NEW DUNBURY

Yesterday I got up at 0-dark-30 and headed south for the anticipated raising of the second bent. While I was enroute Liz got called and told that the crane had been waved off till Monday due to rain on site. By the time I got the word, I was halfway there, so I continued on.

The boys were on site, cutting timber beneath the canopy. The bent, all assembled, lay forlorn and wet on the deck. The steel columns were in place beneath where the central post will stand. I hung around for a while in the drizzle and occassional full-fledged rain looking at the bent, contemplating some of the possible changes to the clearing, and watching the guys work. A couple of times I got to hear one of them screech when the canopy got bumped and dumped a spill of cold water on him.

I also visited the probable suppliers of roofing and stucco, trying to get color samples. Yes on one and no one the other. Talking to these guys and trying to get prices is like trying to get technical info from a big-box salesman. Somehow I expected better from specialty suppliers. They don’t make it easy to understand your choices.

Looks like the final raising (predicted to be an “all-day” project) will probably be the 12th of July, weather permitting. I’ll be checking in when we get back from the beach and see where things stand.

Meanwhile, in other news, there’s a nibble on that fishing line tossed into the house market pond. The bobber is moving. Wait, now, wait for it . . .

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. . . and it is good. As is the news — mostly.

Yesterday I went down to the site to meet with Alec, our GC, and Michael, our project manager. We discussed scheduling and budget and construction details and hardscaping for a couple of hours while timber framing continued behind us. Some things got resolved, some just got talked about. I’ve got some critical path details to send to them (like changes to the master bathroom area) and they’ve got some promised paperwork and info to send to us.

After the meeting I hung around watching them work, measuring a few things, and contemplating how it all might turn out. While I was there Michael fit and re-fit a brace into the second bent, fine tuning it until all was good. These guys are paying attention to detail. This is good.

As y’all know, we’re running behind the projected rough schedule. Alec is talking a February completion. Later than we’d hoped.

However, right now it’s looking like we are running under budget on just about every aspect but dirt moving. We may be able to restore some of the cut items back to the build. We will be evaluating the situation seriously when the frame is up and dried in.

And when will that be? Right now, we’re talking mid-July for the raising of the last bents. The second bent may be going up on Monday - we should know by the end of the week. Once two are up, they will be joined together. Likely, the infill crew will be getting a head start on those. There’s a motivator here, since the next draw on the construction loan won’t come till dry-in. It’s been a while since “the boys” (as we affectionately call our building team) have gotten money from us.

Meanwhile, you can find some pictures in the timberframe gallery. I have to say that standing in the presence of those massive oak timbers is quite a bit different from looking at them in a picture.

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