The erector set

Brand new butterfly....

The erection continues.

Now I know what you are thinking, after slowly hoisting the ridge beam into place, the rest fell into place.

No real drama except for the fraying ropes on the ageless block and tackle. I reinforced the start of a break with some nylon mason's line--very stout stuff and capable of passing through the blocks. We muscled the red iron rafters into place off of scaffolding. The ridge rafters were the only bears coming in at about 200 pounds. Mind you that doesn't sound like much for two people, one at each end, but ultimately you only have one arm and shoulder holding it in place. The other hand is using a "bullpin" to line up the holds so you can get a bolt in real quick.Once the red iron post and beam was completed the rest is pretty straight forward. Figure out a layout for the 16 gauge galvanized rafters while hopping around the red iron rafters and changing directions at the hips. Sixteen on center only goes so far. I won't bore you with the details but there is a difference between lumber and C shaped steel rafters/studs. It can get kinky first time around but as this inspirational video will show, it's worth it!



The daily routine was set. Fasten brackets to the red iron, cut and attach the rafters. Special hex head screws from Grabber penetrate the iron. The naysayers said it could not be done. Admittedly, with some heavy duty drills and significant effort. Ask Ryan! But they do work. I didn't believe until I drove my first one. Myself, I kept busy using the heavy duty Dewalt shears that can cut 14 gauge steel. A minor drawback to be expected-the working end snaps with no warning under the massive stress. Parts are expensive. I always have back ups or the work would cease.

Most shears only cut to 18 gauge.

The chop saw I brought with me, which works so well with the light gauge steel, had no chance with the 16 gauge rafters. Each piece would have taken forever. I gave up after ten minutes with both the grinding wheel and the rafter glowing red.

If anyone needs one, I have a brand new Makita with five blades for 50% off!

The shears, with a grinder as back up, made haste of the work. Now the only question, did I calculate my steel needs accurately? There's always something to reach for the Tums in the middle of the night.


Laying in the rafters...


For excitement purposes nature threw in a little thrill. The first named storm of the season.


from Wikipedia:

On the afternoon of August 15, the Government of the Netherland Antilles issued a tropical storm watch for St. Maarten, Saba and St. Eustatius. Later that day, the watch area was expanded to include the islands of Antigua, Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Anguilla and the United States Virgin Islands. Early on August 17, the watch was further extended to include Puerto Rico. Later that day, Dominica was also placed under the tropical storm watch. Shortly after, the islands of Guadeloupe, St. Martin and St. Barthelemy were placed under the watch. By the afternoon, areas in the eastern Dominican Republic between Cabo Engaño and Cabo Beata were placed under the watch. Shortly after Ana weakened to a depression, the tropical storm watch for Dominica was discontinued. Early on August 17, the watch was also discontinued for Antigua and Barbuda. By the late morning hours, only Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and the U.S. Virgin Islands remained under tropical storm watches as Ana entered the eastern Caribbean Sea. During the early afternoon, the watch for the Dominican Republic was extended for the northern portion of the country to the Haitian border. Several hours later, all of the watches were discontinued as the circulation of Ana dissipated.[1]


Nothing like the thoughts of flying steel rafters to keep you up at night.

In this photo the brackets/clips, to screw the rafters to, are clearly shown. These are also 14 gauge or as they say, "weldable steel". This stuff is way beyond standard hurricane clips/joist hangers.


With all the rafters in we capped it all with the 14 gauge flashing you see in the picture below.


I had it bent in Florida with a hydraulic press/brake. Push a button, done. Unfortunately the shop didn't get the pitch right for a 6/12 roof. On the bright side they didn't bend it enough which worked out in the long run. However, the bad news, no one on St John had a break that could handle this heavy stuff. After the standard amount of panicking I found an old manual heavy duty brake on St Thomas. Imagine this sitting in a backyard.



Who knows how old it was but it worked. It did take three of us to re bend 15 pieces. I transcribed the roof angles onto a piece of plywood that the owner then made into templates from some light gauge flashing to use as a guide in the brake. As we swung the press over and back multiple times he eyeballed the bend as we shaped it. Virtually all the pieces ended up spot on when we put them on the house. He got me for $10 a piece. Later on he would get me for a whole lot more when he realized he was the only game in town!


