Slowing Down?

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.

3-13-2011 - The Roseway in the distance

3-13-2011 - The Roseway in the distance

3-15-2011 - Preparing pool for pour

3-15-2011 - Preparing pool for pour

 

3-15-2011 - Starting cypress in master

3-15-2011 - Starting cypress in master

 

3-15-2011 - Hallway outside guest room

3-15-2011 - Hallway outside guest room

 

3-16-2011 - Pool slab poured

3-16-2011 - Pool slab poured

 

3-16-2011 - View through guest bath into office from guest bed

3-16-2011 - View through guest bath into office from guest bed

3-16-2011 - Office Window

3-16-2011 - Office Window

3-16-2011 - More sanding and staining, at our rental

3-16-2011 - More sanding and staining, at our rental

3-17-2011 - Forming the laundry room support and powder room support

3-17-2011 - Forming the laundry room support and powder room support, and roofers working on the cypress

 

3-17-2011 - Forming the pool

3-17-2011 - Forming the pool

3-18-2011 - Cypress work continues

3-18-2011 - Cypress work continues

 

3-21-2011 - Cypress almost complete

3-21-2011 - Cypress almost complete

3-22-2011 - View of office from above

3-22-2011 - View of office from above

3-22-2011 - View of pool from above

3-22-2011 - View of pool from above

3-22-2011 - Putting felt on top of the cypress

3-22-2011 - Putting felt on top of the cypress

3-23-2011 - BaduStream swim-jet system

3-23-2011 - BaduStream swim-jet system

3-23-2011 - Pouring the pool

3-23-2011 - Pouring the pool

3-23-2011 - Pouring the pool

3-23-2011 - Pouring the pool

3-24-2011 - Pool pour complete

3-24-2011 - Pool pour complete

3-24-2011 - Kite Surfer from office window

3-24-2011 - Kite Surfer from office window

 

3-24-2011 - Laundry support walls

3-24-2011 - Laundry support walls

3-25-2011 - Concrete floor for small storage area around pool

3-25-2011 - Concrete floor for small storage area around pool

3-24-2011 - Another photo of the kite surfer

3-24-2011 - Another photo of the kite surfer

3-25-2011 - Office visitor

3-25-2011 - Office visitor

We Have A View

A fairly productive two weeks I suppose. We now have walls on the master side of the house and the support walls are in place under the office and guest bath. We have roofing lumber arriving on Monday from Miami so the roofers will start immediately on getting the roof framed on the master side. The idea is to have the work staggered so that both the concrete and roofing crews can stay busy at the same time.

During these past two weeks we also received some rather shocking invoices from our contractor that we believed to be part of the contract we have with him but he doesn’t feel that they are. I think we have come to an understanding but time will tell.

We are hoping that all the stresses we are experiencing in building this house will be worth it. Part of my doubts were erased the moment I walked in to check out the view from our newly formed master bedroom. Ahhh, some of that stress went right out this window.

2-11-2011 - Master Bedroom

2-11-2011 - Master Bedroom

The photo above is where we are today.  Below are some of the photos leading up to this one.

2-3-2011 - Walls

2-3-2011 - Walls - All the electrical/plumbing conduit and window blocks must be in place prior to pouring the walls.

2-4-2011 - Emily and the dogs checking on the progress

2-4-2011 - Emily and the dogs checking on the progress

2-7-2011 - Exteriro wall forms now going up

2-7-2011 - Exterior wall forms now going up

2-9-2011 - Walls formed, ready to be poured

2-9-2011 - Walls formed, ready to be poured. This is the master "wing". Yes, "wing" sounds pretentious but I am unsure what else to call it. The "wing" consists of the bedroom, bath, closet/dressing area, and exercise room.

2-9-2011 - Walls formed, ready to be poured, heavily supported

2-9-2011 - Walls formed, ready to be poured, heavily supported

2-9-2011 - Pouring the office foundation walls

2-9-2011 - Pouring the office foundation walls

2-9-2011 - Pouring the office foundation walls

2-9-2011 - Pouring the office foundation walls

2-9-2011 - Pouring the master walls

2-9-2011 - Pouring the master walls - Equipment provided by T & K Pumping Services

2-9-2011 - Pouring the master walls

2-9-2011 - Pouring the master walls

2-9-2011 - Pouring the master walls - View from up on the hill

2-9-2011 - Pouring the master walls - View from up on the hill in Judith's Fancy

2-10-2011 - The day after, the forms are being removed

2-10-2011 - The day after, the forms are being removed

2-10-2011 - This is the view we are left with in the master bedroom

2-10-2011 - This is the view we are left with in the master bedroom after the forms come off

2-10-2011 - Master side of the house

2-10-2011 - Master side of the house

2-10-2011 - Master Bath

2-10-2011 - Master Bath

2-11-2011 - Office foundation walls

2-11-2011 - Office foundation walls

2-11-2011 - Master Bedroom door to deck

2-11-2011 - Master Bedroom door to deck

2-11-2011 - Master Walls

2-11-2011 - Master Walls

2-11-2011 - Master Wing

2-11-2011 - Master Wing

Sunrise over Christiansted from our rental

Sunrise over Christiansted from our rental

Slab Pour

The week was spent preparing to pour the slab for the master side of the house and the guest bedroom.  Both the plumber and electrician had their crews there on Friday.  Saturday morning was the pour (23 more yards).

Slab Pour 1-22-2011

Slab Pour 1-22-2011

Slab Pre-Pour 1-22-2011

Slab Pre-Pour 1-22-2011

Slab Pour 1-22-2011

Slab Pour 1-22-2011

Slab Pour 1-22-2011 Guest Bedroom

Slab Pour 1-22-2011 Guest Bedroom

Our contractor John Hebert

Our contractor John Hebert

Slab Pour 1-22-2011

Slab Pour 1-22-2011

Slab Pour 1-22-2011

Slab Pour 1-22-2011