Category: My New Room

The concrete truck arrives on a Monday morning. Vidal gives the sign that he’s ready for the pour to begin. Once the stuff starts flowing, the hose springs to life like a great-granddaddy anaconda. Vidal levels the first swath. Robert takes the next turn at pouring… …and signals when it’s time to pause the flow. I don’t know if this is ideal way to spend one’s first day back from Hawaii, but Dan’s in good […]

After a bunch of digging, the site was ready for the house-lifters who arrived with a flatbed truck loaded with 6- by 6-inch and bigger wooden beams. The men hauled scores of these honkers into the backyard… …tossing them around with such ease you’d think they (the logs; not the men) were hollow. Then the house-raising guys started stacking the beams like Lincoln Logs… …higher… …and higher… …until they bumped into the top. Resting on […]

The next step is to finish the excavation and build forms for the foundation. Unfortunately for those who had to wield the heavy-duty jackhammer, the scheduled half-day of breaking concrete became a day and a half. That was some stubborn cement: The guys wove an elaborate web of rebar, in some places artistic and elegant: In other places, form followed function: It seems a pity that all this artistry will soon be buried.