leangreen.org recycled renovation on a low-budget ration

Over and again we've read complaints that UltraTouch cotton batt insulation is painful to cut. During a test run installation in our garage, we struggled with cutting the batts on the ground with a 2x4 straight edge and resharpening our Leatherman blade.  It was a two-person job.  The cuts were messy. We often resorted to ripping the batts with our hands so when we stuffed the insulation in the wall, the batts didn't always fit perfectly.  If some of the batts were perforated to accommodate non-standard stud spacing (as the bag claims) that might have helped, but we didn't find any perforated batts in our 16 bales.

During the week-long insulation marathon with Gary, we developed a quicker, better method for installing the denim batts. Using sawhorses, a base, quick grips and a utility knife, Gary perfected the quick and clean cut resulting in a precise friction fit that completely filled the wall cavity. Cutting became a one-person job, making quick work for a two-man team. Changing blades often, every three or four long cuts, was key. We wish someone had done this for us, so we're sharing our how-to cut technique below.

We start with the blue plastic electrical boxes, measure their location, and nail into the wall. Next we move them around, because plans change or we learn about a code requirement or Brian suggests that we're overdoing the number of switches (why so many?). We use the cat's paws and other levers to remove the boxes. As a result, the electrical plan has simplified over time. We've also installed housing for recessed lights, boxes for smoke detectors and fans, and lightweight outlets for data ports.

Next, we roll out the wire. White or yellow wires will carry electricity, and then blue and green wires will carry data (phone, cable, ethernet). Brian dictates which ones to use where because he took the electrical course at the Building Education Center. We draw lines in the air: up into the attic, down into the floor joists, or through the studs in the walls. The route is decided, drilling begins. We work in pairs, pulling wires through holes and into gang boxes, then stapling them down. No kinks or twists allowed.

We focus our efforts on the second floor (bedroom, bathroom, study, office overhang and hallway). We're about 80% complete with one major decision remaining: where is the home run to the panel box? Locating the panel box has been a head-scratcher. I'll let Brian write about that.

 

As we say goodbye to winter and spring bursts into bloom we are excitedly trying to maximize the little land we have for vegetable production. Since the mandatory day of rest was imposed for Sundays we began using that time to prepare the back yard. The fine lines of the Sunday work ban state that "no house construction" can be performed, therefore we felt the construction of our raised bed was a perfect non-house related Sunday project.

We have begun filling the raised bed with sprouts from seeds that Jen started on the shed roof. Traditionally we have used plastic trays for seed starting but even with great care these last at best 3 seasons, not very lean or green. Searching for alternatives Jen remembered seeing soil blocks somewhere and after a quick search we were inundated with information regarding the ins and outs of soil blocking and tips on creating your own soil blocker.

The concept is simple, create a medium for seed starting that contains nothing beyond the soil. The soil block is a compressed "block" of soil that, when released from the soil blocker, maintains it's form. This makes buying, maintaining and replacing the plastic trays a thing of the past. Beyond that seeds started in this manner have much more access to oxygen and therefore grow faster and start producing sooner as well.

For our first attempt I used a 3" piece of 1 3/4" PVC and then created a plunger using two 1 3/4" wooden discs cut from 1/2" plywood. I had to sand down the discs so they would easily pass through the PVC (since the soil is wet and the wood will swell I sanded them a bit beyond a loose fit). Then I attached the two discs to a wooden dowel (actually I used the pencil I had been marking with, it fit the holes from the circular drill bit perfectly). One disc at the end and one at the midpoint which was originally to stabilize the plunger as it was pushed through to release the block. I then attached a rectangular block of 1/2" plywood to the other end of the dowel for something to hold on to.

As it turned out the disc at the midpoint was perfectly positioned to provide the correct height of the soil block. By holding the plunger directly above this disc in between the index and middle finger I could insert it into the PVC and then scoop the contraption full of soil, cover the bottom with my hand and push down on the top of the plunger to compress it, then slip the PVC upwards to release the block. In order to provide a hole for the sprout to be placed in we added a screw at the end of the plunger.

Not perfect but made entirely from things we had around the house. ...

Last week Jim applied a small modification to the previous week's "tar paper skewer" by chopping off the top and turning the cross into a T, converting it into a corrugated metal bracer (Jen prefers to call it the extendo-arm). This allowed him to operate from one of our shorter ladders while I used a 28' ladder, borrowed from the Tool Lending Library, to reach the top of the south wall. The modified skewer proved essential in getting the final pieces aligned and attached (I tried and failed during a solo climb earlier in the week).

So the south wall now gets checked off the list, one more down with still much to do. We also finished putting up the tar paper on the north side, again with the aide of the now famous tar paper skewer. The next step for the north wall is roll roofing and Jim and I have already been tossing approaches back and forth, I'm guessing we may see another tool come out of this. Although it might seem like a job for our friend the skewer, the roll roofing paper is probably around 3 times the weight of the tar paper. Beyond being unwieldy at those heights this would most likely snap our skewer in two. Stay tuned...