Timber Frame - Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage

Back From Thanksgiving

2009-11-30T15:04:00.000-08:00

My Reflection in the PV Panels

I love the way the sun looks in the evenings around this time of year, so I took a lot of pictures today. It was nice to come back to such a relaxing place after spending 18 hours in a car (not my idea of a good time). So to catch up with the project, we spent a couple days before I left last week plastering the loft.

Here I am a couple of weeks ago installing the recessed lighting in the observatory roof. We then insulated the ceiling from below as we nailed the finished ceiling up.

The light was hitting the house just right this evening. I couldn't resist snapping a picture from this angle again.

Here is the finished plaster around one of the windows.

Here you can see the smooth texture of the finish plaster. It has such a soft, natural feeling.

Official End of the Building Season

2009-11-09T15:12:00.000-08:00

The building season is now over. Some of us have moved on to new adventures. Some of us are starting our own projects. Jennifer and I are continuing to work on the project but we can definitely feel things are slowing down. We have been working on the loft, trying to get it finished so I can move into it for the winter. Right now I am living in Gnome Castle, an earthbag dome built by Jeff over the past 2 years. It is nice and cozy.

Jeff inside his dome installing the wood stove.

Here is randy trimming the rafter tails on the 3 foot overhang of the observation roof. He is tied with a rope which I am holding behind him while he dangles 40 feet up in the air using a circular saw. It was an intense moment.

Horacio, Jennifer, and I are enjoying some of the food during our end of the season cookout. This was our party (on Halloween day) to commemorate the end of the building season and th celebrate all that we have accomplished this summer.

We had grilled veggies. SO GOOD!

Group photo. That night we had a community wide traveling Halloween party where people would host a short party at their home, then the whole group would continue to the next place. What a crazy group!

2009-10-29T06:25:00.000-07:00

We have started installing the observatory. It is a 360 degree window around the top of the loft. The hope is to bring in as much natural light as possible. Alex's design has been in the works since July and the steel post that support the roof and house the windows has just arrived. These custom made window are going to look spectacular.

Jennifer and Horacio are talking about design (always). Fall has arrived and the leaves are starting to chance colors.
Here I am doing the first layer of earthen plaster on the loft. It is such a great material (clay, sand, & straw) because you can use your bare hands and it feels nice between your fingers. It is so plastic that you can sculpt it into any shape, but we have decided to make it smooth/flat on the straw walls.
Horacio is so proud of his work. It looks great because he spent many hours getting it exactly how he wanted. I remember him working past 7 PM last week (with a flashlight) because he loves earthen plaster so much.

We have all been talking about how nice it is to enjoy the work we are doing. At times, it almost seems like it is not even work, which is why we often work late - even after it gets dark

This is the mural that Horacio etched into the lime plaster.

2nd Coat of Plaster

2009-10-14T06:29:00.000-07:00

This week we started the second coat of lime plaster! It is only Wednesday and we should finish it this afternoon. It is going so fast.

We are done with light-clay straw as well. This is Owen mixing it for the hundredth time.

The craziest thing occurred last week. I was the first one on the site one morning and went into the loft, only to find a screech owl in there. It was freaking out because all the windows were closed and he could figure out how to get out (I think it came in the rough opening of the downstairs door). There were pepper nails everywhere, so we were worried about puncturing it's wings when it was freaking out. Tony and Rachel came over with a net on a stick and scooped the owl up and released it far away from the village. They said he flew away easily with little to no harm done. They were such piercing eyes, as if he was looking into your soul.

We finally put in all the doors on the lower level, so hopefully no more owls will be getting caught in the loft. Here, you see Owen and Jennifer trying to get the door to fit.

It is starting to feel as if the building season is winding down. We've lost one crew member, Owen, who has gone to Sandhill Farm for the rest of the season. Also, we got a new crew member, Randy, who has been integrating the last few days. His help has been much appreciated.

Its amazing to take a step back at the end of each day/week/month and to see how much we have accomplished. For me, it seems like it is going by so fast.

A Small Update

2009-09-30T15:38:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to post a few more pictures after yesterday, showing what we got done today. Things look a little better now, after finishing the lime-washed siding. Here is the final product.

I also forgot to mention the installment of the chimney flue. Bear spent a lot of time on it and it is finally completely water proof and looks cool too. This is a view up through the middle of it (from the loft).

Today Owen and I did the first coat of lime plaster around the clearstory windows. We can finally take the tarps down, which makes it look so much better.

Cool picture of the outside of a mortise and tenon joint.

Fall Is Here!

2009-09-29T15:06:00.001-07:00

Siding, Light-Clay Straw, & Plaster. The 3 things that have occupied most of my time.

