During the week starting on the 14th of March 2021 the XONIKZ Twitch channel will be streaming on weekdays between 7 and 10 PM EST. The focus will still be on loft renovation but will begin to bleed into the smaller decor projects near the end of the week.
The Twitch XONIKZ channel might be a bit more approachable with some smaller projects that show measurable outcomes and play well with the idea of live streaming for a public audience. With that in mind things like making odd shaped canvas stretchers, picture frames, shadow boxes and bookshelves will be done on stream throughout March.
Later in April, projects like designing a greenhouse will be a part of the conversation on Discord and the Twitch channel.
Measurements and plans for the completed projects will be made available here on XONIKZ.com for those who prefer jumping straight into the hard copy for their own industriousness. Updates on those links will be made on the Discord first. Discord boosters will get first access to the project plans.
I have begun tuck-pointing (or re-pointing) the crawlspace foundation brick. It took about two hours to re-point about ten square feet of wall. I think I can speed up that process by shifting over to using a different tool next time, but it was progress none-the-less.
The first portion of the process, cleaning out the brickwork’s deteriorating mortar, is complete. This second step of filling all of that cleaned-out space with new mortar will take a week of focus, especially with the tight work schedule. The following steps include creating a cement or mortar shelf at the top of the stone portion, cleaning out the mortar from the stone, and re-pointing the stone wall.
The real challenge will be in rebuilding the portions of the stone wall that have eroded over the last one hundred years. There are three focus areas for that: the drainage piping break, the pump tunnel gaps, and the sump area.
Of those problem areas, the pump tunnel gaps are the most concerning as they are accessible from both sides of the stone underground. The pump tunnel was built in the forties and accesses an underground pump cap. I’m not certain why this well was installed this way, but I’m guessing it was maintained and replaced by previous homeowners rather than professional installers. Unless we move to municipal water, we will likely have to do our pump replacement in the future too.
The current well sucks in a lot more sediment than I realized and will easily fill up the five-micron filter in three months. I have a three-stage filter to keep the water nice and clean and odor-free, but that five-micron filter fills up fast as the first line of defense. I think the pump should have been installed much lower into the water table than it was.
For now the focus must be on fixing up the above grade brickwork and making it airtight for the summer to keep the humidity manageable while working on the lower stonework. I really want to have this done before the warmer spring weather comes. That weather will give me the temperatures I want before opening up some of the walls in the main portions of the house.
Dirt, Dust and Debris
For the last several days, after work hours, I’ve been prepping the crawl space under the 100+ year old house brick and stone foundation for tuck pointing. Much of the work requires a heavy duty blower to push the dust out of the crawl space. I am wearing a heavy duty full face respirator while doing this project.
The goal of tuckpointing the brick and stone foundation is to maintain the foundation’s strength and stability over the next several decades. Im hoping for a solid 40 years. With that in mind, I not doing a patch job but a full repoint. It is dirty work, but it would be far too pricey to have a contractor do it for me this year. I have many other projects down there that require the foundation to be cleaned up first.
I have one more day of mortar removal and cleanup before I bring my wife down to help tuck point the brickwork. I’m hoping she gets a bug for it and wants to help finish the stone work too, as that’s the most arduous portion of the project to be done.
Wrapped up tight
The eastern half of the loft is now wrapped in it’s vapor barrier, a 6mil plastic over the fiberglass insulation. I finished up taping the seams and cleaned up the work space and some of the storage before having to call it a night.
The next portion of the project will take place in the lower garage as I spend some time sealing up the areas where air might pass from the garage up to the loft. I need to make sure the garage is fully isolated from the loft to keep car exhaust fumes out of the project space.
The barn is leaning to the south by about 2 inches. I’m going to begin the process of bringing it back to straight. The methods recommended for DIYers will all be tried and I’m hopeful that with enough patience I can get it squared up before spring.
I have some reinforcing ties and extra lumber now to shore up the old framing and make the joists more robust. I also have a workable plan in mind now for moving the entry stair and entry door to make room in the garage for two cars, bikes and a short workbench area.
