Sledding on the Hobbit-hole!

The kids couldn't wait for a proper snowfall; a couple of inches was enough for them. The first skiff of snow, and they were all over the hobbit-hole on their sleds. This was back in mid-December. Earlier in the day, it had been warm enough for me to work outside without a coat. I was frantically working on some last minute winterization measures, knowing this storm was coming. As the snow began to fall; I hurriedly tossed a thin layer of dirt up onto the pipe so that the snow would stick and the kids would have a halfway-decent slope to sled down. The kids all watched with excitement as I froze my buns off shoveling dirt, and as the snow began to accumulate. No sooner did we have enough snow to hide all the dirt, then they were all out there lining up to sled down; and they didn't come in for 3 hours! It doesn't take a very big hill to make it a ton of fun for the kids. And they didn't care that the dirt was loose and got mixed with the snow. As long as they had a fairly smooth track to go down, they were willing to put up with the difficult slog back up. More recently, we have had a ton more snow, and the kids have been out there sledding time and again. I can't wait until we have it properly covered with more dirt, and with sod!

Retaining Wall + this hobbit revealed...

I built the first of four retaining walls, to come off the sides of the front and back, which will keep the hill in place. I chose a terra cotta color that I hope will compliment the entrance, which will eventually have a brick and stucco exterior.

The hobbit building this hole finally consented, reluctantly, to pose for a photo.

Rear Window

At long last, the hobbit-hole is completely enclosed. I installed the rear window before the mortar had even tried on the wall. I have a lot more work to do on this rear part to completely weatherproof it. Then there is finish work left to do on the front, back and inside. There some architectural details to add. Some of those may need to wait until next year. The kids were so excited to have the window in that they slept in the hobbit-hole again that very night (even though it is October). It was a lot warmer and quieter without the wind blowing through that opening. The moon was big and bright, shining through the window and bathing the hobbit-hole in moonlight.

Low reinforcement wall

I can't help it; my blog post titles are getting more and more boring. (Oh well.) Using cinderblocks, I built a low wall. Not only does it look really cool, but it also serves to keep the OSB flush with the pipe. It's too bad it's going to be partially buried with dirt.

Rear wall

The rear wall starts to take shape, starting with OSB cut to cover the entrance, with a hole for the window.
This is actually two layers of OSB. You may recall that the pipe is not totally level. To compensate for this, the two layers of OSB are in a narrow V shape. They are connected flush at the bottom, but taper out until they are about 2 inches apart at the top. So the inner layer is flush with the pipe opening, which is no level, while the outer later is level. The inner layer is also covered with heavy duty black pastic to weather proof it against the dirt, which will come right up against it.

Starting on the back wall

Now that the front is far enough along that it can withstand the winter, I'm starting on the back. As I did with the front, I poured a foundation for the rear wall.

Weatherproofing the Entrance

I am anxious to start on the back wall, but first I needed to get the entrance far enough along that it could survive the winter--in case I run out of time before it starts to snow. I finished building out the wall on the left and right sides, so there is no longer a gap, then I sealed all the seams and cracks and stained it all. This is not the completed entrance, but it should be good enough to make it through the winter, just in case. Now I am turning my attention to the back wall, which will include a large window. Once the back is done enough to be at least weatherproof, I can get the dirt put on top of the tube. Then it will be down to finish work on the exterior and interior.
Here is another angle on the entrance. I may be giving away my location here, for those familiar with that mountain. ;)
Here is a bird's eye view, taken from up in the cherry tree. I can't wait until I can cover up that unsightly tube!
Maybe in my next post, I will include some people, so you can get a better idea of the scale of this. The tube is 6 feet diameter and 15 feet long, which should give some idea. I have to duck pretty low to enter, as the door itself is only a little more than 4 feet in diameter.

A Couple of More Looks

Here are a couple of more looks at the interior as it stands now.

Looking toward the front...


... and toward the back.
Obviously, the ribwork to support the interior, rounded walls is not complete. I only have it installed on the left side of the entry, as you come in. It will be installed throughout eventually.

A Peek Inside

I finally have some progress to show on the inside of the hobbit-hole for a change. Here you can see where I have installed that interior partion wall that I built a few weeks ago. Notice how it separates the space into two "rooms". I am sitting down on the floor in the second room (the parlor), which is larger than the first (the entry).

I have another piece of wall going in later that will cover up the studs and wiring. And of course, I will finish the wall surface off nicely so that it looks really cool, rather than that ugly OSB.

