7.31.2020

Jim was back at plastering this morning.  He's basically starting from his original beginning point each day and doing additional coats and touch ups before continuing down the wall...

After lunch, he took the door and drawer out of the cabinet that needs to be removed for the beverage cooler to go in its spot.  Then he just did some investigating on how he installed it so he knows the next steps...

Then it was back into the auto bay to continue drywall.  This was another challenging piece.  He first had to take the hose reel and mountings off the wall...

Then cutting the piece...

He had to use his hole saw to make a hole cutout for the wiring conduit to fit through...

 He threaded the wires through the hole...

It was a perfect fit so he's putting all the screws in.

At this point, he had to make a trip to the drywall supply company before they closed for the day to get channel that he needs to go at the top of this wall section before he can continue on with drywall installation.

High 82/Low 59

7.30.2020

Jim got the banjo going this morning and worked on taping in the wood shop...

He had to work up high to tape these small pieces of drywall.  These were pieces that he had to use because he couldn't get the entire height he needed to fit with the plumbing ...

Making great progress...

In the afternoon, we switched to doing some drywall.  Scraping off some concrete...

This was a challenging piece - this corner used different pieces of insulated concrete forms so not all of the flanges line up.  We chalked all the different locations on the drywall and then Jim had to mark each row with flange placement so he would know where to place the screws.

He went ahead and put all the fasteners in this sheet so he would remember his marking system!

The next piece involved more challenges - all of the compressor plumbing was on this wall.

Plumbing disconnected from wall...

Stuffing some insulation...

Then we got the next piece up and Jim is putting in fasteners...

It was a beautiful day, so after that piece of drywall we headed outside to do a little work on the rock wall.  Jim took the excavator down to the pile and brought out big pieces...

Establishing the end rock placement...

Then he took the Bobcat down to the wall and brought up two bucketsful of rock (with a little manual assistance)...

Dropping off the rocks...

Working on placement...

High 81/Low 57 - beautiful!

7.29.2020

Jim continued working on plastering in the wood shop this morning - definitely going to be a challenge with all of the things in this area!

Setting screws into the drywall...

Jim had to move storage units (aka - the kids' old dresser!) to get back into this corner...

This afternoon, we unpacked the new beverage cooler!

Getting it on the 2-wheeler...

Starting the trek up the stairs...

Rather than bring the 2-wheeler into the apartment and risk scratching the floor with its metal base, Jim brought in a doormat and made the transition from 2-wheeler to his little dolly...

Then he was able to just roll it down the hall...

And into the kitchen!  Obviously it will take a lot of work to install it but it's up here now which is the first step.  I'm very excited!

There was a lot of packaging material (foam and cardboard) in the cooler so after he brought it upstairs, we loaded up his car - some just went into our trash/recycling bins but he also made a trip to the recycling center to drop off steel.  While he was out, he got more diesel fuel for the machines.

Our new inline water filter that Jim ordered came in today so he decided to replace that.  This is a messy job because obviously the filter is full of water and even though he shut off the valve, there's still water in the system.

Taking out the old filter.  Jim was happy with the looks of the old filter.  According to our water softener, we have run 31,000 gallons of water since he changed it a year ago.  Plus, that shows that we are doing a good job with water conservation, average only a little more than 40 gallons of water per day per person.  According to Google (who knows everything, right?), the average person uses 80-100 gallons of water per day.

Cleaning out the unit...

Putting the new filter in.  Jim bought a different type of filter this time - it's supposed to filter out smaller particles.  We're going to see how it works this time around.

Putting it all back together...

This morning, Jim sprayed the wasp nest one more time...

Then later on in the afternoon, he used a big stick to get the nest off the soffit...

High 80/Low 63

7.28.2020

This morning, there were quite a few turkeys hanging around including one fellow up on top of the rock wall!

Jim worked this morning in the stairwell entrance continuing to plaster...

He even did some inside the wood shop...

We ordered a wine/beverage cooler to go in the front wall of planned cabinets.  It was scheduled to be delivered today and it was - down at the package drop box instead of bringing it up to the house.  I'm not sure what a typical homeowner who doesn't own a Bobcat is supposed to do?

 But thankfully it was no problem for Jim to bring it up...

Bringing it into the stairwell entrance.  We may open it tomorrow and check it out!

In the afternoon, it was back to rock wall duty...

Using the excavator to move rocks into place...

Bringing over another load of rocks...

Jim took the excavator down to our rock pile to disassemble it a bit to be better able to get some of the bigger ones...

Getting another load...

Working on moving rocks into place...

The wall is looking fabulous!

Jim switched gears yet again at the end of the day so he could do a little trimming before coming in.  He also had one more task to handle - there is a giant wasp nest on the soffit near the bathroom window so he sprayed it. 

High 83/Low 58