modules Archives - Rural Studio

Hello and welcome back to the Rural Studio Bathhouse blog. Check out what we’ve been up to the past few months!

students pose with thumbs up nect to walkway — Thumbs-up for walkway going up!

At the time of the last update, we were just wrapping up stacking the modules for the outdoor shower’s walls and preparing to install the metal roof structure.

We got our good friend Shane back on site to help us out with the installation. First up was the compression frame on the top of the walls. After welding the rods to the frame, we tightened the bolts to the recommended pressure, compressing the wood walls into place.

Student poses inside outdoor shower — Checking out our progress

Next, we lifted the continuous tubes into place. Once they were leveled, we bolted them to the compression frame at the recommended force.

Student levels continuous tube — Leveling the continuous tubes

Students bolt continuous tube to compression frame — Leveling the continuous tubes

With the tubes in place, we marked the locations for the trusses and lifted them onto the tubes. Shane then welded the three trusses into place. He also welded the diagonal support bracing between the trusses.

Student holds truss in place — Holding the trusses

Student and instructor level truss — Holding the trusses

Next, we marked out the locations for the purlins, and once again, Shane welded them to the trusses. With the trusses and purlins in place, we welded the tubes to the edges of the trusses and purlins, capping all the open ends. This step makes the trusses and purlins appear as planar surfaces instead of singular objects. With all the welding complete, we cleaned and painted the welds and touched up any other ugly spots on the structure.

Students clamp end caps to truss ends — Capping the ends of the trusses

Students clamp purlins to trusses — Capping the ends of the trusses

Finally, we were ready to put up the sheet metal roof. We started with the north side of the outdoor shower, making sure to measure to set points on the trusses to ensure the spacing of the sheets was even.

View of sheet metal going up — Roof going up!

Student screws metal sheet down — Roof going up!

We were able to do this very quickly, and it completely transformed the experience of the space. Although it looks like our early renderings, it’s even better than we imagined in reality!

Rendering of Outdoor Shower Interior — One of our very early renderings of the Outdoor Shower

View of finished Outdoor Shower interior — One of our very early renderings of the Outdoor Shower

View of Outdoor Shower from outside — Finished roof from outside

On site, we poured the small concrete pad on the top of the boot washing station at the front of the building. Steve helped us with the finishing work and taught us how to do the edging and broom finish. This little slab will support a water hydrant that comes up through it as well as several boot scrubbers and/or a water hose reel.

Students spread concrete for pour — Concrete pour

Instructor shows student how to finsh concrete — Concrete pour

After we finished installing of the roof structure and completing other site tasks, we made our way back to Columbiana to continue with the rest of the metal fabrication. We began working on the walkway ladders, continuous tubes, plates for the ceilings, and the other miscellaneous roof pieces.

View of finished walkway piece — Walkway ladder #1

Before we knew it, Pig Roast was almost here! The team made a big push to be able to show off what we could of the metal work on site. We were excited to have the first piece of the walkway done, and Shane came out to the site again to help us put it in place. We also finished a mock-up of the guardrail with the help of Flo and Luis in the shop. The mock-up was clamped in place on site to give visitors an idea of the fully finished walkway. We also set up the outdoor shower so that visitors could climb up and experience the space and views for themselves.

Students guide walkway piece into place — Guiding it into place

Students bolt walkway into place — Guiding it into place

With another year down, it came time to celebrate everyone’s hard work and incredible projects at Pig Roast! Although it was rainy and muggy, nothing could rain on our parade. We had a great time showing off our project and the progress made to all our friends and families. We also enjoyed participating in all the evening festivities as well.

Team poses for picture on walkway — Team with plywood cutout Logan

Man poses with cardboard cutout — Team with plywood cutout Logan

The excitement didn’t last long because we had to get back to work in Columbiana. We started back up on the walkway ladder pieces. This work consisted of us cutting the channels to size, coping the ends of the channels to fit together, drilling any holes, leveling all the pieces, welding the outer frame, adding the bracing tees within the frames, and welding those to the channels. We also cleaned and painted each ladder piece when we finished. We have finished fabricating four of the five walkway ladders.

Student cuts walkway channel — Coping channels

Student drills into walkway channel — Coping channels

After we had the four walkway pieces on site, we called on Shane once again to help us out. The installation wasn’t the easiest, but Shane and our two helpers were great, and we lifted all the ladders into place and secured them to the structure.

View of tools used for installation — Tools for Installation

View of tools after used — Tools for Installation

The day wouldn’t have been complete without a little more excitement, this time with Shane’s truck getting stuck on our muddy site.

View of truck pulling out stuck tow truck — Whoops!

After working so hard on the design of the structure and fabricating the ladder pieces in the shop, it is very rewarding to see the walkway coming together on site. It looks just like our model!

