Summer in the Mountains is Wiping Everything Down Time

[@maxencejackson156]

I LOVE SO MUCH THESE JAPANESE HOUSES ... THIS ONE IS BEAUTIFUL AMONG MARVELOUS LANDSCAPE .... AND YOU RE A SAVER OF THIS SO RICH JAPANESE CULTURE ... THANK YOU ENJOY IT TOO

[@Ryunohara]

Thanks for watching!

[@DerpMcDerp101]

I am from the USA and ive always appreciated old style Japanese architecture and landscape. Very natural. Your culture is pretty amazing.

[@Rustsamurai1]

What a wonderful effort & result!

[@tomomiko202]

gorgeous. i miss those rains that last several days. and the hot humid nights.

[@lisarettig2740]

I love the rain!

[@luisfernandomurillo3631]

What a gorgeous place. Thanks for sharing!

[@Ryunohara]

You’re welcome! Thanks for watching!

[@mukeshvig174]

Looking good Job well done 👍👍

[@Ryunohara]

Thanks 👍

[@kazuwilliams5222]

When travel opens, I'll come. Looks like a nice place to ride a bike

[@Ryunohara]

It is! The road that passes opposite the river is part of the Wakayama 800 cycling network, 800km of roads that have infrastructure for cyclists, like toilets and signage.

[@Choonzord]

Floors look aamazing

[@Ryunohara]

Thanks Wei Choon! Ruiming’s kitchen will have a floor like this, come help paint and wipe it down!

[@katarzynabalicka1669]

I admire your dedication to do everything so thorughtfully and not the simpliest way just to have it right. Kitchen looks stunning. Hope that in few years there will be a chance to visit you and sit to have a tea together.

[@Ryunohara]

Thank you! Traditional building techniques have kept the main house going for 120 years and the lower one where the Kissa will be for over 60, so it only makes sense for me to do things as naturally as possible to prolong the life of the houses. Hope to see you here one day!

[@achua5566]

Get a spray on flat mop for the floor boards...it will make your job easier. Regards from Singapore

[@johnthe6629]

Dont forget to include the names of the Carpenter and other contractors that contributed to see the project a success... especially the senior carpenter.

[@Ryunohara]

They have their photos displayed around the property ☺️

[@GildedOnyx]

That is amazing that mold can grow that fast and in so many places.

[@Ryunohara]

Mold is amazing

[@DanielJoyce]

Dilute borax solution will reduce mold growth. You can use it anywhere that isn't food contact and unless you rinse it off it will stay out.

[@DanielJoyce]

Place looks great.

[@Ryunohara]

Thanks!

[@damianhambly6493]

its all looking great maybe try using a small mop and bucket for veranda less backbraking have fun

[@Ryunohara]

I’m okay with a rag! Keeps the wood as dry as possible (mops leave a thin film over the wood).

[@69savpm67]

Tough work, but your restaurant is more beautifully designed, and built than I had expected. Great job 👏!

[@Ryunohara]

Thank you!

[@treasurechest1993]

After 12 years in the mountains of Nagano, I know what mould is. You place looks amazing, good luck with your venture.

[@Ryunohara]

Thank you! And good luck with your mold too! 😅

[@1Raphael]

👍🐸👍very nice

[@senseiksan9721]

You might have come across this. Plants to beat mould English ivy (Pictured) English Ivy removes airborne mould and other 'nasties' too. ... Peace Lily. The peace lily loves the shade and thrives in high humidity so the perfect choice for areas prone to mould. ... Palms. ... Boston Fern. ... Snake Plant. ... Orchids. ... Spider plant. Some of these may be found in your area?

[@mrslsbc6594]

That’s a lot of work 😮

[@willdwiggins7722]

Your videos keep getting better and better! Beautiful views. I live in the desert so am a bit jealous of the green and rain, though I don't envy having to fight the humidity.

[@Ryunohara]

Thanks for watching! Yes lots of water for the plants but it is humid - summer brings lots of insects too, like mosquitoes and horseflies.

[@Manque90]

Congratulations!!! 20th Aug, hope can fly soon to make a visit. I used to visit Koya Yama every year, and next time when Japan allows Macanese travel, will for sure come and visit your restaurant!

