day . 49

today was more shoveling. i was so sore from yesterday at the start of the day. i felt like my back and ribs might break. i think i have decided i would make a terrible prison worker. we did have the radio today which made the work much more enjoyable. if shoveling can be enjoyable. after a few hours though, it was done. and looked so much better and pretty!

next i was assigned to put walk boards on the rafters over the mothers suite area so that the knee wall could have plywood put on it tomorrow. i probably took the hardest route possible to get up there. i climbed up on the opposite side i needed to be on and then shimmied over to the other side, forget getting a ladder and just walking up to where i needed to be. once i was finally there caroline handed 2x12s up to gabe and i while we hammered them down. for some reason i was having “being up high” issues today and getting freaked out. it took me by surprise because this is the first day i have been freaked out about being up in the air. hopefully i will get my sea legs back tomorrow.

day . 48

today was one of those days that was super discouraging. a group of us graded by hand, with the help of shovels, the pick axe, and a wheel barrow, the matron suite. there was no way that the trackhoe would fit through the door and the dirt had to be taken down almost 8 inches in some places to get it 2 inches below the footing. we stated by setting up the transit and marking the really bad places to work on first. the only thing to do next was shovel and shovel and shovel some more. thankfully we had cody to wheelbarrow the dirt out to the front of the building. by the end of the day the wheel barrow was on its last leg. but robert showed up with a new super nice blue one! we spent the last part of the day putting it together. it is much sturdier than the old one, it actually stands on its own. haha.

day . 47

today we continued to work on the rafter tails. once they were all cut adrain let me and a few others that stayed the whole time yesterday go early. so it was a super short day. but it is nice to have all the rafters done! looking at them all before they were cut was daunting, but with everyone working together and quickly it really didn’t take as long as i would have thought.

day . 46

it was super rainy and gross again today so we had a shop day. the goal of the day was to cut all of the 176 2x6’s that are going to be used as rafter extensions on the roof to be tapered at the end. we started off the day by trying to set up to cut them on the table saw but it would run for all of 3 mins then turn off. then it would not even turn on or sounded like it was killing something on the inside. so we decided that it would be better not to use it and try something different. we then made a jig that we could use the circular saw with. alas though when we went to start we had no saw, so adrain drove to site to pick one up. while he was gone there was nothing to do so we found an abandoned television and watched cartoons. once he got back we finally got to start. we worked on ferrying the 2x6’s from the main room to the table saw room cutting them and then ferrying them back to be sanded. we got more than half done even with all the set backs. tomorrow we will work on getting them finished.

day . 45

today was cold and rainy. But we had to get the scaffolding taken down for the company to pick up. They actually arrived before it was all taken down but we moved quickly and I ferried scaffolding from the atrium to the truck. After that more grading needed to be down so I stayed later and helped do that. But I got really cold and wet so I left about 4, and Adrian stayed and finished

day . 44

today I was in charge of grading the courtyard area. it went well, slow but well. Thankfully Adrian got there around 2 or 3 to help direct. So we got all the dirt dug out around the footings in the back for the perimeter drain and cody got to run the trackhoe too, he was happy.

day . 43

today was more trackhoe work. We started in the front of the building with the transit to see which areas needed what and how much. Cody and I shoveled along the footings to get them at the 2 inches below that they needed to be at. We were moving along quickly ten Adrian busted a pipe, which was no good. So for the next few hours cody and I dug out with our hands and the back of a hammer the dirt around the broken pipe so it could be fixed. We then moved to the kitchen and dining area to get that finished up and broke more pipes. Adrian was pissed. At the end of the day I stayed over to get a lesson in driving the trackhoe! I practiced picking up and dumping dirt from the big pile in the front. Then Adrian and I moved to the back of the building to get the machine where it need to go for tomorrow. I am super excited to run it tomorrow!

day . 42

it was another 8am Saturday and cold. We started off the day by finishing the large beam that went across the front of the entrance to support the curtain wall. We had to nail together 4 2x12’s. the thing was super hefty. After all 3 beams were assembled josh and cody carried them over and we used the “do not use as a crane” trackhoe crane to lift them into place. It was a precarious venture but it worked and the front of the building looks good. After those were in I moved to the living area to take down all the scaffolding to make room for Adrian to grade the room. I am exhausted after this week. I kept running into things and tripping today it was terrible. I stepped off the side of the ramp with a huge scaffolding in my hand and bruised the heck out of my knee. I need sleep.

