FINALLY!! The saga begins

Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 8:57 pm

Rod,

Thanks!!

I'm just a bit gun shy of making decisions that I will end up regretting later on.

I mean... I've come all this way and have been able to avoid a lot of the compromises that so many people don't avoid... and have ended up hating themselves for doing them.

So... if the pricing on the MDF is good, I'll not worry too much then and go for it with the 1" MDF and 1/2" gypsum, then add the 5/" FR gypsum.

Thanx!
Max

Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 6:52 pm

Come to find out, I was a bit tooooo slow to pull the trigger on the MDF.

OK, so now I'll ask another stoopid question...

What about using 3/4" plywood?

or

???

Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 8:15 am

Max,

3/4" plywood, 3/4" MDO, 3/4" HDO, 3/4" flakeboard, 3/4" pine boards, 3/4" oak boards, etc., etc., would all be fine.........

Sincerely,

Rod

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 4:03 am

Rod,

Thanks for the heads up on the 3/4"... That eases my concerns greatly!

Now, to the post...

Man... The heat has been BRUTAL!

It's amazing how hot it gets in the studio... and how quickly it does it! If I can leave the doors closed, it slows the heating down, but you can't do that too long.

So... I've only been getting in a couple of hours in the early AM, then going into the day gig.

Well... here's some long over due pix...

First up are pix of the trenches for the electrical and HVAC condenser lines...

Andy's right... it may be ugly... but it can sure dig a hole!

---------

Next up are HVAC and fire safing pix...

A couple of "critical" things... The HVAC returns still need to be cut-in in the tracking room. It doesn't sound like much, but the problem is that the main seams in each of the two returns is 8 feet from the bottom of the return trunks. That means that they are right in the middle of the upper openings.

So....

Do I cut-in the openings below the seams, or put the openings as high as they are supposed to go, and loose some of the structural integrity of the columns? I know some of the integrity comes back from the flanges that tie the return to the wall, but....

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 7:16 am

Max,

Put the returns where they belong and don't worry about the structural issue - the flanges will lock it up fine - it most critical to have the returns where they are going to work properly.

Rod

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 5:29 pm

OK, will do on the return openings!!

MORE good news!!

The electrical inspector passed the electrical for the pad this morning!!

Also, this afternoon, the plumbers started digging the septic line. They've got it in and called for the inspection tomorrow morning!!! (I'll get pix up tomorrow)

We ran into a minor snag with the locate on the water line coming up from the well.

I took a pic of where the contractor for Duke Power cut the well power line, but I didn't get a pic of the rest of the lines... existing elec, phone, cable or the water line... DOH! Now we're playing hell trying to find the water.

We decided to stop re-digging the old trench and just come back to the electrical to the well and dig back from there a foot or so. They'll bring in the trencher and find the water line further out in the yard. They'll "T" in to it and put a shut off valve in there somewhere going back down the line to the studio... Pix will make all this clearer.

I'm gonna have them put in a freeze proof hose bib up by the garden, and another one down by the firepit. That way I can water the garden easier, and we can have a wet bar down at the firepit. WOO HOO!!

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 6:52 pm

I envision wet tee shirt parties in the hot summer party months............

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 6:54 pm

Looks like things are livening up!
(The build that is, with progress and whatnot).

Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 8:13 pm

Rod Gervais wrote:

I envision wet tee shirt parties in the hot summer party months............

ewwwwww.... a bunch of old geezers with man-boobs in wet T-shirts????

Rod... I love like a brother.... but I'm kinda' worried by this.... Laughing

Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 6:03 am

WOOO HOO!!

Another great day! (Although somewhat unexpected)

The plumbers startled me about 10am, when they walked in the studio to see if I was here workin'.

They were here to find the water line and install it. It was the beginning of a good day progress wise, but one in which I had actually not planned on.

Since we were having such a hard time locating the water line in the original trench dug by Duke Power, we decided to dig further out in the yard to find the line. Then, they would trench back to the driveway and start digging the trench down to the studio.

Withing two minutes of trenching, they found the water line. (YES!)

