The Heat is Off

Sunday, December 28, 2008 finds me back home in Birkenfeld after being snowed-in in Portland for two weeks. The weather is warming, yet eight inches of dense “corn snow” remain. My first day consists of the usual chores associated with restoring a dormant cabin to habitability. The power failure meter has maxed out at 99 hours, 59 minutes, meaning the backup battery system had been out for 100-plus hours. The power comes on as I walk in the door, a welcome surprise. I had assumed no power and had even brought dry ice. Five hours of continuous fire in the cookstove raises the interior from 45 deg. to a more pleasant 65. The phone is still out.

Here’s a photo shot by my neighbor of the house while I was gone. The skylights are invisible and the vent pipe is just showing its top. About 18” of snow or a total weight on the roof of between 4 and 7 tons.

No skylights and vent tube barely visible. [photo: JB]

Although there remains a significant quantity of snow on the roof, and the chimney is canted a few degrees, I think little of it. Only after arising the next day, well after the morning fire has gone cold, and after going outside to do chores do I see that the snow, rather than glide off the roof, has compressed and folded up like the wrinkly skin on one of those fancy, over-bred dogs. The chimney pipe is bent at about 30 deg. Remarkable, as it is a 6 inch inner stainless pipe, 2” of insulation and an outer 10” pipe also of stainless.

Snow & ice on the move.

In an effort to melt off the snow, I put my two electric heaters in that room on full, the hot air naturally rising to the highest point, the watertight collar fitted around the chimney pipe. This has little effect and by the afternoon the chimney is bent at 45 deg.; the snow starting to roll over it in an agonizingly slow motion frozen wave. From the inside the silicone seal is distended to the point that daylight shines throug

Neighbors wondered why I didn’t have any guy-wire supports. I’d had them removed the prior year as they had slid down the roof ridges to which they had been secured and even so the chimney had never moved a single degree. But two things were different this year. The volume of snow; about 24 inches, and the fact that without power or someone to tend a fire the snow just sat. Sat accumulating rain, and compressing under numerous freeze-thaw cycles.

No true disaster had befallen me yet, but disaster loomed. How would the chimney situation resolve itself? With a violent release of pressure or ripped off in an avalanche of mass movement of the snow pack or just quietly melt away? Fortunately the forecast is for warmer, wet weather.

I begin to prepare by evacuating the room as in any event removal of part of the chimney was going to be messy. I then start to brace the chimney in preparation for possibly pulling it down myself from the inside.

Bracing.

I call my roofing person who thinks he can be by on Wednesday or Friday to give me an estimate.

Late in the day I sit on the sofa and contemplated the precariousness of my situation. I am now relying on electric heat. A storm is coming and outages seem unavoidable. I calculated that my battery backup will last only a day if I have to power a heater.

As if on cue, the lights flicker and die. Power is out. I lay down on the couch and sleep. It is very, very quiet.

Mercifully the power is restored in 3 hours.

Tuesday is spent watching the ice and snow melt imperceptibly on the roof. I had devised a plan to lower the bent chimney part into the house, remove it, replace the 48” section with a 24” one and push it back up. But to even attempt it I need the pressure off the pipe, meaning the snow has to melt.

New Year’s Eve morning finds little change inspite of above freezing temperatures. I spend the night monitoring the situation. The forecast is for heavy rain and high winds. We are on flood watch. The phone works.

New Year’s Day. Raining and the snow is melting away. Just as I start to contemplate a difficult repair from inside the house the cavalry arrives; my roof guy and help show up and the are ready and willing to get on the roof right now. 3 hours later I’ve got fire again.

The cavalry arrives.

Happy New Year

.

Bonus Room

Even in an 800 sq.ft. house, I ended up with a bonus room. It was a challenge to squeeze in two beds, a writing table, and a pseudo-closet.

Looking in.

It's kind of a Canadiana themed room. The gray blanket is from Ontario, the other a classic Hudson's Bay. My mom made the cushions... in Canada. The lamps were from extra shop lights I, er, just had hanging around.

The frame is strong and in good shape.

Pack light and don't steal the logo'd robes. They are available
for purchase in the gift shop.

Island

Another winter project was to build the kitchen island that stores under the main kitchen counter. The stow-away idea courtesy of my girlfriend, Alice. Save the top, and wheels, it is made entirely of reclaimed lumber and scraps.

