Sept 16th - Sunshine & Snow

I am up early and on my way to Telluride to pick up sticker material for stacking lumber as well as some PVC pipe and fittings for wiring the lights in the fireplace. A stop at Timberline Hdwe and Alpine lumber and I am back by late morning.

Elevations above 11,000 feet towards Telluride are covered with the white stuff. It is beautiful. On Lizard Head Pass, Lizard Head Peak is completely obscured and it's still snowing up there. Once I hit Trout Lake it is lightly snowing on the highway all the way into Telluride. Wilson Peak, Sunshine and Sheep Mountains are covered in snow. The further north you go, there is more snow…

Hagen is stacking block for the Rumford fireplace and the PVC conduit has to be installed now before the block gets too high. A lot of forethought goes into how the lit glass blocks will be installed. I have to make a decision too on what type of mantle brackets I will use on the front of the fireplace.

My crew was all supposed to show up today, but since it was cloudy in the morning, no such luck. By noon the sky is clear blue and sunny. I have attached the steel angles to the top of the mechanical room south wall as well as the steel ledger I need for attaching the floor joists over the bathroom. I am ready to install the cantilevered balcony that Dylan had been welding on.

With the material handler, I drive down to Fabian’s shop and with the forks I pick up the monstrous hunk of steel and drive it up the hill to the house. Coming in on the alley,I set the assembly down on the ground and have to do some grinding in a couple of spots so the bottom sits flat on the outer wall. Using nylon ratchet straps I run the bands kitty corner and with the forks I pick up the 1,000 lb balcony and extend the boom out over the mechanical room. Slowly I drop the balcony into place, tap it with the sledge a few times and then clamp it into place. I am ready for bolts. I have to drill 4 large holes for the bolts that I will use to bolt the rear bracket to the ledger I have bolted on the wall. It’s complete and ready for additional framing.

Soon we will sheet the section over the mechanical room and hopefully this week we will pour a slab over it and complete our concrete work.I now work on the mantel brackets and I have decided to use the old clod buster wheels Mark has delivered. Within a couple of hours and some serious cutting with a Sawzall and metal blades and grinding, they are completed. I will use a section of another wheel run horizontally in the stone for a place to hang fireplace tools.

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