JayBee: Ode to Imperfection
This project has brought me to a place of feeling okay about imperfection. (Okay, okay, calm down, those who know me and know what a perfectionist I can be.) I swear it's true. This project is full of things that have ended up just a little bit off. Working with wood is like that anyway. Wood moves. It can bend, twist, shrink, and expand. When framing would end up a little uneven, I'd tell myself I could adjust for it with the finish materials. This project is now at the point when not much more can be covered over. The finish materials show. I am happy with how things are turning out but, along with that, I have reached the point of just smiling when there's a little wonky bit here or a slightly-off bit there. Most of it no one else will ever notice, but I know it's there.
Here's a small example: Up to this point, I hadn't had to install two boards with their butt ends together. I had installed all boards that were long enough to run corner to corner. Knowing I would have to join two boards end to end at some point, I used some scraps to work up this prototype. First try, and I liked it. Rather than join the butt ends of the boards together, which would never stay tight enough to look good, I decided to do a series of angle cuts. The left board has a continuous 45-degree angle cut that slides under the right board. The right board has an angle cut that matches the left board. Then, the right board has an additional angle cut on the top edge of the board that goes in the opposite direction--which results in this. If the boards shrink or swell a bit, this joint will continue to look good.
Great prototype--but, then, I failed to implement the plan correctly. On my first real use of this join, I made the last cut go halfway down through the top board, instead of only a third of the way through. (Learned my lesson for future cuts!) I could have set this board aside and cut a new one, but I installed it anyway (see below), with the resulting small gap at the bottom of the join, because I think this joint will be covered with the window trim. Others may never see this error, but I will know it's there.
My July 4th week was not as productive as I had thought it would be. For one, it was deadly hot and humid! Once the weather gets that oppressive, my energy just plummets. Next, I had a terrible outbreak of caterpillar rash. Instead of individual rashy bits breaking out a few at a time, as had been the case up until last Monday, all of this (below) broke out at once. My neck and chest were on fire! Ended up seeing a doctor and filling a few prescriptions. Best source of relief: running ice cubes continuously back and forth across my neck.
I also finally moved the steps in front of the JayBee. I had been using the small stepladder to get in and out of the house but, once I started moving that ladder inside to work up high on the walls, it got too frustrating. When we finally had a cool day, I moved the steps.
One more row done high up on the north and east walls.
Two more rows of boards installed in the bathroom.
Here's one for the annals of "You Know You're Taking Too Long..."
You know you're taking too long to build your house when someone who started building her tiny house when I started mine has not only lived in her tiny house for five plus years, but has now moved on to an entirely different living situation--(not because her tiny failed her, but because her life changed). <sigh> And I'm not even done building mine yet. See Ella's story.
Also see:
Interior Walls 1
Interior Walls 2
Interior Walls 3
Interior Walls 4
Interior Walls 5
Interior Walls 6
Interior Walls 7
Interior Walls 8
Interior Walls 9
Interior Walls 10
Interior Walls 12
Interior Walls 13
Interior Walls 14
Interior Walls 15
My son trying out his paddle board on the Kennebec River...
Yup, he's way out there, to the left of the red buoy, paddling back from the far side.
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