Boat progress has slowed recently, but the workshop has not been idle. New for the New-Year, my Danielle was presented with a new food workshop. Below are the "Before" and "After" photos. There are still some shelves to mount, dishwasher to install, pendant lights to hang, backsplash to tile, and a bar to design and build, but the kitchen is once again usable after 2 months of closure. We did all the work ourselves and major improvements include updated wiring (to NEC standards), and replacing 2/3 of the home's water supply lines (the 50yr. old, 1/2" galv. steel was so constricted by corrosion that light could not be seen through a 3' section. The flow increase is dramatic). A nice bonus was the 125 sq. ft. of additional oak floor that was revealed when the old linoleum was removed. I enjoy the new, loft-ish openness, the molding (quite a chore), and the smooth-ish ceiling to replace the previous "popcorn".

Before:

After:



Before:

After




Before:

After:

The workshop is in order and boat work has resumed. Between the rolling stations and the overhead suspension cradles there is sufficient space to run several projects at the same time. All of the boat stations are designed to easily reposition the hulls for each step in the construction process. Effective positioning of the work is the first step to efficient use of time and effort.

From foreground to background: Hull#2, Hull#3, Hull#1

Finishing touches on the initial workspace setup are nearing completion. All benches and shelves are free-standing by design so the floorplan arrangement can be altered to accomodate the widest variety of projects. Dimensions were planned to accommodate the plastic storage bins that were salvaged from a Trader Joe's -they originally carried tulips. I was also fortunate to find several large, hand-painted, carnival-game signs that were created for the Opryland midway. The grimy boards cleaned up nicely and give a fun, local, state-fair theme to the workshop (one sign for a cork-gun game is visible hanging on the upper right. I also salvaged "ring-toss", "un-ball", "can-n-ball" and basket-bushell" -all to be placed soon).

Clockwise from upper left: Wheeled template, ply-strip, and lumber cart; Wheeled boat bench (easily wheeled outside for dirty sanding work -brought back inside for epoxy and detail work); Wheeled epoxy and adhesives cart, general storage shelving; Churro-the-sit&stay-puppy; Open floorspace for cutting and joining long panels.

The next projects include lighting improvements and ventilation control. After that, boatwork can resume in earnest.

In the interest of long-term air quality in the workshop, I donned a hooded dry-suit, goggles, gloves, and respirator and endeavored to fill 38, 44-gallon trash bags with deteriorating, moldy, fiberglass batten insulation. A previous owner had gone through much effort insulating the basement ceiling in this way and I went through much effort getting it out cleanly. The job was defeating and on the second day, half-finished, I began rationalizing a "partial" removal. In the end I stuck with it and cleared the entire overhead space. By my calculations (Regional Climate, Earth-Bermed Temperature-Stable Basement, Insulation Quality, etc.) the removal will have minimal effect on the home's temperature and would have been much better served in the attic.

The workshop floor is now free from obstruction along its entire length and the overhead joists are clean and free from fiberglass droppings and particulates.

Installing the drain reroute was mentally taxing but my head will thank me later (the old drain's run was a frequent headache). I dry-fitted as much as possible prior to cutting the old line but many of the work-arounds could only be calculated with the new drain in place. The downtime for the home's water systems was 1 day (off in the morning, on by 8PM). If there are shortcuts to calculating the spatially complex intersections of angles and length as the main drain slopes gradually down and existing tributaries are tied into it, I did not find them. The surest guarantee of a good intersection is a lot of initial distance between the pipes to be joined. Of course, the reality of existing lines, walls, ducts, and slope seem to rear their heads just as a simple run is contemplated. I can't imagine doing the job working with the original, cast-iron pipes; heavy and inflexible. Fortunately, PVC is light and easy to cut. A bit late in the game I also discovered a limited assortment of flexible, rubber couplings. These provide some "give" within the structure to help with alignment at the intersections. My next drain refit project will include more flexible couplings. When it comes to fit-forgiveness and speed of installation, they are well worth the slight increase in cost over their rigid, PVC counterparts. If you look closely at the photo below you will see two, difficult to source 4"x4", Flexible "T" Couplings joining the PVC to the cast iron. The black plastic sheeting was on the "recommendation" list from our home inspector and will function to keep moisture from the fill-soil out of the basement. It should also reduce dust and make potential leaks (none yet) highly visible.

The high and low of a basement drain:


Tip: When gluing long sections of large-diameter pipe into place it can be very difficult to squeeze the sections together for a "bottomed-out"/"flush" fit. The 4" pipe is nearly impossible to grip and pull by hand with enough force to bring the pieces fully together. Instead, take a length of the banding wire (the metal band/strap used to hang the pipe from the overhead joists) and wrap it once around the length of pipe an arms-length away from the joint. Secure the loop back on itself with a nut and bolt -the fit need not be tight. Next, glue and fit the pieces together. Now, pull the loose end of the banding wire loop toward the joint. The loop will hold-fast and the line will give you a handle and enough leverage to pull the pipe fully into the joint. If fitting two pipes together in a straight run, use a separate loop and line on each and pull together like a butterfly press.

Tip: I rented a chain-break pipe cutter which was essential for cutting the old, cast iron pipe quickly and cleanly. Art Pancakes Rent-All of Nashville charged $20 for the day and there is no substitute for the tool or for their friendly service.

To provide clearance for the appropriate drain-slope and to increase the workshop length by several, valuable feet, a portion of the end wall was excavated. Some of the removal was used to complete the backfill of the interior stem walls. Later, this 1 meter deep, perimeter "table" will be finished with workbench and shelves. The remaining earth went to fill a hole in the neighbor's yard. By the completion of the dig the tally stood at 68 buckets, or 2,721 kilograms of Nashville Basin hard-pack clay chipped and hauled away. I completed the work by hand over two days. On the second day I ran out of swings so I rented a medium-duty, electric demolition hammer with a wide chisel bit. The work had to be approached horizontally, which was still tiring, but the tool increased my speed by 200%.

Work has begun to construct the footonthesea workshop at its new, permanent location. The basement location includes 900 sq. ft. of concrete floor workspace in a dry, temperature stable environment. The space has adequate length and egress for a 30' long hull with a maximum height of 7'. The site also has paved access to outside areas (for sanding and dirty work). The basement is already wired with numerous grounded outlets and has 4 overhead florescent lighting units. Casement windows and portable fans will provide appropriate ventilation. The first step is to dispose of miscellaneous debris and to re-route the main drain from the home above. The drain currently bisects the usable space athwartships as seen in the photo below. Fortunately, there is enough drop between the down-drain and the exit-to-sewer-line drain to permit the 40 feet of additional lines needed to follow the perimeter walls and open up the work-floor. To compensate for the additional span, I will be adding a cleanout at each bend for a total of 4 cleanouts. The new line will tap directly onto the homes original, cast iron line.