The big pour

Flamboyant tree in full bloom.......

Mike showed up as previously mentioned on Friday, May 4th with Mario. Cleon was awol with a bad back--actually it was carnival on St Thomas, aka "bad back". No worries, the three of us got it done. Closing up the walls is a lot easier and goes a bit faster. We worked Friday and Saturday with Cleon returning Monday. I spent Sunday checking things finding a couple of small mistakes in the layout and figuring how to remedy them without spending a lot of time. The long and short of it is the bathroom will be two inches narrower and I'll have to epoxy two anchor bolts for one of the supporting posts. I'm not concerned with how Mike made the mistakes I'm just happy I found them early. Once they got poured in concrete I would have had to live with them. The outside dimensions were spot on but the inside dimension of the cistern was off by two inches when the wall changed from 10 inches to eight. Ultimately everything is on me so I was very happy to spot it. Early on I decided to butt out of all the measurements in regards to the concrete forms. There are a lot of little twists and turns to what seems like a simple process. The last thing someone needs is me asking "how come" on every step. The silver lining? The bedroom is two inches bigger.

The work went fairly quick. After work Monday I stopped by Majestic to get in line for concrete. I had two choices, Friday the 11th or Tuesday the 15th. I called Mike to see if he thought we would be ready by Friday knowing that if we poured on Tuesday the 15th I would have to cancel my flight back to San Francisco. He thought we could make it by Friday. I paid Majestic for 48 yards and they penciled us in for Friday afternoon. It would be a long day with six trucks carrying eight yards each up that mountain.

the driveway landing pad!

Semi tame wild burro.......

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we worked like dogs with the concrete delivery hanging over our heads. While I'm new at this game, I knew we would never make it. What was going to get short changed was the very big retaining wall/driveway landing pad that was so necessary for sculpting the driveway so that I could finally drive down it for the second stage with all the steel. It's one thing to toss and drag plywood and 2x4 down the hill along with the rebar but it's totally out of the question with steel beams, posts, etc. I could not sleep Thursday night. Friday morning I stopped by Majestic and asked them how late in the day I could cancel the last eight yards--the retaining wall. I also asked Patsy not to mention to anyone that I might be doing that. Keep the pressure on.

Armani goes jungle......

Within an hour it was obvious we were not going to get to framing the retaining wall. Huge bummer. Not only is it the key to the driveway but it actually plays a big part in the process for back filling the foundation. My grand design for the universe has the excavator digging out the cottage above and using that dirt to back fill the retaining wall and the foundation below. Meanwhile he grades the driveway, digs out the small swimming/wading pool and hoists, out of the foundation below, the hundred sheets of plywood and assorted 2x4's and places them in the newly excavated hole for the next cottage well up the hill. I don't want to have to think of alternative plans at this moment.

Well, the other shoe drops at about 10 am. Jeff, the pumper truck guy, breaks his rear axle trying to make it to his first pour. Majestic starts looking for a different truck for us to meet the afternoon pour. Meanwhile we keep working. Now it rains, not enough to stop us from working but enough to keep the cement trucks off the "slick" roads. Majestic cancels the afternoon pour but promises us Saturday. A break for the good guys! However we are still not going to be ready with the retaining wall. Heavy thunderstorms Saturday morning again keeps the trucks off the road. The other pumping truck doesn't even try to get up the mountain. This is turning out to be pretty good news. Majestic thinks I'm crying the blues, paying a crew for waiting around for concrete that never comes, so they keep bumping us to the front of the line. Now we are on for Monday am. Jeff's other truck, which was getting its bearings replaced is now ready for work. We put in a full day on Saturday. I work Sunday laying out all the bolts and tightening up all the whalers etc. We still have a lot of work to do on the retaining wall which Mike expects to do while I'm working pouring the walls.

scaffolding platform up and ready

Flamboyant tree flower blooms June-July for over a month......

Monday morning comes. The weather is perfect. How we are going to get the wall done is any one's guess. I assume it's not going to get done and I'll be calling Patsy to cancel the last eight yards. This is going to be close. Jeff calls while I'm up in the container getting some anchor bolts. He can't make it up the mountain with this different truck. He's losing power. With no power he has to back all the way down the mountain. The good news--after three delays for concrete caused by the pumping trucks, the retaining wall gets completed up to eight feet. Majestic bumps us again to the front of the line for Tuesday the day I fly out. Do I stay or do I go? Will Jeff's other truck with broken axle be repaired? After Tuesday we no longer get bumped to the front of the line. It will be at least a week before we get concrete. I talk to Mike and decide to get on the plane with everything completed. Not what I really wanted to do. But.

a new wild burro.........


