More Walls, Less Box

 

Behold, the Great Wall of Gibson.

I have no idea why it took me so long to do this post, except to say that that is life. C’est la vie. I was tired, it was dark, we went out with friends twice and once by ourselves. After all the times I said that I didn’t have anything to post though, it is ridiculous that it took me over a week to put these pictures up.

Mr. B and I made a push and installed all of the interior wall framing! it is interesting how doing one job (putting mesh up on the outside of the house) leads to another job (wiring the inside of the house) and then another job (finishing the framing). Mr. B finished wiring all of the bale walls, we finished putting up the framing, and we are about ready to start meshing the inside of the house. Interior framing is required for meshing because the mesh needs to be stapled to the wall top, bottom, and also pieces of plywood attached to the wall framing (see picture below).

Framing the walls excited me to no end and really gave me a boost of enthusiasm for the house that I’ve been lacking. Not only does it visually say PROGRESS, but it brings us another step closer to moving in. I like to play six degrees of separation with the house tasks. For example, now that the walls are up:

1) Finish meshing interior.

2) Finally get all loose straw out of house and clean up (I am tired of respiratory problems caused by said loose straw).

3) Finish meshing exterior.

4) Put up Tyvek on exterior (and lower heating bills).

5) Wire house.

6) Plumb house.

7) Drywall!! We have decided to pay someone to do 100% of the drywall work.

8) Real lights installed so we can finally see everything.

9) Interior plaster.

10) Move in!

OK, so more than 6 steps, but still. PROGRESS. Although Mr. B and I initially planned to move into the house one plumbing was in (read: toilette), the weather has been so mild this winter that the camper hasn’t been as traumatizing as I originally thought. Sure, things are getting a little funky and damp, and the carpet will never be clean again, but it is still better than living in a construction zone which persists in being filthy and sneeze/cough inducing. We might move in before the interior plaster and just move between rooms as they are finished. People keep asking us when we’ll be able to move in and at this point I can say that I have no idea and laugh, which is a nice change from the teeth gritting I was doing a few months ago. January has been one of those months that feels like it went by very quickly and with limited daily house progress, but I also can’t believe that it is still January and we got so much done on the house (including appliance purchase and pickup). Knowing that someone else will be doing the huge job of drywall also makes me feel like progress is going to be quicker after this point.

A side note: Here are some pictures of our snow that I promised. Today it is 50, rainy, and icy as all get out, but for a few days we had glorious snow. They even shut down schools in Missoula, so you know it was serious.

One day's worth of snow - 0 to 2 feet.

Tempe dog.

The house did not collapse under the weight.