Main Living Area Walls are Complete

Posted on June 20, 2011 by admin1

I have started writing this entry about three times over the past three weeks but each time end up getting distracted by more pressing matters. The first time I was going to update it was simply to let you all know that it was basically still raining. 🙂 Our concern at this point in June is to get as much of the house closed up as fast as possible. We are now in hurricane season so we are pushing to get the roof on and the windows in the main house.

As I mentioned in the last post I spent two days pumping water from the electrical room and from under the deck. They are both full again. Two weeks ago we got completely drenched again and lost 2.5 work days. But there are definitely positives to share. Right before those additional heavy rains we were able to get the slab for the living area poured which meant we didn’t have to wait for the site to dry out to start forming the walls. Over the next two weeks the walls were formed and on Saturday we poured the walls. Of course none of this was without headaches, but that part is complete which is a major milestone. With this pour we surpassed 400 yards of concrete used thus far.

Some of the items I have dealt with since the last post include having to confront a worker over theft of materials (I caught him) and having to spend weekends trying to remove mold and mildew (lots of it) from 250 cypress planks that were delivered shrinkwrapped in pouring rain last month. Water got in and sat there a few weeks. Many boards were damaged beyond our ability to disinfect properly, but we were able to salvage most (except for those that were stolen). In regards to the stolen material, our neighbor saw this person leaving with the boards one evening and reported it to us. Then I caught him in the act. It of course was awkward, but I will leave it at that for now.

We also had/have green mold forming on all our outdoor rafters that are now covered with cypress. The rafters were painted, then the rains came, and the cypress wasn’t put on until after the first batch of rains. The mold started forming after later rains and after the cypress was put on (see photo below). I suspect that the mold we are seeing is a result of water getting into the tops of the rafters (they didn’t paint the tops and apparently should have) and slowly seeping out through the paint. It is a complete mess, so we will have to repaint those rafters. Learning process I guess.

In addition, our AC installer had an angioplasty a few days before we needed him to run his sleeves in the walls. In the end he got the job done, not as I instructed, but it should be workable.

The question for a long time was “are you going to connect the two pods”? “A walkway between the two”? “Maybe a skywalk between the two”? “What is it going to look like?” Now the question we get is “when do you think it will be finished”? I wish I knew. We have passed our contractor’s estimate for completing the shell, and he likely has two more months to go. I think we can have the main house shell completed with windows installed, plastered, and roof on by end of July. Then the finish would begin. Tiling, painting, drywall (not too much of that), cabinetry, etc. I am on the lookout for people with these skills, so if you have anybody to recommend, let me know. If the price is right I will fly you down from the states. 🙂 My original best-case-scenario finish date was October, which coincidentally is also the end of our lease. Can we hit that date? Doubtful. Emily laughed at me when I set that date 6 months ago and when I mention it now it is apparently even more comical. So, realistically we are shooting for December. I would still be content with that but am pushing for October, even though we have basically lost a month due to rain. Go, go go. It has helped that our concrete guys have worked the past two Saturdays. Hopefully they keep that up.

What else? We had dinner and drinks on Friday night with Mike and Tisha (sp?) from Grand Rapids. They have been readers of the blog and are down for vacation. They got a hold of us through their realtor Kim Lucas and we all met up for drinks that turned into dinner. Mike and Tisha, thanks again. For other readers, chime in, let us know where you are reading from.

Emily has rented out a great space in town and has started teaching a Saturday morning yoga class at the Sanctuary on Company St. You can find more info at http://www.StCroixYoga.com if interested.

Tons of pics below, sorry for the slow loading times.

5/31/2011 - Prepping living area for slab pour

6/1/2011 - Mold on outside rafters

6/1/2011 - Prepping living area for slab pour

6/1/2011 - Decking patio roof

6/2/2011 - Prepping living are for slab pour

6/3/2011 - Living area slab pour

6/5/2011 - Wall forming begins

6/6/2011 - Wall forming continues

6/6/2011 - Wall forming continues (big pocket door)

6/9/2011 - Wall forming & window framing (notice crate path due to mud)

6/9/2011 - Ah yes, the rains came again, and dirt work has not been done to alter this outcome

6/9/2011 - Just a cool shot I liked, that rain was past us

6/10/2011 - Just a cool shot I liked, that rain was past us

6/10/2011 - Working on the other side of the deck roof

6/10/2011 - Shortcut

6/10/2011 - View from above looking at the living area

6/13/2011 - Window and electrical and plumbing rough-in

6/13/2011 - front door and electrical rough-in

6/13/2011 - cypress completed on guest side of deck roof

6/13/2011 - Living area wall forms and support

6/13/2011 - Kitchen wall forms and support

6/14/2011 - Electrical

6/16/2011 - Wall forming nearly complete

6/18/2011 - Time to pour the walls

6/18/2011 - Pouring walls, splattering on ceiling and rafters6/18/2011 - Pouring walls, splattering on ceiling and rafters

6/18/2011 - Pouring walls

Same theme, different date

Posted on May 28, 2011 by admin1

While this has only been our third spring here in the Virgin Islands, it has been abnormally wet using our small track record. So wet in fact that a few workers returned to the site yesterday for the first time since my previous post. So nothing was worked on for 9 days. Nothing, well except that Emily and I continued to work on cypress. May has basically been a wash out. The only day it hasn’t rained in May was Thursday. It doesn’t rain all day every day, but just a little bit of rain, with the ground being so saturated, creates a mess.