Why all this trouble and expense? I wanted these caps for a screw edge and another layer of strength. Think of them as gi-normous Simpson ties connecting all the rafters and studs together. Over built to be sure. As it is, every rafter is connected to the red iron with massive brackets. In addition all the rafters are sitting inside the flanges of the red iron I-beams. As my engineer stated, it's probably tornado proof. Hopefully I never have to find that out.

Another bad accident, this time a DUI. His fiancee died in the mishap.

3 am, he never made the turn, straight over the edge and down 100 feet. There used to be trees going down that steep slope. He's in jail.

My old shade tarps that I encapsulated apartment buildings with in San Francisco find new life. They knock down 70% of the direct sun. Nurseries use them all the time. It really helped when we started putting up the studs.

You know that little vein that crosses over your shin bone? Well this is what it looks like when you really nick it!


I thought it would never stop.

A tourist three point turn around. Guard rail, what guard rail?



Night time at the shack.

Let the fun begin

Mid June back on island. I wonder at what point this becomes my home? I suppose it's official when my wife moves down here.

Clearly the concrete pour was a success. When you find the wild goats lounging as you get back to the "shack" you know you did good! They probably can't wait for the pool to be tiled and filled.
After a week of sloth, blaming it on jet lag of course, I get back into the post pour routine--taking down forms. Pretty straight forward stuff. Busting out the excess concrete so you can release the plywood sheets. Depending on how neat the pour was determines how much labor will be involved. As I have mentioned Thor does yeoman's work in trying to clean off all the excess before it sets. In reality despite herculean efforts its just not possible when you are pouring slabs and walls at the same time. Standard pours are effortless by comparison.

Working alone it can take a couple of weeks to take down everything, cart it off and stack it. Despite the normal mess, this time it went a lot easier because I finally located a 20lb crowbar. After a year looking I found one at Paradise lumber. I hugged it all the way to the counter. It makes short work busting out all the forms. Beautiful chiseled chunks fly out on every strike.


the bad boy in question...necessary tools, pick, hammer, crowbar and baby sledge

On the cleanup, I only had to take forms down on the lower cistern, pool and septic tank. Better still, all the ply and 2x4's on the lower cistern were staying in the vicinity and being donated to the termites. There is no way I am humping old 3/4 ply back up that hill.

This year I was on island for the conclusion of Carnival and the closing July 4th fireworks. Again, as on prior occasions, I was invited by Roger and Fran to the invitation party with the Governor. We get to sit on the hill overlooking Cruz Bay, open bar and food at the old govenment house below.

The old government building

Yup, he's a good politician. The Governor makes a point of sitting down with everyone and chit chatting. I think we discussed the crude oil market and the effect on local gasoline prices. I thanked him for his initiative in auditing the books of local suppliers. With that he was on to the next person. He was genuinely thankful for my support. Now was that him or the good politician!?

With all the forms down a casual inspection revealed a good pour. No honeycombing or serious cold seams. I still have to leave up all the forms on the unpoured upper retaining walls risking damage from the upcoming hurricane season and termite infestations. Who knows when these walls will get done?




With Thor now gone the search for another helper starts. Preferably a skilled carpenter/framer. Even though I'm building with steel most of the knowledge is the same, just a different material. The steel building and wood framing classes I took back in California were quite similar. Tricks aside it's still square, plumb and level. I admit though, the tricks are priceless. Knowing what not to freak out about is half the game. Easier said than done for a rookie.

Because I don't know any better, I have always used a Zen approach when looking for help. For the literati, think of it as the "Taoism of waiting" or in layman's terms, "if you build it they will come".

Waiting is the hard part! Sitting quietly under my bodhi tree on the porch at the Big Belly deli is my favored spot after work. All that is Coral Bay passes by. Ok, it's the only place open in the summer! Originally this is where I found Thor wolfing down a whole pizza. The weeks go by patiently waiting. Trust the process I repeat under my breath incessantly.

Meanwhile during the day I bring down more steel. The big stuff I block and tackle into position.


drag it to the top of the driveway and then let gravity help


Then it is all block and tackle. This is part of the upper wall that did not get poured.

