Circle B Ranch: JUST PLUGGIN' ALONG

Howdy Y'all!

This week has been one of sporadic progress mostly focused on completing the front stone exterior of the house. It has also been punctuated by some erratic winter weather (yes, it happens in sunny Texas) where temperatures have yoyo'ed up and down sufficiently to disrupt the stone work. Cement mortar doesn't work well in sub-40 degree weather, and neither do the stone masons. Hopefully the disruptive weather here in Central Texas is over for the time being and we can get back to a steady stream of work.

Most of the visible effort has been in stone work on the remaining front arches and window treatments. It isn't surprising how painstakingly slow this work seems, yet arches are getting finished. This picture below is the outside left-hand arch/wall in the front entrance. The cup is an added detail we considered. :D

Left-side front entrance arch and wall.

Same wall - inside arch and wall.

Since we have four masons on the job, more than one wall can be worked on. The trick is not to have too many masons working on the same house because stone placement starts to look 'individualized', or distinctive to a mason. We've been fortunate in that the four have somewhat the same 'eye' regarding the size and mix of stones. (Also lighter on the fried chicken pocketbook.)

Work on the Dining Room window arch.

Finishing the arch.

Done except for the ledge stone at the bottom.

We also saw some work on the pool last week as the pot scuppers were installed on the rock columns. These will add sound and a 'visual' as water (theoretically) pours out of the pots into the pool. Pool water can get stagnant, particularly in hot weather, so these types of water effects keep things flowing when the pumps are on and significantly minimize the amount of chemicals needed. Hopefully, with rainwater and the water effects, we can use the very least of pool chemicals to keep the water balanced and safe. This is also the last of the pool work that will be completed until the house is completely done. At that point they will apply the deck finish, the final plaster coat, and color for the pool.

Pot Scuppers.

Demysticizing the simple technology of the pots.

Outside progress also continues in shaping the motor court garage area in preparation for laying cement to bring the level even with the garage floors. The foundation team returned to start building the forms for the back retaining wall which will support the motor court foundation. The pad for the air conditioning compressors also was formed next to the pool equipment pad.

Retaining wall at the back of the Motor Court.

Supervising the forms for the air conditioning compressor pad.

Additionally, our 1000 gallon propane tank was finally delivered and set on its' sand base. (Looks like a Red October submarine!) The tank will have a couple of gas lines installed this week for the house and pool heater (later addition) and then buried completely (like the septic system).

Propane tank

Different view

Buried! (almost)

The next big step inside the house is the painting and installation of the cabinets that have been built-to-measure for the house. We have elected to turn the detached garage into a paint booth rather than having the cabinets painted in the house, as is generally customary. In this manner the painters can control the environment with dust removal equipment and heaters. The cabinets have started to arrive from the cabinet maker, and as soon as the closed garage setup is weather-tight with vinyl wall coverings, we'll start to see finished cabinets.

A small sample of the cabinets waiting to be stained and finished.

A variety of other activities are happening as well as the builder starts the final push to completion. The electricians arrived today to start putting in electrical plugs, lights, cans, fans, switches, etc. (Not sure what the rush is since we don't have power to the house yet, but hey, we're not the project managers.)