I spent both days last weekend moving three submersible pumps around the site trying to get rid of water. I was fairly successful. Of course I had everything outside drained and cleared on Saturday, then the early Sunday morning downpour wiped out much of what I had done on Saturday. I did however dig a few drain channels on Saturday which helped make things a bit quicker for Sunday’s work.

One accomplishment for this week was finally selecting a window manufacturer. We decided on Domus out of St. Kitts. Estimated delivery June 30th. I am not holding my breath though.

5/21/2011

5/21/2011 - Electrical room under 5-6 feet of water

5/21/2011 - Rain, rain, rain

5/21/2011 - pod flooded

5/21/2011 - flooding under our deck

Rain, rain, and oh yeah, more rain

Posted on May 18, 2011 by admin1

I considered only posting photos from my trip to LA and Dallas last week since more was accomplished there than here, but I will give you a few “progress” photos. Since my last post on April 28th we have managed to pour the support walls for the main living area, get the framing for the interior walls completed in the master and office wings, and get the rafters up for part of the deck roof. That is basically all that has been accomplished in the past 3 weeks. In late April and early May we had a couple of 1/2 day rains and maybe one full day where the guys couldn’t work. For the past 9 days it has rained every day with Saturday’s monsoon bringing 7 inches of rain to parts of the island in about 2 hours. We unfortunately are at a step where we need to use heavy equipment to move dirt around so that we can get the floor of the living area formed and poured and that can’t be done in swamp like conditions. So basically at a standstill since I left for LA on the 5th. The good news is that the moisture dries relatively quickly here with the constant breeze, if only it would stop raining for a day or two.

Needless to say this month has been extremely frustrating. Our next shipment of cypress arrived last week (yes, in the pouring rain) and we began sanding and staining those this past weekend. That will likely consume our next 4 weekends as well. Fun stuff.

As I sit here and finish up this post, we are getting torrential rain. Can’t win at the moment.

———————————————————————————————————————————–

Update on 5/19/2011:

Just got this email, figured I would share as it fits in nicely with the timing of this post.

Headline: Flood Advisory issued May 19 at 9:41AM AST expiring May 19 at 11:45AM AST by NWS San Juan

The National Weather Service In San Juan Has Issued An * Urban And Small Stream Flood Advisory For The Following Island… In The U.S. Virgin Islands Saint Croix * Until 1145 AM AST * At 940 AM AST…Doppler Radar Estimated Very Heavy Rain In The Advisory Area. Showers Are Expected To Continue For At Least Another One Half To One Hour Before A Respite And A Total Of More Than 2 Inches May Fall Before Noon. Excessive Runoff From Will Cause Flooding Of Small Creeks And Guts… And Low Spots In Highways. Additionally…Roads And Land Along The Banks Of Creeks And Streams And Other Low Lying Areas Are Subject To Flooding. Also…Mudslides Are Possible In Areas Of Steep Terrain. Motorists Should Exercise Caution. Most Flood Deaths Occur In Automobiles. Never Drive Your Vehicle Into Areas Where The Water Covers The Roadway. Flood Waters Are Usually Deeper Than They Appear. Just One Foot Of Flowing Water Is Powerful Enough To Sweep Vehicles Off The Road. When Encountering Flooded Roads Make The Smart Choice…Turn Around…Don’t Drown.
——————————————————————————————————————————

4/28/2011 - Footers poured for main living area

4/29/2011 - Support walls for living area being formed

4/29/2011 - Deck roof rafters going up

5/2/2011 - Living Area support walls being formed

5/3/2011 - Living Area support walls being poured

5/4/2011 - Interior walls being framed

5/4/2011 - Deck rafters complete and being painted

5/4/2011 - Living Area support walls complete

5/13/2011 - Rain has halted the project

5/18/2011 - This is the electrical room below the house, there are 7 steps under water

5/18/2011 - Deck roof cypress going up between rain storms

Connected

Posted on April 28, 2011 by admin1

While the major accomplishment of the past two weeks was pouring the deck and connecting the two wings, the real story was lack of progress. No doubt we did get some things done, but we had 2 rain days and 2.5 “holiday” days in the past two weeks. Here in St. Croix, Good Friday and Easter Monday are both holidays, plus most of the guys knocked off early on Thursday. I don’t begrudge the guys their holidays, but the rain has been a bit frustrating.

As mentioned, we poured the deck last Monday. With that complete it really feels like we are going to knock out the rest of the shell fairly quickly. The columns started going up shortly after the deck was finished and the the footers for the main living area were dug today. The roofers have finished the office and guest bedroom roofs and are now beginning work on the flat roofs around the office and over the deck, which will sit on the columns.

