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

BRK #447

Happy Monday to you.



And from inside the perimeter of Allerton Abbey:



Speaking of the perimeter: Cat and Owen, you ought to be proud! Your mended gate is definitely repelling the deer...!



I think I finally have a handle on the RMH in the Solarium. It's an 8" J-tube system, which means the wood feed is extra large in comparison to most others here at Wheaton Labs. But today I pleasantly surprised myself with a serious lack of smoke-back. Priming is a huge help, but also transitioning to larger logs after embers are covering the bottom of the feed tube.



Oh, and I installed a new door today at the Red Cabin. Just the trim and a suitable plug for the extra doorknob hole (I guess you could call it a deadbolt hole), then it's back in business. I think it looks pretty good, especially for being another one of my "firsts" here at WL, let alone anywhere else. Thanks to YouTube for all the instructional videos.









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

BRK #448

Happy Taco Tuesday to you...!

In the first half of the day, I was back at the Red Cabin, working on the door installation. The bulk of the work is done, and now it's about ensuring there's plenty of insulation and no drafts (the whole reason the new door was purchased and installed in the first place).

I want to stop this from occurring:



...So I spent time tucking sheeps' wool into the small gap between the door frame and the wall. A butter knife was the perfect tool for the job.



In the afternoon, I celebrated Chair Fixin' Day, one of our Half Assed Holidays. So I took a break from the usual Boot tasks to revisit the two roundwood chairs made by the team this past winter, a folding metal chair used mainly in the Classroom during the summer events, and my Proenneke Day footstool. All four of these had some minor-to-major improvements, and I was happy I had the chance to work with these. There ought to be a video released eventually, thanks to all the footage I was able to capture.



Here's an example of some of the creative fixes I attempted: using toothpicks to fill in the gaps of the round-wood chair joints. By doing things like this, the round-wood chairs are held together (much better now, thanks to those toothpicks!) and without any metal fasteners and without any glue.



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

Stephen B. Thomas wrote:In the first half of the day, I was back at the Red Cabin, working on the door installation. The bulk of the work is done, and now it's about ensuring there's plenty of insulation and no drafts (the whole reason the new door was purchased and installed in the first place).

I want to stop this from occurring:

...So I spent time tucking sheeps' wool into the small gap between the door frame and the wall. A butter knife was the perfect tool for the job.

I'm facing a similar situation at my place, are you adding a less permeable layer over either side of the wool?

Coydon Wallham wrote:I'm facing a similar situation at my place, are you adding a less permeable layer over either side of the wool?

After consulting with Paul, we're opting for a bead of silicone caulk around the edge of the moulding/door frame. Once supplementing the insulation is done, then that's what I'll tackle next. We have some spare caulk from when we were sealing the windows for the yurt, so it ought not be a major project.

If you're unable to use caulk of some kind, then maybe increasing the drip edge/roof line would be a suitable alternative...?

I think silicone caulk is a good choice balancing function and natural building ethics.  To swing it more to the ethics side, cob or some sort of beeswax sealant could further keep air from whistling through those gaps.