Day 142 - ARCH - itecture

Remember the wooden arch forms from the last post?  You don't?  Well, that's OK.  They were just on the floor of the garage doing nothing the last time we saw them.  NO longer.  They are at work and doing their job to support the stones as the masons form the arches on the rear porch.

The masons started on the small arch on the garage side of the porch and worked their way around the porch.  Working from their scaffolding, they placed the forms, laid the forming layer of small rocks and built the rock up to the ceiling.

Mason and arch form hard at work

Inside view

Finished arches supported by forms

Messy, messy job

Checkin' out the stone placement

Arch forms hard at work

Needs a little more work

Looking really good!!

Close up of arch form

While the masons were building the arches, carpenters were wrecking out some of the framing built for the outside fireplace.  The framing needed to be redone to accommodate a full masonry fireplace rather than a fireplace with a firebox insert.

Fireplace - Before

Fireplace - After

The chimney needed rework too

In addition to masons and carpenters, the plumbers were back at work plumbing the upstairs bathroom.  
You may remember we had a little issue with the upstairs bath due to a framing mistake.  All is well now and the tub and shower valves are in place.  The air conditioning duct is rerouted and the shelf at the back of the tub has been saved by a good rework plan devised by Aaron.

New plumbing up through garage ceiling

Shower valve

Shelf and rerouted A/C duct

Saved shelf area

While all of this work was going on, we were pleased to have some family visit, including Nancy's nephew Stephen from New Mexico.

And after we told Skeeter about all of the activity, he decided it was time for a serious nap.  He is looking forward to moving to his new home in the country......probably dreaming of chasing rabbits!!!

Day 136 - Golden Arches

Work is progressing on building our outdoor living space. The forms have been fabricated to brace the rock when building the arches across the back porch.  The bottom part of the columns have rock placed up close to the level where the arches will begin their curve.

Partially rocked column

Three arches go across the back

Awaiting arch feature

The wooden arches are sitting in the garage ready for the masons to do their artistry. In addition to the three arches across the back, the sides of the porch will also have archways.

Forms for Arches

The big news is the installation of the interior fireplace mechanical parts and refractory.  The masons will now be able to place the rock up to the ceiling.  This fireplace will have a log set and burn propane gas - it is not a wood burning fireplace.  We aren't sure we like the chimney cap in the third photo, so it may be changed out soon.

Before getting "Stoned"

The red brick will be painted black

Questionable Chimney Cap

Bruce is out on the site today, so I hope to share some more progress photos this evening.

Day 130 - Lots of Progress

Lots of work has been done on the house - I promise!!!!  The long absence of a blog post does not mean progress came to a halt, but rather the "bloggist" hit a kind of wall.  Life goes on while a house is being being built - good things and bad things happen.  Sometimes it just takes a little while to process thoughts......and writing does not come easy for some.  So, with a more ordered mind - here's the news.

The Water Tank

James has been working hard on constructing the water tanks for our rainwater collection system.  He should have the job done before the end of June.  Here's the short version of constructing the metal tank: The top ring of the tank is placed on top of the concrete ring, the cap of the cistern is placed over the top ring, that assembly is jacked up, and the bottom ring is inserted to complete the structure.

Top Ring and Cap

Complete First Tank and Second Tank Ring

Tank Viewed from Future Pool Location

Exterior Stonework

The masons have been working hard every day doing their artistry of laying stone.  Almost all of the outside basic work has been completed.  Today we watched the guys tossing the stones around like they were apples.  Amazing.  The next big projects are the two stone fireplaces and the arches on the porches.

Creating the arches over the two curved windows in the front of the house took a number of steps.  It will be great fun to watch the rear porch arches created.

Note Wood Structure Across Window

Note Larger Rocks Supporting the Rocks Forming the Arch

Wider View

Completed Arch Left Window

Completed Arch Right Window

We chose a simple stone exterior, so the masons have laid a clean line of stone above and below the windows and around the garage doors.

Window Above Garage

Around Garage Door

Garage Window

Bruce's Study Window

How about some more shots of the great work by the masons????  It is really starting to look like home.

Coping - the Architectural Kind

The "ceiling" of the porches is covered with wood pieces called "coping."  The front coping has been installed for some time and the back porch coping was installed this week.  Coping covers the wires for the recessed lighting and speakers.  I'm ready for wine and a few tunes on the back porch right now!!!

Installing the Coping

Putting in the Last Piece

Completed Coping

 Wallboard

We were excited to see stacks of wallboard arrive at the house.   A number of tasks need to be completed before the wallboard goes up, but just seeing it on site means we are not too far away from having interior walls.  It will be really exciting to get this step accomplished.

Wallboard

And More Wallboard!

So, that's all the news for today folks.  Much more to report in the coming days!!!!

Day 119 - Stones and Storms

It will take a lot of stone to finish the outside of the house and the trucks just keep on bringing the loads of limestone from Cobra Stone, our supplier.

Delivered Stone

Variety in Delivered Stone

It seems funny to have stone delivered when our property is so rocky with many loose pieces scattered around in the dirt.  However, using fieldstone is quite a bit more expensive because of the labor to gather it. ( And we're definitely not interested in doing that job ourselves!)

Field Stone

We had a rain storm move through here a few days ago that gave a new look to our stone.  It is amazing how much the dust obscured the color of the stone.

Wet Stone on Left and Dry Stone on Upper Right

And the rain really brought out the color of the stone on the walls.  Before losing the dust the colors were very muted and now are much more defined.

Garage Wall

Front Entry

Note the Plumb Line on the Edge

Front Garage Wall

The wind with the rain storm was strong enough to bring down one of the small oak trees in the area behind the pool house and the rain left a good demonstration of the trench between the two cisterns.

R.I.P. Little Oak

Equalization trench

We ended the week with a casual visit from neighbors............we are very lucky to moving to a wonderful neighborhood!!!!

Jerry and Bruce Chilling at the End of the Week