Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat Building a garage-apartment with a pond view

Brettski
That is a great looking jobsite.

Brettski
This is Otto where are you????

If I had known you where not comming I would not have made the trip.---

Sorry pal, but my fiscal responsibility has been pretty much committed to another pond project this year. I hoped you would understand...

Brettski, did you dodge most of the raindrops this weekend?

We hit Menards Wed night and loaded the trailer with 2 x 6's...again. It's time to head uphill.
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There will be 2 shed dormers at each side of the 2nd floor. The structure is 44' deep and the shed dormers are 36' of it. We fab'd the entire 36' wall while it was laying flat on the subfloor, including cutting open the window openings and wrapping it with the housewrap. Much easier. The wall jacks got put back to work and up she went.

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We framed out the opposing wall.

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The rain arrived and it was time to call it quits for this weekend.

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This wall will have to wait for the next trip. I imagine we will come back with another trailer load to 2-by stock to prepare for the end wall sections. I am encouraged by the thought that those 36' shed dormer walls are the final link to installing the roof trusses.
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...one more shot for reference to the dock and launch.

Brettski,

Great view, comming along nicely. What size chairs did you use on you rebar that is above your pex?

Thank ya, dap.
We poured the slabs 5" thick. The bar chairs are 2" high. The (criss-crossed) #4 rebar added another inch of height to allow 2" of concrete above the reinforcing.

I'm runnin' as fast as I can, but it feels like I'm in slow motion...
We got the other shed dormer wall up. Then, it was time to frame in the big inspirational motivator that I have been looking forward to; the picture window wall. It came off well. For a 21' long wall section, it weighs a ton and we haven't even sheathed it yet. It will get 1/2" plywood sheathing to impart additional wracking strength. The sheathing, house wrap, and installation were planned for the last day, but Mother Nature had a different plan. The night before, at 1:30 in the morning, we were awakened in our tiny 120 sq ft temp house by the roar of the wind. Holy smokes! This was way more than I expected based on weather reports. The cold front came in with a vengeance and I had those 2 shed dormer walls (36' long/each) propped up with two 2 x 4 braces. Worse than that, the braces were on one end and in the middle. We removed the 3rd brace at the end where we had just framed the picture window wall. Into my drawers, grab the flashlight (no electricity on the sight), and out into the wind in the pitch dark to attach more support. It was a very special event. We were blessed and the walls made it thru the night. Me too.
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The next day was going to be the installation of that "oh so important" picture window wall. Yeah...right. With a high wind warning on NOAA weather and gusts up to 40 mph, we decided it might not be the best decision. Instead, we stayed low and installed the last window downstairs, the door locks on the service door, and a number of odds and ends. The wall will have to wait 'til next weekend.
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I'm so glad that you enjoy stress free weekends Brettski (that's sarcasm by the way). Dang my brotha I'm still amazed by the scope of this project.

Bski your ship is really looking good and starting to sail. Very high quality craftsmenship as usual. You thru me with that foundation. They just don't buildem like that down here in the south. If I had to go down 4ft with the outer walls I think I would have just went another 4 ft and made a basement. I guess thats why many homes in the north east have basements. We don't have frost issues down in these parts. Pier and beam foundations are constructed very similar to what you did with your slab foundation.

I bet you gonna miss putting that balcony on the front like you originally planned. Man what a view from the top.

Progress !!! You are going to love those windows. Sun , the view , the fresh clean smell with them open , much more. Did I mention lots of windows ?

Keep at it and thanks for sharing the trip. When fall gets here be sure and post a pic of the fall colors and the vivid blue sky over the water from the second story.

ewest is right, you are going to love those windows, plus they will provide a lot of motivation for the big house.

As always first class--

All these pics were taken early in the morning as the sun was coming over the trees behind the structure.
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The picture window wall is up. Installation day was pretty windy. Thankfully, the wind was blowing in from the pond side. The two 4 ft wall sections that create the gambrel portion of the roof framing were quickly attached at each end of the wall section to stabilize it.
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Three 5 ft x 5 ft sliding windows will fill out the wall section. That's gonna be a fun window installation. (rolleyes)
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We framed out the last wall section. I kept telling myself that this would be the easiest wall to install. Wrong. It was fairly simple to frame since it only carries one 3' x 5' window, but it gets complicated by the stairway opening. Complicated? Yeah, cuz we have to rip open the rain protection, install the wall, then re-install the rain protection. Sounds simple 'til ya have to do it. Man, do I want a roof on this thing.