Invasive vines I thought I was going to cut down until I saw them bloom.....

Jeff's truck finally gets up the hill on Tuesday. The cement starts showing up while I'm heading to the airport. Of course there's a a panic moment for Mike and crew. They topped off one of the trucks and fresh cement spilled out of the back going up the steep incline. Everyone had to rush down the mountain to sweep the road so the next truck could make it up the hill. Other than that everything went as planned. Thankfully I had put all the anchor bolts in place with Simpson anchor holders the night before. They would have never been put in. Some crews put the anchor bolts in after the pour. With the crew short handed they would have never had the time. I would have had to drill and epoxy 75 anchor bolts probably hitting rebar on every hole. That's why I bought my 50 cent plastic Simpson holders. Thank god! And just to be safe, Allah Akbar!

The vine flower--blooms in April-May for a month.......

Finally some great news. Majestic was packing those trucks with concrete. We did the math several times. Even with the pumping truck eating a yard and the piers taking one extra we should have still used 46 yards with 48 ordered. Anything extra I would just add to my splash driveway. Meanwhile Rick, a nearby builder stopped by and mentioned in passing if there was any extra concrete he would by it. Extra concrete? How about eight yards! He took it all. What a save. He just lowered my bill $1700. The only thing we can figure is that Majestic was putting almost the full nine yards in the trucks and after the first five trucks it started to add up leaving us with an extra truck. Whatever. I got mine and Rick has his footings! Yah man! Jeff also stepped up after all the delays. Last time he charged me $1390 to pump thirty yards. This time $1250 for forty. Maybe they are just happy to not have me there!

Just in case you think I spend my time holding drinks with little umbrellas, I have not been to the beach since the middle of March. All the work above was performed while we were being attacked by mosquito hordes which appeared after the big rains breaking a mini drought that lasted four months. We had fires going at all times, feeding it with whatever we thought would make smoke. I wore long sleeves etc. Only my face was exposed.

I'm typing this freezing my butt off in San Francisco. It is nice to come back to our fur lined rut here in SF. This is easily the most beautiful city in the world. I leave here June 3rd. Home for eighteen days!

our hood.......

where our pets go to heaven.......

I thought I was leaving on June 3rd. What was supposed to be my usual skin cancer removal routine turned into an extremely painful, trip delaying eyeful.

I had to change my return until the 13th, only to have Jetblue then basically cancel my trip to Ft Lauderdale where I then board Spirit Air to St Thomas. These guys collectively are all highwaymen. When I called Spirit from the Jetblue counter to inform them I would not be making my connection the next morning they told me tough luck--as I was within the 24 hour cancel period I would lose my whole ticket value. And, just to kick me while I down, they had no seats until two days later and I had to buy a new ticket at the much higher price. Jetblue, for their part, simply said they were sorry! Of course that's just half the story. For virtually the first time in my life I decided to check bags. Not just any bags but two forty pound collapsible thermos bags with twenty pounds of fresh halibut and salmon, ten pounds of fresh cherries, ten pounds of cheeses, and assorted other fresh things too many to mention. That fresh fish is now frozen in our SF freezer. The day of new flight I went and bought fresh fish again and more cherries and tomatoes. You don't even want to know what this is starting to cost!

Jetblue remembers me from two days ago as I'm chitchatting at the counter. Same two heavy bays with moisture showing. Thank god I don't look like Ahab. Anyway the bags get grabbed and labeled and taken away. After I'm handed my ticket the counter person asks where my bags are? Say what? That guy put tags on them and put them on the conveyor belt. Hey you, where did you send this guy's bags. I sent them to Boston on a rush because the plane is leaving in fifteen minutes. I am about to die. After a two day delay, canceled flights, one ticket lost with no refund, five hundred dollars of fresh fish and produce and they lose my bags at the COUNTER. I assume the plane I getting on is going to crash. This has bad news written all over it. Plus they don't even fly to St Thomas. It's gone. It is everything I can do to avoid arrest. The ticket counter personnel disappear. What's worse, I'm a Jetblue fan. I'm crushed as I board my plane an hour later.

