We struggled quite a bit scheduling the last little bits of concrete. The rain kept saturating the soil and created a lake where the back porch slab is supposed to go. As a result, we had to keep pumping out the water and eventually dig considerably deeper footings than we had planned on, to getRead more about The last bit of concrete, at last[…]
The last bit of framing that remains to be done is the covered back porch. However, it depends on the concrete patio and footings, and, with that, we have a little problem. That area happens to be where the newly graded back yard drains into; we’ve had a bit of a lake there for theRead more about The back porch, the rain, and a lake[…]
I learned something interesting regarding the roof and the settling of a house. In some cases, the roofing material can be so heavy, it can cause the house to settle. This is common with the Spanish style roofs we have in Santa Barbara, as the material is pretty heavy. The problem is, if the roofRead more about Roof loading[…]
Getting the house dried in (getting a roof on in builder parlance) was quite difficult given the on and off rain we’ve had over the last month. We finally decided to break up the process and do as much as we could every chance we got. Two weeks ago, we sheeted the roof with plywood.Read more about At long last, a roof[…]
Plumbing work has been happening on and off since before we first poured the foundation in the basement. We lucked out in that, from the farthest point in the basement there is a sewer pipe, to the street where we connect to the sewer main, there is just enough gravity fall so that we don’tRead more about Plumbing update[…]
For us, building a house is a very personal thing, and nothing is more personal than our relationship with our builder Charlie. I’ve known Charlie for 25 years, and he is probably the only person I would trust to build us a house. I am a big fan of breakfast – bacon, sausage, eggs, theRead more about Eggtastic[…]
I thought I’d mention a bit about site security. Construction sites make attractive targets for theft because of the abundance of valuable raw materials, like copper pipe, and expensive tools. For the first 10 or so months of construction, we were living in the old house at the back of the property. Living on siteRead more about Site security[…]
We’ve been struggling to dry in the structure for the last few weeks as we continue to get hit by weekly storms. The last one, five days ago, dumped 1 3/4 inches of rain overnight and we again had to pump, squeegee, and vacuum out the water. The problem is this: Part of the exposedRead more about Rain rain go away[…]
The demolition of the old house on our lot, which we had been living in for 3 1/2 years, was waiting on us finding a suitable rental. From living in the old house, to the demolition, was a whirlwind. It went something like this: Monday: look at a rental Tuesday: signed a lease Thursday: movedRead more about The demolition[…]
We’ve had a crew sheathing the outside of the house for the last week. Here is the before and after of the front. The crew works this as a second job, so they work on Saturday and afternoon on weekdays. For the neighbors, it is unfortunately noisy work, with the compressor constantly running the theRead more about Sheathing the house, craftsman style, and more rain[…]