4/14/2011 - Prepping the pool steps and bench

4/14/2011 - Office roof work

4/15/2011 - Electrical inspection complete

4/18/2011 - Pouring pool steps

4/18/2011 - Pouring deck

4/18/2011 - More materials arrived from Florida

4/19/2011 - Deck pour complete

4/19/2011 - Completed pool steps and bench

4/19/2011 - Completed deck steps

4/19/2011 - Column work has started

4/20/2011 - Column work complete, more rain

4/26/2011 - Column work complete, more rain

4/27/2011 - Footers for main living area

4/27/2011 - Deck flat roof work begins

4/27/2011 - Where we are today

5 baby chicks that we are feeding in our driveway (at the rental)

Spring Rain

Posted on April 13, 2011 by admin1

Since our blog audience is growing I feel more obligated to get a post up every two weeks at a minimum. So here you are. The rain came and wiped out 2.5- 3 days of work, so progress has been slowed. This is generally a drier time of year, but not so the past two weeks.

We only had one small concrete pour which was a support wall for the deck. I continue to get requests from my builder like “we need aluminum drip-edge for the roof this morning”, I then get it, and it sits at the site for two weeks without being touched. The drip-edge is still not up. This has happened with several items.

Domus Windows from Antigua met with us last week. We are leaning towards buying our PVC windows and doors from them. Their pricing beats PVC Windoors out of Miami by a substantial margin. We need to make a decision within the next few days. We have somewhere around 40 windows and french doors so this is a substantial part of our budget.

I continue to work with Caribbean Building Supply out of Miami to get materials to St. Croix. Last week we had a slight goof-up in which my materials didn’t make it onto the CaribTrans boat. Both companies blamed each other but with the rain we had the week delay in shipping shouldn’t delay construction.

The rafters were completed for the office and guest bedroom roofs last week. Painting was finished on them today. Over the past two weekends we sanded and stained another 110 cypress boards which will start going up tomorrow.

The the most visible work that has gone on over the past two weeks is the framing ofthe deck and getting the rebar in. They are also working on the deck steps, pool steps, and steps to the electrical room below the master bath. We are scheduled to pour these items on Friday. Fingers crossed.

I am posting the photos in a slightly different manner. When you click on a photo there will be arrows at the bottom to move to the next or previous photo.

[Show as slideshow]

Slowing Down?

Posted on March 29, 2011 by admin1

I have been trying to get a post out for a few days but I just can’t find the time. I do have quite a bit I want to mention but most will have to wait, 5:45am will be here soon.

It has been a little over two weeks since the last post. Last week I felt that we kind of grinded to a halt. John had moved part of his crew to another job and it just didn’t feel like anything was moving forward. It was frustrating, but only for a few days. This week things started picking back up with a full crew on site. So back to nearly being positive.

ROOF
The roofers FINALLY finished putting the cypress and plywood on the master section of the house which is about 750-800 sq ft of roof. It took them 6 days to put up the cypress and 5 days to put on the plywood. And there was up to 5 of them working on it at one time. Luckily I am not paying them by the hour (well, I guess indirectly I am). The roof coating started to go on today, which is 4 coats, so who knows how long that will take. First the seams are patched, then a primer coat is applied, then a “grey” coat, then two final coats of white elastomeric. We looked into doing the roof in many different ways, but in the end cost was the driving factor. Quite a few people told us to avoid the standing-seam metal roofs being that close to the water. That was ruled out early. We then wanted to add a thermal membrane to keep the heat out, but the $10K estimate to just add the purlins needed to create the space put us off of that. We then looked into ceramic coatings, but my research seemed to suggest that their wasn’t much to their superior heat blocking claims.

We also spent more time sanding and staining cypress. Twice we were told we needed this many more boards to finish, and after completing the first batch were subsequently told they would need even more to finish. I definitely was not happy with the amount of wasted material from the roof.

POOL
We poured the pool over the past few weeks. That became a bit of a stressful situation due to Emily insisting that we have a swim-jet in the pool. We were put in a situation of trying to find a vendor that would ship part of a system USPS priority mail and part of it freight. What we needed immediately were the jets that get poured into the wall. After quickly ruling out several swim-jet makers (Endless Pools was one) due to price, we settled on tracking down the BaduStream II double jet system. This wasn’t as easy as it sounds and it was even harder to find somebody that would deal with our shipping requests. In the end we found a company out of California, that had a warehouse in Florida, that would do what we needed, AND they price-matched a competitor that wouldn’t do the shipping. The guy was awesome (www.eOutdoorSports.com). They shipped on Thursday with the hope of them arriving Monday. No package Monday. No package Tuesday. The jets arrived at lunchtime Wednesday, about an hour before the pool was scheduled to be poured. John and Louis spent the next 90 minutes getting everything just right while I was running around town looking for 4-inch pvc elbows.

Why did we even go through the hassle of adding a swim-jet you might ask? Well, one reason is our pool is really small, 10×20. This will give Emily the ability to train for the swimming part of a triathlon. The second reason is simple, Emily usually gets what she wants. 😉 On to the photos.