Sitting next to me as it turns out, are two Jetblue stews heading home to Lauderdale. I want to strangle them. They overhear my conversation with my wife on the phone as I'm still seething. Denise tries to calm me down. They offer their condolences. I'm resigned. As they are closing the main cabin door the counter person comes bounding down the isle with an orange vest on. Mr. Neid, the Boston flight had to return to the terminal with technical problems on takeoff and I personally retrieved your bags. They will be waiting for you at the gate when you get off the plane. I can't believe it. I guess this plane isn't going to crash after all! For one last scare, the bags were not at the gate. I went to baggage just in case and there they were. Whew.

I won't bore you with the details of paying an extra $110 with Spirit Airlines in Lauderdale because I had to return to check-in when I failed security with a liquid in my bag--melting ice. Duh. Then the four hours of sitting in the waiting area and on the tarmac while they looked for a new co-pilot. My poor fish. We arrived four hours late but i still caught a ferry to St John. Roger, Fran and I are happily eating halibut and salmon once a week! Moral of the story? Use dry ice. They allow it on the plane in carry on luggage.

I still have to write a letter to Spirit Airlines. They tried to tell me the responsibility was with Jetblue for the ticket. OK. We shall see. The Spirit flight which got delayed is usually the return flight I catch to Lauderdale where I catch Jetblue to Oakland. Spirit would have caused me to miss that connection. Would they have paid? I don't think so.

Back to construction 101. I went back to work on Monday, June 20th. The site was a mess of debris and spilt concrete. Unfortunately in several instances it was up against the forms causing all kinds of unnecessary work tearing down the forms. I'm new at this but its not rocket science. After the pour you take the time to shovel back any concrete away from anything that later has to be moved. The guys certainly worked, I'm sure, but they bailed at a critical junction. Work that should have taken ten minutes took hours breaking concrete with a sledge hammer. After work some days it was all I could do lift my arms. Cosmetically I have a cold seam running around the building excluding the cisterns. It happened when one of the trucks was delayed. While they say I'm wrong about this, I intuitively think that's where my earthquake cracks will be. St John is Zone 4 for earthquakes--same as San Francisco.

I'm going to take a few pictures before finishing the walls. All my plumbing and electrical survived the pour. What I should have done is taken pictures when the walls were open so I wouldn't have to think about the layout. My brain goes to toast if I'm gone more than two weeks and "out of shape" definitely returns after one month. I had to go through the heart attack stage when I got to taking down all the forms. The first week was deadly.

I have to add another four feet to the height.......

I'm typing this again waiting for Mike and crew. The retaining wall on the driveway has to be raised another four feet by my calculation. Possibly less, but more is better. Once that is completed I can bring back Jose, the excavator, and sculpt the driveway, back fill the house and put a splash driveway down so I can bring down all the steel etc. Right now it is not possible to drive down the hill--actually it may be but I'm not risking it. It's not like I can make a phone call and get pulled up the hill!

before and after

Two major termite colonies to be burned out. One is pictured below. These suckers got into my forms already.

Minor problem that I need to resolve immediately. One of my piers for a column has settled one inch out of whack. We can drift the bolts but I'm worried about more of the same. With the area being totally dry and under a tarp I'm thinking about finishing the back patio now rather than later. I'll have to get some advice on this. The pier in question is marginally on the edge of the fill area and my guess would be as more water saturates from above it can only settle more. If I put down some crushed rock and six inches of concrete it would certainly prevent any water seapage and further settling. We shall see. I have found a person with a mini cat, about five feet across with tank treads and a small bucket. He could get down to my back area without doing to much damage to the foiliage. That little machine could dig all my footings for a couple of retaining walls, grade the patio, put in all my drains lines etc in less than a day at $100/hr. Money well spent.

For the last wek, ending July 4th, it has been carnival here on St John. All day and all night. Bunny Wailer was the big act among several. Folks come from all islands for this one. Last, but certinly not the least, I went to a private party at a famous building on the water front--Christian fort (Danish) now known as the Battery, built in the early 1800's to watch the fire works given by/for the new Governor of the Virgin Islands. Sitting on the lawn we chatted for a bit as he made the rounds. No, I didn't tell him how to run things--I"ll save that for next time.

