Semester Program Fall 2013

[ym-semester13]

a quick visit to bennington...

as many of you know, lisa's tiny house took a few whacks during delivery and needed a few fixes.  combine this with a few details that needed buttoning up and it was time for a trip down to bennington...

the roof was the critical step:

the siding was also a high priority.

and the bathroom needed a few screws to keep things buttoned up.

and the big door needed a latch.

[ym-semester13]

looking back

well... it's a grey day in the office: coordinating materials for a quick run down to bennington to button up a few details, reaching out to possible sending institutions, and corresponding with next year's prospective students.

it's not much of a stretch to reach back to the days at martin house:  the excitement of bringing the skids out of the basement into a parking-lot-tropical-storm, the nervous excitement of waiting for our first real feedback from our client, and the tumult of energy that was our jobsite and studio.

thank all of you for an amazing sixteen weeks.

-eric.

[ym-semester13]

Draggin' Moving...

we began our adventure Tuesday evening at Martin House raising the house the appropriate 42" to get it on the truck the next day.

It went along rather smoothly.

We watched our Lil'Draggin leave Martin House for it's first time... they grow up so fast.

The follow truck has a tough job actually, we all nervously watched a truck pass our house, then bam! truck dude cuts off another car to make sure nobody else tries to pass. go him.

Excavator moving the truck and the house...

Sharing a moment through some glass.. or not...

Imperial Unicorn and their concrete footings.

Some site damage...

Kasper watching as the excavator hooks on to the corner brackets for their first real test.

and were off the truck!

Lowering a building is surprisingly challenging from 42" off the ground on what some may call unstable footings/cribbing stacks. The lil'Draggin took a small fall to the ground, but only suffered some minor exterior knife wall siding blemishes.

We retreated to the Knotty Pine after some dinner and losing at trivia to have a rest for the night.

Day2: we are ready.

Phoebe does some excavator work moving a cinderblock.

Ben and Eric tell jokes and get serious about the day.

Which involved a crane...

We strapped on to the corner brackets, their next test, which they passed with flying colors. Then to those red bars, then to the crane.

Eric and Ben working together to put blocks under the straps.

Come on, how cute are they.

Take 1...

After 2 of the cranes straps failed sending that red beam crashing through our beloved SL-16, our fearless leaders rode the other one up to fix the straps and get everything set for take 2.

This time we used 2 straps going to each corner bracket, and steel cables to support the house. We were successful.

VICTORY IS OURS.

Some victory wrastling.

Hole in roof..

YAYAYYAYA BIG DOOR.

YAYAYA KITCHEN

LABYRINTH!!

POCKET DOOR!

WINDOW TRIM!!

STORAGE WALL!!

MURPHY BED!!

NOOK CITY!

LIL'DRAGGIN' <3

CIRCUS WALL FLYOUT!

CORNER BRACKETS, WE ARE FOREVER GRATEFUL.

some views from the backyard, beyond the row of trees.

Sunset from the living room windows.

I would like to say moving the house was quite an adventure, filled with much more than any of us expected. The Lil' Draggin' survived with some minor damages, but overall is fine because we built an awesome sturdy little house. 

Arriving back at Martin House from our 2 days in Bennington was odd to say the least, there was no house in the parking lot, which we had gotten extremely used to. There was too much space there...

I could say more things, but we've all probably already thought them and maybe have said them.

I will say that we built a house, but we also did so much more than that, we all know that though, this was way more than just building a house and I will never forget that.

Hope you enjoy the pictures, sending my love from New York,

Unicorn

[ym-semester13]

"Where's my fig newton? Who would touch that?"

- hungry Kasper

[ym-semester13]

Some semi final images as of Saturday 12/7.  

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I love you all. Class dismissed.

Mr.Feeny

[ym-semester13]

Hands in: December cheers

12/2 Home stretch

12/3 Punch list

12/4

12/5

12/6 Thank you / Success

[ym-semester13]

The mad dash to the finish line!

[ym-semester13]

No crying on the pine flooring.

Eric

[ym-semester13]

Thanksgiving Throwback

[ym-semester13]

Punch List Update: Day 2

Tuesday's still a-churning, but here are some photo updates on what's going on with the YesterMester crew.

Doors are still being painted!

Window trim boxes are ready! 

Wide pine boards for the floor!

Cedar siding and stainless steel have crept up onto the wet bath wall!

Kitchen built-ins are making their way into the space!

Big Door work continues!

The bedroom is getting crowded with the Murphy Bed & Nook!

Cedar entry soffit is done!

More to come in our last week, so stay tuned!

[ym-semester13]

OH MY GOSH. Day 1 of punch week done. AHHHHH

[12-gauge-rage]

[ym-semester13]

Hands in: November cheers

11/1 Fire 11/4 Alligator windows 11/5 Cellulose 11/6 Super job 11/7 Team Struggle 11/8 Smokehouse 11/11 Yesterpencil 11/12 Racing stripe WHAT 11/13 Woah in the dark 11/14 Skylight 11/15 Respect art 11/18 Awesome unicorn 11/19 No more Insulweb 11/20 Mayonnaise 11/21 Bombin' built-ins 11/22 When you're older 11/25 Big day Big Door 11/26 Crushed cow bones 11/27 Gobble gobble

[ym-semester13]

some pics

reclaimed wall meets white wall.

view from martin house.

ben & eric being super cute working together to devise a solution to our slightly imperfect bathroom.

working late into the evening to work on the bathroom. thank you ben cheney and eric cook <3

[ym-semester13]

A Day in the Life

Looking at Cece's recently posted pictures of the outside of the tiny house, you might be thinking that we're pretty much done. The big door is set in, every last board of the exterior siding has been nailed on, and the roof is a vast ocean of Hawaiian blue. Culinary students and Montpelierite neighbors ask,"So you're just finishing up?" as they pass by on their way to class or on a dog walk. The answer to this question is simultaneously, "Yeah! We'll be done in a week!" and "No way, there is SO much more to do!" 

Indeed, our group of fourteen has come a long way since we started building on October 7th, but a smörgåsbord of tasks both daunting and perfunctory will compete for our time and attention during the eight working days we have left. So, what does that finish process look like? Which details are we wrangling with at the moment? Here's a glimpse into our Yester-world this Wednesday, November 27th, 2013.  

(also, mark your calendars for our open house! It's on Friday, December 6th from 4 to 6 PM at 33 College St. in Montpelier.) 

8:49 AM

Just as our morning meeting has disbanded, Jess and Ben discuss the ins and outs of waterproofing the bathroom. Jess has been applying a product called Laticrete Hydro Ban all over our bathroom floor to seal our wet bath and prevent moisture from escaping into adjacent stud bays and floor cavities. In the background, Chris and Nate ponder mockups of lighting fixtures. With Justin and a few dedicated individuals leading the lighting fixture charge, we can assuredly say our lighting will be one of the more original and inspired aspects of the project. 

Lists - to buy and to do. (squeezed onto the whiteboard around doodles of regal unicorns and outer space)

9:17 AM

Jim and Pearce check out Jim's mock-up of a cabinet handle. After establishing that we wanted to craft our own pulls and handles for the kitchen drawers and cabinets, Jim wasted no time in coming up with this innovative design that is, cleverly, both subtractive and additive. In other words, the handle appears to be made out of the material was removed, or subtracted, from the cabinet door (or stick of wood) and then added back on in a different manner. 

Ned misses his partners in crime, Bill and Piglet. Fact: He is, by all reasonable measures, the most photographed dog in the city of Montpelier. 

10:38 AM

Kate (Yestermorrow's executive director) stops by for a look at the house, and the assembled group can't decide which board of the circus wall they find most overstimulating. Is Pearce's lime green one? Nate's board that's pretending to be a drawer? Cece's etched Yester manifesto? Eric's Swiss cheese? Come to the open house and decide for yourself.

Staying warm and dry in a raincoat and insulated Carhartt overalls, I am nonetheless happy to finish circus wall installation and get out of the sleet. Although today wasn't as numbingly cold as the past few days have been, this freezing sleet nonsense set the backdrop for one of the most unpleasant days to be outside this fall. We've been incredibly lucky to not have more days like this. 

11:21 AM

Cece and Nate are almost done with the first coat of paint. As a group, we decided to paint the interior walls and ceiling white to open up the space and create a clean, modern, aesthetic. We are using milk paint which is nontoxic, and, contrary to popular belief, not made out of ground cow bones. (Where did this rumor start?)

The paint comes in powder form, and then we mix it to our desired consistency. Refreshingly, the list of ingredients is easy to understand: casein (milk protein), lime (also known as calcium), and pigment. This basic formula has been used since the days of paleolithic cave painting. 

12:56

Kasper, Ben, and Cece take a field trip to Jim Daniel's metal shop to cut and bend steel. Jim owns a collection of solidly built steelworking brakes, presses, shears etc., some of which date back to the early 1900s. Wouldn't it be nice if all our machines lasted that long? These pieces of Jim's equipment delicately handle steel as easily as our hands can crease as piece of paper. Kasper worked with Jim to fabricate pieces of structural steel trim for the big door, while the pictured sheet of stainless steel will be installed as a shower backsplash in the wet bath. 

2:40 PM

Snacktime. 

Lucas, Pearce, and Justin finagle Murphy (foldout) bed pieces together. After extensive research and instructional YouTubeing, Lucas ordered a Murphy bed hardware kit and is heading up a team to cut and assemble the frame and cabinet. The Murphy bed allows for the luxury of a queen-sized mattress in a tiny house-sized bedroom. 

Ned continues to lead a difficult life as he whiles away his day dreaming of cleaning up after messy Thanksgiving eaters. Do you think he knows it's tomorrow? Although we work until 5 PM (or 6, or 7, or 8), mid-afternoon is where my day ended since I left early to come home.  

Have a peaceful and gratitude-filled Thanksgiving.

-Phoebe Howe

[ym-semester13]