THE TWEENER

Howdy Y'all!

Yes, this is a 'tweener update because more of the same is getting done, so no great changes this week. We are basically between the completion of the electrical, HVAC, plumbing, and detail carpentry work on the exterior, and the beginning of the masonry activity next week.

We also discovered we had another "oops" that needed to be corrected. If you recall, the carpenters were hanging cedar stringers and corbels below the soffits last week. Unfortunately, they were not told that the stringers needed to be radiused until they had hung about twenty of them. So they've had to go back and remove them and recut them properly. The following pictures show some of the detail. (We brought them fried chicken for lunch yesterday, so they are only pissed at the builder, not us. We hope.)

The 'oops'. Notice the square cut. Problemo.

Taking down the stringers one by one to recut.

Emiliano radiusing the new look.

Polishing the radius cut.

This is the way the stringers are supposed to look once recut and completed. The stone will tuck up to, and under, the small, grey, ledge fascia to complete the weather seal once the stain and sealer is applied to the wood portion.

Almost a finished look.

In addition, the process of taping all of the seams is fully underway. This needs to be completely done before the masons can apply stone, and stucco accents, to the house.

This has been a busy week with 8-10 people working daily on their respective responsibilities. I've been told we have about 2000 yards of wiring being pulled through the house, but we have no way of verifying the accuracy of that number. All we know is there is a boatload of yellow wire in the walls and ceiling.

Yellow wire guy

Last but not least, the plumbers hard at work locating valves, pipes, vents, hot and cold water lines, etc.

Fidel Castro the plumber (really, that's his name).

The other project underway running concurrently with the main house is the detached garage construction. This has sort of lagged the main house activity, but is now almost on track as we push to complete the electrical and plumbing projects.

Stairway to the apartment.

The apartment over the detached garage still needs to have the bathroom, closet and kitchen area roughed in. This is where we intend to stash unruly grandkids (or kids), and long term guests. Just kidding (only about the grandkids).

Unfinished apartment view from the stairway.

Lower level of the detached garage and apartment.

That's all for now.

See ya later.

- John and Jan -