Windows and doors are in!

We finished up putting all the windows and doors in today. It really
feels like a house to me now. We got the beautiful solid oak door you
see in the picture second hand for 100.00 dollars. They are around
1500.00 new.

Windows and doors

We have all the windows and doors in except for one! At first I was
worried about this part, but I decided to plunge in and ( with the
help of the internet ) taught myself how to install and flash windows.

More windows

I have put over half the windows in now. They still need flashing
details. I picked up some self adheasive flashing tonight. Using
recycled windows saves heaps of money. It is more work though. I had
to scrape old caulking off
one of them which took some time. Some need repairs. I rebuilt the
frames for four of them. I have ended up with three different types of
windows for mounting which makes me change gears a bit. On the bright
side, I now have experience with each kind! All new windows with nail
flanges would be super easy, probably a one day job. If I wanted easy,
I guess I would have paid somebody to build the whole house for me :)
Overall, I say recycled is worth the extra effort. Again, I have a
little over 300.00 in all my windows. I saved thousands of dollars,
and when all said and done, will have fine working windows.

First window!

I'm very proud to have put in my first window today. It was far less
complicated than I imagined. I still need to apply the self adhesive
flashing, but the window is in and level.
I also stuffed and boarded up the corner bucks. I started applying
house wrap to any wood that will be exposed to the plaster. That will
be followed up by burlap for the plaster to stick too.

Progress

All of the outside walls have been weedeated. The boards with the
holes are frieze boards. They cover the open space between the walls
and the roof. I drilled two inch holes for ventilation and stapled
wire mesh behind them. I calculated the exact number of holes for the
volume of the roof space. We also found a source for clay for the
adobe. The last picture is our clay. We got it from a well know
pottery company in the area. Clay City Pottery, in Clay City. I figure
they must have good clay with a name like that.

Windows

Today, I started working on the windows. I got four of my large
windows at a building recycle center for 17.00 dollars each. I bought
80.00 dollars worth of treated wood to rebuild all four frames. The
picture is of the window I framed today. It was much easier than I
thought. The other three shouldn't take more than two days. Using
recycled windows saved me about 1500.00 on those four windows alone.

This is cool

The wall on the left has been weedeated, and the wall on the right has
not. The weedeated wall makes an ideal surface for plaster to stick to.