6/6/19
Building Summary: Today I began by measuring, marking, and cutting plywood for the inside of Wall #6. This was followed by my doing the same for the insulation board, albeit with the insulation I had to piece it together because I was using scrap board from prior Jacobhouse activities and from a stencil that Padre and Wag made to help Charlie* cut a piece of metal for one of the farm’s feed wagons.
Commentary: There were two points of enjoyment / interest this morning. First, there was the fact that my sawed and sliced pieces of ½” plywood and insulation board fit exactly how they were supposed to within their cavities, and now that the plywood is blocked** in place, it has granted the exterior flashing a sturdy surface to lay against. Indeed, the outside of Wall #6 now feels truly solid.
The second point of interest (this one was not what I would call enjoyable) is the fact that a massive bee colony has moved into the utility pole about ten yards away from Jacobhouse. They are a good twenty-five feet or so up***, but even from where I was working, those insects did not appear the most welcoming. There were a great number of drones**** constantly buzzing around the outside of the hive with the aura of guards on active duty. Thankfully, they seemed to be fine with my semi-distant presence, even when I was working the circular saw.
Final Note: Tomorrow I will bring another piece of insulation board down to Jacobhouse. One should be enough to finish filling in the holes to either side of the sliding glass doors. After completing that task, I will cut pieces of ½” plywood to cover the interior side of Wall #6.
*The Charlie who has done much metalwork and welding for Jacobhouse in the past.
**I cut some additional blocking so I could butt it up behind the pieces of plywood and wedge them between the blocks and the flashing.
***This is the same rotten-through power pole that Duke Energy refused to replace before putting a 375 lb. transformer (minimum) on it. Yes, transformers actually weigh that much (source.pdf).
**** Starting to get to be a ridiculous number of footnotes, I know, but this gives me the idea to charge up our drone and possibly go in for a closer look. If I do this, it will be at the end of tomorrow morning, though, rather than the beginning. I don’t really want to anger the hive when I have to work a short distance away.