The Erector set continues

A daily happening over at Francis bay. (Not my photo.)


To the good life. Working in the shade.

Finally the work was simple. Screw the "C" track to the red iron beams and use the anchor bolts to attach the floor track. Unlike most home building I attached my walls directly to the foundation 16" on center rather that the floor. This is much stronger than normal stick framing. Another bonus when building with a red iron post and beam--header calculations are not necessary. Doors and windows are not load bearing under normal circumstances. Screw up your "C" track and start putting up your studs. The erector set continues.

While posing as the architect, engineer and builder I get to make changes, within reason, without the endless consultations, call backs and redraws. We won't even talk about the money saved.

It can't be stressed enough about the benefits of living on the property full time during the construction. Now I admit most folks would not do a unibomber shack but live on the property they should. Beyond the short commute the land comes alive, the seasons, the sun and views to name a few.

As I previously mentioned, who knows when, we moved the splash pool from the upper patio to the lower because of the sun position during the winter. The jungle hides it for about four months where we originally thought to put the pool. Had I not been there we would be pissing and moaning about how chilly the pool was during the winter. A pool needs to be in the sun and out of the wind all year. It is now.



The second major change. A small "Juliet" balcony off the dining room replacing a picture window. A small room just got larger with French doors opening onto a balcony, better ventilation and ascetically a much nicer look indoors and out. The romantics can now step out and look at the stars and moon!

The framing for the balcony doors. The other large opening to the right is a window.

The view from the front door looking through the galley kitchen out the new French doors.

The third major change we made as we put up the studs--enclosing what was to be a small screened porch off the living room. By doing this we created a small den/office/library or junior bedroom. Aside from a better use of space it made the house stronger and easier to build. The framing and detailing are now consistent with the entire footprint.

From my original drawings you can see the screened porch was off of a bedroom which is now a living room! When we added the lower level, conducive with a downhill build, not to mention Roger looking at a better resale, the bedroom went downstairs. The pocket doors from the bedroom to the screened porch are now an arch, again saving construction time and money. The covered porch in the drawing above will now be screened, allowing us to leave all the doors open 24x7. The screening above the railing will be in panels such that we can leave them open during the day. Aside from occasional mosquito blooms there is no reason to have screens during the day. Don't be clouding my view dude! Added bonus--I can take them inside in a severe storm if need be. The original screened porch now framed into the house.

The final major change. I replaced the upper patio bedroom windows with french doors. It's a living room now! There will be no bed against that wall. Out opening doors, with no thresholds, will be a seamless transition from the patio to the porch. Indoor, outdoor living.

Looking through the upper patio doors out through the porch doors.

In short none of these changes probably would have happened had I not been there. Strike that, they would have happened years later in an expensive remodel.

Help arrives, my buddy Jimmy, on the left in the pic below with Ryan.

Of course I put him up in my "One Seasons" accommodation. Not to be outdone, it comes with a crab toilet. We aim for the total experience! By the end of his stay he called himself "jumpin" Jimmy.

the "Crumbs", another Jimmy Yogism.

The aforementioned "One Season" accommodation!


The view from the tent zipper window looking through the planned french doors. Hey, it could be worse, I could have charged!

Now the question. What to do with three people. You get so used to working with one, two seems like too much. Jimmy is like Thor, he disappears and starts doing things. It's a Virgo thing. Everything is now organized temporarily. It's a little unsettling to have screws arranged by size! Better still, Jimmy is a successful contractor back in California so he instinctively tried to take over until he ran into "Daddy". I mean, I have to keep the pretension going.

Thankfully he ignored me for the most part and we finished the hardest part of the red iron assembly--erecting the three 20' porch columns. I'll save you the details but they were a bitch. 250 pound monsters wanting to go their own directions. Anchor bolts which had drifted, overpowered hammer drills, columns recessed 3/4" from the building edges off by 1/4" and other things I forget. Concrete is not as plum and square as you would like. That's why god invented stucco guys. Plus I wanted a 1" slope on the porch that wasn't in the plans which affected the plates on the wall.


Ryan and I discussing the placement of the wall plates relative to the slope I want, to the drawings, the floor coming out the dining room and its effect on the roof line. Taken by Jimmy with his crackberry. Mine's almost showing. Scary indeed.

Yes we assembled scaffold towers and used the block and tackle again to get these beasts up and on the bolts. Don't forget, most anywhere else there would be a boom truck lifting every piece in place. The entire red iron structure would go up in two days with long lunches. With two people, humping everything down the mountain by hand, two/three weeks. Trust me, I know. The columns alone took us a couple of days.

The three columns finally in place with the connecting red iron beams.
With the red iron up we laid in the floor joists and porch rafters only to find a missing flange. I'll deal with that later. Next we built my 32' highway ramp. Everything from here on will be brought down this ramp.

Just like that Jimmy's two weeks were up. Besides the good beach times, he met some Coral Bay locals. After a night of drinking with the locals his only response as he staggered into the truck, "those people are professionals". I had warned him but he's a wind/kite surfer that had other ideas. Worse still, after looking around the Star Wars bar, I told him it was amateur night.

The boss comes in a couple of weeks.