Now it's across a small ravine. As you can see my lines are on their last legs. The rig is over sixteen years old. It has hung and weathered on a lot of apartment buildings in San Francisco.

The 400+ pound beast in place!

Back at my perch at the Big Belly deli I had previously talked to Ryan, a carpenter, a few months ago. He was working at Grand Bay in Cruz building forms. Blah, blah, blah, me telling him I had work should he need any. Stateside he had built several homes, remodelled etc, early thirties--the perfect victim! So there he sat in the middle of July. Of course I ran the same program on him again. A week later he called. He started the next Monday. It must have been the promise of paid lunches! :~))

Taoism pays, just not as much as you want sometimes.

We started putting up steel. The erector set went up as planned.


2x4's and ply stacked after their removal from the septic. Below some goats inspecting the septic.

Fort Knox starts to take shape


This is a good shot of the lower deck pour and completed pool at the corner.

Welcome to St John. Another truck goes over the edge. Of course the Park turned it into a haz mat scene because some diesel leaked out. Thankfully the driver and passenger walked away.

These goats are domesticated. They show up when the mangoes are dropping.

All in all not a bad month and a half. Forms taken down, Ryan started and the red iron was nearly completed.

Sleeping a little easier

San Francisco in late May, looking out from the front entrance to Legion of Honor museum. For once returning home was all about returning a happy camper. Sure there were loose ends, as usual, with the concrete pour but I could finally relax.

I finally had concrete decks, drainage etc surrounding the house for the most part. Not completely but enough so I can sleep at night. Stateside, I can't imagine a nicer place to live than Mill Valley, Sausalito, and San Francisco. Like the tropics we get a lot of rain in a short five month window. The rest of the year it is headlines if we get so much as a drop. Notice the picture above, not a cloud in the sky. In the dry season clouds are rare. Afternoon fog, that we have as the cool air rushes through the Golden Gate headed into the scorching valleys.

But back to the rain. Once you have lived a generation in the Bay area mudslides are part of your psychic make up. I brought that to St John. It never leaves you. Beautiful mountains, houses new and old sliding down a hillside. The pattern is always the same. Drenching rains spread over a couple of weeks, the grounds saturates, swells and down come the hills.

When we lived in Sausalito on 2nd street the entire hillside valley up and over highway 1o1 came down early one morning. Yes, there were several houses. It was the early 80's during an El Nino. We had been evacuated early in the am. Anyway, that night and morning never leave you when a mountanious debris pile is a couple of blocks over. Every year houses somewhere or another go over. What am I doing? Building on a fairly steep grade 1000' feet up a mountain. Go figure.

Suffice is to say I worry about accumulated rain totals all the time during this construction. Now with retaining walls and decks I can kick back and worry about other things!

This bunker houses one of the best wine collections in the world. These are in the Presidio. By decree the Presidio has to be a profit center or at least break even by some future date. This is one of the ways they plan on achieving it.

Old gun emplacements from WW II.

The new Natural history/Aquarium in Golden Gate park opposite the new DeYoung art museum. Yes, that's a garden on the roof. The picture was taken from the tower below. While I really loved the original museum that this has replaced you have to move forward. It looks so-so now but the entire exterior is copper. When the patina materializes over the next 20 years it should be extraordinary.

We walked on the roof in question. Our tax dollars at work along with monster private donations. They got us on the DeYoung. I hemmed and hawed but Denise was relentless. I have to admit seeing our names eased my chiseler pain.

To the beach. It's not St John to be sure. China camp my favorite. Have to keep the tan going over the next month.

Last of the old bay shrimping camps. This one was Chinese. Now a park.

The building houses a small descriptive fishing museum.

Basically when I come home we run around like maniacs and do things like tourists. This time we revisited Monterey Aquarium down past Carmel. Many years prior we went to the grand opening. It's a great drive we know by heart.

This was the special exhibit that drew us down there. Chances are you have never seen these guys before. That's not us talking.

