There hasn’t bee much to show lately. But here are photos of the underside ceiling whose purpose is to help protect the pipes from the cold. Also there are photos of the elevator tower. There is actually hope of a working elevator next week. 

 Mighty elevators from little foundations grow.

 Captain’s Log Star Date: 9-20.  Carrying stuff upstairs gave me a hernia.  Surgery Tuesday.

 Captain’s Log, Star Date:  Oh, whatever.  I have lost count.  Nothing is happening. We are waiting on approval of the building permit for the next phase, including the elevator. No problem.  We are just happy to be back in, living 12+ feet above terra firma. 

 We had to brick part of a wall so that the electric service can be moved to comply with regulations. This is a sample of what it will look like.

 Captain’s Log Flood Date 2,460 (at least). Spock is dead.  Scotty is dead.  Bones is dead. The bright spot is that the Enterprise is a lot closer to outer space than it was.  Spock was just an arrogant jerk, but Scotty was a genuine war hero, wounded in the D-Day landings in World War II.  Bones was a dog lover who didn’t speak to Kirk for several years when Kirk laughed about Bones’ dog dying.  Whether or not this is a coherent attempt at humor, the elevation seems to be complete.  I think the house is now safe from flood, but fire and tornadoes are another issue.  

The elevation portion is complete.  The final inspections were today. If the inspectors found a problem, Arkitectura will fix it, but they are good at what they do, so that should be no problem.  We don’t think the inspectors found a problem. Next comes the brick skirt and the front stairs.  And the elevator. Fred, Jo Ann and I are ready for the elevator.

I know I have neglected the blog, but the visuals are not as impressive. Arkitektura is finishing off the final details, like insulation and flood vents. The end is near.  I think the Elevation phase will wrap up in a couple of weeks.  Next will be the brick skirt and front stairway.  Since the Brick Company hasn’t made our brick in several years, we had to place a minimum order of 50,000 bricks.  I know that sounds like a lot, but our Guru, Fred Carter estimates we need at least 45,000 anyway. And Jo Ann plans to brick everything that doesn’t move.

Jo Ann tells me that I have been neglecting the blog.  The walls are going up on the bottom floor. Unfortunately the yard is so cluttered that a good perspective is not possible.

All in all it’s just another brick in the wall.  Note the sewer pipe, the CMU walls, and the view of the fountain as seen from the future Porte-cochere.

All of the cribbing is gone and the only thing left supporting the house are the concrete piers. The steel beams support the ceiling of the garage to avoid having to put columns down the middle of the garage.  Inspections are on Monday and they pour the foundation on Tuesday.

All of the cribbing is out, except for some in the garage and some under the chimney.  The air conditioning is working.  Monday they are supposed to start leveling and compacting the dirt in preparation for pouring the slab.

The “cribbing” is coming out, so that the weight of the house rests solely on the concrete piers.  Now we can start to see what the underside will look like.  The front and back stairs are complete.  The air conditioning is supposed to be reconnected today, but I am suspicious that won’t happen. The next step is to prepare to pour the slab.

The back deck Is nearly finished. These are the views from the back deck, still in progress.  This crew has been very nice and friendly.

The stair builders are here. They nearly finished the front stairs (temporary) and made significant progress on the back stairs.  Would it be cliche to say “Stairway to Heaven”?  Surely not.  (And don’t call me Shirley.)

They were supposed to pour concrete into the piers on Friday, but it fell through, for whatever reason.    The pour was rescheduled for today, but we didn’t expect it because rain was predicted. Luckily it didn’t rain despite a 60% chance.  So the piers are now full of concrete.  Tomorrow they are supposed to build stairs.

Yesterday it rained so much that we were expecting flood level waters. Not in the house, but where the house used to be.  But the water didn’t even come close.  However, it rained too much for anyone to work. Today the workers are there.  Three of the columns look complete.  The photo is from yesterday during the deluge.

The house is at full height.  The workers are building the support columns.

This is the house at nearly full height.  The got it all the way today.  The next step is to build columns to hold it at that height.

They did several lifts today. So many we lost count. Each lift was around 14”.  We expect 5 more tomorrow.