We have heat!

The woodstoves are installed! This is the only work, besides the excavating for the foundation, that we have hired out. The installers from Rocky's (really---would I make that up?) did, in four hours, what would probably have taken us about three days, given our usual learning curve. Plus, their installation meets state fire codes, and if the roof leaks, we have people to blame it on. They were nice guys, even though they chipped our new tile. The markup on parts seemed a tad exhorbitant (but this is from the perspective of people who almost never hire out home improvement/construction work).

Joe had picked up a wood cookstove a year or so ago through an ad in Uncle Henry's. It was manufactured by Magee Furnace Company, which operated in Boston in the late 1800s. We sanded off some rust, applied furnace cement here and there, replaced a few stove bolts, and painted it. We fired it up today. The oven stays warm for a long time after the fire dies out.

Our big purchase, though, was a brand new Jotul woodstove. I have heated with wood for more than 20 years, but never with a new stove. We opted for a Black Bear 118, which looks small, but has an 8-hour burn and is rated for 1800 sq ft: more than double our area. It may well chase us out, but we were reluctant to go with the parlor-sized stove, as this is our only heat source.

So let's see: our windows are in, and we have heat. A temporary wall and a couple of doors are all that's standing in the way of getting out of our rented trailer. And interior walls.

After last night's HARD frost, we decided that it was time to disconnect the Bison hand pump from its outdoor setup and keep it safe and warm till we can install it next to our kitchen sink. Which will require the construction of counters. And plumbing. Pesky details.

Floor and hearth half done

We have more than half of the floor boards installed, and the hearth is complete (half a hearth in the photo below). We ended up using ceramic tile for the hearth, because it provided a lower profile than brick and seemed easier to keep clean. State fire codes mandated the use of cement board under the tile. All of the windows are installed (well, those in the finished cordwood walls, anyway). The wood cookstove and Jotul wood stove get installed tomorrow.

We have done pretty well, doing all of this work together, while living out of boxes in a rented trailer, only getting slightly annoyed with each other now and then. We were warned that cordwood (and other) building projects can take their toll on relationships, but for the most part the process has been surprisingly satisfying. Lately, we have discovered the art of parallel play. That is, projects that require two people, we do together. Projects that can be done by one person, we assign. So we've been laying floor boards together, because they're big and heavy and need one person compressing while another is securing--- but I built the hearth while Joe installed windows. Parallel play. :)

Regarding the photos below: if you remember, we built a rubble-trench foundation. Which means that the three courses of hemlock grade beams you see sit atop a well-tamped crushed-rock berm that fills a drained trench (which sits on ledge). Any water that finds its way to the grade beams (very little because of the site grading and the roof overhangs) drains away. On the outside, the grade beams are surrounded by an insulated apron (rigid foam at about 35 degrees) to keep the ground around the outside of the house warm and dry. Inside the grade beam, we put some foam and bubble-wrap barriers for a bit of extra protection from any drafts that might find their way through 18 inches of hemlock. We covered the ground under the house with gravel, to act as a capillary break for moisture. The floor joists are 16" on center, and we added mid-joist support in the form of bricks with shims, and large blocks where heavy items such as woodstoves and water tanks would be installed.