Thinking Ahead.

We had a powwow brunch this morning at Fresko’s. Talked windows, slanting floors, stair treads, lighting, air conditioning etc. Lots of decisions coming up. We had a good rain this morning…but not enough to even dent the drought here. We’re now in the weird position of loving and hating any rain we get…want to get the roof finished and the windows on before we get really excited about increased rain. But the trees are thankful.

Welcome Home!

We used Welcome Home, Inc to help unpack mom into her new apt at the Fountains. Oh my gosh…what a godsend. Two pleasant, hardworking, organized women showed up on time to unpack, clean, and organize all of mom’s stuff. They did a small one bedroom apt with a teeny kitchen in 3 hours. 3 hours!!!! AND they took away all the boxes, packing paper, and trash. What a godsend! We will be using them when we move down for sure!

In the Heights!

Roof Trusses are up over most of the addition. Here are a few cool photos of the crane (and the men) in action.

We have Roof (truss)!

The Second Floor Rises

Here are pics of the second floor walls and balcony with columns..roof trusses and roof deck materials arrrived last night...so the roof goes on starting Monday. Woohoo!

Working While Waiting For Trusses

We are ready to set the trusses but the trusses are not ready for another two weeks. Emil has started on some of the work in the old portion of the house and is doing a great job of keeping the project moving at a fast pace. All of the block and slab work is completed. He is forming the curved steps this week. They should be ready to pour next week.

Thoughts on stairs right now are to use white Portland cement with a pale brown color dye to yield a uniform color to match the travertine. Together with brass stair nosings, alum decorative handrails and a redwood top rail should look pretty good.
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Perfect Weather for Framing!

John reports that the weather is expected to be 82 degrees next week with no rain. Pefect for framing the second floor which began this past week. We are waiting for the Dining Room decking materials. The second floor has been covered in plywood and the perimeter walls are roughed in place. The small concrete stairs are being formed for a Monday morning concrete pour. John has discovered some interesting views from our bedrooms and is adjusting the rough-in window heights as some are too low.
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View From Inside Future Family Room

Views looking out the front of the house

Views looking from bedroom out onto what will be a patio deck (partially covered and screened)

Dining Room Roof Beams

View out the corner balcony of the bedroom.

We've got world-class formwork!

Heard from John last night Continued good news. Much progress and hard work is going on. Emil and his hardworking crew have been finalizing the 2nd floor patio floor beam this week. They got the formwork done yesterday (finished in 8 days) It was inspected and approved by the building inspector. Yippee yahoo. As John, our architect put it, it was "a world class formwork effort by Emil's crew". It's HUGE as formworks go AND curved. See the pics below. They will pour the patio beam today (they pour concrete into the form they built).

The framing crew continue to place floor joists and plywood decking. They will finish the second floor decking on Friday except for the dining room exposed tongue and groove exposed decking. All other floor decking, cross bridging, and floor joists is complete. John even made sure that the plywood was glued to each floor joist to eliminate squeaks.

The framing contractor (Doug Daly, Owner of DLM Carpentry Contractors) began second floor wall framing today. John says that Doug and his four man crew have worked very efficiently and quickly. I hesitate typing this in fear of jinxing the house building gods, but Doug and Emil think that the roof joists, roof trusses, and decking can be complete by the end of the month!! Wow...from their lips to Gods ear!

Emil pointing the excellent works the guys were doing on the Patio Formwork!