I have some projects to focus on in the house, so much of the loft and garage structure will be done in shorter bursts. I hope to be back on stream more often, but for shorter segments as the barn project continues into the winter.
Witty title about plastic sheets and wood scraps
Throughout the weekend, I’ve spent a couple of hours cleaning up the dust and insulation scraps from the loft space and then began stapling in the final sheet of the plastic vapor barrier to seal up the north wall and ceiling.
Here are a couple of images from the progress being made on the loft behind the scenes:
The south wallThe north wall
On the southern wall I had stapled in some packing blankets to add to the sound isolation in the room, but since then have rethought that and taken them down. I’m not certain they would have been a good long term solution and would rather use them inside some hanging acoustic panels covered in canvas. It’ll look cleaner too.
By the end of this work week the vapor barrier should be fully encapsulating the space with a temporary divider draping the gap between the current project area and the storage area on the western end of the barn.
Another boost came from my workplace where the lumber department began pulling warped and chipped boards and offering them for cut rate prices. I was able to grab several 2x4s and similar structural wood boards to use in this loft project. Some of this wood will be used for the process of moving the access stairwell from the back side of the north wall to the eastern wall. Moving the stairwell will allow the lower portion of the barn to be converted into a two-car garage this summer. That conversion will be a huge project in it’s own right.
For now, the lower portion of the barn has space to park our Honda and room for my tools and scrapwood workbench.
Some day there will be less wood and more finished barn. 🧰
As I continue to branch out into the content creation and maker projects necessary for the storytelling I want to do, I hope to make a workshop on the opposite side of the driveway to house the tools and long term project space. The barn I’m currently working in is rather small, the main floor will only have room for two cars, the stairwell to the upstairs, and a small cabinet to house car-related materials.
In a couple of years, we should have the house attached to this barn via an extension to the existing house structure, and I look forward to having the loft conversion done and useable for media creation by then.
I’m considering pushing a few affiliate links for the types of tools I use, or something like that to generate some income to spend on the projects. I am not certain whether that’s the best idea, but I’m open to feedback on it.
If you would like to connect and share your thoughts on the projects with me, just jump on the discord server and join in the general chat. XONIKZ Independent Industries on Discord
10 Hours
That’s right, I just finished a ten-hour stream building the art loft again. I now have all of the insulation installed and the vapor barrier in place.
I’ll poke at it off-stream just a little on Sunday, but I don’t have a day off for a while and wanted to make the loft heatable. Now, despite the weather, I should be able the heat the loft as I continue to build it into the form I have imagined.
I am super happy with the progress I made tonight and look forward to my next day off so I can stream the work again.
6 Degrees of Seperation
It’s 6 degrees Fahrenheit outside now and my plan to work on the loft on Thursday is starting to look less and less appealing, but I still need to do it.
The weather isn’t likely to warm up for a while. I need to get the loft space encapsulated before spring so I can use the space more freely for the furniture and decor projects, which will be done in the my “fun projects” spare time.
I’m pretty sure that by the end of 2021 that much of my rush on the foundation repairs and straightening of the barn will have taken place if I can stick with the schedule of dedicating a few hours a week to the project.
In other news, the discord server has a few new emojis and a few new functional bots for checking stocks and listening to music and whatever other things I like having access to on other servers. It’s becoming a spot I regularly check-in, even if the community is very small right now.
3 a.m.
My day job is doing inventory this week and, in a bid to get more cash on the paycheck this round, I’ve agreed to come in early a couple days.
I agreed without much thought to my personal well being, or work-life balance.
I agreed before I realized “come in early” meant farmer’s hours.
I have to be an making breakfast by 3 a.m. in order to make it into work on time for a 12 hour, or longer shift.
I will be grumpy by the weekend.
However, if the weather pattern holds, I should have a couple of hours to dedicate to the loft project on Saturday afternoon and will stream what I can.
What has been happening this week
On Monday, while ripping a piece of 2×3 board down to 2×2, I cut my left index finger on the table saw. After bandaging, and cleaning up, and calling dad, and passing out from shock, and all the things; it’s healing. I’ve put the bigger barn and house projects on hold for a week while the finger skin seals up.
