Drywall above the Windows

The interior walls, made of light straw clay (LSC), will be covered in clay plaster.  For the finish coat, I've decided to use an American Clay, pigmented product.  This should make for an easy and predictable finish coat.  I really like how informative their website is, complete with detailed videos.  Check them out at americanclay.com.

I've mentally tried out various techniques to deal with the areas above the windows and for the window sills.

This photo shows the plastic above the windows, which holds in the cellulose insulation.  This needs to be covered before I can plaster it.  Since American Clay can be applied over drywall, I decided that would be a relatively easy way to create a uniform finish coat, with a consistent look over both the LSC and the drywall.

Above the kitchen window, the drywall (and later, the finished plaster) gets notched for the I-beams, which are exposed.

This is a test section of ceiling showing the brown beams and off-white ribbed panels.

Above the closet, the beam (still unpainted here) runs along the top of the drywall and marks the top edge of the clay plaster.  The off-white panels will sit on top of this beam.

This shows the south windows.

Sheathing and Windows

This day involved the most overt progress since the framing went up back in July!  The sheathing went out without any drama, thanks to pre-planning by the framers to place studs 2' apart.  But first I had a little work to do to fill up some cavities in the studs that were too narrow for me to blow in with cellulose.

It's pretty low-tech: stuff the gap with rigid foam and use spray foam to seal it in place.  Once the foam dries, I sawed of whatever stuck out.

Big excitement when the windows and door arrived!  Note the sheathing in the background, closing in the Light Straw Clay.  (Finally, I won't have to worry any more about a driving rain re-soaking the LSC.)

Here is my idea for a termite shield: I screwed a strip of the trim material below the sheathing.  The TruExterior, manufactured by Boral, is made up of recycled fly-ash and resin, so no insect will want to eat it.  It is dimensionally stable and immune to water damage, so it will do double duty to protect the exposed bottom edge of the plywood.  So the only thing a bug will see from the ground is cedar (which is naturally insect resistant), TruExterior, and concrete.

All the windows are in!  Ready for insulation.

Nearing the end of the Light Straw Clay

There hasn't been any dramatic progress this week, buy it's nice that almost all the light straw clay infill has been completed.  There is just a little more work to do to fill in the quarter-rounds around the windows and then it's on to the adobe floor.

West wall: the only thing left are the quarter rounds at the door and the little panels above the rough opening.

This shows the mold I made my cutting out a section of 12" sonotube and screwing it on to 1x4 poplar boards.  The poplar gets screwed onto the framing and it is filled from the outside.

Not the clearest shot, but it shows how the plywood form is screwed onto the framing at a diagonal and filled from the outside.  The 1x3 diagonal bracing is muddying this particular shot.

Shot showing both quarter rounds in place.  I can't wait to see what it looks like with plaster on the rounded parts!