!!!! SEPP to Boot: Stephen's Experience (BEL)

Coydon Wallham wrote:

...On the canvas, the 12oz "duck" cotton canvas I bought for the yurt and used on the Longhaus has kept water from leaking through the main sections, but does wick through where the support poles (uni rafters) touch the fabric, resulting in drips here and there...

If you could score enough old 100% wool blankets and sew them together to make a cover for your frame that the canvas then went over, I wonder if that would solve the drip problem? It might make it worse? It would pad the tarp where it goes over the wood, and it might hold the water long enough for it to dry rather than drip.

It would require experimentation... Some yurts are made of felted wool with animal hides over them. However, I think those ones are in a fairly dry environment.

Jay Angler wrote:Coydon Wallham wrote:

...On the canvas, the 12oz "duck" cotton canvas I bought for the yurt and used on the Longhaus has kept water from leaking through the main sections, but does wick through where the support poles (uni rafters) touch the fabric, resulting in drips here and there...

If you could score enough old 100% wool blankets and sew them together to make a cover for your frame that the canvas then went over, I wonder if that would solve the drip problem? It might make it worse? It would pad the tarp where it goes over the wood, and it might hold the water long enough for it to dry rather than drip.

It would require experimentation... Some yurts are made of felted wool with animal hides over them. However, I think those ones are in a fairly dry environment.

Reaction not from experience with wool tents ... My thought is that the rain water will stay on top of the wool blanket, and (if the wet weather goes on long enough) then finally will creep through the blanket and will start to drip.
I do know (from long ago) large canvas army tents. Most rain drops glide off the canvas. I think canvas is much better for a tent-like construction than wool blanket. If you really want to use wool (for insulation), then put a layer of canvas over it. Modern yurts have canvas over the felt, like in the past they had animal hides.

BEL #843

A few Bootcamp updates, along with some more progress to report at the stewardship acre.

Skirret is a plant that has fascinated me ever since I'd heard about it as a medieval and/or survival, perennial crop. I was hoping to see something come of the plantings we did earlier this year, though nothing materialized. Paul had later heard that skirret is very difficult to grow from seed, but propagation through division has a much higher success rate. Here's a late-season skirret arrival. I'd like to see this eventually overtake a large portion of Hugel Prime. There's great growing area back there, so here's to hoping.



While working on the cob wing walls earlier this summer, I'd witnessed the hatching of a praying mantis egg sac. I suppose they take on their greenish and brownish hues as they mature. This was wild to see.



Speaking of the wing walls, here are fellow Boots Oscar, Erik, and Samuel filling in the last nooks and crannies of Wing Wall One over at Allerton Abbey. I spent a shift coaching them through mixing and applying cob, to the point that they're now able to make new batches and apply it all themselves. We've since moved to Wing Wall Two and will continue construction through the Building Season.



I love baking bread for the team. I usually bust out one batch of poly-dough, and then divide it into a savory and a sweet variety. The team has their pick between two loaves of each. The sweet variety is currently set at the fan-favourite "cinnamon raisin" bread, while the savory loaf ranges from thyme and sage to Herbs de Provence, to walking onion loaf, and more, all with a generous helping of garlic and salt to help sell the herbal flavors.



Over at the stewardship acre, I've been slowing on the roof. Bending poles to the point that they'll work for the job but won't break is a challenge. I think that for my next few, I'll follow Coydon's advice, and lash two smaller ones together.

Meanwhile, I've been taking inventory of my available dimensional lumber in order to shore-up the frame that was built for me a couple years ago. Pictured here are various angle supports, which help prevent the structure from twisting in the wind and possibly falling over.



I also used a pair of 2x4s to provide solid contact for the roof supports. I finally splurged on a box of screws (they're hard to find at Missoula Home ReSource, so I bit the bullet on a box from the local hardware store) and I feel more comfortable about finding a way to affix the roof to the frame.



And the roof frame itself hasn't changed much since earlier this week. I've snapped at least one of the roof supports in the attempt to bend it across the frame. The ones I've found and peeled are just a bit too brittle for use, at least in the way I'm using them. So again, lashing multiple together to provide a flexible bowed support seems to be the way to move forward.



The canvas is purchased, as well as a tarp to serve as an impermeable layer beneath it. I acknowledge that this is a temporary roof, until we can have the sawmill up and running again. At that point, I'll make a whole bunch of panels, and cut shakes out of those. Once those are ready and staged, I'll use more milled lumber for a proper roof frame, then attach as many shakes as needed to make for a legit roof.

That's all for now. It's a rainy day today, and the first one we've had in a while. They're actually forecasting snow for Sunday...! Sure, sure...

Thank you for reading, and enjoy your day...!

BEL #844

I'm pleased with today's progress. I finished the bowed roof frame, thanks to Coydon's suggestion (thanks, man!!!). Things look good right now.

I admit that, prior to the pieces being lashed together, seeing the two sticks just pointing out there paints a rather uninspiring picture. But a few pieces of paracord judiciously applied put these two sticks together, hopefully for as long as I need this 'temporary' roof.



Since I am now using screws to hold things together, I don't need to drill all the way through to fit a bolt in there. But the 1/2" paddle bit (the one drill bit I've been using for everything up here) still does a good job at piloting a hole for a screw. The heads also fit perfectly inside the now-countersunk hole. I hadn't even expected that little bonus.



I felled (or snipped down?) a couple more smaller-sized junk poles, de-limbed them, and peeled their bark. Working with two instead of one pieces for a single bow is much smoother, and I think actually took less time than had I been using a single (much more rigid) piece to do the job. Lots of paracord to the rescue...!

Oh, I also flipped all the bolts so they wouldn't poke the tarp or canvas that will overlap the frame. Now everything potentially hole-making points down towards the ground, and away from the fabric.



With the sunlight fading, I'd initially felt I'd be able to add at least the tarp in a quick manner. Well, this first version sucks.

I think I'm going to un-string everything the next time I'm over there, then start by going corner-to-corner, and then opposite grommets. The canvas will be treated much the same (both the tarp and canvas have grommets, if I recall correctly).  Maybe once one is strung, I can re-string the canvas on top of the tarp. They're different sizes (the canvas company must have missed the memo, clearly), so some additional lashing will be needed, regardless.

The only thing I need to leave unobstructed with the cordage would be the two supports that will connect to the building frame, but I think this can be easily managed.



I think the next time I'm over there, installing the two layers of roof will be the main project. Any time left will be used to inventory any remaining usable support wood (framing-out the doorway and shoring-up the window), and then sort out the entrance door (which won't have any metal fasteners...! Wait and see...!). I kinda sorta wanna install a "dutch door," just for the helluvit. Maybe I'll save that for a storage shed or something. It would be fun.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and enjoy your day...!

a Dutch door! Yes, I think that's really Dutch (I mean: from this country where I live). Old houses (not only farmhouses) have such doors. When you ring the bell (or knock) the person inside opens only the upper half.