First Lounge - Plaster-boarding Walls, Sugi Ceiling & Worm Eaten Structural Beam.

Having finished the bedroom ceiling off, Arnie & Shinobu moved onto plaster-boarding all the upper walls. This included having to cut to fit over the protruding roof beams (These weren't previously visible, as the ceiling used to be only as high as the first beam, at the same level as the bedroom) and cutting sheet to it would follow contours of beams. This took a good few days to do, where the much easier bedroom had only taken them an afternoon to board the walls.



With summer and the humidity now in full swing, being up there was hot & sweaty work.


In between, I spent one evening GL puttying the larger gaps and screw holes ready to apply eco-wall.

The ceiling planks had been pre-prepared from bare unfinished Sugi (Japanese Cedar) which cost a little over 1,200 Yen per 8 plank bundle. Being rough, they'd had to be prepared. This included drying by stacking with enough space in between for air flow (& using a large fan to blow air through them during some nights!), passing each displayed face one by one several times through the planing machine, followed by cutting a 45 degree chamfer on each length, routing each plank for splines to be fitted, cutting splines, then treating the wood in the same way as the bedroom.

Here we see Arnie & Shinobu fitting the first planks.
Note the dark brown slats are from the original ceiling which had been much lower before.



Whilst fitting and nail-gunning into position, Arnie & Shinobu had to be careful to put the nails in the right place so they'd go straight into the slats and not next to them and also ensure they didn't apply pressure to the slats but keep them running straight.



The Sugi plank's preparation had included oiling, staining and sellacing before carefully nailing each plank into place. They also made a small box around each vertical wooden post, to nail the edges of Sugi ceiling into.

Such factors of attention to detail should pay off to stop dust falling through the boards - helping keep the house clean in future. To finish off the ceilings Arnie covered them from above with synthetic in-bag insulation.

By this stage Shinobu had left to go and spend a couple of weeks in Tateyama with family friends. Arnie's & my next job was structural. The tall thick beam separating the first & second lounge showed signs of having been eaten through by woodworm.
Arnie made a guide and routed off a rectangular piece bit enough to see inside. It became clear a long time ago worms had eaten through this (Pine) but left the outside mostly intact. It was disgusting how much worm poo came out, but we chipped at it till all that was left was solid, then vacuumed it out with the trusty Dyson.
We finished by putting in some 2 x 4 beams inside (A friend I told this to likened it to putting matchsticks in as support!) and wedged in smaller pieces of wood.
We then filled the small holes on the opposite face, glued on a wooden board where the routing had been done, nail-gunned it in, then once everything was suitably hardened I filled the remaining space inside with expanding foam.

It was clear the beam (as well as the rest of the house's structure) was about 10 times over engineered originally and the woodworm hadn't caused any danger - but it feels better to know what's what and have no untreated decay in the house.

We want to do this job once then enjoy living in it and avoid having to do them again from having band-aided things the first time around. I had been reliably told to expect Arnie's work to be permanent and well executed. Now the house is taking shape I'm glad to see he's as much a perfectionist as I am.

Master Bedroom - Floors.

For those of you who have followed the build from the beginning, you'll know about our trek to buy & deliver the oak flooring to the house. All the floors except the entrance hall and kitchen will have this covering, although we're still deciding if the two lounges will have the same "Golden Oak" stain, or a darker shade. I prefer the master bedroom's finish, but my wife's vision is of a darker colour for the rooms where we'll have guests and hold events... She's the boss there!



This was my first time laying flooring, so after some guidance and advice on how to complete the job from Arnie, I got on with the job. This was from the end of July, so there was lots of humidity & heat. We figured the wood had expanded as much as it was likely to, but I still used thin plastic spacers to ensure there was space for movement if needed. I learnt how to use a chop saw fairly accurately and to apply glue to secure the flooring to the plywood, secured with the use of a nail gun as I went along. The glue's stronger than the wood and in doing this, the floors will be squeak free, but the downside is, it's now so permanent I'd have to rip out the plywood and flooring together if we ever decided to change. Fortunately we're happy with the results. Just as well...

Typical of Arnie's attention to detail, once the flooring had been fitted it was flush with the edges of door channels, etc - something he engineered using shims under the flooring frame beneath the (splined) plywood. He had advised me to measure distances from the wall I would be building towards as I progressed and space the oak accordingly with an extra spacer here and there, so the last board would fit easily and not look skew. It was a relief to find I'd succeeded as I came to the last board.

