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.

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.