Just spoke to Mike after he canceled again. He blew out his back, yet again. I'll do the retaining wall myself. Thankfully it is only four feet. I'll have to built some scaffolding. I did finally finish the trench around the back and side for my drain lines. Next week I'll waterproof the foundation and build the slide to bring my gravel down. Galvanized roof segments is the material of choice around here for the slide. Hopefully I can get it in sixteen foot lengths at no extra charge. I'll pick that up Monday on St Thomas when I drop Roger and Fran at the airport as they depart for Argentina.

That's it for now.

When it rains it pours

Mike and crew showed up as scheduled on Wednesday, April 4th. As I mentioned previously, I had brought down all the materials--3/4 inch plywood, rebar and 16' 2x4's. Work went quickly as it seems to with Mike. He always has other commitments so he's always running in place. He runs his crew like I ran mine--hands on. He does all the lead work etc. barking out orders. A ten minute break at nine and a half hour lunch at noon with water breaks anytime you need one--these you need a lot of.

Everything in place to go down the slide

The site as we had left it previously

We put the slide I had built up on two saw horses to lessen the slope and quickly slid 50 sheets of ply onto the slab. The 2x4's were simply dropped into the hole against the back wall by the ladder. I won't bore you with the details but after nailing down some 2x4's with concrete nails, the guide for the inside walls was in place. Next in very quick order the pre-drilled plywood was stood up and screwed in at the bottom to the 2x4's, with the corners plumb and square the work went very fast. Snap ties were then put in each hole and the whalers were attached to hold then in place. Mike prefers plastic snap ties and whalers. Myself I had no clue although with shipping etc they are three times the expense of metal. However after working with them so far I wouldn't use anything else. Just the weight difference of humping plastic whalers down the hill vs metal makes it worthwhile. Don't forget, everything here is done by manpower for the most part and more importantly every thing that goes down the hill may still have to come up! After putting up the inside walls with snap ties and whalers we then started putting up all the rebar. A lot of rebar.

How fast did the work go?

We were done in four days. Those are the two cisterns on the right side of the photo.


In this photo the plastic snap ties are clearly evident. For the uninitiated, which included me about a month ago, the snap ties and whalers hold the walls both together and apart with the concrete poured in the middle.

In this photo you can faintly see the whalers. They hold the snap ties in place but more importantly they hold the lateral 2x4's. These ultimately are the real strength of the forms. Without these the sheer weight of the concrete would blow the walls out. In fact it still happens on many occasions.

The utility room door, bathroom window

and the three door bi-fold opening to the deck from the bedroom. These eight foot doors are going to rock.

This is the other eight foot rough opening for the doors from the bedroom to the side patio.

Mike and I came up to the site on Sunday after breakfast to button up and he gave me a punch list of things to do while we waited for our inspection. I put in for the inspection on Monday morning. As I previously mentioned these things take some time.

Meanwhile I worked alone again to bring down the next 50 sheets of ply, 100 16' 2x4's, more rebar and I drilled the 18 holes in each sheet of ply for the snap ties. I cannot say enough about downhill building sites. With the chances of getting a level site very slim you are left with the choice of uphill vs downhill. There is no discussion. All the work I do alone would not be possible with an uphill build. There is no way that I could carry rebar, ply and 2x4's uphill no matter how slight the grade. In the photo above my container is on a very small downhill lie. Just that 1--2% allows the sheet to literally slide out the door where my truck waits also on a grade.

Gravity helps the sheets slide onto the roof racks. From there I drive down into my cul de sac where again I'm parking on a grade. The sheets then slide off with little effort.

I included this because I can't stress it enough how important it is to be above your site. Did I know this before I started? Of course not! But I know it now. What's that saying about god taking care of fools and idiots.......

I was finishing up drilling all the holes when Carlos, the inspector, showed up on Friday along with rain. What had started as some showers on Thursday turned into a torrential downpour by Friday afternoon. It basically rained nonstop until Monday with more on Tuesday and Wednesday. Most everyone was happy to have their near empty cisterns filled to the brim. However there was a small minority that wasn't happy. Those folks who had just days before paid through the ear for the water truck and people like me in the middle of a project. Everything is now delayed! But worse still the excavated back wall caved in onto the rebar and the wall forms. Thankfully when I did the excavation I left about six feet clearance tapering to about eight feet at the top. It helped. But not enough. I spent five hours a day last Tuesday through Friday digging out the mud. I'm still not done. One of the corners came down while I was working and I have to go back today, Sunday, to dig it out. Once the slide occurred sleeping was near impossible. We have all been through tropical downpours but hearing it knowing that all could be lost if the rest of the hill comes down is a bit much. I was freaking out to say the least.

