September 2007
Monthly Archive
.We Have a House of Many Colors
Posted by Bob on 24 Sep 2007 | Tagged as: chronicle
But not one to be seen just now. The memory stick on which I shot the picture blanked itself. How annoying.
Anyway, when we visited on Friday, the view from the driveway showed the yellow brown of plywood, black of building felt, blue of insulation board, gray of concrete foundation, darker gray of stucco scratch coat, and buff of stucco “brown” coat. All sitting atop VA red clay.
So, the big window hole got fixed and the window installed. Yeah!
And the stucco team came on Saturday and applied more stucco. The regular team is going have to get moving to stay ahead of these guys.
I was supposed to go over at 8 AM this morn to meet with the clearing guys but they won’t show till after noon. We’re supposed to go over the track of the geothermal pipe run. Micahel is also supposed to have the updated schedule and the official change order on the geothermal. We’ll see this afternoon.
Yahoo! I finally figured out how to get a full size picture into the blog. Of course it’s not the picture I referred to above. The differing color tones of the stucco are differently timed applications, drying at their own speed.
Today’s Adventure in Building …
Posted by Bob on 20 Sep 2007 | Tagged as: chronicle
… involved the big window set for the hall.
I arrived just as they were getting ready to lift the until up and put it in place. Michael gathered a gang to heave it out of the basement and they set it up on the load lifter. After a bit of careful maneuvering, they got it up to the opening. That’s when they found that the opening was too small.
Measure once, cut twice. Looks like the vertical studs supporting the window opening were cut to the height of the window opening, without allowing for the horizontal studs that frame the bottom of the window. Ooops.
They lowered the window to the ground and secured it, then the “fixing” began. Window flashing was peeled away and out came the saws. Blue board and plywood was cut away, vertical studs shortened, and new horizontal studs cut to fit. It all has to be put back together before the window can go in.
On a brighter note, I’ve added some pictures to the “exterior” folder in the gallery. They mostly detail the progress on the stucco application on the west wall.
Gotta go. I need to get some beer lined up for the boys as I think they’ll be a-needin’ it today.
Whoa, Double Postings!
Posted by Bob on 11 Sep 2007 | Tagged as: chronicle
I paid an evening visit to the site and snapped a few shots. They’re in the photo gallery.
Since we’re starting to get to interior work and since the in-fill process is merging with the exterior work, I’ve set up three new albums to spread out and organize the photos.
One is shots of exterior work and it starts with today’s house picture. One is for shots of interior work and it starts with the first bit of decking for the second floor. The third new one is for mechanicals and will probably be the most boring one to the most people, but the house won’t run without the mechanicals, so I’m recording them.
Looks like I’ll be paying an early visit to the site tomorrow. Each of the dining room windows is installed in the other one’s hole. Ooops.
Some Must Die So That Others May Live
Posted by Bob on 11 Sep 2007 | Tagged as: chronicle
It is time to arrange for the “permanent power” connection, so that the power company can connect the house to the grid. Once we do the paperwork, they be out to dig and lay line. There lies the issue.
The power company, in its infinite wisdom and supreme regard to the ecology, has decreed that the ditch for the permanent power line cannot run down the center of the driveway. They wish an additional five foot swath be taken from the forest so that their backhoe can dig a ditch alongside the existing driveway. This would take out some of the trees we had wanted to save as well as pretty much destroying the “reveal” of the house as one proceeds in the driveway.
Michael and I have conceived a plan to mitigate the mindless destruction. I located a strip of scrub and junk trees (mostly) about 10 feet in from a good chunk of the driveway and about 12-14 feet wide. Michael believes it will be possible to clear most of that out and direct the backhoe onto the new path. This will take it behind a certain cluster of trees, protecting our final “reveal.” That cluster includes the tree we we planning to add a wayside seat to. So the path will mostly be along the drieway, with attention given to missing a tree or two, then cut into the woods, emerge in the “current parking lot” and thence into the court, skirting around the southern sentry tree. Some must die etc.
In other action today, the well/plumbing guys showed up this morning. They’ve used their “ditch witch” to trench from the well to the house, have laid pipe, and are installing the pressure tank for the well water. Looks like there will be water for the stuccoing after all.
Which is good because all of the west end windows are in and all have their detail caps. The trim band detail foundation is attached as well. And the sills are being cut. If the weather holds, there will be lathe and wire going up today on that side of the house.
The blue board on the north side is being finished and they’re starting to put in the north windows. Work on the windows will continue till they’re all in. Weather permitting, of course. Flooring boards are being moved inside to allow “wet weather” work to be done as a back-up. A prudent one given the darkening skies.