This is one of the completed light-clay straw walls in the loft. We essentially mix a bunch of loose straw with a water-mud mix and cram it in the stud cavities. The forms keep it in place until it dries and then it is hard enough to plaster over. It can be rather time consuming, but peaceful at the same time because it doesn't use power tools or require any other loud noises.

The siding on the loft is acting as the permanent for on the backs of the walls. Here you see the lime washed boards we installed today. Some of the boards have not had the lime wash rubbed in/off, so they are still white. Eventually, the whole wall will look like the darker shaded boards, which will be the same color as the lime plaster on the rest of the house.

Bear and I installing siding on the south facing wall of the loft.

Mark and Ali plastering. Yesterday we spent the morning helping Mark at his house. He is doing an earthen plaster on his straw bale barn. He spent a lot of time getting the walls to be completely flat, and it looks amazing.

Mark's dry fit rocket stove. In preparation for moving into the barn this winter, Mark and his interns have started to build the rocket stove that will keep his family warm.

Cole staying warm (and looking cute) on a breezy autumn morning.

2009-09-16T14:21:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about doing some kind of relief artwork in the final coat of the plaster. Some cool artwork around the village has been my inspiration. This is Bella Ciao, a house right next to the Timber Frame.

I know Alex will like this. This is the first of the four manufactured post that will support the lookout tower. Hopefully these will be done soon.
We finished the oak siding on the east wall of the loft. What a beautiful wood it is.
The insulation guys came today with their blown in cellulose (recycled newspaper) and finished all the ceilings in only a few hours. We have almost completely sealed the whole building.
We started putting on the fascia. They are oak too, finished with linseed oil.

Busy!

2009-09-10T14:31:00.000-07:00

We have been so busy. I feel like I have not had time to update the blog in the longest time. A lot has change since the last post. Alex has gone back home to London and will start classes soon in South Wales. We will miss him greatly and he was amazing in helping with the Timber Frame addition. He gave us a concert a few weeks ago of all the songs he had written both here and before he arrived. We made a amphitheater out of straw bales and he performed in the Timber Frame.

It was nice to have six people working on the site for a few weeks, which made thing go incredibly fast. Last week we started and completed the first layer of lime plaster, mixing several batches a day. Led by me, and thanks to help of BJ and some visitors, the crew managed to do a great job, with strikingly quick speed. I am the self proclaimed plaster guru of the crew.

I have started putting on the window frames I've been making. We have also done a few courses of light clay/straw.

This is the siding on the loft that we started putting up today. It is oak that was locally harvested and milled right here in Scotland County, Mo. We spent 2 days routing and finishing the boards to better waterproof them.

Here you see a batch of some experimental bricks that I have been making on weekends. I think they will be used somewhere in the house, but I don't know exactly where yet.

This is the view from the roof of the addition. The wild flowers are in full bloom right now. It is so beautiful.

Some flowers in front of Jennifer's front door.

Wild flowers on the path to the ultimate frisbee field.

Back From My Break!

2009-08-24T15:11:00.000-07:00

So it has been a few weeks since my last update. I went back to North Carolina last week to be in Malachi's wedding. It was a nice break from all the work, but it is nice to be back. It was a beautiful wedding and it was nice to catch up with old friends. We had a wild and crazy time!

When I got back from NC last Thursday, I cooked dinner with Owen that night then went to bed tired from travel. Friday morning we work a half day on the Timber Frame, then left after lunch for St. Louis. Friday night we got to Dana's house (we met her at the last Ultimate tournament in Columbia) and got settled in before heading out to a potluck with another community. They were an awesome group, mostly teachers, and fed us amazing freegan food. We left with heaps of bread they got dumpster diving at Whole Foods. After potluck, Owen, Tony, Alex, Horacio, Jennifer, and I went to the City Museum, the coolest place on Earth. It is an amazing man-made maze made for magical mania (my description). We spent hours climbing through the mazes, going down massive slides, playing on the adult size ball-pit, and of course drinking beers. We went back to Dana's to pass out around 1 am. The next morning we woke up early. While we ate breakfast, Jennifer took Owen and Tony to an Ultimate Frisbee tournament where everyone put their names in a hat and drew them randomly to decide the teams. Tony's team took first place. Alex, Horacio, Jennifer, and I went to the farmers market where Horacio bought some jalapeños for making salsa. When then walked down Flora Ave. to look at all the cool house on our way to Sweet Art (a vegan friendly cafe). Then we we met up with John (a DR visitor from earlier this year) who took us to the Botanical Gardens.

It was amazing too. We walk around for a few hours and still didn't see it all. Overall, it was a magnificent trip and a great escape to the big city. Oh, and we saw the arch.

So as for the building project, a lot has happened since I was gone. They finished all the straw bale walls! Hooray!!! Today Horacio and I put the ridge cap on the loft section of roof (above) which signified the end of installing metal roofing.