In the meantime, here are a couple of low-impact things I’m doing in the house this weekend off-stream.
1. Wiring a few plugs into the upstairs study room – this requires a little more work, but I should have it plastered in by Saturday evening.
2. Plaster and drywall continuing in the kitchen and kitchen/dining room transition area of the ceiling.
3. Hanging another cabinet in the kitchen.
I think those are enough projects for the weekend at the pace I have to work now. I’m also continuing to update the discord server, see the invite link in the menu here or on Twitch. I have some other web and graphics projects to catch up on too.
The injury inspired me to create an OUCH! Emoji for the discord server. Use it where you can.
Sealing up the ceiling
Tonight’s stream on Twitch.tv/xonikz showed a little bit more progress on the art loft, or maker loft. The vision is starting to take shape.
Ceiling insulation and vapor barrier were put in place on the western ceiling by the end of the stream with some work done on the half wall that separates the computer area and what will eventually be the studio and production area.
The ceiling vapor barrier is 1/3 complete
Off-stream we will be doing some wiring under the floor to cable manage the network cat6 lines for the network hub, wireless and computer desk outlets. These steps should be complete before Saturday’s stream.
The process of converting the barn loft into a maker space and photo studio is a challenge and a great learning experience. Many of the principles we’ve learned along the way will make renovating our farmhouse more viable in the coming year.
The streaming setup isn’t grand, but it works
Blog Posts
March 2021 Week 3
By Jon
During the week starting on the 14th of March 2021 the XONIKZ Twitch channel will be streaming on weekdays between 7 and 10 PM EST. The focus will still be on loft renovation but will begin to bleed into the smaller decor projects near the end of the week. The Twitch XONIKZ channel might be […]
I have begun tuck-pointing (or re-pointing) the crawlspace foundation brick. It took about two hours to re-point about ten square feet of wall. I think I can speed up that process by shifting over to using a different tool next time, but it was progress none-the-less. The first portion of the process, cleaning out the […]
For the last several days, after work hours, I’ve been prepping the crawl space under the 100+ year old house brick and stone foundation for tuck pointing. Much of the work requires a heavy duty blower to push the dust out of the crawl space. I am wearing a heavy duty full face respirator while […]
The eastern half of the loft is now wrapped in it’s vapor barrier, a 6mil plastic over the fiberglass insulation. I finished up taping the seams and cleaned up the work space and some of the storage before having to call it a night. The next portion of the project will take place in the […]
Throughout the weekend, I’ve spent a couple of hours cleaning up the dust and insulation scraps from the loft space and then began stapling in the final sheet of the plastic vapor barrier to seal up the north wall and ceiling. Here are a couple of images from the progress being made on the loft […]
That’s right, I just finished a ten-hour stream building the art loft again. I now have all of the insulation installed and the vapor barrier in place. I’ll poke at it off-stream just a little on Sunday, but I don’t have a day off for a while and wanted to make the loft heatable. Now, […]
It’s 6 degrees Fahrenheit outside now and my plan to work on the loft on Thursday is starting to look less and less appealing, but I still need to do it. The weather isn’t likely to warm up for a while. I need to get the loft space encapsulated before spring so I can use […]
My day job is doing inventory this week and, in a bid to get more cash on the paycheck this round, I’ve agreed to come in early a couple days. I agreed without much thought to my personal well being, or work-life balance. I agreed before I realized “come in early” meant farmer’s hours. I […]
On Monday, while ripping a piece of 2×3 board down to 2×2, I cut my left index finger on the table saw. After bandaging, and cleaning up, and calling dad, and passing out from shock, and all the things; it’s healing. I’ve put the bigger barn and house projects on hold for a week while […]
Tonight’s stream on Twitch.tv/xonikz showed a little bit more progress on the art loft, or maker loft. The vision is starting to take shape. Ceiling insulation and vapor barrier were put in place on the western ceiling by the end of the stream with some work done on the half wall that separates the computer […]