[@Ryunohara]

We’re just an hour away from Koyasan (practically neighbours because there’s the Koya-Ryujin Skyline highway), so come visit!

[@misssometing]

humid weather makes me tireeeeeeed easily back home. hope the quicklime is effective at Ryunohara!

[@Ryunohara]

The crawl space is actually quite dry, just added quicklime as a precaution and also because the floor’s going to be sealed up from now on so it’s easier to sprinkle whatever I want to sprinkle before the floorboards get installed.

[@eliserainville8460]

Just bought a passive solar house in NC mountains. This was very helpful. Thanks!

[@Ryunohara]

Glad to be of help!

[@petemurphy3192]

lovely serene place my friend however I can see your trade of with maintenance of your home ohh by the way your lovely dogs need there bowls at the top of leg height for better digestion and it keeps their food and water away from ground dwelling insects sorry"dog lover i would love to visit appears nothing like mainland japan i could use the peace and quiet you have found your piece of heaven God bless you my friend.

[@Ryunohara]

Gotta make a bowl stand next then!

[@petemurphy3192]

😂😂😂 yes" I guess so but your a talented young man you'll knock a bowl stand up in no time look forward to the next vlog take care.

[@roxanaemanuela6668]

Looking absolutely fantastic, kudos for all your hard work, that rain makes it extra annoying indeed. And congratulations on getting the license to operate! Can’t wait to come over, we’ve had to postpone to spring as they’re only allowing organised tourist groups in and we’re the solo sort.

[@Ryunohara]

Organised groups are no fun - hope the normal tourist visas resume soon but don’t hold your breath for it. Covid cases are skyrocketing and the media is filled with footage about how foreigners aren’t masking up.

[@randomhunts108]

Please make more videos, great job.

[@Ryunohara]

Thanks for watching! I will!

[@jolenetan2237]

make me recall my younger day my grandpa will teach us using diesel to paint on our wooden house for maintain and prevent wood qualities

[@Ryunohara]

Diesel! That’s interesting - does the odour go away after a while?

[@zairagutierrez7538]

As much as I love traditional Japanese houses I can't get over the fact that I wouldn't have air conditioner.

[@Ryunohara]

It never gets too hot here so we don’t need one ;) Night time temperatures are 21 degrees Celcius in the hottest time of the year. You can still install air conditioning if you like though!

[@marygeorge2467]

Most westerners think they NEED an air conditioner because it's all we're ever known. But if you give your body a chance to adjust, and eliminate carbs and sugar, then you will get used to it. We have for millennia.

[@MrPhooey442]

@@marygeorge2467 Most westerners don't think they NEED air conditioning. We are well aware that it is a luxury. Those people that lived for millennia without it would choose to have it in an instant if it was available to them.

[@marygeorge2467]

@@MrPhooey442Most Americans, I should have said . . . and not if they knew how much cfcs screwed up the planet.

[@MrPhooey442]

@@marygeorge2467 lmao oh you're one of those

[@waldfee2283]

You worked so hard! I wish you a great success! Hope to come to drink some Tea soon, too! 😍

[@Ryunohara]

Thank you! Hope to see you here someday!

[@tarmization]

I would recommend you use floor polyurathane on those outside boards. Will keep the mold from getting a foothold in the boards.

[@Ryunohara]

I’m not too keen on using plastics on the wooden floors because they seal off the surface. The mold’s growing because I applied two layers of perilla oil in quick succession so that’s a lesson learnt 😅

[@tarmization]

@@Ryunohara now you’ve got me interested. I do carpentry and woodworking. Could you explain how doing 2 layers in quick succession caused this problem?

[@Ryunohara]

@@tarmization Sure - the oil is normally applied in a very very thin layer, and any excess is wiped off. It is then left to dry for a few weeks before a second layer is applied. My guess is that I applied the oil in May, when it is very humid, and I sealed in lots of moisture by applying 2 layers of oil in quick succession (the second layer was applied a day after the first). The mold problem may also have been averted if I sprayed the wood down with alcohol to kill off as much mold spores before I applied the first layer of oil. This may not have been a problem if the wood was new but the engawa wood was over 100 years old when I reapplied oil so there were lots of mold spores on it to begin with.

