At Home In The Woods

[Obed]

Brick work is finished. The mason will have to come back and add flashing over the basement porch and over the main floor back porch ledger board for the deck.

Tonight I started prep-work for putting in the drain tile for the retaining wall. The holes in the drain tile will be pointed downward when I install the pipes. After the drain tile is in, I can finish the grading so the back porch can be built.

The drain pipe that leads from the basement drain tiles had silt that had backwashed into the drain pipe. The fired construction manager we got rid of had backfilled dirt in a way that silt would just wash into the drain pipe. My wife constructed a U-Turn in the end of a water hose. We pushed the water hose into the drain pipe and flushed the silt out of the drain pipe. I used a flashlight and mirror to check the pipe. The water hose cleaned out the drain pipe very well.

 

[walleyed]

Thanks walleyed. You've been kinda quiet.

I'm pretty quiet by nature.. Well maybe not but you are a long way from me and I have no idea about building codes and methods there. I wouldn't want to give you wrong info. Besides the great folks here have looked after you very well.

I bet you are happy to see the end of another big part job (the brick). When were you planning on making the move into the house?

 

[mikefromnh]

Where are you with your interior subs?

 

[brin]

Obed...Nice looking brick job...If you did not have him clean the brick and he wants to charge you extra to clean the brick, if I were you I would pass and save the money since most of the bits of morter will get knocked off and cleaned off by rains and you can also pressure wash it. When we built our house they tried to charge me $1,000 to wash it off...I passed and did it myself with a pressure washer.

 

[Obed]

When were you planning on making the move into the house?

I wish I knew. Maybe October?

Obed

 

[Obed]

Where are you with your interior subs?

This week the insulation work should start. We've picked the drywall sub and the cabinet maker. We haven't picked the rest of the interior subs (hw flooring, tile, painter, trim carpenter). Have I forgotten any?

In addition, vinyl siding and soffits, gutter installation, and back porch framing should start this week. We've lined up the stone mason to lay the stone when the vinyl siding work is finished.

Obed

 

[Obed]

Obed...Nice looking brick job...If you did not have him clean the brick and he wants to charge you extra to clean the brick, if I were you I would pass and save the money since most of the bits of morter will get knocked off and cleaned off by rains and you can also pressure wash it. When we built our house they tried to charge me $1,000 to wash it off...I passed and did it myself with a pressure washer.

Bob,
We already have someone lined up to clean the brick. They use some kind of chemical to clean it with.
Obed

 

[Obed]

This weekend we were able to backfill and grade the area under the back porch so the porch work can start this week. The weather forecast was kind of bleak, 50% chance of showers Sat and Sun. However, it was clear and hot until it rained at about 5 PM Sat. I was able to get most of what I had to get done completed.

I was very thankful for the weather. It was extremely hot and miserable but dry enough for us to get the backfilling completed without having to delay the back porch construction. A lot of the backfilling work had to be done with a hand shovel and mattock. It was so hot that I had to take many breaks; I'm not acclimated to working in such hot conditions. This summer has been hot. August has averaged 5 degrees above normal. Every day except one has been over 90 degrees F, many have been in the upper 90's. I really feel for the brick workers having to work in this weather.

When I got up Sunday I was very happy as I thought I didn't have any work to do that day. However, my wife noticed that I had not backfilled along the backside of the garage wall footer where the deck and porch will meet the house. I had totally forgotten to do that section as I hurried with the retaining wall drain pipe and backfill before the rain started late Sat afternoon. So Sunday morning, we spent 2 hours backfilling the garage footer. Also, my wife wanted the grade next to the retaining wall and below the door to be higher so we added more dirt.

The drain pipes at the bottom end of the retaining wall still need to be connected so I haven't backfilled that section. I put some plastic over the area to help minimize silt from getting washed onto the lower drain pipe.

 

[Obed]

This weekend, I removed some brick debris from the area where the back porch will go. The brickies were a bit wasteful with the mortar at times. Some days they would mix up a batch of mortar; reach the end of the day, and leave half a wheelbarrow full of fresh mortar to waste. You can see some large chunks of the wasted mortar in the picture. I dumped the brick waste below our culvert where it tends to wash.

The wife picked up with the nail magnet nails for the brick ties that were dropped on the ground during the work. The magnet has been well worth the cost for our construction project.

 

[dcyrilc]

This weekend, I removed some brick debris from the area where the back porch will go. The brickies were a bit wasteful with the mortar at times. Some days they would mix up a batch of mortar; reach the end of the day, and leave half a wheelbarrow full of fresh mortar to waste. You can see some large chunks of the wasted mortar in the picture. I dumped the brick waste below our culvert where it tends to wash.

The wife picked up with the nail magnet nails for the brick ties that were dropped on the ground during the work. The magnet has been well worth the cost for our construction project.

Obed,

The house is looking great. Soon the outside will be finished and you'll be wrapping up the inside.:thumbsup:


Just remember...
...no more shoveling snow in the living room.
...and no snow angles in there either.:laughing: