Her Side Funnies

This post follows Slipforming, part 17 – Turret’s Syndrome. To see a complete index of slipforming posts, click here. For an index of comical posts, click here.

Ken Bogart, who lives in New York, was inspired to build a slip-formed stone home and has graciously agreed to be guest interviewed for this blog. Following is an informal interview with Mr. Bogart. He promises he will start his own web page for those who want to explore more possibilities with rock homes. Thank you, Ken, for sharing your story here. When his website becomes active, I will happily provide a link to it.

Dani: How did you decide to build a slip-formed home?

Ken: I saw your house on Tom’s (Elpel) web page. My wife thought the idea was crazy until I showed her your story, and your home, and then she was all for it. She even bought me the cement mixer for Christmas and said “Go for it.”

Dani: Wow! Only a fellow stone home builder can appreciate a gift like that! So, what size is your home and how long did it take you?

Ken: It took me two summers to complete my 32′ x 48′ house. I worked my full time job during the week, and built mainly on weekends. Usually the weeknights were spent gathering stones.

Dani: That is fast! Especially since you were working full time, too.

Ken: It seemed to have taken forever! How long did it take you to build your house? Your house is so much bigger than mine, it should have taken longer to build. I love the looks of your house. Those turrets are beautiful, and it really sets it apart from anything out there. You went up one-and-a-half stories with stone. What were you thinking! When I got up to the first story I had gone up far enough for stonework.

Dani: (Laughing) My dad told a friend that I would get smart after laying a couple feet of rock. He suspected I would realize rocks are heavy and quit. After we were setting rocks 14 feet above the ground, dad maintained I never did get smart. That said, I was not holding a full-time job at the time, as you were. My rock work was done in two seasons, but I did run the “seasons” long—from April to November.

Ken: Mine was two summers of laying stones. The first summer didn’t go very well and I got frustrated with the process. The stones weren’t right, the concrete oozed out, it was kind of disheartening. After thinking about it over the winter and reading and researching and thinking of different ways to make it better the second summer went great. I very much enjoyed it, and would do it again, and I may someday on a smaller scale.

Dani: Did you have any help on this project? (more…)

This post follows Slipforming, part 16 – Balcony railing…at last. To see a complete index of slipforming posts, click here. For an index of comical posts, click here.

I’m calling this chapter “Turret’s syndrome” not because I intend to mis-spell and discuss Tourette’s Syndrome, which, for those who do not know, is an affliction that often results in someone blurting out profanities at inopportune times.  Instead, I intend to share some ideas on turrets, which are those cone shaped roof toppers that adorn some homes and government buildings.  Frankly, they cause the same symptoms…profanity.  For Tourette sufferers, there is medication and therapy.  For turret sufferers, no remedy exists, aside from ditching the idea of adding a cone-shaped roof topper to one’s home, or profanely gritting one’s teeth through it.

My own case of turret syndrome began with an old book on German castles, many of which were over 500 years old.  This inspired me because, ignorantly, I figured if they could do it 500+ years ago, without all the power tools we have at our disposal today, the project ought to be a cake walk with our advanced technology.  Oh my!  Ignorance truly is bliss.

Above left, a curved turret that adorns a Victorian home in Delta, Colorado.  I actually wanted the turrets on our home to be curved like these, but my husband, Ken, thought the idea was too “girly.”  Considering the extra labor, I conceded, but I still love this look.  The carpenter, who built this in the early 1900s, probably knew it would still be appreciated this much later, as it will 100 years from now, if the home stands that long. (more…)

This post follows Slipforming, part 13 – Kitty’s take on it.  To see a complete index of slipforming posts, click here.  For an index of comical posts, click here.

If you have gotten this far in my posts, you have read about how to slipform, what the concrete looks like fresh out of the forms, how to scrape it off for a smooth joint and the dangers of using mixed sources of cement.  An area that I have not covered is how to repair cold seams.  Cold seams are the bane of a concrete slinger’s existence.  They are deceptive.  They are not forthright, they make promises they do not keep.  They should die.  And now I’ll tell you how I really feel.

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The following post is a guest post from my dear friend Kitty, who constituted one-third of the initial work “crew.”  This post follows Slipforming, part 12 – Repairing masonry blunders.  To see a complete index of slipforming posts, click here.  For an index of comical posts, click here.

First let me start by saying I have known Dani since high school. I was not all that surprised when she said she was going to build a house.  In many ways it is so “Dani.”

When we first met on the site we went into a little camp trailer where she enthusiastically showed me a copy of “Mother Earth” magazine and outlined the project to me. I had a hard time grasping that we were going to use these Styrofoam panel things and later do rock work. I was available to help Dani in the mornings because my middle son David was going to a nearby preschool. I neglected to tell her I was pregnant with my third child.  My husband and I had not broke the news to anyone yet.

Even though I could not grasp the entire project, I signed on to help explaining to Dani I was a little confused but could certainly follow directions and be a good grunt. The footers had been poured and you could tell where the windows and door were going to be. I painted many a panel with linseed oil as Dani mentions in a prior post. (more…)

This post follows “Slipforming, part 11 – Top 10 reasons to build a rock house.”  For a complete list of links to all slipforming posts on this blog, click here.  For more comical posts, click here.

Rock work is pretty unforgiving.  While I advocate in favor of having a flexible plan, I do not advocate having an inflexible (and regretable) remedy. 

First, let me clarify – this photo is not of my house.  It is one of the few that adorn the landscape near where I live.  This photo shows a remodel project where the owner decided against the placement of the front door, instead opting to try to “blend” in the doorway with matching rock work at some later point in time.  (more…)