8.31.2016

Today was kind of a transition day.  Although we were anxious to finish up the last task of the brick work, the forecast was for a slight possibility of rain (it never materialized).

I headed out this morning to the FedEx store to send back the calipers from the box truck so that we get our deposit back.

Meanwhile, Jim had gotten a phone call last night from someone who might possibly be interested in the Bobcat (yay!!).  So his focus kind of changed to doing a few things on it that he wanted to do - just a little more routine maintenance and clean up as well as exploring how to adjust the tension on the tracks, which was new for him. 

Since he was in the mode of working on machines, he had a coupon that expired today at the auto parts store where they carry batteries for the excavator.  So he went and picked that up - once he got it installed, he barely turned the key and it started!  Amazing - it's been sitting dead for quite awhile.  Now it will be ready when we need it - which we will in the near future to trench some permanent lines into the building for water and electric.

Jim had also put the OSB scraps back on Craigslist and offered them free.  Last time, people said they were coming and didn't show.  He had 3 responses almost immediately so he pulled the ad and contacted the first person.  The guy showed up pretty much on time and was thrilled to have the OSB - he said he's going to build a playhouse for his daughter.  So we're glad to get the wood out of the way and happy that someone else can use it.  However, all that takes time.

Now that the brick work is done under the overhang, Jim can continue working on the steel structure underneath.  It's kind of hard to tell in this picture, but Jim fastened a piece of steel track to the building using tap cons (it's below the block in the picture).

He's then able to fasten the horizontal steel pieces to the track. 

Jim now has all the steel completed underneath for the end of the overhang.

 

Attaching the horizontal pieces...

 

We also got set up so that I could do more shingle painting.

 

 

With two painting stations set up, I got about 100 shingles painted today.

 

 

High 75/Low 61

 

8.30.2016 - Brick is done!

This was definitely a RED letter day - the brick work is ALL done!  Plus, it really came out perfectly so we couldn't be happier.  Here's how the day progressed...

Jim headed out early to get things started.  One of the jobs on his agenda today was to prepare the old calipers from the box truck brake job to be send back.  They charge you a core charge when you buy them, which you get refunded when you send them back.  But these are old, oily, rusty parts and you need to return them in their cardboard shipping box.  So to prevent leakage, Jim really wrapped them in layers and layers of shrink wrap, lined the box, and got them ready to go.  I'll try and take them to FedEx tomorrow so we get our money back.

Then he got the truck ready for a trip to Lowe's.  We had some leftover block, cement and a pallet to take back so that we could get our deposit back from that.  We ate lunch on the way and picked up our last bag of mortar while we were there!

Back at Angel, we got ready for brick work.  Jim had to cut the bricks in half for our last row over the garage door.

The last bricks to put up!

Mortar is ready...

While the mortar was very fresh, Jim wanted to use the mortar bag to do the very top row between the pour stop and the brick.  It's really important to get under the overhang done so that Jim can move on to building the rest of the overhang structure.  So it's back to smacking his head while he's working!

After he got underneath the overhang done, we moved on to finishing the brick.  First piece up...

Last brick in the structure!!

And it's in place!

Yay - time to celebrate!!

But no resting allowed - time to use up the rest of the mortar to seal the top edge.

Last bit on the front!

Finishing the top edge...

Jointing the brick - the entire front is done with all the masonry work!!

 

So time to move around back...

 

My job is to fill the mortar bag with trowels of mortar.  I told Jim that I felt like a lunch lady in a prison cafeteria slopping the gruel onto plates!

 

Finishing up the last of the mortar. 

 

Clean up time!

Brick work is done!!

 

We'll have to make one more batch of mortar tomorrow to finish up with the mortar bag work in the back.  Then it will be time to pack away all the masonry supplies!

 

High 79/Low 58

 

8.29.2016

Unloaded steel

Jim got ready this morning for brick work - he got the lintel all up and bolted down over the auto bay garage door. 

The anchor bolts for this lintel worked out right at a joint - so Jim just needed to shear the corners off of 4 bricks to make them fit right.

Then he cut the number of stubby block that we will need to finish.

Jim put the aluminum flashing over the lintel and then some brick flashing.

We had to come up with a solution to store all of our painted shake shingle siding.  So we set them on their side so they shouldn't stick together.  Then I loaded up the studs with the next batch to be painted another day.

After lunch, we took apart and unloaded all of the steel that was in the back of the truck.  Jim took most of it into the apartment where we will be using it for walls!

Then it was time for a batch of mortar...

Jim started with the brick over the lintel.

Putting the last brick in - this is the last full brick in the carriage house!

Then we switched to the half block underneath the overhang.

Last half block in this course!

Then it was onto stubby block - including working around the electric conduit.  This picture emphasizes the close quarters Jim is working in - I'll bet he hit his head on the steel overhang pieces more than a dozen times today - ouch!

Last stubby block!

Jointing...

We had some mortar left over, so we got out the mortar bag and Jim started filling in between the top of the block and the pour stop of the next floor.

It's hard to get good pictures because so much of the work we did today was under the overhang - but here's a couple end of the day shots...

This is the only area left to brick - and these are half bricks that Jim will cut tomorrow.  Then all that will be left to do is to fill in the tops with the mortar bag on the main structure.  We are SO close to being done with brick!!

 

High 80/Low 51

 

8.28.2016

Even though it was a short day because of work, we got lots of good stuff done!

Jim worked on the overhang...putting up the next piece of sheathing.

All the sheathing is done except for the side, which has to wait until the block is done underneath.

Putting on drip edge...

Time for some membrane.  We had to make sure to get the membrane on today underneath the valley in case it rained.  Rain really comes shooting down the valley now!

Continuing on...

Almost finished...

The next step is to open up the house wrap and trim a little off.  Then we cut smaller pieces of membrane to go from the side of the house over the top of the overhang to make sure there is a good seal over the connection.

Working down...

All done and the house wrap is lapped back over the top!

In between cutting membrane and taking it out to Jim when he was ready (way too hot to leave it outside!), I started painting the siding!  Jim came up with a good way to lay out the pieces - we put studs on top of the saw horses and then put the siding on.

First batch all painted!

 

High 83/Low 65