Progress report.......

Here we established the circle drive and center area which we plan at some point to make a solid wall and plant flowers inside. These are all recycled cinder block we got from a job that was being torn down. Alot of the block was in pieces because of the way they push it over to save time. It is not that easy to chip off the mortar. You need a Hammer and wide chisel. Tapping the line between the brick and the mortar will release the mortar from the brick.
We redirected the driveway into a S-curve. We wanted to create a more private entrance that you would not see the buildings until you turn the last curve, plus it is really a great fenshi practice that keeps unwanted spirits from entering straight into your space!











We added tall poles to define the entrance .They are 16 feet tall to allow construction vehicles.
More shelves are added and a wind break close to the fire for the cold nights.
A gate for the back road to a future garden.

Electricity WOW!!!!

We are at the point the electricity needs to be brought in before we pour the cement floor .
In our area the electric company first strung the line to our transformer. This can be either the round barrel like box up on the pole or a box on the ground if you have the line buried.
We decided we did not want the line going overhead across our land. ( we would have needed to cut down trees in a 30 ft wide path from the border of our property to where we wanted service) So we chose to have the line go 300 ft overhead along the border then go 200 ft underground to the service panel. This is done with a dip pole that brings the electricity from overhead down the pole through the under ground conduit to the transformer. It is more expensive to have them bury the line and the ground transformer cost more , but it is well worth the difference!
Then an electrician came out and placed the meter on the side of our building with the main panel. He then fed the wire through the conduit connecting the transformer to the meter and panel. We used 1(0) 3Wire copper per the electric Co specs, the wire has to be large enough to handle the electrical load with-out overheating. this wire is categorized by the thickness, the thicker it is, the smaller the number, thus a (0) size is larger than the #1 size and the three wires are for 1) the hot wire: carrying the electricity, 2) the neutral wire:cycling the unused electricity back to the source 3) the ground wire: if the first 2 don't work properly this will route the electricity to the earth out of harms way.
Then the electric Co came back and connected the line through the transformer to the wire our electrician placed to the meter/panel. The transformer does just that: it transforms the high voltage electricity (10,000 volts) down to 120 volts.

The roof and some trim go up...

The roof we used was standing seam we got from our recycling guy. It is constructed so there are no screws that attach the roof to the perlins through the surface of the roof. They are attached by brackets hidden under neath and the panels lock together.
Next we put up the tin for the out side skin. We got the tin from an old neighbor that wanted a barn taken down , so in exchange for taking down the building we got the tin and posts for free. It was helpful to see how the barn was constructed and what made it strong.
We cut the tin by hand which really took the two of us, one to split the tin while the other cut.
The wood above the door that goes across the building is attached to the frame , this will support the rafters for the porch.
Next the trim is put in place to support the gutters and it frames the building, making it look more finished and strong.