day . 41

I started off the day by flying up more rafters to the people putting them in. that went pretty quickly. Josh and I fought over who got to push them up to kaytee and Michael but it was okay we split the job. Ha. After they were all up I moved to the front of the building to help make a ramp for Adrian and the bulldozer thing. We had to move dirt in front of the short pony wall to make a dirt ramp that would protect the ICFs but allow the bulldozer into the space. We moved a TON of dirt and then put wood on top that would be perpendicular to the tracks so the machine can move easily into the space. I am beginning to learn that to get anything done right and well there it a LOT of prep work that has to take place before hand. Which is sometimes hard for me because I just want to jump into doing something. But I am learning.

day . 4o

today was an interesting and adventurous day. Caroline gabe and I went all over buying and delivering wood and supplies. We had to first go unload gabes truck at his house then head to lowes. At lowes we purchased nails and screws and a belt sander and 176 2x6’s. we loaded half of them in gabes truck and headed to the gurp. We unloaded them and headed back to lowes. Robert met us there to get the nails and belt sander to take back to site, then we waited for the lowes people to load the rest of the wood. They wanted to do it with a forklift but it would have been WAY faster to just load them by hand but oh well. We took it to the gurp and unloaded again.

Once we got back to site I helped fly rafters up to people that were putting them in. it was going really fast we finished all but 3 or 4 while I was there. It is really starting to come together.

day . 39

building it is crazy. Caroline megan and I also ripped off the ICF that that had been poured separately as an experiment. It took a really long time for a 16” x 4’ panel but turned out so cool. Robert was really digging it too. I don’t know how we would do it for a large expanse but if we could pull it off it would be amazing. The studs that stick out would be awesome for mounting backlit 3-form to make a neat effect in the hallway.
more bundling today. I didn’t realize that there was SO much wood on the

day . 38

today we started off by “blitzing” the yellow scaffolding that we got from loflin because he was going to pick it up at 3! Well we got it all taken down and loaded on the holder but alas he never came and got it. Hmph. I started to help gabe take down scaffolding on the side of the building and then move it around to the other side so the tree limb could be cut down. Then I moved on to bundling more wood that was coming off the building. There was a constant flow so never a shortage of wood to bundle.

day . 37

it rained cats and dogs today again. It has been raining for like 5 days straight. We met today in the conference room and then split up into groups, and I was vountold for the shop group to move the dust collector. We left and met at site and then caravanned to lowes to get some things then I had to drive back to the site to get the hammer drill and grinder, then drove to the GURP. Cody and I got to work on moving the dust pipe from the right side to the left side of the table saw. It was getting all in the way when wood was being cut so we had to move it out of the way. Once that was done we fixed the table saw protective arm which was a pain! but it was a productive day in the shop.

day . 36

today was the last day before spring break! Woo hooo! I drove my jeep to site because it was so nice out so that was a fun start to the day. We started the day figuring out how to use to wood bundler. Which was terribly confusing. It shouldn’t have been but it was. Haha so cody and I got to bundling, and finished early for spring break! I am glad to have a break, I am exhausted.

day . 35

getting back to site after not being there for 5 days was weird! We finished pouring the last of the concrete and taking off braces as the concrete was set. it was a much nicer day than the first day we poured which was nice and it was not nearly as exciting but thats okay we have walls now!

day . 34

today denise and I went to charlotte to a construction expo at the convention center. It was a lot of fun. We got to talk to a lot of different people about the project and everyone seemed really excited about it and wanted to know more. We sat in on a presentation in the morning about sustainability,

day . 33

so today beaucse of the mass amount of snow we didn’t work on site, but denise, megan and I made a flyer for a construction conference that denise and I are going to attend tomorrow. We needed to make something to hand out to everyone and hopefully get some donations or just good buzz around the project.

day . 32

no studio today because we poured on friday….also it snowed! like 6 inches! crayness.