Moon over Spencer Ave job site

Destruction is the new progress

Lots of people around the country are are anxiously awaiting the first snowfall, either in their yard or in nearby mountains. Instead, when I arrived home last night, I was very happy to see sawdust on the ground, more exciting than snow for me. No sledding, though. Too many slivers.

A window to re-use

For a while now, Bill has been collecting quality windows from job sites, windows that were mistakenly ordered and could not be returned, or nice windows that were removed just because the owner wanted something different. So, we are the beneficiaries. These windows have been planned into the design and will be going in soon.

Making nimbus nimble

When the skies open up, we are happy. Really. We had a dry year last year, and our summer water supply comes from fall/winter clouds and snow pack. Part of the joy of living in California is the rarity of rain between May and October. But, since it took so long to get our permit, we got a late-in-the-year start on our project. Until we get a roof on, we are spending time and effort being rain-ready. Bill has installed boards like this to create a peak in the tarp to help the rain to run off the site rather than create a pool that will in short time burst down onto the framing. The foam ends help the sharp ends from piercing the tarp. I know construction people think this is ordinary, but for a girl who works in an office, I love watching the little details that go into making this project a success.

[Insert Star Trek joke here]

Ah, the things that office workers don't have to accomplish and rarely think about. How do you get a huge, heavy beam (wait, two of them) up onto the second floor so you can begin to frame the second floor? You work together as a team using levers instead of muscles. None of this could have occurred until we passed the nailing inspection to be sure that the second story subfloor was properly installed. On a narrow lot with little extra space, you get creative and use your years of experience to make it happen. And, they're up there.  Excellent work!