Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Lumber for the Khandroling Living Center and Gompa: Report from Joe Zurylo and Yuchen Namkhai


The following pictures are of the lumber which was cut from trees from the land of Khandroling which were harvested last fall and left in a pile through the winter.

This past week using a portable band saw mill individual trees were sawed into lumber. The species is Eastern Hemlock, a wood prized for its stability and strength. It seems a fitting tribute to these giant plants to use them in the construction of our new building. The economics of the situation is also very favorable. As it cost us .28 cents a board ft to cut ( board ft, a measure of lumber that is 1in thick by 12in square). The cost for typical lumber yard material is 3 times that. So what you are looking at in the pictures are 6000K board ft. for a cost of $1700 which  mounts to a savings of $4000, I would call that a good start for our  project.



Pic # 1781
The two large stacks in the foreground are 2*4, there are approximately 300 of them, their primary use is in building exterior walls. We will be using a double wall system for maximum energy efficiency, so there is enough studs to build 150 lin ft.of exterior wall


Pic #1785
The two stacks which are second and third from the right are 4*8in. joists used to make an exposed timber ceiling. They will be lightly sanded, oiled and left as exposed timbers.







Pic #1782
What is pictured here are the main timbers their dimension is 6*10 inches 12ft long, they weigh around 300lbs. These timbers will hold up the smaller 4*8 joists, they will also be sanded, oiled and left exposed to show off their beauty.




Pic #1783
A good view of all lumber as its stacked for drying

Photos by Yuchen Namkhai
Narrative by Joe Zurylo


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