The clearance prevented any structural damage, aside from having to clean out the rebar and keyway with a spoon! There's nothing quite like shoveling sticky mud. Forget that it weighs a ton, its the sticking to the shovel that kills you. Finally after a couple of days I figured out using the broad end of my pick worked better--akin to plowing a field. I'm hoping that a power washer may work with only a gravity feed water line or sump pump to clean out the keyways and rebar. It seems a stretch but I'll find out Monday at the tool rental place. Its been clearing since Friday.

On a bright note rain brings flowers. The whole island is blooming, all within three days of the heavy rains. We went from a very dry cactus type environment to a lush tropical island again.

More rain and more delays. Another week goes by with not much accomplished except digging out the mud. Another small slide covered the plywood piled in the retaining wall excavation. That took a day. At best, I'm good for five hours of shoveling this stuff all the while thinking I'm having a heart attack! I put a 16 foot 2x10 across the driveway to divert the water coming down the road. It has solved the problem. In fact the best time to solve problems with water is when it's raining. You can see all the rivers that are causing all the problems. A day spent digging small trenches proved to be the cure all for the entire site.

My hopes of clearing the mud from the rebar were dashed when the rental shop's pressure washer would not work with the sump pump pressure. I asked why it did not work. He had no clue. I need to get that mud out by today as Mike is finally coming tomorrow. I ran down to my wifi connection, went online and google searched pressure washers. Five minutes later I was opening a pdf file and reading the specs on a washer. Technically the gallons per minute output has to simply be met by the same input--more is better so you don't burn out the engine. Take a five gallon bucket, put your hose in it and measure how much water you have after one minute. His pressure washer should have worked. The real problem? He has the only one on island for rent. I called Home Depot on St. Thomas to see if they had any in stock. They did. I caught the next car ferry. Thankfully they run every half hour for $40-50 round trip. Four hours later I was driving out to Coral Bay with my $500 pressure washer that uses 3 gallon per minute! I had a sump pump already. Three hours later coated in mud head to toe, the rebar, footings and keyways were clean. Mike canceled! He's showing up Friday instead. Good, it gives me time to put in all the electric conduit.

Cleaned and protected.

To recap the time line. Mike showed up on Wednesday April 4th. We were done by the 8th. Monday the 9th I put in for the inspection. I was inspected on the Friday the 13th the start of the rain. It basically rained, on and off, for the next ten days delaying every one's projects. Then there was a shortage of concrete for a week. Bottom line Mike finally showed up on Friday May 4th. Meanwhile I had the adventures mentioned above. I also took care of getting my electric and plumbing permits taken care of. The trick here is to find a licensed contractor that will pull the permit and then let you do the work. It took a while but I got it done. Begging/asking favors is not one of my social skills. And begging is what you are doing. Net, net it took a few grand and everything is ready to go. I will still have to pay for the actual permits when I pick them up in St. Thomas. The contractors in question will come eyeball my work to make sure I'm doing it the right way etc. Paul, the electrician, was extremely helpful in detailing what I had to do to meet local customs for running conduit in concrete etc. Anyway a few grand saves me about fifteen by doing the work myself.

We started closing up the walls on Friday. I'll sleep a little better now. The rain is coming again. I'm scheduled to fly out of here for a eighteen days on May 15th. We shall see. Tomorrow, I'll order the concrete after work. Everything is always down to the wire!

Hurry up and wait

Back in paradise....... I returned from San Fran after staying there from December 20th until January 17th. Why Jan 17th? I had to be back for the excavation that was penciled in to begin on the 20th. Stop laughing, that was the plan as discussed with Edwin, the cat owner and Mike, my cement guy. In true island fashion the work started on February 1st. The usual excuses were offered, lost days because of rain and "I ran into a lot of blue bitch"-- blueish rock that had to be hammered out. Admittedly if there was rock it does slow things down and the cost rise accordingly from the original $150/hr to $250/hr as they now have to hammer the rock. Dynamite is not allowed here.

