Mondays I never quite know what to expect from the crew. Days off can sometimes be more tiring than working days and sometimes it takes a day or two to get back into the groove. But all of the crews showed up in great spirits and eager to pull out the stops. Peter organized our crew to start mixing the mud (fiberglass reinforced concrete) and I started cutting channels for the wiring and plubing for the airconditioning in the LOGIX ICF blocks.
Because the center of the ICF blocks is filled with solid concrete I use an old electric chainsaw to cut grooves into the foam. The plubing and wiring are pressed into the channels and then I use cans of foam to close up the gaps once more. I was quickly pulled from my task with an arriving truck full of lumber, questions from the plumber and a meeting upstairs with the carpenters to decide where the walls and doors would be located. A customer who dropping by to talk about a sculpture pulled me from that task... and so my day went.
Peter and the crew were determined to sculpt the rock work over the length of the entire east side of the house. I thought it ambitious but encouraged them to give it their best shot. Matthew applied the first thin layer of cement and then Peter followed, shaping his layer to look like stones.
The day was warm and the sun shone bright on th east wall all morning. Just after a very fast coffee break a panic call was heard from the east side of the house. HELP! All hands were needed to carve! Everyone dropped the tools they were using and picked up carving tools to sculpt rock. The quickly drying concrete waits for no one.
Once the first batch of concrete was carved it was back to applying the mud once more. This time Matthew was mixing and both Bec and Peter were applying the mud. They were determined to cover the entire length of the wall before quitting time.
Hailey, Bec and Peter had to work a little past 4:30 to accomplish the task but with the help of the entire crew they met their lofty goal!
When you visit a Disney park there are hidden Mickey's for those who know what to look for. On our house we are hiding hearts instead. There will be plenty before we are done. Some are obvious, while others much less so. Can you see the hidden hearts in this shot?
In spite of the temperatures reaching into the eighties and a strong and hot wind blowing the crew beat the quickly curing concrete and pulled off an amazing amount of work. THANKS!
-grampa dan