WellHaus Barn Door is Hung!!!!!

I finally got the WellHaus Barn Door hung!!!! This has been a loooooooooong time coming and it feels great to see some achievement on this part of the project!!!! We're detailing out the casing design to creating a secure locking device with minimal air gaps. If you noticed the R-MAX ThermaSheath-3 shining on both sides of the door, your looking at the continuous insulation (CI) over the CDX plywood sheathing. While we will be going for R-6 in future builds, the R-3 will help act as a wind rain barrier (WRB) as well as a thermal break. This is essential for reducing thermal transfer through the framing system of the building. After we add some mineral insulation we should have R-23 in the walls (since we build with 2x6 exterior walls) and the R-3 Sheathing just like we did the roof and ceiling. This should give us some great thermal resistance along with some quality noise absorption. 

Social Media and My Generation

I have found that there are two sides to my generation (and other generations as well but I'm not in those generations so I can't speak to that) when it comes to social media, those that can't live without it and those that have to live without it. A classic case of the have's and have not's. well not exactly.

When social media came out I was in college and like most found it a great way to share experiences across the globe as my network grew further and further in terms of distance. I couldn't keep up with it then and I sure as hell can't keep up with it now. When social media started creeping into the lexicon of my work colleagues I was immediately concerned. For the social butterfly this was an eureka moment if there ever was one but for me, I saw the danger in friending my boss for them to see my monster catch out on the water while I had the flu.

As the movement spread, I remember the first time I heard someone say they were the Social Media Director, and a couple of agencies posting adverts for social media coordinators. Sure, there has been some sort of Public Affairs and/or customer relations but this seemed dubious to me. Someone had an office (bigger than mine) that was on Facebook all day? Meh, I had my own projects to work on and they could have their fun.

Turning to today as I struggle to find the centre point in my triangle of entrepreneur, technician and manager, I have realized how freaking time consuming this all is. So much so that I have less to show on my social media because I was busy working on social media. It is the same as working on a portfolio in the old days when you had to physically carry the portfolio around and the construction of the portfolio was as important as the elements of the portfolio. You would spend so much time crafting your portfolio that there wasn't much to put in it!

So, it' 10:20, break time just ended and all I have to show for it is a handful of emails, posts, updates, editing, and general buggery. I wonder how many more platforms will be created this year?

So if you haven't checked out my sites (or ever read this anyway) I'll up date this when I create a copy and paste list of all these sites as links.

Jason Michael Kotarski.com
Spatial RecognitionDesign.com
youtube - https://www.youtube.com/user/jkotar20
JasonMichaelKotarski.blogspot.com
twitter @_KOTARSKI_
Facebook SpatialRecognition
twitter @SpatialRecog
Houzz Spatial Recognition
Thumbtack- Spatial Recognition
Porch- Spatial Recognition
Linkedin- JasonMichaelKotarski
Craigslist Jason Michael Kotarski
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Field Stone Foundation Pier for the WellHaus

To start the WellHaus we took a look at the slope to determine where the lowest point was, and that just happened to be the Northwest corner. As this is the lowest point, it will be the tallest pier. With the finished height targeted at below 30 inches we are looking to establish enough height so that the  on the mountain side remain above grade. This also will allow us to have a deck that does not require a balustrade.

To determine where our corners would be we needed to take into account all of the restrictions and conditions present. Knowing that we want to stay under 200 square feet we selected the site and upon analysis we decided the site condition really only allowed somewhere near 200 sqft. With that in mind we took to configuring out plan, a rectangle is the most efficient shape for a work space.

Step 1- Draw it out!

Pier Detail

 Step 2- Set your forms. Pull centre from your batter boards and measure your height. For our rebar risers we're gonna go sustainable ( ok ok cheap) and clean up the site by breaking the bricks length wise to use the holes as rebar holders. Tie the rebar together with wire and drive four 3 foot sections of rebar into the ground per detail section.

Pier footing form

Step 3- Mix and pour your concrete,

Poured concrete footer

Step 4- Go and find some stone!

Stone pile

Step 5- Watch the Laying a Fieldstone Pier video 

Fieldstone pier

And there you have it! The cast concrete capstone was also made on site. The final step here will be to screw a temporary skirt board on the framing to create a form to pack high strength grout between the capstone and the framing on the inside corner. Notice the "Floating Column" making a cameo appearance! More on that later! Cheers.