Jose arrives on the big 'cat'

Anyway, as the delay went on day after day Edwin finally arranged for a another operator with a different company. Jose ended up being a great guy. With his broken english-he's from Santo Domingo-and my broken spanish we got every thing done. It is truly remarkable the deft touch that they operate these large machines with. You have to see it to believe it. More important however is how fast they work. If they are good, and Jose was, they are very fast. I basically told him that he should treat the property as if it were his. Don't do anything I tell you if you wouldn't do it on your own lot. Trust me when I tell you this, when that big cat comes down the cul de sac and starts cutting through the jungle on a downhill slope close to 30% it's showtime. There is no going back now. Every thought, plan etc is second guessed. It's everything you can do to convince yourself that you have thought this through. Any mistakes will leave a scarred mess. Thankfully the fear passes with the snap of the first big tree and reality sets in.

The plan.......Our lot is as close to a rectangle as you can get. 110 ft wide, 200 and change long with a down hill lie. Thank god for the down hill part as I would later find out. After clearing the property lines with a machete twice over the past two years I had the topo memorized. Day after day of walking every square inch of the property, hugging every tree of course, I knew where everything had to go. In fact you start to realize you don't have much choice. I also learned the value of drinking water in copious amounts having nearly killed myself from heat exhaustion the first time I cleared the lot. How close did I come? I ran out of water on the bottom of the lot and kept working for about 30 minutes in thick jungle. Then very quickly, shockingly quick, I had dry mouth and didn't feel too good. The heat became overwhelming. As I struggled up the mountain, slipping and sliding, clinging to stumps I created, I started peeling off my clothes. I barely made it to the top where there is a steady 15 knot trade wind breeze but there was no water in the jeep. I could not see straight. I laid down in the fetal position. Let's just say i woke up naked on the ground in the shadow of the jeep a few hours later. As I was passing out/falling asleep I didn't know if I was having a heart attack. At that time there was no cell phone coverage up on Bordeaux. I could not believe I was going to O.D after only a couple of hours of work. Now I travel with several gallons of water in my truck at all times drinking about one quart per hour when I work. I have no idea if I had heat exhaustion but whatever that was I don't need a repeat.

I had Jose plow straight down the hill along the right side along the property line. You can put your driveway along the boundary, only the house has to be set back 15ft by code. About halfway down we put a rounded turn to the left towards other side. Then reaching back and up the hill he excavated the site. I had him take all the trees, including some below the site, and create a downhill berm where he then put all the dirt/rock from the excavation. Basically I created a small front yard--admittedly on top of fill compacted by a 120,000 pound monster --which has proven to be a great staging area for the work going forward. More importantly, a guest using the lower bedroom won't fall to their death as they step off the patio. We have stayed places where that would occur. Yes, I know, ultimately I will have to build a retaining wall to prevent erosion etc. Right now I have the steep slope covered with a 20x80 6 mil tarp to prevent a mudslide/severe errosion-standard San Fran construction. Next week or so I'll plant some bougainvillea at the bottom to get some roots going.

the front yard

Originally I thought I'd have a main driveway to the bottom cottage with another spur higher up for the upper cottage. Cancel that idea. After looking at the 30% degree slope luge run I created to the bottom, I realized I'd probably be the only person that would go down it. After cutting in the spur for the upper cottage I decided to terminate the main driveway just below it by putting in a 12ft retaining wall to create a small level parking area and psychic crash area for the faint of heart. The cleared area below the wall to the bottom could become an instant banana plantation! By driveway standards down here it's not to bad. Why put the driveway on the right? If we get the lot next door I'll use the same driveway with another spur and if we don't get the lot, the new owner for a number of reasons I won't bother you with, will want deeded access to ours. Two things he will have to do. One pay us a small reasonable price and secondly, but more importantly, I get to place his house. Got to protect those views!

this pic doesn't convey the real slope of the driveway. the plywood is for the retaining wall

the upper driveway spur

So the first stage of the excavation is now complete. Cost--19 1/2 hrs-- at $160/hour with a $400 cat delivery charge. Thankfully we encountered no significant rock problems. Jose will have to come back to back fill the cottage and the driveway retaining wall. At that time we will also finish sculpting the driveway so I can pour it. For now everything has to be hand carried down the hill to the site--it's to steep and the soil is to loose, even for a four wheel drive vehicle.