You can also see the horizontal boards running along the inside of the tube, like ribs. I will be attaching flexible wood paneling to this ribwork, so that the round walls have a wooden look, rather than corregated metal. Herein lies another reason for the interior partition wall: it also serves as a key support to the rib structure. (And the rib struture in turns gives more support to the partion wall.)

Here is a closer look, showing the ribwork and also the beginnings of a built-in bench. The bench was an immediate hit, not only for the kids, but for myself and other adults wanting to check out the place. It is sooo nice to have a place to sit down in there, especially for those of us with stature more resembling a wizard than a hobbit.

Of course, this will all be finished off nicely with wood to cover up the studs, wiring, corregated metal, etc. Also, I will be working on the doorway, so that it looks nicer, and so the studs are not exposed. I have a nice floor covering planned as well.

Extending the patio

Every time I work on this project, I get less done that I plan. This time, I only managed to add another row to the patio. It will eventually extend out as far as the sand there. Those are chunks from an old concrete pad that my brother-in-law got rid of. Man those things are heavy! I also am toying with the idea of having steps lead up the hill to the left. I put three there just to remind me. I think I will need to reposition them a bit later. The kids think the stairs idea is awesome.

Wiring for the lights and fixture

You may wonder what this is. Well, hopefully later pictures will make it more clear, but I will try to explain. Inside the hobbit-hole right now, there is nothing but a 4-foot wide by 15 foot long floor in what is otherwise an empty corrugated metal pipe. In order to get lighting in there, and also to separate the space inside into two "rooms" I am building a rounded partition wall, to be placed a little short of half-way in the pipe. There will be no door in this wall, only an opening. The first "room" will be like an entry, with a bench, and hooks for walking sticks and pointy hats and such. The second "room" will be sort of a parlor, with places to sit, and probably a small table.

Wiring from the outside will pass through the front of the hobbit-hole and run hidden under a bench/shelf that I will build on the left side as you enter. From there it will run into this partition wall. You can see the guts of that wall, pre-assembled here. I have wired it for a fixture and four lights (only two boxes for lights are visible; the other two are on the opposite side. This way, both rooms will be lit with two light fixtures. They will be old fashioned looking--reminiscent of old lanterns, to be more consistent with a real hobbit-hole (which of course has no electricity).

This is just about ready to haul out and install in the hobbit-hole. It will be a tight fit, and will take a bit of clever maneuvering to get in place, but I have done a dry run, so I know it will work.

"... a perfectly round door ..., painted green..."

It finally cooled down to the 80s, so after a 3-week hiatus, I finally made some more progress. Today, I painted the door green, put a brass door knob in the middle, and attached the pre-constructed (by me), round door jamb/threshold. This not only adds some dimension to the door, but it also ensures that it won't swing outward. (There is a gap on either side which I will fill in. The threshold structure itself wasn't wide enough to cover the full space. I just needed it to be wide enough to accomodate the doorway.)

Below is what the door looked like right after I painted it this morning, and before attaching the threshold. The last time I worked on it, I had added a stud on the left, flush with the door, and installed a ball latch, so the door will shut and stay shut, but can be simply pushed open with a little shove (or pulled open with a little tug from the inside.)

Best & Worst of Middle Earth

I'm starting a list of the best and worst of Middle Earth, which I will keep posted in the left sidebar on this blog. Please comment if you have more best and worst suggestions.

Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire

As I mentioned in my last post, this is the chapter I just read to my boys from The Hobbit. It also is an apt description of the weather for the past 3 weeks. After an early spring, and a cool May and early June, it suddenly jumped up to 100+ degrees and has stayed there for weeks. So, I'm afraid I have not made any progress on the hobbit-hole. It is hard to feel motivated to work on it when it feels more like the slopes of Mt. Doom than The Shire.

(It finally cooled down today, so I hope to be able to get back to work on it this week.)

Happiness is...

... reading The Hobbit to your 5 and 7 year old sons inside of their very-own hobbit-hole.

The other night, I slept out in the hobbit-hole with my two older boys. We stayed up late reading from the chapter, "Out of the Frying-Pan and into the Fire", when the eagles save Bilbo, Gandalf, and the Dwarves from the goblins and wolves (wargs). Although the hobbit-hole is far from finished, it was still a lot of fun to spend the night in there. Even without the back wall, and with the door only partially done, it is dry and comfortable. It is just wide enough for two adults or one adult and two small children, to lay there with their sleeping bags. It is long enough that we could fit six of us in there, three on one end and three on the other. The only trouble is that we get strong canyon winds, so without the wall and door finished, it was pretty loud. Although we were protected from the wind itself, the noise of the wind in the trees outside was bothersome. I look forward to finishing it, because it will be pretty quiet in there once it is done.