My Journey

longhorn1

Observer
At least when you’re hiking you can step around the horse manure. But when you’re mountain biking it’s not always possible to miss. But if I’ve got to ride through crap I prefer horses over cows.


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Ha! Ha! Love it. I just try to avoid it all together?
 
tgil.....all the rocks came from this property. I'm constantly collecting them during the build. The ground here is roughly 12 to 18 inches of topsoil and then it's those rocks.....I'm guessing they go all the way to China. So while digging the basement, drainfield, etc., it gave me access to an unlimited amount / supply of rocks.....



June 23, 2001.....The time had finally come to put on the new roof. Like many aspects of this project, I was stoked to get the new roof on. The bad part here was that I had to remove the old shingles first.....

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I borrowed a shingle removal tool.....I sure was wishing that I had something that didn't require so much back breaking hard labor.....that tool and that task.....well, they both really sucked.....

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While I was at it I also removed the gutters.....not a terribly bad task once I realized that cutting the nails off (as opposed to yanking them out) made for quick work of it.....

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The shingle supplier showed up with all my new stuff.....

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That didn't take long.....small house.....

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Now once I was done I had this significant pile of old shingles to deal with.....
ripping them up and throwing them down to the ground was about as much roofing that I had in me.....but nope, I then threw them all into the bed of the truck, and still not yet done.....

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I picked up those shingles a third time and threw them into the dump.....

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And the sun finally set and the roofing was finally done.....I was dead to the world.....the dogs not so much.....

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180out

Well-known member
tgil.....all the rocks came from this property. I'm constantly collecting them during the build. The ground here is roughly 12 to 18 inches of topsoil and then it's those rocks.....I'm guessing they go all the way to China. So while digging the basement, drainfield, etc., it gave me access to an unlimited amount / supply of rocks.....



June 23, 2001.....The time had finally come to put on the new roof. Like many aspects of this project, I was stoked to get the new roof on. The bad part here was that I had to remove the old shingles first.....

View attachment 669041

I borrowed a shingle removal tool.....I sure was wishing that I had something that didn't require so much back breaking hard labor.....that tool and that task.....well, they both really sucked.....

View attachment 669042

While I was at it I also removed the gutters.....not a terribly bad task once I realized that cutting the nails off (as opposed to yanking them out) made for quick work of it.....

View attachment 669044

The shingle supplier showed up with all my new stuff.....

View attachment 669046

View attachment 669045

That didn't take long.....small house.....

View attachment 669047

Now once I was done I had this significant pile of old shingles to deal with.....
ripping them up and throwing them down to the ground was about as much roofing that I had in me.....but nope, I then threw them all into the bed of the truck, and still not yet done.....

View attachment 669050

I picked up those shingles a third time and threw them into the dump.....

View attachment 669051

View attachment 669052

And the sun finally set and the roofing was finally done.....I was dead to the world.....the dogs not so much.....

View attachment 669048
and now you will be picking up nails for the next two years. not sure how this happens but it does.
 

Foy

Explorer
tgil.....all the rocks came from this property. I'm constantly collecting them during the build. The ground here is roughly 12 to 18 inches of topsoil and then it's those rocks.....I'm guessing they go all the way to China. So while digging the basement, drainfield, etc., it gave me access to an unlimited amount / supply of rocks.....

As I'd mentioned before, it looks like your homesite is well up a fairly gentle slope from the drainage bottom. If correct, and given the look of the soil profile and now with the understanding that even the larger rounded clasts are within the profile, I'll suggest the rounded rocks do not go all the way to China, although they may be several thousand feet thick--basin fill deposits in the Big Hole are up to 15,000 to 20,000 feet thick. Appears to me that you're on an alluvial fan or a stream terrace, or possibly a much older basin fill deposit such as the Sixmile Creek Formation or the Renova Formation, each being regionally extensive deposits of gravels and coarse sands washed out of the surrounding mountains as continental crust extension (thinning) created deep downfaulted basins called grabens. As the grabens formed, they were simultaneously filled with sediment during times of much higher rainfall in southwestern Montana. Depending on exactly where you are (and I don't care to violate your privacy by knowing), the "river rock" layered deposit may be a floodplain deposit of the ancestral Missouri River. Much of the fairly young to much older sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rock in much of the West is partially covered by somewhat younger alluvial fan and other forms of basin fill deposits.

Enjoy the process, Jerry, there are many enjoying it as you proceed!

Foy
 

the deputy

Member
Been a long while since l've checked in but, as always, the first place l rested my eyes.

It will definitely take me a bit to bring myself up to speed but, it's truly been an amazing journey.

And I get it...sometimes..."there is, no place like home".
 
180out.....well, the one advantage I had with that dilemma was that I was totally in control of those nails. Therefore I was incredibly careful with them and tried to use the gutters as a catch all. It actually worked fairly well and not so many of those nails made it to the ground.....

Foy.....as usual.....that's some interesting stuff right there.....thank you.....

the deputy.....yea there's certainly a lot to read here.....seems to never end.....welcome back.....

pkripper.....Montana has some of the best sunsets I've ever seen.....unfortunately this property barely allows me to see them.....

ghostdancer.....exactly.....


