Carpenter magic

Kunihara-san did an excellent Job last week. When I visited there yesterday, I found all the dodgy wooden beams and posts replaced with shiny new ones. He also poured concrete to create many small bases all over the ground. They are leveled so that he can place new supporting beams for the flooring, without touching the potentially moist ground. At that time, he also already finished the concrete floor in the kitchen.

After replacing the beams and posts, only simple scaffolding remains.



The entire structure was secured with temporary bracing, to ensure the house won't crush our heads:


The replaced beams and posts in their full glory. On the left near the window a vertical post, carrying all the weight. Also two horizontal beams running along the window front. Also of course the main beam going from left to right through the room. Finally, beams resting on the new concrete bases on the ground, had to be put in place.


The window view. Please note the new beam on the top, already has all the grooves needed for Shoji sliding doors.


Centre of the room.


Kitchen floor is already cured. The things sticking out are outlets for hot & cold water, waste water, gas and electricity. This may be the last view of the kitchen as it was. Next window in the back will removed and closed up, and the doors to the left replaced by a wall.

Lazy New Year?

Happy New Year! Maybe you worry about the break in reporting on this blog - don't worry! We are still here!

Fact is however, that Winter is a lousy time to do any kind of construction work. Cement cracks, and so does mortar. There are only a few jobs that can be done during this season.

We do not rest however, instead we do less glamorous jobs: Sending drawings to contractors, checking out legal details, getting quotes and meeting other companies and peoples that are interested in co-operating with us. We are now at a crucial stage in deciding contractors, and finalising our plans, and hope that the heavy work can finally start in March.

Unfortunately, interior works must wait until we have replaced a bunch of beams and posts. This job can of course only be done by an expert carpenter, and definitely requires some time: The entire house must be stabilised with temporary poles first, and is than jacked up to allow replacement of individual beams. Following that we can envisage doing flooring, insulation and internal walls. When it gets warmer in Ueda again, work on the roof will start. And of course, we need to care for permits, license and other matters before opening up.

With all this work, we would like to utilise only ecological materials as much as possible, and try to source the building expertise and carpentry from the local community. Inaka Home will only succeed if the community is involved.

Another reason for the temporary lull in blog posts is that my family has been boosted by one fresh arrival. A little baby boy was born, wo can enjoy natural life in our house soon!

Kitchen Stripping part 2

If you remember the previous post "Naked Kitchen" , we want to lower the kitchen to ground level and have polished concrete or tile flooring.

This time I used the second pair of hands to move the kitchen sink out temporarily. Tomo checked the beam structure holding up the bathroom and toilet, and advised which could be cut.



So first we ripped out remaining floor boards and wooden wall frames, then I attacked the beams with the Chainsaw.



One beam extended far into the room and held up the bathroom. So before sawing it off, I supported it with the jack from the rental car, then slipped in a piece of wood that I cut to 16.5 cm. After lowering the thus supported beam again, it was safe to remove the protruding bit. On the very right of this photo you can see the new piece of wood.



Did I mention rubbish? Yes I did. I removed another two large bags of rubbish and polluted soil together with Mori-san.



Job well done. All beams and posts removed, we can now contemplate working on the kitchen for real. The sliding doors at the back will be replaced with a structural wall. The window at the rear of the room may be removed, and all walls need fixing. For the moment we put the sink back so that we can use indoors water during the construction period. The fireplace can also be left for a while, maybe we can use it for warming our fingers during winter reconstruction.