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Strawtron

Jul 10
Love0

Highs and Lows of Scaffolding

By Strawtron
Construction scaffolding

Shiny new scaffolding

You know what really sort of stinks? Working at heights. You know what is even worse than working at heights? Not having a good way of doing it safely. Last year, we borrowed scaffolding for a big chunk of the building season, but this year, we needed to find a new scaffolding option for our construction needs, which includes a lot of work high off the ground.

Turns out we ended up deciding to buy our own, since no one in the area has an adequate setup that can reach the heights we need. I dreaded having to buy our own set of scaffolding, but I think it was the right choice to make.

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Jun 26
Love0

Building the Light Clay Straw Porch

By Strawtron, Light Clay Straw
Light Clay Straw (Slipstraw) Walls

Our light clay straw (slipstraw) porch walls are on the way

The north porch of our straw bale house has been occupying most of our construction time these days. As of only a couple of weeks ago, the porch was still largely open, with only framing and a few windows installed.

We decided to go the wall & windows route, instead of just screening the space in, because of how exposed this part of the home is to the north and west weather. Also, the space is much more versatile this way, too. We decided to do light clay straw (a.k.a., slipstraw) infill walls.

It’s been an enjoyable process thus far.

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Jun 20
Love0

Now It’s On (Or About To Be): Live Edge Siding Arrives

By Strawtron
Live Edge Wood Siding

Live edge siding from white oak… mmm…

Wow, our Amish sawyer really pulled through. He gave us a call a whole three days after our visit to let us know he had completed sawing up the white oak live edge siding we had requested. Amazing! And he did quite the job, too. The wood looks great. The quality of the material is high, the sawing is very clean and accurate, and I am super jazzed to finally have the material in my possession.

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Jun 13
Love0

To Great Lengths, and Beyond

By Strawtron

Am I picky, or stubborn, or just in a really impoverished area? Maybe all of the above. It’s somewhat crazy what I have had to go through to try to get a particular type of wood siding sawn up for me. It started off simple, I thought — calling a mill I’ve used before to see if I could have some live edge siding sawn up out of white oak. I slowly learned that this would be harder than I thought. Well… many weeks later, I think I finally may have someone both willing to do it, and with access to the materials.

Is it normal to go to these great lengths for a building project, or what? Please do chime in, and please tell me.

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Jun 07
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Using Reclaimed Wood Flooring

By Strawtron
Reclaimed wood flooring

Unfinished reclaimed wood flooring

There is nothing terribly easy about using reclaimed wood flooring, or reclaimed wood in general. Though I really do like it. New lumber is nice and all, sometimes, (and certainly really easy to work with, primarily), but when experiencing or working with new wood, sometimes I get that feeling similar to when I have a new pair of shoes or boots on — something just doesn’t seem right. The brightness, the lack of wear and that really perfect/clean feeling, the lack of a history or story embedded in there… that doesn’t appeal to me. The imperfections and wear, scratches and dings, the colors of reclaimed wood all tell a story, I think, and I like that. Also, older wood is often higher quality material, too.

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May 09
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No Shortage of Things To Do

By Woodworking, Strawtron

spring work

There’s been no shortage of things to do these past few weeks. Other than the usual building and gardening tasks, there’s been a lot on the list of items to complete.

I realize it’s been a while since I’ve posted any new photos of work on Strawtron… I promise we are not slacking. Nothing has jumped out at me as really photo-worthy just yet. Although that will change soon, as we are closing in the north porch and will soon be doing some light clay straw work. Yea!

Just when I think we’re done with work on Gobcobatron, we find more to do. As we are converting the cob house to a rental this year (see how you can stay in our cob house this summer!), it means we’ve taken some time to do some maintenance work — re-grouting parts of the tile floor, oiling the floor (finally), tearing out the mudroom floor to put in a more durable tile floor, making a brandy new bed frame to accommodate a queen size mattress, dusting the rafters… Didn’t I say I was “done” with this house before?

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Apr 12
Love0

Timber Framing and Straw Bale: The Perfect Marriage?

By Timber Framing, Straw Bale Building, Strawtron
Straw Bale & Timber Frame House 01

Straw bale & timber frame house in the works

I wonder: is timber framing and straw bale building the perfect marriage of two building techniques? Of course, I may be a bit biased, as I am building a timber frame and straw bale house as we speak, but I think there is much to say for the compatibility, efficiency, and beauty of these two systems. I’ll lay out my line of thinking here, including the benefits of timber framing and straw bale alone, and the two systems combined.

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Apr 05
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Our Straw Bale House, One Year Ago

By Strawtron

concrete piers - batter boardOne year ago, our straw bale house was nothing more than a handful of holes dug in the ground. Now it’s got a completed timber frame, it is fully baled in and at least partly plastered over the interior and exterior, and half of the soil has been hauled up to the rooftop. The floor platform is insulated, we’re beginning to close in the porch, and I think I can say that things are looking pretty good coming into year two of building our timber frame and straw bale home.

rainbowThis year, we get to do more first coat plaster, but even more finish earthen and lime plaster, install finish floors upstairs and downstairs, close in the north porch and build our rustic kitchen, finish the roof, and build our attached greenhouse. Oh, and build the spiral staircase, and a handful of other finish work tasks.

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Mar 04
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Timber Frame Joinery: How to Make a Mortise By Hand

By Timber Framing, Strawtron, Hand Tools
Millers Falls Boring Machine

How to make a mortise with hand tools: boring machine and chisel

You can’t have a tenon without a mortise. They go together like peas and carrots. (Or insert your favorite “go together” cliche here.) Uh, anyway, I described how to cut a tenon by hand in a previous post, and in this article, I’ll describe the process for making a mortise in a timber by hand. A mortise is basically a slot for a tenon, which is later pegged to secure the joinery. It’s simple and timeless.

Mortises are arguably more difficult to make by hand than tenons. I’ll describe how to do it with a boring machine and chisel.

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Jan 28
Love1

Timber Frame Joinery: How to Cut a Tenon By Hand… Quickly

By Hand Tools, Timber Framing, Strawtron

How to Cut a Tenon by Hand

I’m a sucker for cutting tenons. Maybe because it provides me with a great excuse to swing an axe. Maybe because once I get into the groove, I feel a great sense of accomplishment when I’m able to cut and clean up a tenon swiftly. Cutting a tenon — by hand — is a great skill to learn and practice, and I want to make the argument that it can be done by hand rather quickly, too. After cutting tenon after tenon, I got to the point of being able to do the bulk of the work with a saw and axe. I skipped the chisel altogether at some point. Here’s my process for cutting tenons by hand, perhaps my favorite “grunt work” of timber framing. Actually, I like it so much I wish I had an excuse to cut some right now…

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