View of finished walkway — Walkway model

Student balances on walkway structure — Testing our balance and the structure!

While working on the walkway, we also continued making progress on the roof structure. We cut out all the pieces for the trusses with their angles. We then used those pieces to help lay out a jig to build the trusses with, just like how we did with the outdoor shower. This process ensures all the trusses are the same. Then it was time to get to the welding. We laid out the pieces, clamped them to the jig, welded the top side, and then flipped them over to every other side and welded them as we went. Once all 31 trusses were welded, we cleaned up the welds and then painted them. Recently, we were able to transport all of them back to site.

Student cuts pieces for trusses — Cutting pieces to correct angles

View of truss jig — Cutting pieces to correct angles

The team is delited with the progress being made in the metal shop, as well as site. We have a few more metal things to fabricate but will be wrapping up the work in Columbiana shortly. We will refocus our efforts on finishing making the modules for the shower pod.

Thank you so much for reading along, and we already look forward to speaking again soon! Stay tuned for more fun updates.

Students pose above Outdoor Shower roof — Goodbye, Down There!

– Rural Studio Bathhouse Team

Carla, Ambar, Ashley, and Logan

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Rural Studio Bathhouse blog! We hope that everyone had a good and restful Thanksgiving. We would like to share a quick update on what’s going on before we get out of Hale for a few weeks and take a much-needed winter break!

students pose on back of truck with wood modules

First up, we are very excited to share the progress we’ve made with the walls! The new and improved process of creating the modules has been going very well. With this process, we choose six boards, cut their ends off, drill the holes for the threaded rods one by one using a template, stack them, clamp them, and screw them together, board-by-board, using the jig table. The sixth board can be planed down to the thickness needed to get to the overall module height. The module is then removed from the table and cut to length.

students drill holes into boards — Drilling holes using hole template

student uses saw to cut module to length — Drilling holes using hole template

Although this is a very time-consuming process, we are very happy to share that we are nearly finished with the modules for the toilet pod which means that we are about 50% done with all the modules for the project!

Student loads module onto truck — Loading the modules

Students carry module — Loading the modules

On site, we have made progress with finishing all the groundwork. The water supply line has been put in place, and all the electrical breaker boxes have been installed and wired to the main supply.

image of electrical boxes on back of building — Breaker boxes at the toilet and shower pod

We have also had all the CMU block finished for the boot-washing station foundation at the beginning of the bathhouse and the greywater filter at the outdoor shower.

student buries water line — Water line going in!

view of finished CMU — Water line going in!

The team has filled the greywater filter with layers of sand and gravel, placing landscape fabric in between. This filter will clean any soap and shampoo from the runoff water of the outdoor shower before the water enters the infiltration trench.

Student poses with CMU block — Greywater filter CMU in progress

view of finished CMU block — Greywater filter CMU in progress

Drawing of Outdoor shower and greywater filter — The greywater filter is an extension of the outdoor shower foundation and will filter the run-off from the outdoor shower

We also have a very exciting update regarding the steel components of the project. After presenting our project to Jim Turnipseed of Turnipseed International, he has graciously offered to help support the Bathhouse by donating the materials needed for the walkway and roof structures. He has also agreed to lend space and assistance to teach the team how to weld and fabricate the walkway frames and roof trusses. We are so grateful to Jim for his incredible generosity and willingness to support the Bathhouse project and Rural Studio.

image of walkway structure model — Walkway structure model with color-coded, removable pieces

students present using model — Walkway structure model with color-coded, removable pieces

The team has decided to move forward with the construction of the walkway as the first steel components of the project. The walkway will provide a floor surface that is crucial when the team is ready to start stacking the modules in place on site. Recently, we received the first part of the walkway structure, a series of channels that will be attached to the sides of the pods and hold up the walkway frames.

Students pose with metal pieces — We got metal!

Our good friend Brad from Superior Metal Works helped us by drilling holes, cutting slots, and welding some small plates and channels to these pieces.

students load trailer with metal — Load her up!

students talk through fabrication — Load her up!

Once he was done, the team started the process of cleaning and sanding the metal. We quickly realized it would be much better to have them sandblasted if possible.

Back to Brad’s we went and got the beams professionally sandblasted and ready to be painted!

image of sandblasted metal pieces — Sand!

students pose with metal on trailer — Load her up, again!

We have spent the past couple of days painting the beams with two coats of paint. The team will install them all on site early next week (fingers crossed)! Having the walkway supports in place will allow us to double-check our measurements and update any walkway drawings, if necessary, over the break.

student paints metal — Finished painted walkway supports!

students paint metal — Finished painted walkway supports!

After winter break, we will pick back up hard on the modules for the shower pod with the goal to finish them by February. We will also be going to Turnipseed in Birmingham to start the fabrication of the walkway frames and roof structure. We are happy with the progress being made and can’t wait to send another update out in the new year!