[@lada503]

Good video. A solution of boric acid or borax might help with the recurring mold. However it can harm pets if ingested in large enough quantities.

[@Ryunohara]

Unfortunately both Ume and Mori love licking things so I had to pass on the borax 😫

[@DanielJoyce]

Crawl under there and lay down a plastic tarp as a vapor barrier. It will massively reduce humidity in the crawlspace.

[@DanielJoyce]

Yeah a vapor barrier under the house will help a lot.

[@Ryunohara]

Actually it will cause the humidity to increase under the pillars if you don’t lay the plastic below the pillars. I don’t like plastic either because it degrades after a few decades. The quicklime’s just a precautionary measure because the covers to the sides have been removed and the airflow is now excellent.

[@DanielJoyce]

@@Ryunohara if the wood pillars are on hard impervious rock footings they won't wick water up into the wood. If the foot stones are limestone or sandstone I might worry. But in the US in the damp and humid south moisture barrier is recommended for post and beam construction.

[@Ryunohara]

@@DanielJoyce yep they are all on very hard and heavy river rocks. Traditionally the crawl space is left open so that the moving air can naturally dry the wood. If termites do come, the centipedes eat them. In turn chickens would go in to eat the centipedes. These days most people seal up the crawlspace and moisture builds up in there.

[@DanielJoyce]

@@Ryunohara I'm not saying wall off the crawlspace. I'm saying cover the floor of the crawlspace with plastic. It massively reduces moisture migration into the home. We have post and beam houses in the US too.

[@nickloong]

All the extra elbow grease is worth it once the project comes together. In your case, you're lucky to get your hands on this beautiful ancient Japanese house that you can transform to its previous glory!

[@Ryunohara]

Thanks Nick!

[@Democraticcivilization]

What season is foraging something in the wood?

[@Ryunohara]

Any season! Right now sansho peppers are starting to come into season.

[@georgiosladas3106]

So nice videos to watch. bravo! At the begging of the video were you place the white dust under the floor we saw the floor is not touching the earth is like half a meter higher. I wached other Jap. houses the same thing. What is the purpose of levitated floors? If like this were only the old houses? If still is applied?

[@Ryunohara]

Hi Georgios! The floor is typically raised between 50cm-100cm in traditionally built houses to allow air to flow through and ventilate the floors to keep everything dry. Newer houses built in the last 50 years will be built with a concrete base and will not have such large crawl spaces.

[@georgiosladas3106]

@@Ryunohara many thanks, I got it.

[@rlee024]

How long is the super humid season? And would wax or more modern products prevent mold growth? So much hard work!

[@Ryunohara]

I think I over-applied perilla oil last year (applied it twice, once should have been enough). As others have mentioned in the comments Borax would work but I would prefer not to use it. The humidity lasts from tsuyu (June) to late September.

[@jennycampbell5236]

I use Japanese bamboo charcoal products in Australia for tackling humidity in my home. Have you tried using it in your home in Japan. There are so many ways you can use this sustainable product and I assume it would be more readily available and more economical in Japan.

[@Ryunohara]

We can use charcoal to control humidity in cupboards and I do that with my clothing and kitchen cupboards but the house itself is open to the elements (the doors are left fully open in the day and the ceiling is actually half open so that air can circulate from the main entranceway) so charcoal doesn’t work in such large open spaces. Humidity goes up to 100% some days in July so the only real way to keep the humidity down might be to air-condition the place (which will be quite energy-inefficient anyway because of the paper windows and open ceiling). 😅

[@DanielJoyce]

The alcohol is probably stripping the oil out of the wood. I'd try maybe running down with a bit of neem in the alcohol and letting dry. The neem oil should reduce mold growth and be okay if the dogs lick it. they wouldn't ingest a lot.

[@Ryunohara]

I think it might be last summer’s application of perilla oil that caused the wood to become moldy - I applied too much at once.

[@DanielJoyce]

Needs some kind of barrier. Maybe tea seed oil or beeswax and mineral oil.