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Dski looks up, likely wondering when we get to install those big windows.

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I shot a short vid clip. The living space on this floor is about 1100 sq ft.

Thanks ! I see color in the trees and note the sky color in the pic with D'ski. What is the ETA for the roof ?

My more recent targets had the roof installed by Halloween. Now, considering progress, I think a roof by Halloween is going to be more of a trick than a treat.

Nah, you can do it. Just wait for the week of Indian Summer and take that as a vacation!

Dski had the weekend off. She had some silly girlie thing that she committed to...a wedding. I took my hokey-pokey dancing shoes to the pond for a solo gig. Although I never really stopped, it seemed like I got nothing done.
I did load up the truck and trailer again, but this time it was predominantly plastic.
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About 4 years ago, I found 2" x 20' PVC conduit on Ebay and put 1600 ft of it in the garage at home. It is required for a large portion of the buried electric line coming in from the county road. Yessirree....I think (hope) the time is quickly approaching to bring in power.
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I finally got my excavator to come by. He is part and parcel to the electric installation since he has to take out about 20 trees of varying sizes that are just too close to the driveway for the trencher to navigate past. This weekend, tho, he will bring a truss lift and help me to move a pile of lumber to the second floor.
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B'ski I trust that you continue to keep the primary rule intact. I know you recall that " every time you go to LNP you should stop all activity and thought and take at least 15 min to enjoy and contemplate its majesty ". Trust me it will energize your soul. Acknowledge with pride that which you have built but be in awe of the splendor of that which is being built all around you by the master builder.

Wise words Eric. It is easy to get caught up in projects because of a time crunch and forget to take a moment to remember why you own the property in the first place.

It sounds all mushy but I worry about you Brettski. Please be careful when you're at LNP. I'll deny these words if you ever try to quote me. After all it could be a rogue moderator that edited this post.

Furthermore, I'd like to point out that the myth that the tax code is complicated was formulated by the International Accountant's Conspiracy to sustain our workloads. It's really so simple, anyone could do their own taxes in about 10 minutes.

Taxes in ten minutes--tell me more

Wow, we're really slipping mentally. We don't recall ever thinking that let alone writing it.

We think the barriers that separate our various personalities is weakening. Normally we do a good job of keeping to their own neighborhoods but lately we have been exploring each other's neighborhoods.

Stanley, the one that prepares taxes, is a mild tempered, well spoken, analytical type that avoids confrontation and won't look you in the eye when you speak to him. Although a nice guy, Stanley is not someone you would hang out with. He is somewhat devoid of humor and tends to over think things. Fortunately he is a good bean counter and earns the living for the rest of us. Most of our clients know Stanley.

Most of you know Rodney, and you commonly refer to him as JHAP. He's funny, relatively quick witted and very easy going. Most people like Rodney, the ladies see him as non-threatening, the guys trust him and enjoy having him around. He's affectionate, quick to laugh and an all around good guy. Most of the posts on this site are written by Rodney.

And then there's Mick. Mick is the one that is the primary force behind the GSA, is quick tempered and foul mouthed. Mick use to love the martial arts tournaments, there was nothing he liked better than watching opponents bleed. Mick is dark and brooding and ironically speaks with a Brooklyn accent. Mick appears and disappears in an instant. Sometimes only detected by a darkness that flashes across the eyes of either Stanley or Rodney. Mick was the dominant personality in our youth and now appears less often, but when he does he is more vicious than he use to be. Lately Mick has been into guns. All of our run ins with the law have been because of Mick. Mick would rather cut you than shake your hand.

We suspect that someone is messing with Rodney's posts but we can't prove it. If we do find out who it is you better hope that that Mick doesn't find you. He's drawing pictures of torturing you. He hates you. He hates you bad.

Scarey.

to quote a wise dirt mover, "just how much money do you have, Brettski?"

We nix'd the third floor and decided to start working on a roof.
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