-Ty
Author Archives: typritchard
Grounded (august 15)
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We arrived with our heads high and started straight away. The north and east side were getting finished up while the shading structure was getting stitched to the ground. The cables were put in along with the rings, a detail worth the exploration. Granite arrived and Andrew stated to fill the time boxes. The rock boxes looked great. After a bit we had a guest to talk to us about the infamous robot in the box. After some discussion we made some decisions and Nick, Peter and I hung the mechanical system any adjusted the walls. The day carried on, and on. We ordered pizza, the sun went down and the building came to life. It looked as though it was a model built in studio, in fact this evening felt like a late night in studio.
Glass (august 13)
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Today we cracked into the crate and began to move the massive windows. Kjell showed up and helped us with the installation. We put in the tilt and turn then the door, which I began to really appreciate. The door is beautiful and the sheer mass of it resembles a vault door. The color was much better than I anticipated also. After we placed two windows I had visitors. My parents made an appearance. It was great to see them; the build defiantly surprised them. I think it made my father really happy to see the re-embodiment of the granary. Soon after they left Mike, Malini, and Noor showed up, and they brought ice cream! Just what we needed, well while Andrew and I were stuck up in the lifts everyone else ate ice cream. Soon with our feet back on the ground and away from the shading structure we enjoyed our share. The day was over quickly and we took off with our day off in sight.
Compressed (august 12)
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Today was the day of presents. We received many shipments and with each one it was difficult to find room to place them. With the vendors arriving we are starting to consolidate and make the most of the room we have. The shading structure was stating to go up and all the verticals were raised. The tunnel began to form and it was satisfying to see the shading structure with all of its siblings. The day ended without us realizing the time. I made a few cuts in the rich-lite and began to understand how to use the material a bit better. Mike and I bought new nail cutting blades just to get through the stuff.
Still at it
Thanks Christine
Windows
Up n up
Robot (august 11)
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Today we had to park out of the regular lot because they were marking out a parking lot in the gravel. As soon as I got there I got to work on the light boxes. Soon the electrician showed up and we were underway. I got the LED cans in and finished up the rest of the wiring runs. We still have a couple issues to work out but all the electrical is looking great. Several trucks dropped of materials today and we got out mechanical system today. It was a bit more confusing than I expected. No lego booklet with this one, and a lot of the parts are labeled in german. The robot of a device was planned out on the floor so we could test fit everything. We scratched our heads for a while and put it the robot back in its box until tomorrow. Andrew and I finished up the shelving while the slats went up on the other side. It was rewarding to finish the south side of the shelving. It was exactly what Andrew and I had drawn up. It had a progression up even though no stairs existed. Tomorrow will be busy, I can’t wait to see this mammoth of a sliding door. Word in the passive house is that the sliding door weighs about a thousand pounds.
Cans
Snag (august 10)
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Today I woke up and headed on our way to the Eco-Exhibit from Minnetonka. On the way we were slowed up by a bad crash in both east and west tunnels so Nick and I busted out the iPhone to find our way through traffic. We were about a half an hour late, not bad considering the traffic we almost got stuck in. On site I began work again on the shelving structure but soon switched over because the electrician had arrived. I gave him a rundown on the routes and left him to his work while Nick and I once again braved traffic in pursuit of some LED recessed fixtures. We ended up driving all the way to Plymouth to pick up the fixtures and we are still one short, but we will get it. Once back on site I continued to work on the shelving but only in brief moments. I was informed by the electrician that he ran into a little snag with the inspector and that we are unable to use the LED ribbon lights in the windows… Well this is still getting resolved it is a problem. I hope tomorrow we can begin to sort it out. The shelving was put in place and the day ended. I can already feel time creeping up on us.
Power!
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Shelving
Wired
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Tuesday, August 9th 2011
Task :
– Pauly D and I set out to retrieve our hardware (turnbuckles, fasteners, ect.)
Hope:
– To retrieve “all” of our hardware. Our several shipments will be there, on time, and ready for us to retrieve.
Outcome:
– We return to the site with “some” of our hardware.
Lesson Learned:
– Sometimes, and I mean sometimes, the person helping you is slightly less enthusiastic about the urgency of your requests. The thing in the catalog is not always the thing that you had in mind or the thing that was described after hearing your idea of the thing. You don’t always get what you want…
But Paul and I score some pretty cool turnbuckles.
Task:
-Pair up and prepare the wood for the shading structure……wood did not show up.
Lesson Learned:
-Your project doesn’t always succeed the priority of other projects. Although discouraging, it shouldn’t be demotivating.
Task:
– Finish Wrapping the LVL’s with cedar. Chris and I set out to finish wrapping the existing columns with cedar 1x’s. He’s been a great help in the success of a lot of these projects. He keeps things at a high pace and is really interested in what’s going on. With his help we were able to finish the deal in good time…
surgeon (august 9)
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I woke up at 6 bright and early, shut off my phone’s alarms and.. fell back asleep. Woke up still intime to make a sandwich and head out the door. It was a cool morning with the smell of rain in the air. Today Andrew and I started stitching the shelving structure together. The fit was perfect but after putting up the long run on the north side we deemed it, well wobbly. I think we took it apart 4 times today. The shelving was taken down and the floor diaphragm was zipped open. We placed blocking and braces in the floor. We sewed it back together and it was looking like it did previous, just less wobbly. After that was finished Andrew ran back to the shop to make a couple pieces which either were lost of never made. We finished up for the day and threw the gloves in the trash. I’ll put on a fresh pair tomorrow but hopefully we are done with the surgery. I backed away from the structure for the first time and really enjoyed the contrast between the new and old. Not after too long the shelves already became a new surface to forget your tools on.
biscuits (august 8)
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Andrew and I worked yet again all day on the shelving structure. We headed to a local shop to use their biscuit joiner. It was very tedious and difficult to keep the pieces from bowing and separating. I think we literally used all the shops clamps. It was strange not being on site or knowing what was happening with the build. It was a good day. The box of parts was trucked back; Andrew and I are the Ikea instruction manuals for this structure. Tomorrow it will no longer be in a box and realized in full scale. We used hundreds of biscuits, a bottle of glue and about 40 clamps, but after a while the package was complete.
Instructions (august 6)
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Today was the day before our big day off, and it felt like it. Andrew and I cut the entire shelving structure and planed each piece. We ended up with many pieces, too many, hopefully they were all there. We rapped up the shelving structure making it a shelving structure in a box. All it needed now was an instruction manual. We cut early and a much-needed day off was ahead.
Wrapping an existing column with Cedar…easy? Easy, but difficult.
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Today I had hoped to wrap two 14′ LVL columns with 1×6 cedar boards. The task seemed easy; per column – cut four 1″x6″x16′ cedar boards to 14’10 5/8″..check. After this step two boards are considered ready for prep, considering they needed to be 5 1/2 inches wide and the actual width of a 1×6 is 5 1/2 inches..BOOM…easy! Then, rip the other two boards to 3 3/4″ wide (these will go inside the two 5 1/2″ boards, which (2) 7/8″ thick boards plus 3 3/4″ equals 5 1/2″…BOOM…not so easy when you cut them to 3 1/4″! This meant, that the scraps of these boards had to be paired up, glued, and stapled back together, seamed (mixture of cedar saw dust and white wood glue to make a putty), and sanded. AND then they would be ready for final fixation! With some moral support and a lot of self-patience (most of which was exhausted by 3:30 break, ONE of the columns was finished. The second and pictures will follow in the morning :)


