June 25, 2021.....Once the new roof was on, I began the process of painting the green metal siding black.....the same black that I used on the barn. Now some people are saying you should never paint a house (or barn for that matter) black cause it's really going to get hot inside there.....maybe.....

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There's a certain look that I'm after and if I have to suffer for the rest of my life.....

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I'm planting lots of trees here so hopefully someday the shade will prevail over the sun.....

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June 26, 2021.....and I finally got around to patching the 4 holes in the foundation walls.....these were the 4 holes where the steel beams supported the house during the move here.....

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I used 6" blocks and a high strength concrete to adhere the blocks to the concrete foundation walls.....it was solid once I was done.....

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Everyday now the temperatures are in the 90's.....that sure makes for miserable working conditions. So I've slowed down quite a bit which is just fine.....

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It gives me a little more time to hug on my dogs.....

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.....and to look up into the mountains and to dream about climbing those desolate peaks.....that's just what I do sometimes.....

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Ace Brown

Retired Ol’ Fart
I believe the heat is about every where out west this year. The PNW getting record temps for several days. Looks like now that heatwave is in Montana and here in Colorado too. Just a couple of weeks ago I saw 104* here. Highest I’ve ever seen in ten years living here. Now it’s going back up; 98 yesterday and probably higher today. The monsoons are here but little rain so far. Driest in 1200 years some say. I’m lucky my house has central air and Kenda loves it too.

Kenda had a growth on her leg that was ugly and getting bigger. So we had surgery to the tune of $370! They gave us one of those plastic collars but that lasted about two hours. She hated it so I tossed it. Wrapped the wound so she wouldn’t lick it but I had to remind her “leave it alone!”

I feel I’m pretty fortunate living 20’ from the top of Grand Mesa at 10,500’. So easy to run up there and enjoy temps in the 60*-70* range. But it also encourages me to put off chores needed here. Manyana!

I like the black and it looks glossy enough to not absorb too much heat.

Alan
 

GregSplett

Adventurer
I have never seen a black house. Mine is a very dark brown though. lol I watered the house down during the recent 111 degree day, they do absorb heat. Looks great from my house doing a great job! Ninety is my cut off here for working outside too hard. It got to 111 degrees in the big city of Forks 8 days ago. spent the fourth there and things are burnt for sure especially down the sides of the logging roads. Rhododendrons definitely did not like the heat but then neither I or the poodle did either. congrats on the new place.
 
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Alan.....I sure hope Kenda fares well with that growth.....and yea, I don't recall ever experiencing a summer with the sheer volume of 90 degree days like this year in Montana. Maybe a week or so of 90's but this heat wave is unprecedented I think. I just read that we had .25 inches of rain during the month of June (typically the second wettest month). It doesn't look good.....

Greg.....black is actually a very popular color locally but there also seems to be a lot of push back on the color black. Only half the house will be black.....the other half will be a stained cedar siding (also a common thing here to mix colors & materials). Hopefully it will finish out nicely. And yea, the weather sucks.....



June 29, 2021.....you may recall that a month or so back, I had 3 truckloads of gravel brought in for the circular driveway. That was a huge success but it wasn't quite enough. So I finally ordered one more load and that made all the difference. After paying $700 for the first 3 loads, I was reluctant to spend anymore.....but you can see in the first picture that much of the stone from the basement dig which I used on the driveway was still uncovered.....that resulted in many rolled ankles.....

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Now it's perfect.....I guess that $1,000 total isn't too bad for a gravel circular driveway.....

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Later that afternoon I got a call from the gutter guy.....I had called him several weeks prior.....he stopped by to give me an estimate.....

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I met this guy maybe 5 or 6 years ago as he did the gutters in my last neighborhood. He would watch me work in my yard while he was working on other houses and one day he says to me "why don't you come to work for me ?".....I said "no thanks". We've been friends for all these years.....

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So when he arrived to give me that estimate, he said to me that he may as well do it while he was there.....

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I sure was pleased that he did that for me.....this guy is booked for the entire summer.....I had planned for a long wait.....

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The gutters are black as well and in lieu of downspouts, I went with heavy chains. I enjoy sitting on a porch during a downpour and watching the rain as it trickles down the chains.....they tell me the iced chains are beautiful in the winter.....something that I never plan to see.....

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If you're still following along my thread and were wishing that I was back out on the road & climbing those mountains.....and are sick of reading about my house build.....and seeing all my house pictures.....me too.....I'm tired of building a house.....I'm tired of being in one place.....but it's looking like I'm here into September of 2021.....and there's nothing to do about that.....

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mekcanix

Camper
I am still enjoying this thread, for the same reasons as before. Your narrative and eye with pictures and details. The way you do things and invite us into your Journey I almost feel I know you and though this thread have become friends, and in this world right now that is a rarity. P{lease continue with what you are doing at what ever pace works for you cause if its working for you it works for me

John
 

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