Seven Courses

By this morning Jim's crew had laid up seven courses of block on the back and sides of the house.  Today they are working on the front (street side) of the basement.  If the rain holds off, they ought to make good progress.

Jim (left) places a block while his associate cleans up the mortar joints.

The masons lay up what will be the corner of the stairwell.

While Jim and the masons lay block, "Junior" mixes mortar, moves it in a wheelbarrow, and shovels it onto the masons' palates.  (Yesterday "Junior" came down the ramp a bit fast and almost dumped a whole barrow-full of mortar onto the basement floor!  I suspect that would not have impressed the senior crew members.)  Mortar requires water, and this morning Jim told me that his generator, intended to power the pump to pull water from the lake, would not run reliably.  He will see if my neighbor Floyd can provide water.

Junior shovels sand into the cement mixer.

The lakeside wall now includes the start of an opening for an egress window — a second route out of the basement in case of fire.  That's code when the basement, as a retrofit, could include a bedroom.

The basement egress window is located below the kitchen.  A window well will provide the means to exit the basement in case of fire.

Yesterday I called Presque Isle Electric and Gas to notify them that the rack had been inspected and they were free to set the pole and run a power line to the site.  I hope they will take care of this by next week.

Last night I met Tim and Kathleen on the road as they were taking Brutus, their German Shepherd, for a walk.  They gave me a tour of their house, which Tim, with his brother's help, built himself.  Using a circular saw, table saw, and a couple jigsaws, Tim put the place together over the period of a year, with his brother helping a couple days a week.  It's a nicely executed 1,250 sq. ft. home — one bedroom, two baths, hardwood floors and paneled ceilings.  A "bunk room" over the garage provides guest space.  No nail gun for this guy!  Tim drove and set every nail by hand. •••