More Progress today as Greenbay and R.D. continue the roof framing over the 2nd floor. All of the rafters are up now with most of the lookouts for the barge rafters cut. If the weather holds the roof framing should be completed by the end of the week for the 2nd floor. We're not far away from decking the roof with the rough cut oak I have stacked out front. The problem with oak is that it warps fairly easily and these 1 x 5's and 1 x 7's are no exception. They will have to be straight line cut along one edge and then run thru a table saw so they will be a consistent size for decking the roof. R.D. has left early as someone he knows is willing to give us a 10" commercial table saw and he is supposed to go pick it up.
Fabian and Dylan have returned once again and delivered 2 dump truck loads of road base for my driveway and parking spaces out back. Watching Fabian at work with his huge tracked back hoe is an amazing thing. Where most guys would spread gravel with a bobcat or bucket on the front of tractor, Fabian simply uses the side of his bucket and drags it across the surface and spreads it remarkably even. Some simple raking and it's read to compact now as he drives back and forth with the track right where it needs to be to compress the gravel. It's flat enough you could lay carpet on it and the best thing is there is no mud. We are also moving the propane tank slightly because of a neighbor complaining it was too far out into the alley. It would be great if the neighbors would talk to me about it instead of complaining to the town manager. The tank is moved 12" to the west.
Down along side the retaining wall I have asked Dave to put in more rocks and steps to allow some way to get up to the garage from the outside and also to allow water to drain off the south patio slab. We find a few flat rocks up on the lot that make steps, but not enough. Fabian makes a suggestion. "I have just the thing that has your name written all over it." Minutes later he returns with the smaller backhoe and a front bucket full of large odd sized very old firebrick. "These came out of the old scale house down on River Street and they look like something you might like." He's been around me enough to know by now the kind of thing I like and they really are perfect and I am delighted to get them. Dylan and I set a couple of large flat rock steps and then he goes to work stacking the old brick into a partial retaining wall and steps. The finished product is really nice. Thanks Dylan, I really appreciate the attention to detail you take in your work! These guys are great!
Pat and I continue on the logs, getting the last few top logs peeled. It's time to pay Mike England, the town manager a visit. I find him down in a ditch down in SilverGlance, a Rico Subdivision just south of town, installing a new water line. My question is about height restrictions in Rico and I have already been to town hall to check it out. Turns out it's fairly vague in how it's figured and so Mike gives me the final word on just how high I can go. 35' from the lowest finished floor on the lot to the highest peak on the roof.
Because the house is strung up the hillside, height is an issue and as we add things up I find that we have to keep the garage log structure to just over an 8' ceiling. This will requre us ripping down the north and south oak logs which means cutting a 6" thick red oak log clear thru with a total of 36' to cut. It will take a while and we may try the chain saw. Instead of stacking the floor for the master bedroom on top of the log structure we will have to bolt the floor joists down inside the cabin against the inner surface of the outer walls. This will help us lessen the height by 16". With some figuring on this height and lowering the upstairs walls to 7'-3" in the master bedroom, we will be just under the height restriction required. At the end of the day Pat and have 1 log remaining. Hopefully tomorrow we can get the 2 logs ripped down and set in place ready for floor.
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