Her Side Funnies

Here is a list of the slipforming articles.  If you click on the highlighted text, it will take you directly to the post listed.

• Slipforming, part 1, the next generation - An overview of the slipforming process used when building our home.  It contains a photo of the front of our home that was published in Tom Elpel’s book, “Living Homes,” photos of the early construction, and a reprint, with a few added details, of the article written by Dani Gruber and posted by Elpel on his website.
• Slipforming, part 2, money, jail and city life - Anyone wanting to build a rock home has their reasons and their own set of skills they bring to the project.  This post covers our own meager beginnings with photos of the project we had undertaken just prior to building our stone home.  It also has a cute photo of our children, Heidi and Ben, when they were smaller and cheaper.
• Slipforming, part 3, the biggest obstacle - How we financed the beginning of the stone home project, before-and-after photos of a Victorian remodel, as well as photos of my parents, who played a big part in the whole process.   It also allowed me, a decade later, to share the biggest obstacle of building the stone home.
• Slipforming, part 4, Death and destruction - Photos of some special details including some outside lighting, a photo of our kitchen and how we decided on the size for our home are chronicled here.  Also, the discouraging domino of events which unfolded on the first couple of days are shared.  Such a beginning highlighted the fact that “life” does not stop because you have a big project underway.
• Slipforming, part 5, Dad’s initial view - A guest post by my father covering his recollections of the beginning of our home, his frustrations and his relief.  This post also has a photo of my dear friend, Kitty, without whom this house might not have ever gotten finished, as I would still be searching for my tools!
• Slipforming, part 6, the latest rock project - Great photos of slipforming a rock veneer covering onto a newly constructed shed and also how to leave smooth grout lines between rocks.
• Slipforming, part 7, Murphy’s Law, a constant companion - Hand pain and numbness, gravel quarry pranks and a cost-effective bathroom solution are all covered in this post.  Additionally, this post shows the creative scaffolding solution Dad proposed.  Ugh!  Bad idea.
• Slipforming, part 8, successes and failures - Learning how close to set the stones and how long to allow the cement to cure made a big difference in the final product.  Dealing with rocks that pop off the wall is also detailed here.  For a laugh at Dani’s expense, the chalk line fiasco is chronicled here.
• Slipforming, part 9, some cool rock inspirations – Stone bell towers, door arches, staircase treatment and signature plate of the Community Methodist Church in Hotchkiss, Colorado offer inspiring ideas for those just beginning their own projects.
• Slipforming, part 10, more inspiring ideas - Window tops, towers, covered entries plus another idea for handicap accessibility.  This post references the Friends Church in Paonia, Colorado.
• Slipforming, part 11, Top 10 reasons to build a rock house - Self-explanatory.
• Slipforming, part 12 – Repairing masonry blunders - A photo of a masonry repair job shows an unexpected, but avoidable blunder.
• Slipforming, part 13 – Kitty’s take on it – A guest post by Dani’s good friend who helped run cement, gather tools, give advice and solve the world’s problems all while the initial phases of the house were completed.
• Slipforming, part 14 – Cold seam repairs - This post covers cold seams, how to avoid them, and how to repair them if they should occur.  There are several photos in this post that show how to grout over these problem areas.
• Slipforming, part 15 – Snow and the balcony - This post shows a photo of the house under a blanket of snow with the night lights on.  It also covers some of the considerations of adding a balcony to an upstairs landing.
• Slipforming, part 16 – Balcony railing…at last - Finally, a photo of the metal balcony railing that we finally ended up choosing.  It lacks the flame-accessory-pack, but suggesting a flame pack helped justify a “simpler” version.
• Slipforming, part 17 – Turret’s syndrome - When adding turrets (those cone-shaped roof toppers) to one’s home, it is good to see several ideas.  Here is a handful of ideas from my local area that might help inspire those who seek to build a home with added style.
• Slipforming, part 18 – The Bogart Home – When Ken Bogart saw our home, he was inspired to build his own home using rocks from a lake shore.  See his beautiful home photos here.