It has been a challenge sourcing clay and sharp sand on an island in Southeast Alaska. Our land is underlain by former beach that was lifted out of the ocean after the glaciers retreated due to isostatic rebound, so no clay onsite. The clay was located on a cutbank along a Forest Service road. The sand was obtained from a road building company in town, which is two hours away.

All the material was shoveled into 5 gallon buckets, hefted into the back of the truck, driven to the dock, loaded into the skiff, run around the point to our beach, lifted out of the skiff, and carried up to the house.

The finish coat will be done next month. The place is off the road system and digging a foundation results in a pond in a rainforest. So, the house is on piers, and the RMH is on a suspended floor. However, the house is built from full dimension local lumber which is old growth spruce, hemlock and red cedar. The characteristics and strength of the local lumber is far superior to the typical building material, which would need to be barged up from Seattle anyway.The floor joists,rafters and wall studs are spruce and hemlock, while the exterior sheathing is 1"x12" clapboards and interior walls 1"x8" red cedar.