you, all coming out of pocket so no loan - good thing cause we too are on year 5.

Keep chugging along - every little hour adds up, but it sure doesn't feel like it when you have a big ol ceiling like that. Congrats on the awesome home!
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom