greenspree.ca at The Sietch

Time for an update on the house! “Step Five – Stucco” has been started but put on hold! We got caught by the cold and snowy weather and the fact that we were relying on hoses run from my sister-in-laws house for water to make the stucco and only managed to get two walls covered with the discovery coat. We tarped the exterior as well as we could and are going to concentrate on interior work for the time being.

Speaking of interior work, here is what we have gotten done since the last update on stucco. We bought and installed a second hand wood stove (yay heat!). The stove is a Lakewood “Unicorn” model that was produced in New Brunswick. It’s called the “unicorn” model because the cast iron doors on the front of it have unicorns cast into it. It’s a catalytic stove and there is next to no info on it on the web. We are learning it’s quirks and are grateful for the amount of heat it gives of and the blower that came with it that circulates the heat nicely.

To keep that heat inwe had to install the remaining windows and tried to complete the soffits. We only had one soffit complete and have been snowed or winded out of returning to the scaffolding to finish it. So westopped up any gaps in the roof with fibreglass batts and hoped for the best. It seems to be working pretty good so far unless there are really high winds.

We also have completed 99% of the interior partition work with just a few chases and closet walls to finish. Having walls has transformed the place into a building that feels like a home not a barn! The sloped ceilings on the second floor made framing a little more time consuming and finicky but we think we did a pretty good job. It also illuminated some technical issues like where and how to route the ventilation shaft and how much room we have or haven’t got.

This week the plumbers and electricians were in and did their rough-ins. We only had to get the electricians to move a few things and that was mostly my fault. Lighting choices and light and switch locations were a stressful and sometimes frustrating chore this week as was getting certain things built and or rebuilt to accommodate changes and oversights for the workers. We had a few late nights this week followed by early mornings as we tried to get work done around our full time jobs.

We have some little visitors in our house too! We have trapped 5 mice so far and I know there are more! The warmth and ample food (leftover grains and oats in the bales) have made our house irresistible to them! We are adopting two kittens from a friend and are thinking about moving them into the house once the attic in insulated and the house is warmer on more consistent basis so they can help with mousing!

Over the next month we hope to get the ventilation work done, insulate the attic and finish the soffits, get the well pump installed and the main power feed hooked up. We are also expecting our exterior doors at the beginning of January. Lots more work to do but some real progress this week!