Leo explains to me what needs to get done on any given day. Not yet able to use words that I understand, he expresses his thoughts using precise pencil movements around knots in scrap lumber.
I made a point to avoid using a concrete truck this time around. The footings, piers, and stemwall were all poured from bags. This saved me all of the stress that comes with a concrete truck delivery. And I was also able to design the foundation to utilize a minimal amount of concrete, so it wouldn't have been enough to justify a truck anyhow.
Notice the tapered piers at the bottom left of the photo below. These will hold up the end of the deck.
Floor joists...
We made a new retaining wall out front, using old concrete chunks that I rescued from an architect couple in Chapel Hill who couldn't see the beauty/potential in the material.
Subfloor....
Leo enjoys playing around the worksite when it's safe (like when we're not working). Here he enjoyed his freedom as the only member of the crew who can fit comfortably underneath the floor joists. His cave.
We got the floor joists installed for the deck, and then started framing up the walls (you can see Mike is standing right beside a wall that is ready to be lifted).
Walls up in a day or so!
Rafters! Here you can see the framing for the "mudroom," which is the small room that you will enter the house through. It will be a cozy nook to take off your boots, hang up your coat, brush off your snow, and then enter the living room.
Here is the set of steps that leads from the deck down to what used to be the "steps-to-nowhere," which we poured last year. There will be a railing eventually, but probably not until the very end of things.
I don't have an updated photo. Right now it's covered in black tar paper, and is ready for the metal roofing and the locally-sawn pine siding. This next week we're going to finish the siding, install the roofing, and rough-in the electrical wiring!
Well done, Greg. I love seeing the updates and your commentary never fails to deliver a laugh.
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ReplyDeleteSoil nailing is a technique in which soil slopes, excavations or retaining walls are reinforced by the insertion of relatively slender elements - normally steel reinforcing bars. The bars are usually installed into a pre-drilled hole and then grouted into place or drilled and grouted simultaneously. They are usually installed untensioned at a slight downward inclination. A rigid or flexible facing (often sprayed concrete) or isolated soil nail heads may be used at the surface.
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