By the end of the first week in February we were done with the excavating. Now the footings. Previously I may have mentioned that I'm storing my rebar and steel etc, all that's not in the two containers, down on the flats by Coral Bay at Elvis's. Well, you guessed it, Elvis had just gone on vacation for 10 days just as I called to arrange for delivery of my rebar. Hurry up and wait! Towards the end of the last week in February, Larry the fireman who owns a dump truck delivered my six bundles of rebar to the top of the cul de sac. With that, Mike and crew showed up to form the footings for the slab. While I may be the owner I get to do all the shit work. As I mentioned, thank god for down hill builds. Three tons of rebar later, Cleon and I started cutting it. Luckily Cleon weighs over 300lbs--you need to be to bend number 5 bar. As the pictures show there was a lot of bending. While they did routine things I put in the waste and vent pipes for the downstairs shower and toilet. Total time for the footings, three days. I then put in the keyways and the waterstop by myself over the next couple of days. The waterstop was a royal pain in the butt. Meanwhile I put in for the inspection so we could pour the concrete. Mike does such precise work the inspector simply stood at the top of the ladder and gave me the permit. Next the concrete.

Hurry up and wait. Get in line. This time I didn't mind the delay. Months before, we planned for Denise to come down in early March for ten days. Talk about getting lucky. The delay started two days before she came and ended a few days after she left.

The boss shows up!



As usual, Fran and Roger were most generous letting us use their beach house.

Losing my St. John virginity.

Here on st john there are two concrete companies, and this is just a guess, serving 50 or more projects at any one time. These would include houses, driveways, retaining walls and road building to name a few as the building boom continues unchecked. Under normal circumstances they put about 8 yards in a truck and having about 10 trucks, you get in line. After paying for the concrete at $213/yard I was told eight days. The pumping truck would be another $1000. It turned out to be nine days. Not bad, a one day delay you might say. Think again. Here's how it works. The cement company doesn't call you and tell you are not getting your concrete on the day planned. You find out late in the day of your supposed delivery date. Guess what--that crew sleeping in the shade for six hours, they get paid. The next day you start the drill over again. In my case I was lucky. I was the first delivery of the day. Five hours later the slab was in and the workers went home. The pumping truck at $1000 turned into $1390 when they saw the downhill slope and distance. "Ya man", as he said, that's a lot of pipe to hump down and up! It was about 200 feet.

All things considered it cost me about $900 more than planned. Here abouts they say I lost my virginity pretty cheap.

the crew

the pour

the wild goats or deer left their initials that night

the final product viewed from the original driveway

Why are delays here endemic? To start with you have only the two cement companies I mentioned. Next you have the roads, then the rain and the mud that follows for a day or so, one inspector and finally the crews. Every day it rains it puts all those projects back one day. With one inspector for the whole island he only gets to so many sites per day. The crews--most try to work two or three jobs at the same time. Why? To stay busy. As each of the stages of the work take place they jump to other sites. While I may be waiting for an inspection they are at another job pouring concrete. The next day they may jump to another to build forms. Each piece can delay the next. The concrete pour is at the top of the food chain. This dance will start Wednesday for me if Mike and crew show up to start framing the walls. Then they leave as I wait for the inspector. Afterwards Mike comes back and closes up the walls. I then schedule for concrete and Mike plans his schedule accordingly. The system works with the local building caveat " twice as long and twice the money".

Another observation. With the bull market in housing and construction the locals, like everywhere else, start to mistake the bull market for brains. Calls are not returned on time, excuses are made--knowing that its virtually impossible to trace, as shown by the process above. These and other small abuses will get corrected when a bear market comes. When they need work they will change their tune and things will seemingly run on time. Until then I enjoy the breaks. It gives me all the time I need to review all the books, dvd's, plans, landscaping ideas etc that I have. I still haven't found a plumber or electrician to pull my permits. I had thought I would be able to do those as an owner builder but there seems to be a difference of opinion on this one. I still have time.

My profile as I wait. At least I'm not taping my fingers yet. I took a header down the property early on consequently the wrist brace.