After one month I headed back to St John with the standard luggage commitment. A checkable piece with tool replacements, spare parts, chilled fresh cheeries, blueberries, fresh bread, several pounds of cheese, energy bars, more music, books etc. Tipping the scales well over fifty pounds. Thank god they don't try to lift my carry on.

Murphy's law

The big day has arrived. Leo and company arrive practically on schedule. On concrete days this is the calm before the potential storm. Usually at this stage nothing can go wrong. Myself, I'm able to walk around, hop here and there and make sure every loose end I can think of has been squared away. With the property starting to take shape I'm more particular about the route the pipe takes getting to the pour. I have no idea how it is in the States but here the concrete pours are really messy. Every time they break pipe down, put it together, move it etc there are spills. Some get very large. If the spills set in the wrong place, on the wrong things, it is a huge pain in the ass to clean up-some times jack hammer painful. Forget about the pump truck crew cleaning up.

With all that stated, I direct where I want the pipe to go. Yes sometimes we yell back and forth. I get my way in the end.

As I have previously mentioned I don't pay for the crew until the concrete starts pumping. I'm happy he is enjoying himself. Because of the nature of my pours it can take a couple of hours for the pump truck to set up and lay all the pipe. Sometimes it is almost 200'. Timing is everything and Majestic has been known to send trucks early to get them on the road. On several occasions that has led to backed upped trucks pumping very hot concrete.

We built a similar ramp on the lower cistern. I cannot say enough about them.

Because of a host of reasons, chief among them the difficulty of getting trucks up here, I tend to have complicated pours. I tell Leo or Jeff, as the case may be, what I want done and then we figure out how to do it. As we have in the past, on other projects, I formed up the septic and lower cistern such that we could pour the slabs and walls on the same day. Yup, this definitely runs the risk of problems but I roll the dice. I figure the risk is worth the concrete loss should something happen. The difficulty of getting a pumper up the hill, the spotty availability of concrete and the cooperation of the weather make me more of a gambler than I already am--that takes some doing! I certainly would not take the same risk with the house. Never. The loss would be too great.

All that said, on this pour we are going to pour the slab of the septic first, jump over and do the lower cistern. If I have my yardage right we will get a break to change trucks after the lower slab is done. It will give it time to set up before we pour the walls. Finger crossed with the dice rolling.

The sluice we built for Jeff.

Even though we did not really use it, it made things a lot easier bringing down the pipe. The sluice was old 6" waste pipe that I cut in half. It was from one of Roger's properties. When he started some construction I jumped in and grabbed it.

Like most of the concrete I get, it is pretty stiff by the time it makes it from Cruz bay. Don't get me wrong I would prefer that to runny concrete but it makes it harder to move around. That's where Thor comes in! You saw the pictures of him. He likes it stiff. It keeps him in shape. He is a sick man. Without him this pour would have been a failure. Jeff, who passed on this job, is the only other person I know that moves as much concrete. I get tired watching.

The crew I paid for was okay. But when it gets really heavy there's only a VERY few folks that can get it done. To be honest I have no idea if I could have done it when I was 35. Sure I would have lasted longer than the 20 minutes I do now without a break, but hours, I'm not sure. Just try to imagine standing practically knee deep in five yards of hot concrete that is not self spreading. Your job is to spread it around a 8x12' area by the shovel full, knowing that it is getting stiffer and stiffer as you work. You have 30 minutes. Plus you have to get it reasonably level. Me, I'm good for about fifteen minutes, max! It is heart thumping work with a small dose of panic. I'm like Redd Fox on Sanford and Son having a heart attack all the time. Thor gets it done. The crew I paid for jumps down, puts up elevated planks and proceeds to level the slab.

They switch trucks. We have used eight yards for the two slabs. Meanwhile Thor jumps over the wall and starts leveling the exterior slab of the cistern. Same drill as the inside but even stiffer now. Every shovel full moved now is jack hammer work that won't have to be done busting out the wall forms. Don't forget we are pouring the slab and walls at the same time. Me, I'm getting CPR as I watch.

With a new truck in the saddle they start pouring the walls. The slab holds, the rotted re-enforced plywood forms and termite pitted 2x4's, doubled up for luck, do their job.

Imagine. There are tourists, usually from cities, who are afraid of lizards! Without lizards humans could not live in the tropics.

