26 September 2013

I have been remiss in my communication with you, it has been about 6 weeks since I last wrote... we have been busy and we have accomplished a lot.  I am still working long hours and haven't taken a day off since I can't remember.  It was hot for a couple of weeks and I don't tolerate the heat very well and they were slow days.  Last week I had the shingles...  This week I feel great!!  Horray!!

Since last I wrote we went to the bank and requested a 90 day extension for the project - this moves completion to the end of October and closing sometime in November.  We are hoping we can have everything done the middle of October.

The Appraiser came out last month and we gave him a tour.  We had a good conversation about the appraisal process and what needs to be completed before the house can be financed on the secondary market... I think we are doing well.  I am going to take a day off!!!

While Sam was here he completed the installation of the walking surface on the deck.  The weather has been a bit hot during the day to enjoy the deck but toward evening, when the day begins to cool, Carol and I enjoy a drink on the deck.

Mark Strege was here for a couple of weeks installing the T1-11 siding.  Mark completed the siding on the master bedroom and hallway and we completed the foam and siding on the east end of the great room late last week.

For the past couple of days Carol and I have been working on installing shingles during the morning before the heat of the day really settles in and working on the sheetrock/plaster in the master bedroom during the hottest part of the day.  We completed the small roof on the hallway between the tower and the master bedroom, and the master bedroom roof and all but one corner of the big roof on the main part of the house... I was short one piece that had to be special ordered.  A couple of weeks ago Carol and I painted the exterior T1-11 siding,

Installed a timer on the water heater.  Our local electric supplier is changing its rate structure and has added demand charges for power.   The new timer will turn off the heater during peak times.

Luke Neff has been here for a week and a half installing trim.  Carol and I are installing the metal lap siding.

The days are getting shorter, the evening getting cooler, there is talk of rain tomorrow and snow tomorrow night... I am hoping not, but it is pretty typical for this time of the year.  The snow won't last but for a couple of days and then it will be in the 70s and 80s again.

We have deer in the yard almost every day.  We spooked one sleeping next to the garage on two occasions.  We also have 3 happy rabbits, Carol is feeding them carrots and lettuce.  The other day  this guy visit us....

Middle of the night

Saturday night, the 10th of August, around midnight, Sam woke us up, he was experiencing chest pains.  We took him to Custer Regional Hospital Emergency Room where he was seen by Dr. Joy Faulkenberg, one of our local physicians.

Dr. Joy initially thought that it was an anxiety attack as Sam didn't have any of the tradition markers for heart attack, but she remained skeptical.  When the morphine drip didn't cut the pain she started a drip of nitroglycerine and the pain stopped.  She told Sam, "I called the bus, you are going into the emergency room in Rapid City, you are having a cardiac related event."

Sam was cathed on Sunday morning and the Cardiac Physician installed a stent and balloon pump.  We called Sam's wife Deni and she and the kids arrived Sunday evening.  Sam was in ICU for several days.  The doctor's told Sam that the artery that feeds the heart was 100% blocked... it was the "widow maker".  Sam was transferred to the Cardiac Care Unit on Wednesday.  We saw him on Thursday evening and he looked much better.  He was released on Friday morning and Deni and the kids took him home.

To tell the truth I was scared shitless.  It didn't look very good for a while.  Carol and I were much relieved when we saw him on Thursday evening.

Sam, my dear friend, rest and get well soon!

3 August 2013

I didn't get to post this entry... lots of things interrupted my train of thought... more on that in another post.  So here is the post:


Is it August already?

Mark Lyndoe with Mile High Concrete and Masonry completed the stucco on the tower this week.  The tower was a fascinating project for Mark - the tall walls and the surrounding stone complicated the set up of the scaffolding and getting "mud" up to the higher elevations. 

They set up the scaffolding and equipment on Tuesday.  The scratch coat was completed on Wednesday and the final coat on Thursday.  A thunderstorm on Thursday afternoon  forced them off the scaffolding and ruined a small section of the fresh stucco forcing them to work late. 

The stucco turned out great!  I hope the mottled look hangs around but it is likely to fade out to one shade of gray, the lighter gray in this picture.



































Completed the installation of 3 more footings, for a total of 11 footings.  Pulled a muscle in my back lifting 80 to 100 pound 6x6 posts for the corners of the deck.  Didn't sleep well last night so I am taking a day off for recovery, hoping to be able to get back at it tomorrow morning.

Work also continues in the master bedroom suite. 

Mark Strege and Sam Rudd will be here on Monday to work on completing the exterior of the house.

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

 

 

 

 

Last week of May 2013

The weather has been cold, very windy and drizzly.  We have been working with foam board insulation so there are a lot of cut offs on the construction site and the wind has been strong enough to blow them up over the house into the neighbor's property so I spent a fair amount of my time chasing down errant foam and building paper.

As the weather was so stinky we worked closer to the ground for 3 days this week.  We installed the round window in the tower.  It is even more stunning than Carol and I imagined it would be.

The floor in this picture is a temporary floor, the pond and big rock are right below.  We will leave this floor until we get the walls insulated and sheet-rocked.

Started working on the stairway to the "tower keep".  It is more of a ladder, very similar to the ladders on military ships.  The treads are mortised into the stringers.

While I roughed in the electrical wiring, Sam and Luke installed windows in the master bedroom.

The hole thru the hallway wall is temporary access.  The master bedroom is between two huge chunks of rock and the only access we have to this side of the bedroom for moving big pieces of construction material is thru this hole.

This is the view of the rocks through the window above the sunken tub.  The window is a slider, so when the weather is warm we will be able to open the window while we soak in the ofuro.

Sam completed the installation of the foam insulation on the top of the tower on Saturday, except for one rafter bay, he ran out of spray foam... we have used about 100 cans of the contractor's size spray foam on this project... I should have purchased stock in the company before we started construction.

This week, if the weather cooperates we will complete the tower roof, including shingles, and we will get the windows installed.

The list of things to do gets shorter day by day and we are beginning to see the end of the project.  We set a completion goal of the 1st of July about a month ago, and we are going to work our asses off toward that goal but most likely we will need another 30 days to complete the work.

It has been great fun for us to live in the house.  The expanse of windows on the south wall is breath taking... we can follow the flight of birds from one side of the house to the other... it is really something.  By the way the birds are back here, we have seen grey jays, western tanager (Piranga ludoviciana), robins and mountain blue birds.  We have seen wild turkeys on the road to town but none in the yard so far this year.  We see deer in the yard every day or so.  I am looking forward to the butterflies, I hope to get a picture of the yellow swallowtail this year.  And this morning... we had an female elk walk through the property!  First time we have seen an elk here.

Going climbing today with the judo group.  And later they will be by to take a look at the house.

Life is wonderful!!!!!!!!

Van