Weekly Update: 10.12.24
We have walls.
Actual walls.
Wood panels that you cannot see through.
It is so surreal -- when Grace and I finished putting up the last board in our soon-to-be laundry closet, we were almost tearful. It's been such a long, wild adventure getting here. We thought we could build a house. But now, we know we can.
The boards for our interior siding arrived on Monday. The Menards driver, Randy, unloaded 2,400 one-by-four boards on several pallets. Randy has been one of our regular delivery guys since we started our project. He joked about his first trip out to our place, when we "just had a hole in the ground". It's likely that this is his last trip to our place, as we don't foresee anymore large orders. As soon as the truck pulled away, we got to work. Dad had spent the morning building a table saw jig to make ripping our shiplap easier. Once we had our boards, he did some fine-tuning to his jig, then he started milling boards. He showed Grace and I how to use the jig as well, though we only ended up milling a few ourselves this week. Dad and Levi kept us well supplied.
Grace and I went to work installing the siding as soon as Dad was finished with it. We started with the back wall of our water heater closet. It gave us the opportunity to get a feel for the siding in an area that won't be seen very often. The wall turned out well, though we decided to mill special boards to go along the top and bottom of each wall, not only for a consistent look, but so we had some space between the siding and the floor.
Grace and I continued hanging siding all week. It was slow going, and each of the first walls was a learning process. Our niece Chloe helped us quite a bit, as we often needed another pair of hands. We started out using a laser level on the top board only, then finished the wall with a regular hand-held level. After we finished the laundry closet, we switched to using the laser level for every row. This was a bit more time-consuming, but the results were more consistent. It was still a struggle to keep our rows straight on the larger walls, since many of our boards are slightly bowed. The issue comes with the territory of using budget lumber, and we are making the best of it. The end result is beautiful. It's rustic of course, but that is the look we were going for. And we can't get over the fact that we have real shiplap siding -- for less than the price of beaded plywood.
Aside from the siding, we got quite a bit done. We installed the last window in our living room, and we winterized the front and back doors. We finished insulating our floors. Almost our whole family worked on it on Saturday. We stapled batt insulation between the joists, then Levi and Jeremiah got a good start on putting hardware cloth over the top -- to hold it in place and deter pests. We also added some insulation to our bathroom once we moved some building supplies we had stored in there. We debated putting a ladder in the bathtub, then Grace decided just to stand on extra insulation piled there.
While we have been going full speed in the bunkhouse, Bonnie-Jean and Erin have been keeping the homestead running -- taking care of the laundry, gardening, and cooking.
On Thursday night, we were treated again to the northern lights. I still can't get over the strange miracle of seeing them so far south. Truly, "the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork" (Psalm 19:1).
It was an encouraging week -- the kind that makes you feel ready for more challenges. This weekend is the fourth anniversary of the first time we walked our property, back when we were living in Branson and scouring the state for our perfect place. It seems fitting that we will spend our "land-iversary" going to Springfield to pick up supplies for our woodstove hearth. With a possible first frost on the forecast, we want to get our woodstove installed as soon as we can. We are also hurrying to finish the kitchen portion of our walls and flooring before the appliances come next week. It's busy and exciting and -- to repeat myself, surreal. With God's help, we found our land. With God's help, we built a house. Now, Lord willing, we start the fun process of turning it into a home.