Building/moving to a new house – day 77

Home is where the hearth is

I have come to Floyd for a few days to push through some of the dozens of obstacles that crop up during the final phases of a house-building project.

There are a many incomplete items that are critical to making the house habitable: shingles and siding, electrical power, DSL/telephone, heat, water, septic, etc. The list goes on and on, because placing a modular home on the foundation is just the beginning of a complex series of related activities.

My primary target this trip was to construct a hearth and backplate for the primary source of heat in  this house. This raised hearth supports a cast iron stove weighing 420 pounds and a daily supply of wood for the stove. This highly efficient wood stove should heat the entire house for about four years with the wood we cut down to make room for the house. Since the completely installed stove and chimney system will cost approximately $2000, this gives us an annual heating bill that will be quite acceptable.

The hearth will be tiled tomorrow, so I put in a long day to get the hearth ready for the tile contractor. This hearth is constructed of 3/4 inch plywood on a platform of 2×6’s placed on edge. The final version of the hearth will have a cherry facing to complement the hardwood floor which we will install in the next few weeks.

The picture shows temporary trim strips around the borders of the hearth and back plate. This allows the tile contractor to install the tile to the exact dimensions required. When the tiling is done and the stove is completely installed, I will replace these strips with the final facing.

Even though I have been working long hours, I did get a chance to see fellow blogger, Doug Thompson, at work. He was covering the Floyd County High school Lady Buffs basketball game for the Floyd Press. His outstanding action photos are the result of a lot of hard work.

I took a few pictures of the game myself and discovered why a professional like Doug uses a Canon EOS-1D Mark II. He shoots the action close-up where a flash would distract the athletes. My Sony DSC-F828 does not have the speed necessary to capture the action of a fast-paced game with available light.