Life As A House

Girls Room

2009-07-29T02:59:00.001-07:00

DSC_0048
Originally uploaded by price.africa

The House is Finished (Kinda)

2009-07-29T02:57:00.001-07:00

IMG_0188
Originally uploaded by price.africa

We have moved into our new home. There is still lots of small stuff to do, like paint the exterior but we are just excited to have our own room.

Living Room

2009-07-29T02:56:00.001-07:00

IMG_0186
Originally uploaded by price.africa

Living Room

2009-07-29T02:55:00.001-07:00

IMG_0190
Originally uploaded by price.africa

Living Room and Kitchen

2009-07-29T02:54:00.001-07:00

IMG_0191
Originally uploaded by price.africa

We will make the old house into our kitchen. We are a bit exhausted now though and we will some time before we do that.

New Bedroom

2009-07-29T02:51:00.001-07:00

IMG_0192
Originally uploaded by price.africa

Here is our new bedroom. We used a Latern we bought in Thailand before we were married as a light. We saved lots of money just hanging bulbs for lights and random things as shades.

Painting!

2009-07-23T10:43:00.001-07:00

DSC_0100
Originally uploaded by price.africa

Its been a while since I last posted. We have progressed alot! here is David Song painting the hall way. All the guys here at tenthousandhomes.org came over every night for a week to paint and hang doors! we had a blast working together.

Started putting the Metal Sheets on....

2009-06-10T05:23:00.001-07:00

(PixUp)
Originally uploaded by price.africa

the timber is finally on and we have started to put the metal sheeting on. We are still getting unseasonable winter rains which make the work fun!! I am using an IRB sheeting. The price of metal has come down in south African making it possible to buy the IRB for the same price as the normally cheaper corrugated sheeting. Anneke and I are starting to get excited that there might be an end!!!!

I can take it apart but......

2009-05-28T13:06:00.001-07:00

(PixUp)
Originally uploaded by price.africa

After 6 years in Zambia with no one there during a tech emergency i developed enough "guts" to start messing with my own computer. Actually I think it is more like developing stupidity. Once when i was going to give my laptop to a good friend i wanted to clean it really well so i decided to was it with a wet rag. bad idea! i destroyed the keyboard! i then wanted to remove the keyboard to fix it. i had taken the entire computer apart before i realized i could have simply popped the top off and removed two screws. i did get it working again after a spare hours of work and a spare part from the state. this computer is a coworkers whose power plugin was loss. i got it fixed and all back together but the screen still doesnt work. fortunately she had already ordered her new macbook!

The Walls are Almost Finished!

2009-04-25T15:23:00.001-07:00

IMG_0108
Originally uploaded by price.africa

The walls are almost finish! we have put in 3 wooden windows on the bedrooms side of the house and four doors facing out to the valley. We wanted more window but after pricing them we realized that four doors was cheaper that one door and a couple of window because doors are stand and i can install them where windows are a fully assembled off site and extremely expensive. Many things don't make sense to me until a consider the cultural aspect of crime. Doors are cheaper because of crime! Windows are more secure (ours came with metal bars enforced in). Also the guys helping me build installed my doors facing in because it is easier to secure and look them as well as it leaves space for metal security fences on the outside. As soon as I noticed I had them turn the door frames around because i wanted my doors opening out for space and atmosphere. It is exciting to see the walls go up but unfortunately or project is halting because of finances. i will keep you posted though.

Back Bedroom

2009-04-25T15:12:00.001-07:00

IMG_0117
Originally uploaded by price.africa

This is the girls room.

Master Bedroom

2009-04-25T15:11:00.001-07:00

IMG_0111
Originally uploaded by price.africa

This is the master bedroom with a door opeing up to the valley.

Hallway

2009-04-25T15:10:00.001-07:00

IMG_0116
Originally uploaded by price.africa

The hall way will be big enough to have a desk and show off the character of the old house by leaving the corner revealed.

Living Room

2009-04-25T15:08:00.001-07:00

IMG_0110
Originally uploaded by price.africa

This is our living room with 3 doors that open onto the valley.

Girls Room.

2009-03-31T02:22:00.001-07:00

DSC_0019
Originally uploaded by price.africa

This will be the girls room. If there is any error in my blue prints it is that i probably could have made this room small to save some money.... that being said, i am glad it is so big. i will give lots of room or a creative play area and we could always make two small rooms out of it. In the phot you see the girls are already enjoying it!!