With Arnie's experience & advice in hand I first used an electrical sander with 180 grit paper to remove any imperfections, then vacuumed well using a Dyson cleaner (As new condition - bought from Yahoo! auctions for 15,000 Yen. Perfect for heavy duty house cleaning & for use in future on cars!).
I then applied boiled oil so the "Golden Oak" stain wouldn't blotch, but be more consistent.



Next I applied a 50/50 coating of Golden Oak stain & thinner, so it would soak well into the wood. Took about a week to lose it's tackiness as the oil can still dry even when the varnish has hardened.



I could tell it was dry when the smell of varnish was pretty much gone.
Yesterday morning just before I left to return to Shizuoka for the weekend, I used the electric sander to go over the varnish again, vacuumed and finished by wiping the surface clean with a damp microfibre cloth. I then made a 25% thinner / 75% varnish solution and applied with a synthetic fibre-mat brush, packed up and left it to dry for the weekend.



Headed home via Akihabara to buy some replacement light bulb holders (Japanese size) to adapt the beautiful pendant light my wife had brought back from Turkey during her trip there in 2006. Way back then we'd begun to dream about creating our own home.
Piece by piece it's taking shape at last.

Master Bedroom - Walls & Ceilings.

Our bedroom is the first to have become inhabitable. The first pictures here were taken during the last 2 weeks of July.

To start with, Arnie built a strong wardrobe section above the old Wardrobe, where there had previously been an earth wall. Boxes of things can be stored up there and now there's a strong frame on which a thick metal clothes rail has been fitted.
The upper doors will be sliding type of the same finish as the ceiling. Unfortunately the design on the main sliding doors of the wardrobe was half damaged from soot collecting on it, but it was old and in need of replacement anyway. To be completed later...

The plasterboard framing for the walls was carefully measured by Arnie so the edges of board would be screwable directly in place with minimised trimming and waste. Shinobu then filled all the cracks and screw tops with GL putty, leaving the surfaces ready for me to mask, then plaster using Eco-Wall (A cream coloured ready mixed plaster made of crushed abalone shells - very durable!)



Arnie & Shinobu then set about fitting new bedroom ceilings. Originally they'd been Japanese Cedar, but some of the wood was damaged and there were spaces between them meaning dust could get through from the thatched roof, a problem with these very old Japanese houses, not least because there was a thick mix of hay & soot (from the indoor fires) sitting on top of all that wood! No wonder the people we've spoken to who knew this house said it got easily dusty on windy days!

Arnie's solution here was to use a router to cut channels into the side of each new Cedar plank so a spline (Also stained) could be fitted in between. Ends of each plank was cut so they would fit above one of the dark brown support slats, so the wood appears endless.

Each plank was first oiled, so the stain wouldn't blotch, then once coloured treated with Sellac.
A nail gun was used to secure wood onto the slats & edges and finally some thick insulation was placed on top. The finished result more beautiful than it appears in the pictures and we're looking forward to lying in bed and gazing at the ceiling.



8 x 7W LED dimmable spotlights were fitted, two either side of the alcove (Where a small wood burning stove will be positioned in future). By where each bedside table lamp will be fitted is an electrical socket - controlled by the second dimmer on the wall at the entrance.



Note the walls are an off white cream colour, not yellow! - Unfortunately the camera over emphasised the yellowness when pictures were taken - probably due to incorrect white balance.





Since the end of July when the ceilings and eco-wall plastering had been completed, I've taken up residence in the bedroom and spending 2-4 days / late evenings a week decorating.

I learnt how to plaster with eco-wall. Took a bit of trial and error (The alcove walls were a bit too uneven so I re-finished with a sander, which made a helluva mess and took me one evening just to clean every surface including the ceiling!) but I learnt to use a flexible stainless steel trowel (The plastic one they sold at home-centres for the job cracked!) and to do a thin first coat followed soon after by a thicker second coating as the first one dries. The finish is very good. Not perfectly flat, but it fits with the build & age of the house as well as the few remaining wattle & daub interior walls. My guess was right I think. By the time I finish all the plastering inside I'll be well qualified to repair the cracks on the outside walls perfectly.

In all, I used about 35 litres of cream coloured eco-wall for the bedroom and about 1 litre of paint to cover the two original walls above the shoji doors.

My first week's tasks also included being in the bathroom (There's no hot water yet, only a cold well-water fed hose which I use as a shower - no hardship as it's summer and I prefer having cold showers to refresh me this time of the year anyways!) for about 3 hours dissolving the glue from the shoji paper and washing off all the soot that had collected on them. After the 1st lounge and perimeter corridor are both finished I'll put on new paper & tune the doors to run effortlessly & smoothly.

