6.30.2016

Jim got out to the property early to get everything ready - we were hoping we could do two batches of mortar today.

He cut a lot of bricks to have all our different sizes ready to go.

Sifting the sand...once I got there, I took over this job.

First batch of mortar ready to go!

Starting down the side...

Last step on this side!

 

Drilling in the concrete for the hurricane ties...

This is the brick that connects the back where we started with the front section on this side!

Doing the jointing on the first batch.

The sun was out in full force and it was pretty warm, so after the first batch, Jim covered up the front that sees the most sun. 

Cleaning up from the first batch...

By the time everything was done and cleaned up from the first batch, it was well past lunchtime.  After we ate, we did a few prep things to let the sun move position where we started getting some shade on this side of the building.  We have used up our first cube of bricks now and opened up the next cube - progress!

Jim did all the markings for the next sections...

And started laying out the pattern for the next front corner section.

Ready for our second batch of the day...

The shade really helps - both the builder and the mortar!  The sun and heat really makes the mortar set up quickly - too quickly! 

Time for a row of brick ties...

Working around the front...

Mortar is all gone - time for jointing!

End-of-the-day shot...lots of good progress!  We are about halfway up the side!

Always lots of clean up involved.

There is rain in the forecast for tomorrow, so just in case Jim got everything all covered.

 

At the end of the day, Jim cut a few more bricks and then moved inside.  He finished drilling all of the holes in the clip angles for the next staircase run!

 

High 81/Low 55

 

 

6.29.2016

A picture of Jim's grading work yesterday - it looks really good now. 

When Jim left this morning, we weren't sure if we would be able to do any brick work.  The weather forecast still looked a little iffy and called for some showers both morning and afternoon.  But things looked good enough that Jim decided to go for one batch, so we got started at about 11:00.

Getting ready for the first brick of the day...

Attaching brick ties...

Putting up the string to make sure everything is straight!

But Jim is always leveling to really be sure!

I'm still amazed at the precision of the steps and how everything is working out just as drawn up on the computer!

Doing the final jointing...

Great progress - it looks really good!

Cleaning up...

The weather still looked iffy in the afternoon so we had decided to only do one batch.  Jim covered everything in plastic to keep things safe.

 

In the afternoon, Jim went back to electric work.  He has all of the receptacles wired in the woodworking shop! 

 

He also continued work on the clip angles he started yesterday.  He now has 120 out of 144 holes drilled in them - that's a lot of drilling (especially with a sore wrist!).  Jim ordered some steel pieces last night, so we'll be ready to work on stairs soon on rainy days.

 

Speaking of rainy days, it never did rain today.  But we had decided that we weren't taking any unnecessary chances on having the brick work ruined - and now Jim has lots to do in other directions so no time is wasted!

 

High 77/Low 56



6.28.2016

Another day of forecasted rain that really didn't happen - at least until very late in the afternoon.  We probably could have mixed a batch of mortar this morning, but we are taking no chances.

These are the brick supplies Jim picked up yesterday - more mortar mix and lots of little bags of coloring!

This morning, Jim worked on more electrical work.  He is at the point where he needs to order more light fixtures!

In the afternoon, he switched to working on the steel work for the landing in the downstairs shop.  First, he had to drill holes through this thick piece of angle.  They needed to line up perfectly with the anchor bolts that Jim set in the insulated concrete forms.

Trying it out for size!

A close up - you can see the anchor bolts coming out of the wall that are now bolted through the angle piece.



Jim got the back angle on too!

Oops...kind of a blurry picture but you can see that Jim has the side and front pieces all fit.  He had to do some welding on these pieces - for now, they are just clamped together.  We will have to fill the holes in the top course of the wall with concrete so that Jim can anchor into it.  Pretty exciting - you can visualize the landing now!

 

 

Jim then spent a ton of time making the clip angles for the next staircase run - he has holes drilled on one side and has all the bevels cut.

 

 

Before the rain came, he spent another hour grading the top driveway.  He's pretty happy with it at this point - we have some rock work to do but it's about ready for gravel!

 

High 81/Low 61

 

 

6.27.2016

It's been a whirlwind of a weekend going to NYC for Kyle & Julia's wedding!  Here's a picture of the happy couple with their parents...

Ryan and his family were there so we got to see the cutest grandkids ever!

We really enjoyed spending time with Kyle & Julia and meeting her family and their friends.  We're so happy to have Julia officially in our family!

But NYC is quite different from our upstate NY life!  We got back Sunday afternoon and Jim was anxious to get to Angel to make sure all was well.  Since we were heading to church later in the afternoon there wasn't much time, but Jim used the time to get the grass cut and do some trimming.

We were so thankful that Jim had no kidney stone issues while we were gone, but he must have strained his wrist helping Kyle move a giant grill down 4 flights of stairs on Saturday for the party!  It was pretty sore yesterday but he wrapped it with an Ace bandage and some duct tape to help keep it dry and he was good to go today!  He said that his body doesn't hurt when he can work - ha!

Unfortunately, we were so anxious to get started on more brickwork and the weather didn't really cooperate.  Jim got the brick all uncovered and we were so thrilled with the way it looks.  It's hard to pick out mortar colors from a chart but the color looks absolutely perfect with the bricks. 

He got the hurricane ties on the next course ready to go and the string all set up.

We had used up our pile of sand, so Jim took the Bobcat down and got a few more scoops.  Unfortunately, this has been sitting out so long that we will need to use the screen to get out any vegetation.

 

Unfortunately, just when things were ready, it started to rain.  The forecast looked iffy all day and into tomorrow, so Jim decided to run a few errands.  He needed a few supplies at Lowe's as well as getting more bags of color for the mortar.

 

Once he got back, the forecast still called for rain - but it never materialized.  However, it's just way too risky to try and force making a batch of mortar.  Instead, Jim decided to work on electric work.  He got lots more work done on wiring up the lights in the workshop.  He also worked on grading at the end of the day since the ground was soft.

High 77/Low 64

 

6.22.2016

We had a little bit of on/off rain this morning.  I ran some errands...one of which included buying Jim some new mortar gloves as well as some new everyday gloves.  I think he needed them, right?

Jim worked this morning on electrical work when it was raining, getting more done on wiring up the new lights.

Once the weather cleared up, he moved outside and started prepping for the afternoon's brick work.  He got more bricks cut...

 

He used his story board to make markings on the wall for courses as well as which rows he wants to put brick ties.

 

 

Got his mason string out to make sure the courses are all plumb.

In certain areas, Jim wants to make sure the brick is anchored well into the wall, so he's using the big hurricane ties.  For these, he uses a tap con to drill through the concrete to anchor everything together.

Ready for the mortar!  As a side note, I will probably always take a picture of the mortar.  Mortar has a definite "shelf life" and Jim frequently will ask what time we made the mortar so he knows how long he can continue using it, depending on other factors such as temperature.  Taking a picture is a good way to remember!

First brick of the day...

Working up the front...

Moving the string up to the next course...

All the steps are working out perfectly!

Drilling the hole for the next hurricane tie...

Doing the final jointing...

Another great afternoon's work!  We are really happy with the brick choice.

 

Clean up time!

 



It ended up being just a gorgeous afternoon - clear and crisp.  Since the ground was soft after the rain, Jim did some more grading at the very end of the day.



High 71/Low 50