Shit Happens

I am finally in my new place full time and that is a great feeling.  For my first time moving it went smoothly, but it did take a long time, and I did learn a lot during the process.  Chief lesson is do not rush your move but do as much of the move in a single shot as possible.  I spent several weeks and many round trips between Perth and Kingston moving my belongings to my new home, and in the end I still had to rent a 14' truck to move the last of my things before I had to be out of the old apartment.  Lesson learnt, I should have rented the truck at the beginning and done the move at once; this would have saved time and in the end money.

Simultaneous to the move work on the house has begun.  First step was to get the house livable.  Prior to my taking possession the house had been vacant for half a year, doors and windows closed and no one cleaning, which resulted in lots of dirt building up and a funky smell developing.  So for me this means spending lots of time cleaning and painting (and cleaning) just to feel comfortable in the house.

With the cleaning taken care of the first big project for the house is to get the garage converted into a workshop, a place to work on paying jobs as well as a place to work on the house.

The original plan was to rip out the existing wall board, pull out the insulation, run new electrical, reinsulate with better quality insulation, install new new drywall, put down a floor and then move in the machinery and get working.

However, the moment after the bin was delivered and I started pulling out drywall things went sideways.  There is a double layer of drywall, making it harder to rip out, taking more time and creating more waste: meaning I need a bigger bin, and then the shit really hit the fan.  After the drywall came off the south wall I found I was missing 30feet of sil plate.  Missing is the wrong word stolen is more appropriate.  Ants and water damaged completed devastated the wall framing and now I have to fix it.

On to plan B.

Cheers



Hans Christopher

A New Year, A New City, An Old House

2014 is over and so is my time at Rosewood Studio.  I started as a student at Rosewood in January of 2013.  For three months, Ron Barter the owner and full time instructor, showed me the ropes of building wood furniture.  After finishing the 12 Week Craftsmen Program I was shocked and honored to be asked to stay on at the school as the Resident Craftsmen, a position previously held by the talented maker and (now) great personal friend Nick Moore.

In the twenty one months after completing my program I was able to: build many wonderful pieces of  furniture which you can see here, help teach new students along side Ron, acquire commissions, attend exhibitions and conferences, meet amazing teachers (Garret Hack, Adrian Ferrazzutti, Michael Fortune, Chris Shwarz just to name a few) and continue my own education.

Thank you to everyone I meet during my time in Perth, you all helped make this beautiful small town my home for two years.

Now I begin a new phase of my life and it is a big step.  I am moving to Kingston Ontario where I have bought a house.  I will be renovating the house while simultaneously trying to make my business H3 Design & Construction my full time employment.

I hope that you my readers new and old will continue to follow along as I do the renovations.

Just before Christmas I completed a hall bench for a new costumer.  I would have posted during the actual construction of the piece except the piece was a surprise.  Now that is has been delivered to a very excited customer I will be posting about the build in the next couple of weeks.

Finally you can now follow H3 Design & Construction on Facebook click here to get to the page.  I am new to Facebook so be patient as I get started using the page.

Best wishes to everyone in 2015.

Cheers
Hans Christopher Mueller