[@Ryunohara]

@@DanielJoyce the plan is to harvest beeswax from the beehive later this year :)

[@RealRuralJapan]

When is opening day?

[@Ryunohara]

Replied to your other comment! We open on 20 August.

[@RealRuralJapan]

@@Ryunohara thanks man

[@Metathronos]

Can't the floors get treated? Here we have issues with mold mostly during winter when humidity builds up in the house because we keep the windows closed. Of course the best solution here is to keep the house well ventilated and keep the humidity low, but we also apply fungicide on the closet doors where the mold grows. this keeps it away for months. I am not sure if you can't or don't want to do that but there has to be a way to keep the mold at bay. Also keep in mind that you might be spreading mold spores by using the same rag to clean everything.

[@Ryunohara]

Hi! I prefer to use just vinegar and alcohol and won’t be using fungicides on the wood because the engawa’s really popular with children and dogs. I’m happy to keep wiping it down every summer because I expect the problem to disappear in a year or two. The mistake I made was to apply two very thick layers of perilla oil in quick succession, which trapped moisture in the wood. The rag you see is actually quite a few different rags; I reserve one for just the engawa. The glass table and tatami also have their own rags.

[@Metathronos]

@@Ryunohara Oh. Thanks for the explanation. Yeah, the fungicide is super toxic so i get what you mean. I applaud your patience.

[@Ryunohara]

@@Metathronos I hope I'll remain patient! I'm tempted to use fungicides for the convenience of it sometimes but I'm treating Ryunohara as a project where I try out old techniques first to see if they can still be used in our modern times.

[@Metathronos]

@@Ryunohara Well, in case you change your mind look into epoxy sealers, but first you would have to find a way to remove the moisture already in the wood trapped by the oil you mentioned. The epoxy sealer definitely isn't traditional at all, but it could prevent irreversible damage. Also the weather there seems like it could be an issue. Do all houses over there have this problem?

[@Ryunohara]

@@Metathronos I think I will leave the wood as is for a year or two more. Mold is a huge problem in Japan because of the sustained high humidity in the summer but well-ventilated outdoors wood exposed to sunlight should normally not have any mold. The engawa planks simply had moisture sealed in so I’ll just give it time.

[@jeremi96221]

In my lab we use cycloheximide to kill and stop molds, I have no clue if you could make a solution and apply it to your boards, but it might be worth looking into!

[@stanjs]

Isn't cycloheximide classified as an extremely hazardous substance? DNA side-effects?

[@808zhu]

Can't seal the floor with something? Or don't want to? Edit: Oh, you're waxing them. Okay. How long does it last?

[@Ryunohara]

I think they should last 3-5 years?

[@stefaniestoffaneller9638]

Really nice House 😍 i would love to visite it. But one question, why are the dogs in Japan always on a leish? Greetings from Austria

[@Ryunohara]

Hi Stefanie, it’s a legal requirement here, and especially for Ume and Mori because I got them from the shelter and the written agreement says that I promise to keep them leashed whenever they are outdoors. This is because any dogs found loose are trapped, sent to the shelter and in many cases are culled within a week.

[@stefaniestoffaneller9638]

@@Ryunohara wow, i didn't know that. Poor dogs😔 - but thanks for the answer ☺️

[@jackgamingyt248]

yo bro where do you Find this places this land i want to build a like a small House in japan stay way from big city

[@Ryunohara]

Just by chance!

[@jackgamingyt248]

@@Ryunohara just a Chance To stay way from big city i am planing to stay way from America i want to buy a small house in japan

[@LearnWatercolorPainting]

Great video. I live in Japan and am thinking about doing some repairs on my house so this video was very useful. I was wondering if you could use linseed oil instead of the Osmo color.

[@Ryunohara]

You can! Osmo uses a mix of oils that’s supposed to be really good for the floor but I’m sure just linseed oil works. Perilla oil would work too but that would be super expensive.

[@LearnWatercolorPainting]

@@Ryunohara Thank you. I think I'll get the linseed oil as it seems pretty cheap. And thank you for your videos. I'm looking forward to watching the next one.