Day 104 - Wood You?

While photos of progress on the house are not as dramatic as when it was being framed, a lot of work was accomplished this week.  Just watching it made us tired....including Raven, our resident feral kitty who keeps us amused at the apartment.

"Thank goodness it's Saturday!"

And while we had an unwelcome guest this week, we had a welcome guest visit from our other feral kitty, Skeeter. We left the patio door open a bit and her kitty cat curiosity led her inside the apartment for a minute or two.

"Check ya later, things to do."

Before we finalized our flooring selections, we double checked our wood floor choice by laying out a box of the wood in our great room.  Since the wood will be used throughout most of the house, we wanted to make sure it looked good in the ambient light.....and it did.  So, we are another step closer toward concluding the many, many selections required for this project.  A lesson learned for us was the value of taking a selection to the job site to evaluate it.  Garrett Henry of Abbey Flooring has been advising us and he is a very knowledgeable and personable young man.

Garrett and Bruce

Wood in ambient light

Danny and his electrical crew are still plugging away at wiring the house.  He told me one day "Ma'am, this is a very difficult house to wire."  We admire his attention to detail and appreciate his efforts to make us happy with the job.

Wiring for exterior floodlight

Another exterior floodlight

We'll close with yet another snake story........Bruce was walking around the house taking pictures this afternoon when he felt tug underneath his right boot.  He looked down to see a long, thick brown snake slithering away from under his foot!!!!  Even though it was a non-poisonous critter, I am soooooooo glad I skipped the trip to the house site today!!

Day 101 - Midweek Musings (and snake update)

First, a rattlesnake update:  The creature was 40 inches long and had three rings of rattles.  So, by Texas standards, it was a mid-size snake.  It was slithering across our driveway when spotted by a worker and dispatched to its reward.  We learned our assistant project manager saw a snake the other day, so they must be getting stirred up by the warm weather and activity.  Time to pull out the heavy boots!!!!

In addition to snakes, we have lots of spiders....most of them are harmless.  It doesn't take much looking to spot a "daddy long legs" spider crawling around.

Daddy Long Legs Chillin' on the Stucco

The big news on the construction front today is the installation of construction doors.  We are very close to being "dried in" since the roof will be completed by the end of the week.

Outside View - Entry Way Construction Door

Inside View - Entry Way Construction Door

Stain Grade Trim Around Entry 

We chose to have a non-traditional way to enter the attic on one side of the house.  We did not want a pull down attic stair inside the house, so Leslie designed an opening on the outside of the house.  When it is completed, there will be a deadbolt with no door knob and it will be painted so that it blends in with the stucco.   

Attic Construction Door

Construction Door - East End of House

Construction Door - Powder/Pool Bath

Danny, the electrician, is close to finishing the wiring in the house.  The interior looks like it has sprouted lots of yellow vines!!

The yellow vines are even sprouting through the walls.

For Arbor Light Switches

Power for Grill Ignitor

Another sort of yellow is blooming all over the ranch - the cactus flowers are in full bloom and are gorgeous.

We look forward to whatever surprises tomorrow brings to our project!

Day 100 - Unwelcome Guests

If you have looked at this blog very often, you know we love to have guests come to visit and check out the building progress.  Building in the Texas Hill Country, we try to respect the environment including all sorts of native flora and fauna.  In fact, our furry friends and beautiful flowers are often featured in the blog.  There is another sort of guest that is not welcome, even though it does have its place in the ecosystem of the Hill Country - the Diamondback Rattlesnake.  I hope to never personally encounter one of these creatures.

Last fall, months before construction started, Bruce came upon a big serpent coiled up on a rock sunning itself.  Luckily, Bruce was armed and dispatched the dangerous viper before it could do any harm.  He hung the carcass on the back fence line for the fine disposal skills of the scavengers.  It was totally gone in three days.

November 2012

I had hoped all of the noise and activity of construction had shooed away the rattlesnakes from the close vicinity of the house........no luck.  Today the roofers killed another one of the slithering creatures and threw it on their trailer.  Hurray for the roofers!!!!! Extra cookies for them tomorrow!!!

April 23, 2013

While dodging snakes, work on the roof and stucco is continuing to move right along.  The stucco has been painted and the roofers are close to being done with their task.

Putting on the first coat of paint

Rear of the House

Painting the Upstairs

Front of the House

The pool house roof is complete and is a "mini - me" version of the look of the house.

Pool House Roof

Another feature added to the house is the cedar trim around the openings for the garage doors.  The garage doors will be made of cedar and the trim will finish the look.

 So much progress has been made on the house in 100 days. To celebrate, here's a sequence shot to remember how far we have come!!!!!

February 21, 2013

March 14, 2013

April 23, 2013

Day 94 - Precious Metal

We had a very special visitor to our house site the other day, Davis, who was visiting his family in the neighborhood.  Davis is from the Seattle area and was more excited about all of the pickup trucks than the construction work.  He is a very bright, polite young fella and we were so glad he came by to visit.

Davis and Bruce

While electrical work continues inside the house, things are moving along on the outside as well.

The stucco lath application is complete and the guys are starting to apply the next layer of material on the outside walls.

Our Stucco Guys

Mixing up the "mud"

The house exterior is a mixture of stucco and limestone rock.  The stucco goes on first, is painted, and then is followed by the rock work.

The Window Exteriors are Protected from the Stucco

The Guys are Really Agile on the Roof Slope

Doesn't Look Comfortable to Me!!!!

Our roofing contractor is on the scene as well and making progress installing the panels.

Kyle from Quality Roofing

The roof material is standing seam metal which will last a really long time, sound really cool in a rainstorm, and is perfect for rainwater collection. - Precious Metal :-)

Roof Panels on the Ground

Installed Roof over Master Bedroom

Junction of Master Bedroom and Bruce's Study

The stucco and roof work will take about two weeks to complete and then the stone work will start.  We are really excited about the progress.

Featured Flora of the Day

Barrel Cactus

The barrel cactus flowers are so beautiful and very plentiful this year!

Day 93 - Reconstruction - Part 2

The pole of shame has been removed from the garage and the new beam (a glulam to be precise) has been put in place.  It was a complicated process and took a fair sized work crew to accomplish.  We are very glad to have this piece of "reconstruction" completed so all work is focused on moving forward.

The first step in the process was placing and attaching a temporary beam to support the structure while the offending beam was removed.  And to do that task, the guys had to build a platform on which to stand.

Attaching temporary beam while on platform

The next task on the list was to start cutting out the offending beam and the wood around it........and that required lots of power saws!!!

Power Saw Collection

So, the guys started hacking away at the ceiling joists surrounding beam they had so perfectly placed a few weeks ago.  Piece by piece, they cut out the wood around the beam so they could then remove the beam.

Removing floor joists

When the surrounding wood was gone, the crew was able to slide out the offending beam.

The Offending Beam is Removed

Adios Beam!!!!!

 Large parts of the joists were removed in a rather small section and then the crew was able to cut out smaller slices once they had room to maneuver.

Opening Created to Remove and Replace Beam

The new beam is much beefier than the old piece of wood and looks pretty good in the garage.  Never thought I would think a beam was pretty!!!!!!!

Rebuilding Around the new Glulam

There was still lots more work to do once the new beam was in place.  New support had to be built around the beam and everything screwed together.

And more rebuilding

So, we hope the saga of the miscalculated beam is close to coming to a close.  As in all construction, one mistake cascades into another..........the upstairs bathroom now requires a different tub because plumbing had to be moved to accommodate the wider beam.  The lumber company will pick up the tab..........enough said on reconstruction.  Tomorrow's post will be about forward progress!!!!