All new electrics have been fitted and the wall plates are dark brass.
On these pictures there are still no skirting boards or oak flooring.
That was when the room really begun to take shape.

More plywood Floors.

Once they'd finished doing the exterior, Arnie & Shinobu replaced the few worm eaten planks, laid plastic sheeting then shimmed and laid underflooring for the dining room and children's bedroom.

Whilst they were doing the dining room we noticed the underside / entrance to kitchen had been rebuilt / restored - probably about 20 years ago. Still strong, so it'll make a goo base for tiling when we re-engineer the kitchen in the next year or two.

Under the floor planks are thick half sections of trees which are still perfectly solid a couple of centuries after being laid.




Looking from the childen's bedroom across to the master bedroom and 1st lounge to the left.
A lot has changed since this picture was taken. See the master bedroom post.


The picture below shows the flooring that is (now) fully laid above the main entrance, for the 23 tatami guest room upstairs. The ply is cut so the joints sit directly above wooden beams, so there's no visible joints. The idea is for the plywood to be covered with textured cream coloured wallpaper and screwed into place. This will hold the paper in place well for years and should it ever need to be replaced, the boards can be individually removable after taking out securing screws. In the centre of the floor is an easily removable section, with a large beam overhead, to which a pulley system can be attached. Useful for lifting heavy furniture through without needing to negotiate the staircase and doorway (See subsequent post).

Stripping old varnish in the Genkan.

The job of stripping the old varnish off the two large wooden lower beams took me an afternoon whilst Shinobu & Arnie were working on the exterior walls.

Some of the wood's darkened in places. I've left it as is for now and will sand it down, perhaps lightly stain and varnish. It was a pleasure to see it come to life. There's some beautiful wood waiting to be treated with the respect it deserves in this house.

Need to wait for a dust free opportunity to complete the varnishing, but I prefer to wait till the rest of the entrance area is done (Stairs, etc) - coming soon!


Left side shows old varnish being stripped. Right side's bare untreated wood.


Stripped!

Before:


After:


The wood floors here will probably remain for at least the first year. We have plans to fit 1 inch bamboo cut in halves, varnished and stained, then bonded to the floor.

Would look much like what my wife & I saw in the entrance to a guest house we stayed at a few years ago.

The bamboo could come from our garden. Inexpensive to do, but time consuming - so we'll probably leave the bamboo plans till after we move in and prioritise the jobs that do need doing (lots!)leaving the current oak flooring in place for now.

Exterior Wood Wall Replacement.

It's a rainy cool summer's Sunday and finally I find myself with some time to sit down and spend a few hours uploading pictures & update you all on the progress that's been made the last 2 1/2 months.

Lots has changed! First off my wife's pregnant with our 2nd child who is due end of January 2012. Learning of this, the urgency to complete the house before summer completely vanished. We feel blessed to have a sibling on the way for our daughter so the two of them can play & together enjoy the outdoors that will soon surround their home.



In hindsight I can see now there's no way we'd get all that's planned done by then anyway, so the new target is end of October, when the weather will be cool & comfortable to make the move from Shizuoka.

This is a much bigger project than I'd originally envisaged, not least because we keep finding things we want to have repaired or replaced now rather than leaving till later and being a perfectionist Arnie needs time to consider the best solutions, discuss, fine tune then put thoughts into motion & change.

As we looked closer at each aspect we'd find we had to replace large surface sections than leaving them as they were, or do considerable repairs.



Some of the wooden exterior wall had become very thin & cracked from weathering over many decades & had holes where knots had fallen out, etc, so they were replaced. This wasn't just a matter of cutting to size and replacing planks, but included routing channels in the wood to fit splines in between (& allow for expansions & contractions from heat & humidity) & coating with odourless creosote for protection & making the wood look original. The fit that resulted was so perfect no insects will get through.




Arnie routes a channel for the spline to fit inside a wall plank.


Shinobu screws new wood into place.



A sign of a good job. All new & creosoted wood (right only) looks as old as the rest of the house!



New wood before being creosoted. The reverse side was sealed with silicone and walls will be insulated before being finished with plasterboard on the reverse side.


Some of the wattle & daub wall's coating is cracked, so we removed weak parts - to be repaired and repainted (White) later.

All the exterior wood will also be darkened & preserved with odourless creosote, but bearing in mind the timeline this will only be completed after the interior's been finished to make the house habitable by our family!

Genetic modification

Further explanation of what genetic food modification is bringing us towards:
Genetic modification