All joints are doweled and glued.

Shown rolled in place.

The fir should darken to match over time.

The final product. The shelf is made of old, clear cedar.

Sofa Story

I hated the upholstery of my sofa since the day it was delivered to me around 1992. I contemplated recovering it immediately, but I had chosen the pattern myself and so I felt I must live with it. 15-years on I decided it was an eyesore in my new home and the time to reupholster it had come.

These photos by Alamo Upholstery.

Other than the fabric I liked the sofa for its design, size and comfortable. This also seemed to be a good opportunity to find a good, sustainable fabric.

The frame is strong and in good shape.

As it turns out, it's very hard to find "green" fabrics. Reupholstery shops in the area had no idea, and weren't really interested in new products. As I learned, they also markup the fabrics they sell 100%, thus they have no incentive to have the customer bring in fabric. Here are some links to some fabric suppliers:

• Green Sage Directory
• DesignTex
• Furnature
• NearSea Naturals

I chose a "cradle to cradle," infinitely recyclable fabric from DesignTex.

I also highly recommend Alamo Custom Upholstery .

The final product.

Watershed

This fall I finally finished the water shed building that houses two, 1350-gallon tanks. Still needs work on the inside.

An early shot from some years ago.

The finished product.

Flood of 2007

In truth this was a great flood; by that I mean we had a great time. Many of us, not here for the '96 flood, now have bragging rights even though we had electricity and warm weather the whole time. And while we did load our cars when rumors of a crest of 2-feet above '96 circulated; and while we were locked in by two flooded bridges; and while we could only call locally, in the end the water reached 6" to a foot below '96 and no one was hurt.

Auerhaus had a great view of the proceedings and virtually ever neighbor dropped in to have a look. It was a busy, festive day.

Slide show best viewed in full screen mode, lower right button on player.

Table II

Almost done. Just some light sanding and staining.

The drawer is a perfect fit.

Because the tolerances are so tight, I made the drawer slides adjustable.

The corner braces also came from Classic Designs by Matthew Burak.

The only glue used was to secure the drawer face.

Table

I have an old bread board that I thought would make a nice writing table. I wanted a drawer in it, but I also wanted the drawer face to be the piece cut out for the hole. I'm sure many have figured this out before me, but it was a revelation for me.

Yes, this is all the same piece of wood.

Not wanting to make the legs I found some ready-made at Classic Designs by Matthew Burak.
The aprons are from salvaged, old growth, vertical grain fir. For the old-timers this was just lumber so it has some nail and bug holes, and like them it has character.

It is also my first doweling experience and it works great. The blue tape was to remind me which faces NOT to drill.

A preview with the top.

Announcing NWPRC

Northwest Property Rights Coalition

I'm FERCed

On September 25th, I learned that a Palomar proposed route for a 36-inch natural gas pipeline would transect my 60-acre farm. It is hard to convey how upsetting this is in a way that will make others feel equally disturbed. I know this because, I will confess, when I thought the pipeline would travel two-miles to the west, I was not as upset. “Not in my back yard? No problem then.”

What makes it so visceral that I am not eating or sleeping well?

Part of it is the piercing of the illusion that your property is inviolate. I was intellectually aware of this as a former planning commissioner in two states and one who is aware of the Fifth Amendment’s “just compensation” clause. But I will assert and confirm that nothing prepares one for the emotional impact of being stepped on by Godzilla.

Part of it is fear of the unknown. Will the pipeline leave a visible and ugly scar on the landscape spoiling the view? Will I feel the same sense of peace and tranquility that originally led me to this bucolic setting? The same sense of privacy when a corporation has license to traverse my land at any time? Will my property, part of my retirement plan, be reduced in value beyond the formulaic compensation of eminent domain?

Part of it is intensely personal. It is the height of irony that after spending 4-years of building a low-impact house (www.auerhaus.org), cleaning up and restoring a neglected farm to productivity, and doing everything possible to reduce my use of fossil fuels to the bare minimum, I find I am to become part of an IV-drip to a hydrocarbon addicted California (the place I tried to escape from).

