This week, my parents drove down 4 hours (from Canada) to help me out for a week. We got in the remainder of the steel studs and finished the lath and strap. Here is the timelapse video;
I had actually hoped to get to the shotcrete this week, but, as hard as we worked, we still have a few more days to go. I also have not yet got ahold of my Shotcrete guy, which is not a good sign…
For the next few days, I will try to get the rest of the rebar and electrical in place. I am still waiting on the N-12 pipe that I plan to use for the earth tubes and duct work. It should arrive soon. I am also getting a pair of tires and a few other parts to fix up my Skid Steer. Meanwhile, I am a bit concerned about the budget and getting very concerned about the schedule. It has been such a cool summer that I am guessing we will have an early and cold winter.
But at least the house is looking pretty cool.
Many lessons were learned over the past few weeks that I will eventually write down. One of the key lessons was that you have to brace and then strap before you add the lath… I will write out more after I see how things turned out with the shotcrete. I am concerned that the lath may bulge inward (like an overstuffed quilt) and make for a very difficult inner surface to plaster. I am still pretty confident that the lath backing is superior to the rigid insulation backing that Formworks uses.
In the sourcing area, I had a few ups and downs. One thing was that I bought another ton of #4 and 20 pieces of #3 rebar and found that I was billed almost double what I had paid for a ton in the past. I should have haggled. I won’t let that happen again. I also bought several tools for working with rebar. I had to buy them on Amazon.com because none of my local stores carry them. Some worked very well, such as my (made in China) rebar hickey. Others didn’t work well at all, such as my (also made in China) wire twisting pliers. I also had some hiccups ordering the earth tube pipes, but those details are as boring as they were frustrating.
I spent a starry night out at the property with my father and two boys. Of course, I checked out the North Star (Polaris) and confirmed that I was off true north by about 5 degrees (toward magnetic north instead). Oh well, I probably should have set it up via the stars instead of the combination of a smartphone app, a compass and a map of magnetic declination. Five degrees won’t effect performance much.
My bank swallows are feeding their chicks. It turns out that hungry chicks are even noisier than mating swallows. I got some pics and video here.
I asked my father to help me with an anti-theft device for my Skid Steer. Apparently, they are very often stolen from building 
sites and then used to steal other stuff. This is made easier by the fact that one key fits most skid steers of the same brand. This was my fathers solution. ==>
Actually, as effective as removing the front wheels is, my father is an automotive electrician, so he came up with something much better than that, but it is top secret. Taking off the tires was just to get new ones… It turns out that I would need new tires to drive Over the Tire Tracks anyway, so lets see if they help me get around on the sand without the expensive tracks.
Earlier in the week, we did actually use the Skid steer to move some dirt around to level the port-o-potty. The kids each drove it (sitting on my lap) and really enjoyed it. Of course, their mother was not around for that, so there are no photos.
That’s it for now. Later this week, I will be going out with friends to work on rebar and electrical. Actually, I think these are tasks I can also do on my own if I have to.