We also started installing windows today and they all look absolutely fabulous. We still have a few more of those to go.

The upstairs wiring is also complete (has been for a while) which I forgot to mention.
I'm sure there is a lot I am leaving out because it has been so long since the last update. Horacio got back the same day I left for the wedding, so now, for the first time all year, we have all the work exchangers here and the project is starting to fly by.

Time to go give Nani a guitar lesson.

Every Day Brings Something New

2009-08-05T15:31:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since my last update, but we have been so busy I've forgotten to stay up to date. Alex and I finished the soffits before lunch time today! This is really exciting because it feels like we have been hammering over our heads forever. It is so nice to be done with that.

The past couple of days have be spent largely focusing on getting the building as water tight as possible so we can start putting the bales in (hopefully by tomorrow). We have done flashing around the loft window and around the foundation.

Bear spent most of today designing/building the overhang on the clear-story. Once he got the purlins on, we all spent the last hour or so putting tarps over all the unfinished parts of the house that we think might potentially leak water.

A short blog, I know. It's the pictures that are important. We should start putting in the bales tomorrow (if its not raining). HORRAY!

A Busy Week Gone

2009-07-26T15:38:00.000-07:00

This past week was extremely productive. Thursday and Friday we ended up finishing the framing of the final wall in the upstairs lookout (seen here). It was kind of frustrating for me because Jennifer and I got it done before lunch on Friday and went out to look at it from far away and realized the top plate was very bowed (over 1"). Alex and I fixed after lunch in less than 1 hour. We are amazing!Meanwhile, Owen and Bear spent the day working on the finished ceiling on the north side (1st floor). After Alex and I finished the wall framing upstairs, he went back to the computer to finalize his design of the lookout windows, while I helped Owen and Bear finish the ship-lap ceiling. With rotational sanding rounds, we were able to finish just after 4. With a cold beer and a swim in the pond calling, it was a great way to end a week of hard work.
It has been a few weeks or so since I realized how we were powering the whole work site. At first it didn't occur to me, but when I plug in a saw, sander, or some other power tool, I'm not sending harmful pollution into the atmosphere. Seen below are the solar panels that have been powering saws, recharging the battery powered hand tools, and keeping our beers cold for that special moment at the end of a hard day. Before coming here, I had no idea the extent of the power of the magical panels. I thought there would be no way we could rip boards on a table saw for an hour, if it was powered by solar panels. It feels good to be off the grid and still be able to use all the useful technology that goes into building.
I know not everyone wants to live off the grid, or even understands how it can be done, but this just feels right for me. I think if more people started living like the folks here at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, the world would start becoming a more enjoyable place to live for everyone.

Building Update

2009-07-22T18:33:00.001-07:00

The past couple of days have been somewhat eventful around the timber frame site. Alex has been detailing the "lookout" window of the loft, spending much of the day working with Auto-CAD. We have had the chance to check off many things from the list of items which can seem overwhelming at times. Bear spent today framing the south facing clear-story windows. The plan is to use straw-bales on this wall to take advantage of their high R-value. The south facing windows should let in a bunch of light to the living space (kitchen/living room area). With a properly sized overhang these windows should block out the summer sun (when it is higher in the sky) and allow direct sunlight during the winter (when it is lower in the sky). The plan is to continue the overhang from the existing timber frame, but we may have to make it shorter because it seems this large of an overhang would block all the direct sunlight year-round. Jennifer is thinking of incorporating louvers of some kind into the overhang, but the design has yet to take form.

Jennifer and I spent most of today (with a short break to help a neighbor raise a post) framing the east wall of the lookout loft. Once again, this wall is at a complicated angle, and with the design of the window above it, we had to do compound miter cuts on the ends of all the joists. We also spent the morning fixing the top plate of the adjacent south wall (for the second time now) so that the metal we order to frame the custom sized window we are making, fits exactly. Here is Jennifer conquering her fear of heights while using the reciprocating saw over 30 feet in the air. The framing is nearing completion. Hopefully we will start putting in bales soon.

Earlier this week we all spent some time putting up hardware cloth around the entire exterior of the first floor. This is the first line of defense against the mice that so eagerly try to invade the straw-bale walls. In fact, the existing timber frame walls have been invaded by mice, but the mice are unable to get all the way inside of the house because the original builder put the hardware cloth on the interior of the straw-bales (for some reason). We are hoping to learn for this mistake.

Owen and I have spent some time over the past two days beginning to install the fascia and soffits using reclaimed ship-lap. The inner fascia (as we are calling it) is meant to hold in the blown-in cellulose insulation in the ceiling cavities. This is what you see a picture of below.

We spent a sufficient amount of time yesterday waterproofing all the bales, walls, and ceilings. Got to keep those bales dry!

We made the paper!!!