Upper Room's New Floor....

2009-03-02T02:57:00.001-08:00

photo
Originally uploaded by price.africa

The common thing here is to by a small dye of the color of your choice and mix it into a 5 liter tin of polyurethane. the problem with it is that with each coat it gets darker so if you desire something light you need to use a different tin of un dyed poly to finish your second and third coat.

Using What You Got.

2009-03-02T02:55:00.001-08:00

ceiling
Originally uploaded by price.africa

We have realized that it will take us much longer than anticipated to finish the remodel on our house. That being said we decided to go ahead and move into the existing two rooms so that we can stop bothering my brother and his family! (although we love staying there and get along well with them)

Anneke and I however alwasy have an itch to make what we got nicer..... so we decide to do two quick but very important jobs before moving in. The upper room had been floored with particle board and carpet which had a very bad odor and the ceiling on the firlst floor just needed help aesthetically.

For the ceiling we just bought some branched that are collected form the local forests and lined the ceiling inbetween the support poles with them. it is turning out very nice and give a very natural look!

On the upper floor we removed the carpet and particle board and burned it! I then just bought some low grade plywood and intsalled it with a few coats of stained varnish.

Lucas Mill

2009-02-19T12:45:00.001-08:00

DSC_0758
Originally uploaded by price.africa

My friend Carel cutting on our home made Lucas Mill. We cutt all our tumber here. Then put it on the shelve for 9 months to cure. This machine is absolutely amazing. There is alot more waste compared to a woodmizer but has very few parts and easily maintainable. (perfect for Africa!!)

TImber Yard.

2009-02-19T12:31:00.001-08:00

DSC_1299
Originally uploaded by price.africa

While in Zamia I had the cool experience of running a small timber mill. We bought all of our timber from local guys within a 50km radius of us. we would commission them to cut the approved trees into logs and then we would drive our tractor into the "bush" to collect them. What you see here is mostly Red Mahogany and Rosewood.

Home

2009-01-30T16:33:00.001-08:00

pc_2
Originally uploaded by price.africa

I have been feeling guilty lately about putting so much effort into my own home lately. not because it is extravagent or too much but rather because everything i put into it is something that i cant put into the homes we are building here for the orphans. I was inevitably challenged with the well know proverb that a man that doesn't take care of his own family is worse than a .....
I am some what of an idealist though and truly believe that if something is good for me then it is good for the entire community. Thinking about that it helped me to realize that truly i can not be a blessing to those around me unless i have something to give them. How can i give "home" to others if I don't have it myself. Not just a physical home, like a roof and four walls but also a emotional and spiritually safe home. Anneke and I joked many times that our marriage wont last if our kids dont get thier own bedroom!! I have come to realise that the more I work on my personal "home: the more "home" I have to give to others!!! I pray that i never lose th ebalance though and come to a place where it is no longer about haveing a home but rather having all the cool stuff that the Jones have.

DSCN2889

2009-01-30T07:24:00.001-08:00

DSCN2889
Originally uploaded by price.africa

We started last week digging the foundations for our house. The exisitng house, from the best we can tell was an old chicken coup. the walls are about a foot thick and made of clay bricks with a rough cement plaster on the outside. When coming to africa i had to learn a new technique for laying foundations. We basically dig the parameter and interior walls. You then pour a footer 200mm x 400mm/ then you build you foundation walls on top of that. Fill up all the space inside your walls with dirt leaving 100mm depth inside your walls to pours a slab. its a bit more work but breaking it into stages makes it easier to manage your labor and quality control.

House Plans

2009-01-29T05:04:00.001-08:00

House Plans
Originally uploaded by price.africa

I wanted to show the house plans for the remodel I'm working on now. It will be Anneke and I's house when we move to White River South Africa to work with 10,000 Homes. the three two small rooms and big room with the stairs on the bottom right our the existing building with a second story over the big room. the additional rooms to the left and top are new construction that i will add on. It will be a sitting room, two bedrooms and a small bath. the exisitn rooms will become a kitchen, art studio (upstairs) aswell as a bathroom and mud room in the existing small rooms. I did not mark the windows and exterior doors but they will be there.