During the delays I do all the work a crew would do. Over the last two weeks I cleaned out the keyways, disassembled all the temporary rebar, hauled 50 sheets of 3/4 inch plywood down the hill from the containers along with 100 16ft 2x4's. I brought down about 100 sticks of rebar. Also hoped over to St Thomas by auto ferry, $40 roundtrip, to home depot for that 10x20 white canopy in the pics, MSI for 600 10" plastic snap ties, the plant depot to enquire about having plants delivered from florida etc. The point being there is plenty to do at about five hours a day. If I'm lucky I get to the beach once a week--late afternoon.

a local creature

My ebay truck continues to be the tiny engine that could--except once, or so I thought. On the previous entry--my drive to work--I showed the road in pics that I take to Coral Bay. Along the route just past Trunk Bay, the road goes steeply up through a series of 'S' turns. It was here that I had my Forrest Gump truck repair episode. While climbing in the middle 'S' in first gear the truck bucked for a second. I thought perhaps it was the gas I filled up with the day before-- 93 high octane. Usually I use regular but the price for the 93 was 15 cents under regular. What? When I asked the attendant at this newly remodeled independent station how that could be, he said it was still part of the orignal shipment whereas the regular was a new shipment at the new higher market price. Wow. These folks are to good to be true--especially since there are only two gas stations in Cruz Bay. Well anyway when the truck bucked I figure I had been had and I'm burning water! The buck immediately led to a complete loss of power and serious smoke from under the hood--I mean all power, no steering, no brakes, you get the picture. Next thing I know I'm going downhill very rapidly in reverse with a loaded truck taxi waiting at the bottom with some very big eyes looking up at me. How I thought of the emergency brake I'll never know. It worked. Hard over on the wheel, three feet at a time I backed down the hill to a turn out. When I got my heartbeat back I was propped up against a wood guard rail and the truck was filled with smoke. No real damage to the bumper. You have no idea the mental beating I proceded to give myself. " You stupid mother this and mother that. What a-hole buys a truck on ebay. Now look what you have gone and done. The whole construction project will collapse while you try to fix the truck. Where will the parts come from, how much will they cost? You stupid peice of sh*t, all this to save a few thousand." It went on and on. Finally I opened the hood. A park ranger drove by and asked if I wanted him to call a tow truck there being no cell phone coverage where I was. Yes, please do. With me, opening the hood is the same as hitting the side of the tv. When the smoke cleared and the engine cooled I noticed two things on the third go around of blankly staring at the engine. Although I had no power the engine light and and something else were faintly lit on the dash. Being clueless I figured I must have burnt out the electrical system and that's why the guy sold me the truck. You know, he saw it coming! When I disconnected the battery the ligths went out. Rummaging around the engine--because that's what your supposed to do?--I did notice where the smoke had come from. A large copper wire had melted its entire sheathing off which dropped on the engine block causing all the caustic smoke. The wire had also melted through. I knew it, I had somehow fried the entire wiring system and the truck was totally useless. With that I put my head on my arm leaning on the open window frame and proceeded to die. When the crying ended and the self loathing stopped, I opened my eyes while looking down. As god is my witness, there at my feet was a four foot peice of heavy sheathed wire. It was thick copper no less. It had been there for years pressed in old mud. You have to be kidding me! When the laughing stopped I figure what the hell I could at least replace the burnt one and see if the lights on the dash go out. Who cares what made the wire burn out, I haven't clue. Going around the truck I see a small black wire at the battery is also broken, hmmm I never noticed that before. In fact I had replaced the battery months before when the fog lamps under their black covers had been on and killed the battery overnight. Anyway when I attached the battery cable the faint lights on the dash were off. You have to be shitting me! I find a peice of copper wire on the ground and I did something auto related that worked! With that I went all in and turned the key. It started! While jumping up and down alongside the truck the tow truck pulled up and a new friend, Dwight, stepped out. I told him the story and he told me why. That battery I had bought was dimensionally smaller than the original and over time it had slid back and forth in its housing finally snapping the small ground wire off the terminal to the side of the truck. That then put all the ground current on the larger copper wire at the back of the engine which finally melted through. It was the best $40 dollars I ever spent as I paid him for showing up plus I now know a good mechanic! The other good news, St John finally has its own tow truck service. Forrest Gump lives.

She doesn't mind the delays. My girlfriend here on island.


While I wait I sit here.............

Mike showed up today, Wednesday, and we started framing the inside walls. Eight days late but on time relative to the new date he had given me!