25th of July 2013

Spent the last week getting the tower prepared for stucco.  We had intended to stucco the entire house but it proved to be too expensive so we decided to just install stucco on the tower.

North elevation of tower.

East elevation of tower and bump out for the samurai armor.

We work on the exterior from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm, then switch gears to something else so as to spice up the day a bit, this week we have been working on the interior in the master bedroom.  Carol and I completed the closet.

On a sadder note, my dear friend Alan Duppler is in the hospital in Fargo.  I am not privy to his illness, except that know it is serious and he may not go home.  Alan was in judo for many years,

earned his black belt in Zen Judo.  He is a wonderful person and I am sad that he is in a bad way.  Please include him in your thoughts and prayers.

Regards to all,

Van

Ides of July

We met with the Bank two weeks ago, the appraisal is scheduled for the 13th of August and the closing for the 29th of August.  Only scant weeks to go and still a lot of work to do!

Our dear friend Sam went home this past Saturday.  Sam, we are going to miss your hard work, expertise and gentle good humor!  We thank you for your tremendous input.  Hope you can come back in the Fall and help us out with some rock climbing. 












The project is coming along... here are the pictures from the past couple of weeks.

Sam is painting the tower.  We took a piece of tree bark to the paint store and had them match the color for the upper part of the tower.

The scaffolding has been removed.  We took a piece of rock to the paint store and had them match the color for the exterior of the house.

Master bedroom interior, ready for plaster.  Since this picture was taken the bathroom has also been sheetrocked.

The front entry flat roof is complete except for the Japanese rain chain.

We are using mold resistant blue sheetrock in the tower due to the pond.  The installation of the sheetrock really sets off the round window.

This is the niche where the samurai armor will be displayed.  Eventually a low platform will define the space.  Carol is going to relocate all of our construction fasteners, currently stored in the master bedroom closet to this space.

This week we are working to complete the exterior of the tower, getting it ready for the stucco guy to do his thing.  In the evenings we would like to complete the master bedroom closet this week, we have to hang sheetrock on the ceiling, plaster the walls and install shelving, then Carol can start moving boxes into the closet and get clothes put away.  So exciting!

When the prep for the stucco of the exterior of the tower is completed, about midweek, I will start working on the exterior siding and the roofing - alternating the projects to take advantage of the coolness of the day and avoid the blazing sun in the afternoon as much as possible.

Regards to all,

Van

July 1st, 2013

The first of July already?  Where did June go?

We are signing another extension at the bank this morning with a closing date of 1 September 2013 to convert the construction loan to a mortgage.

We have made good progress over the last 3 weeks since I last posted.  Here are some pictures.



Sam and Luke installing the tongue and groove soffit on the tower.

Clay Studt came by one morning with his telehandler and helped us get the windows to the top of the tower.














Working on the roof of the tower requires additional safety considerations,  I am using my rock climbing harness and climbing rope.

I am installing shingles on the tower roof.  Luke and Sam are assembling the roof for the front entry.

Starting to install the first layer of exterior foam insulation.  There will be two 2" layers of extruded polystyrene foam (XPS), each layer will be taped and spray foamed to seal the entire structure.

 

This picture shows the north elevation of the house, the foam is taped and the lower part of the wall is firred out for the installation of steel siding.  The steel siding is for two reasons: first, it is fire proof and second it acts as a splash guard for water falling off the roof into the drainage channel, that we affectionally call the moat.

We were waiting for the sheathing for the exterior of the house to be delivered so we went back to a project that was postponed due to nice weather - the installation of the stairway from the landing to the top of the tower.  The stringers and the treads are made of 2" thick Douglas Fir.  The treads are mortised into the side of the stringers and then two lag screws were screwed into each tread on each side.

Luke and Sam guiding the stairway from the floor of the tower.  It is a heavy bugger!!!!  It must weigh 200 pounds if not more.

I am in the top of the tower with a come-along providing the lifting power.

The lift went very smoothly and within 15 minutes the stairway was in place and ready to be tested.

 

Testing the new stairway!  It is VERY sturdy and looks GREAT!  It looked great of paper but it looks much better for real!

This is a photo of the sink basin in the powder room next to the front door.  The sink was a major pain in the you know what!!!  The sink and the drain are manufactured by the same company but they do not match up well together, in fact, not at all.  I spent a couple of days trying to get the sink and the drain to mate up, included were a couple of trips to Rapid City Menards to see if there were some parts missing... but nope, we had all the parts... it is one of those "bad design" things!  Poor design is one thing that I have little patience for!!!!!!

For the moment it is OK and doesn't leak but there is a small puddle of water on remains in the bottom of the sink.  Later, when I have fewer things pressing on my time I will have to figure out how to fix it.

It was a sad day on Friday, it was Luke Neff's last day on the job.  We really like Luke, he is an awesome carpenter and a great guy and his smile will be missed.

 

I have more pictures to share but the blog is getting dodgy again so will try to post later today.

 

You all take care,

 

Van