2009-07-21T15:34:00.001-07:00

This is the site. We made the paper, we did.

We all liked the part about be unshaven and wearing dirty clothing. Hope you enjoy the article.

All work and no play? NOT AT ALL!

2009-07-19T08:06:00.000-07:00

Last week many of the members, visitors, and work exchangers took Thursday off from working to float down the Des Moines River in our kayaks, canoes, and various other makeshift floatation devices. Drinking beer, eating amazing food, and floating/swimming in the fast flowing river made for an all around enjoyable all day event. I believe it was the break from building we all needed. What a gregarious group it was.

Yesterday 9 of us traveled to Columbia, MO to participate in the Show-Me Games Ultimate Frisbee competition. We decided on the team name of Red Hill Rabbits (a combination of the 3 surrounding communities that comprised our team - Red Earth Farms, Sandhill, and Dancing Rabbit). We were definitely the most ragtag team there, which helped us pick up 3 extra teammates (Sarah, Mark, & Pedro) who were looking for a team. Since our field at Dancing Rabbit is about half the size of a regulation field, we normal play 4 on 4. The new 7 on 7 made for quite a challenge for some of us who had never played competitively before. Our first game started out well, being up by 4 points or so, but ended up loosing to the Cleveland Steamers 12-13. The next two games were much more challenging, playing all male teams who had been playing together for years. Next, we took on an all women's team from St. Louis. With both teams being exhausted and tired of loosing, it turned into more of a friendly practice match without much score keeping. Some of our players then decided to join forces with them for their next game, giving those college students a run for their money. All in all, it was a fun (but very long and tiring) day.

We also met two journalism students from MU who were sent to write a story on the Ultimate Frisbee tournament. After talking with our team before any others, they decided to change the topic of their article community living and how it relates to the game of Ultimate Frisbee (I think). When I find their article I will be sure to post it up here.

Back at DR this morning we woke up to our 2nd and final straw bale delivery of around 150 bales. This picture is only a portion of them, but you can see the finished ceiling that Jennifer and I work so hard, until after 5:30, on Friday to finish.

2009-07-17T04:53:00.000-07:00

Meet The Crew!

Jennifer Martin - It is her house who we are all building.

Papa Bear - Member of Dancing Rabbit and the most experienced builder of us all.

Owen - Experienced builder and ex-member of Twin Oaks in Virginia.

Horacio - Architect from Mexico.

Dave - Building scientist from North Carolina.

Alex - Architecture student from England.

Owen left, Jennifer right.

Horacio

Papa Bear

Owen

Bear and Alex finishing the metal roof on the North side.

Owen and I (Dave) installing the purlins on the loft.

2009-07-14T10:45:00.000-07:00

Today I am planning on catching you up to speed. With lots of pictures from the past year, you will see what has been going on around the timber frame addition. Let's start in order. August 2008 commenced the ground breaking of the addition with the excavation for the two 1700 gallon cisterns.

Once the forms for the foundation were in place the pouring of the concrete occurred. This is Jennifer's son finishing up with the trowel.

Bear spent a very long time working on the timber framing which would be raised into place earlier this year. After the raising of the timber frame, the exterior wall framing and roof framing began. These took the better part of a month or so, in which I arrived on site about half way through. When I got to Dancing Rabbit we finished the rafters and started putting on the purlins with hopes of getting the metal roofing on so that we could keep water out of are building space. Here is a picture of the nearly complete framing before any of the metal roofing installation began.

Most recently we have been installing the metal roofing. We will be finishing the north roof soon and should be moving on to bigger better things. Here is Owen, Bear, and I working on the roofing of the loft.

2009-07-13T18:46:00.000-07:00

Let's start!

A summer of natural building.

This is the existing timber frame. The original structure broke ground in 1998. Built by Aaron Corbin, it incorporates passive solar design keeping it significantly warm in the winter. The original structure is a post and beam (joined by the traditional mortise and tenon style) strawbale building. The building was originally designed for a small family, with a loft for a child's bedroom, and room for a small kitchenette. The passive solar design gives significant warmth on a sunny winter day.

Jennifer Martin, the current owner, has decided to add on to the east side of the existing structure keeping the timber frame strawbale building method. The original plan is to add two bedrooms on the ground floor, a small kitchen area, a bathroom, and a second story loft with a lookout.

The building season started early this year with two wexers (our term for work exchangers), Horacio and Owen, arriving quite early. Bear, a member of Dancing Rabbit and experienced builder would also be joining the team in his free time. I (Dave) arrived in mid-June from North Carolina, and Alex in early July, from London, England. With the number of people working on the project increasing, our rate of progress continues to grow.

Here is a picture of the first timber frame wall being erected. It took a whole crew of villagers many hours to get it into place.

I will be posting more past, present, and future information on the timber frame.