Our two big construction projects are nearing the finish line now and we’ve gotten to one of the really fun parts – crafting the beautiful wooden built in counters and tables that were designed.  Here are a few images of the work in progress.  Above is the counter which will wrap the whole half circle of the kitchen (with spaces for oven, sink and refrigerator units, of course).

At left is the sink unit at the Albertson house – the other half of the corner unit will be installed soon.  All these beautiful countertops and the table are the work of Rob Mini, our wood miracle worker.

On the right is the dining table at the Albertson house.  Instead of chairs, she plans to use reclaimed pews to turn it into a booth.

All of these pieces are crafted from slab wood harvested here at Driftless Farm and prepared in the workshop before being taken to site and custom fit into place.

The time has come, the walrus said, to install the straw bale roof on the albertson house.  Straw bale roofs are a really fun process, Whole Trees, style.  After the rafters are placed we stretch an interior finish of canvas between them and then create a good strong vapor barrier and fireproofing layer with a techfoil and airkrete layer.  Then a tightly stacked layer of strawbales are laid out to cover the whole roof surface.  But the work is far from done.  The bales are tightly cinched down to the rafters below by wires threaded up through the bales and secured to wooden purlins which run in the opposite direction.  Above you can see Prairie working to tension a purlin row as he works his way up the roof.

Once purlined the straw bales are very secure.  But the roof isn’t perfectly insulated yet.  Because of the curving form of the roof there are little spaces between some of the bales.  To stop those from becoming insulation problems, we go back and find each and every one and stuff it tightly with more loose straw, tamping and packing it down as we go until the straw bale forms a secure and solid barrier of insulation space.

Because this work needs to happen quickly and in optimal weather we had an “all hands on deck” day and I (Della) actually got to get out of the office and up on the roof, packing straw.  Here I am demonstrating a hole that went all the way through – needing to be very thoroughly packed with straw.

Working on a straw bale roof is a very pleasant thing to do.  Unlike a conventional roof where you are dealing with inflexible (or alarmingly bowing) plywood and slippery, hot, toxic shingles, you sit on a comfortable surface working with natural materials.  The packing process can be meditative, as you contemplate the warm winters you are providing, or therapeutic as you dissipate frustration with each firm thump of the tamping stick.  Its also a friendly group activity the way we do it at Whole Trees.  Two of us worked methodically back and forth across the rows of bales packing spare straw into the gaps, another crew member traversed the roof tightening and securing purlins and Roald undertook the installation of the chimney opening himself.

We didn’t exactly whistle while we worked but there was plenty of friendly discussion, banter and even a little singing.  All in all, we have a nice warm roof underway … with many pleasant thoughts tucked into it which must be adding something, even if it won’t count towards the R-value.

Here’s the whole roof, soaking up the sun and just waiting to be covered over in the final metal decking layer!  Its currently being protected from wind and rain by heavy plastic tarping … which is actually re-purposed billboard signs.  We practice what we preach about material re-use and recycling here at Whole Trees!

Meanwhile back at the Albertson ranch, Brian has been trucking along as well.  The loft space over the bedroom is under way now.  The first step is to install the rafters spanning between the east and west walls of the bedroom.  Then the heavy canvas fabric is stretched between the rafters and stapled down tightly to make an attractive ceiling finish for the room below.

Here you can see that the canvas has been stretched over a few of the rafter poles but the last set are un-covered, giving a view of the roof rafters above.

This got finished up tuesday and now the metal decking has been laid out, ready for the concrete pour to be completed soon.  But its already possible to stand up in the loft area and get a feel for the space …

… although you still need a ladder to get there.  The first stair stringer has been installed but the stairs aren’t quite done yet.  Here are Roald and Brian consulting about the next steps to take on the stair way.

Its always exciting to see new spaces come together from the drawings.  More updates to follow as the loft progress continues!

We’ve been busy little bees here at Whole Trees trying to get all our ducks in a row before winter comes (was that enough mixed metaphors?)  In any case – we’re working hard to get our two buildings all closed up and ready for the inclement weather.  Below find some pictures of our crew getting the roof put onto the Kara Woods Residence.  Its starting to look really beautiful.

Feast your eyes below!!!!

Here’s Rob sitting on a roof rafter and demonstrating how interestingly shaped said roof will be (as it arches up over the half round windows at the living room sliding glass door).

The soffit trim was finished up recently.  Using “live edge” wood for our trim (milled out of a tree but not squared off at the edges) is both more flexible for our undulating roof form and more beautiful in itself.  Here we are layering two pieces over each other – one painted and one stained – to get the right depth to cover the soffit edge.

And here are some shots of the interior rafters of the workshop area – it would be fun just to keep it tarped over rather than installing the roof because the light coming through the rafters is really beautiful.  But the installed roof will have its own good qualities – like keeping the room nice and cozy through the Wisconsin winters, for one!