They hand dug the opening wider to make room to work one the splice into the line. We got a general bearing on the line the pipe took back towards the house and finally found the water line in the original trench... it was about 6 inches below the new power and cable line... and about 6 ft from the well power cable... go figure.

In the background, you can see what ended up being the "test pit".

Once the line was located, then it was time to trench the line down to the studio...

WOO HOO!! Water at the firepit!

Now it's gonna make it a lot easier to water the the plants there... and we have the makings of the wetbar!

I didn't get a shot of it yet, but where we "T" in to the existing line, there is a shut-off valve. I need to go back and caulk the seams on the bricks we put in there to form around the valve.

Here's the septic line...WITH the seal on the sleeve coming through the wall. Actually, the plumber did that first thing. He was coming down to put the sealant in the sleeve when he startled me.

I've gotten the fire caulk finished on the high wall in the tracking room... man... that is such a relief to have FINALLY gotten that wall done!

Today, I'm going to finish the mineral wool getting stuffed in behind the left side/corner of this air return...

Then I'll get the return vent openings framed in.

I have a show at 4:00PM, so I'm not sure I'll get to it, but I'm gonna try to get this alcove done as well... just a bit more mineral wool to stuff, and a stud with the openings framed in for this return...

Tomorrow, I'll get the mineral wool tucked in at the rear drop down in the control room...

Once that's done... I'm ready to finish a little bit of fire caulking at the loading dock door and at the tracking room/isolation booth junction.

It's a tight corner and difficult to access, but once that corner is caulked... I'm ready for my framing rough in inspection!!!!

Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 7:35 am

Max ole boy,

I certainly wasn't thinking of you or your buds when I mentioned wet Tee's LMAO.........

Project is looking great my friend........

Congrats on finding the water - if I was in your area I would have just traced it for you -(amazing what you can find with a pair of brass brazing rods) but you found it anyway......... so things are looking up.

Take care and keep up the good work.......

let me know how things turn out with Godfrey

Sincerely,

Rod

Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 8:12 am

Water Divining.
I do it with stainless rods, Rod.

I found a couple of perfectly bent pieces of stainless once and was joking, taking the piss out of someone I saw on TV divining... When they crossed and my Uncle pointed out I was standing over a feed from a tank I freaked out.

We plotted the entire plumbing network that day. Razz

Max, your build is stunning, I bet the air just sizzles with excitement when you see how close to completion you are. Keep it up.

Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 10:23 am

Greener wrote:

Water Divining.
I do it with stainless rods, Rod.

I found a couple of perfectly bent pieces of stainless once and was joking, taking the piss out of someone I saw on TV divining... When they crossed and my Uncle pointed out I was standing over a feed from a tank I freaked out.

We plotted the entire plumbing network that day. Razz

Greener,

I was making fun of it around a buddy who was a site contractor (who I held in the highest esteem) when he came out with his pair and said "watch this"

He held them pointed towards the ground - and when he crossed a known water line - they defied gravity and turned upwards to cross.

Now - before someone says that he manipulated them seeing as the location was known - this was impossible,

His set was made up (just ike the one he made me) of brass brazing rods - with a double bent end - 1/2" bend - 8" bend - and then remaining rod (so J shaped) and the 8" section ran through a 7 3/4" piece of 1/4" copper tubing.

He held the tubing only and never touched the rod - which means he could not have possibly manipulated the rods.

I have since located unknown waterlines using the same method...... although I cannot located potential well sites using this.

My personal belief (note I said belief not a know fact) is that the water lines break up natural energy that flows through the earth (which is (of course) why we have magnetic north (which is the strongest concentration of energy in the Northern Hemiphere) with the resultant "eddies" that form creating a localized current passing through the rods......

but this is just an unproven theory - although it is more logical to me than would be that magic or the netherworld was somehow involved.

Sincerely,

Rod

Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 10:45 am

I have strong feelings about water divining being bullshit.

But if you pass rods made from a ferrous material through a magnetic field they will move to align with the field.

Water has ionised salts in it, the pipes could be ferrous.
Localised magnetic field causes rod movement?

Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 10:50 am

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing#Possible_explanations

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