Writing to you from inside our humble trailer we’ve rented while the house is under construction. It is raining. These three words bring work to a halt as long as we have no roof installed. If we were able to have a full week of work, I’m told that we could have our roof installed in 3 weeks. I’ve been hearing that for awhile, so I’m not holding my breath. Some progress is obvious, other components of the build are nearly invisible. That’s one benefit of frequent documentation: photos don’t lie. Ah, there is a few more pieces of wood there than the last time I took a photo from this angle, etc. We’ve got most exterior walls complete, many interior walls framed and a few roof rafters.
Fortunately, we didn’t lose too many days of work to the shelter-in-place ordinances thanks to the TX Governor’s intervention. As my mother-in-law said, construction of the Bear Creek Residence is essential business! But even if the construction is slow, we’ve started working on our landscaping plan as we realize the elevation of the site and begin thinking about circulation, drainage, types of plantings. You can read more about our ideas on landscaping here. We’re incredibly grateful to see all the wildflowers and native plants already thriving in the midst of piles of construction materials and packed down by delivery trucks. And to tie back to our rain theme, the watering has nourished the small plantings we’ve started and transformed our sad oak trees into a green paradise. OK, back to the house.
wire mesh anticipates plaster coating
The photo above shows the prep work for achieving square corners on the window openings. The easy way to finish the window when you are plastering is to round the edges. It’s really hard to make the corners crisp without using some sort of structure like this wire mesh. Since we like the plaster materials look but don’t want to feel like we’re living in a hobbit hut, we are paying extra for the labor required to make the corners all nice and square.
considerafield 