The cistern walls took another truck and a half. We get a break while they change to the new truck. NO BLOWOUTS!!!!! You can't imagine the relief.

With the cistern completed they break the pipe down to pour the slab and pool. I want this to be one contiguous pour for a host of reasons, strength being one of them. The plan is to start in the back corner and work forward screeding as we go and in one final move pour the walls of the pool. See that mess above. That is what happens when you break downhill pipe apart to move it. The concrete above the break leaks out everywhere. In this particular case something happened, who knows what, and we had nearly 1/2 a yard spill out. You can see the stain on the patio. This is the one time I had to yell at the crew to pick up shovels and clean the deck. They really enjoy watching me and Thor. Well, mostly Thor!

The back corner of the patio is out the door on the left.

The back corner we started in. So far so good. The crew Leo brought were pretty good with their trowel work. Not quite tile ready but pretty close given the circumstances. They relaid the pipe back to the septic and put another truck load in there. By this time we were around 32 yards.

Then the rain came. Murphy's law.

It wasn't a particularly heavy rain. Hard and short. But enough so that the empty truck could not get down the mountain and the full one could not get up. The empty truck could not even get up the cul duc sac. Meanwhile Leo and crew did nothing. The key word is nothing. This is the second time with Leo that it rained and he did nothing. Nothing, you ask? There's concrete in his pipe, 4" pipe no less. It starts to set, just like it did last time. Set? Yeah, it won't come out on its own. I ask him why isn't he squeezing out a few inches every ten minutes or so. Blah, blah, blah.

Of course it gets stiffer. Like last time, the solution is to take apart the entire run, each ten foot piece, and pound it out with baby sledges.

Like I said, I don't pay when the concrete doesn't pump. Now you know another reason why!

The rain stops. The road dries and trucks move.

At least some one is happy. Pink flamingos, a very rare sighting on St John.


Well they finally get the pipes cleared and move everything to the upper deck. The area to be poured is on the left where the rebar sits. The far corner is the exterior shower. You can see the white plumbing PVC sticking up.

We have three main pours left. The patio slab, the upper four foot driveway retaining wall and the new lower driveway. Once again because of the rain and more importantly the pipe delay, well over an hour, we are not going to complete the pour. It will be dark. I cancel the last eight yards. I went into this job owed six yards and I'm coming out owed eight!

They had to add a lot of water to the last truck. It was not Majestic's fault their truck sat so long. It was Leo's. I don't really care at this point. It's just the upper patio that will end up under 1/2" travertine. In fact it was nice to work with self leveling concrete for once. The deck and shower are tile ready!

Leo ran his usual trip on me. Always with a smile. In Leo's world the pipe delay is just life. Because he likes me he'll gladly come back tomorrow to finish the job. Oh really? Problem is, in Leo's world, tomorrow is a new day and a new CHARGE. Just like last time I got shorted with his pipe snafu, thanks but no thanks.

It's a crying game as my bud Jim says.

As always I make my pours as big as I can. Next time will be the roof for the septic, finish all the retaining walls raising the driveway, steps and a new three inch floor on the lower interior level to take out a pretty significant swale that happened on the original pour when the house slab was poured.

Leo clicks into plan B. Figuring out the charges.

I already wrote the check. I handed it to him before he did his math. "But, but, but." I said no Leo, I spoke to your uncle days ago. I get 100' of pipe and 20 yards for your show up fee. After that I pay $10 for every extra 20' of pipe and $10 for every extra yard. We poured forty yards, here's the money for the crew for the time the concrete was FLOWING. Here's $100 for you for showing up on short notice. I tell him to clean his truck out on my driveway. I spread it. With all the water almost another yard comes out of the pumper. At least I have a concrete turn to the lower packed driveway now.

After paying Thor, its another two grand pumping day with another $10,400 in concrete. Welcome to paradise!

Thor is leaving this time on a 98' footer. Computerized helm. Hmmm. I guess at those prices they can't risk a human error at the helm. I would sure love to sail something that big in some weather. I'll head home in ten days or so. I never make reservations before a pour. I only end up canceling them.

I'm going to the beach, a place I don't get to very often.