Part of it is intensely personal 2. I am in the early stages of Parkinson’s. I may have only 5 to 10 years before I will be forced to leave the farm I love. I had planned to spend them in peaceable enjoyment of my home and property. Now it seems, even as my ability to do so wanes, I will be spending time researching LNG, attending meetings, possibly suffering a couple of summers of a massive construction project, and living in a general state of anxiety.

So call me a NIMBY, but do it with some sympathy and some respect. The bullet I take might just as well have been aimed at you.

Finished

December 5, 2006, a day that shall live in famy. One year to the day after having the house go final, it is complete. Oh sure, there are a few little things here and there, but the house as originally conceived is done. Now to start the improvements, and a few repairs ;->

Ceiling at Dawn

Snow

one-hundredth post

One Bay Down

The window trim was built as a frame and mounted with screws. The holes
were then covered with oak plugs, mimicking the oak pegs in the timber frame.

Getting Up

I don't like heights. Well, not heights so much as edges. So when the time arrived for me to put the ceiling in I was a bit hesitant. I'm also not one who has any interest in overcoming my fears. I didn't think of this as a character building exercise. Thus, in the photo you will see essentially a second (and third) floor scaffold created to reduce the sense of exposure. The first level is 10 feet in the air. The second is 3 feet above that, enabling me to reach the top at just over 20 feet.

I have new appreciation for the Sistine Chapel. All the planks are official, OSHA-stamped scaffolding planks, but they are a little bouncy. I did put one up on short blocks and bounce up and down on it before I trusted them in place.

The best thing is it signifies near completion. Setting up the scaffolding is time consuming. And in addition to the ceiling there is painting, and the window trim. I estimate completion early next year.

Pimp My Deere

Every farmer needs a cool ride with some personal touches

I painted the fire extinguisher JD green and mounted on the left.

This found item is apparently a motorcycle repair
kit housing. Painted green and mounted right.

There is NO storage space on a stock compact tractor, but having
spare parts when down in the field can save a long walk. This
was the smallest box I could find...in yellow.




The stock lights suck. These are awesome. Killed
the old battery with them. Rear facing ones are great for reverse
and night backhoe work. Night backhoe work?



Finding room on and under the tiny dash for the switches and relays
was a challenge. Lights are integrated into the stock lighting circuit.

Dual water bottles and a first-aid kit.

Added a 12-volt outlet just for the hell of it.

Controlled Leak

One problem I had to solve was where would any emergency, pressure release or leak overflow from the hot water tank in the ceiling go? I had a custom tray made for it with an outlet fitting. But the tank is located right on the cieling and there was no way to slope it to the outside. So, using a brass through-hole fitting, I discharge any water through the ceiling and let it drip into the sink. Thus it forms a visual indicator if a leak occurs.

The inspector read the code manual twice before concluding that he didn't like it, but he didn't think it was a violation.

The brass fitting is visible below the skylight.

Fit & Trim

I hate putting up trim. That is, I thought I hated it. I'd hated it before and I had procrastinated doing it all summer. But with the extended good weather I had run out of reasons not to tackle it. A big difference this time was that I would have to "make" the trim from salvaged, rough boards. As it turns out these turned out to be mostly old cedar. It was a pleasure to run the boards through the planer and 1/16th at a time watch them emerge as beautiful planks. It was sunny and downright hot and the air was filled with cedar dust and chips and scent. Even after 50 years old cedar still retains its distinctive aroma.

Finished cedar sits ready for selection next to similar boards used for siding.

The planks were planed to 7/8" thick and 3-3/4" wide and finished with linseed oil.

Trim adds the finishing touch.

Chime In

My sister and her family gave me this bell as a housewarming gift despite my stated desire to receive only items that are readible, edible or charitable ever again. Nonetheless, I admit it is quite attractive even if extravagent. I didn't hang it until now because I didn't like the metal hook it came with. I had planned to have one made, but I saw a similar bell at the Japanese garden in Portland mounted with rope. Cheap and easy.

Kitchen Done

Well phase one anyway. The gap under the sink will likely get a curtain. The gap between the drawer units is sized for a dishwasher which I will not install. Instead I plan a pull-0ut island. The stove, some year, may be surrounded by a bar or at least something to make it more attractive. But it's in and functions very well.

One thing I noticed, having all open shelving, is how much of the kitchen is hardware and how little actual food.