Three years of hard work and planning begin to look like a house. We're shoulder high on sections of the wall and laying in the sash blocks for the doors and windows. The blocks standing on end along the further wall will support windows. The four doorways leading into the central courtyard can all be seen. The beginnings of our entryway can be seen on the left.
Tropical Storm Fay drenches the house site and our lucky owner/builders as it moves ashore from the Gulf of Mexico. The rain makes pouring concrete impossible, so we settle for straightening out the wall blocks with a deadblow hammer. Just another day at the Garage Mahal...
The project supervisors do whatever it is that management does in between rain showers. Notice the rebar sticking up from the blocks for the doorway into the courtyard in the foreground. These mark stacks of block where concrete has been poured into the blocks' central cavities. The concrete and rebar columns will lend strength and stability on each side of door and window apertures.
At this stage, the owner/builder's best friends (aside from a $100 bill and a sense of humor) are the deadblow hammer and masonry trowel for aligning the blocks and working with cement. I am currently pouring about a ton of cement, a half-bucket at a time, per working day with no assistance other than aspirin and a cold beer.
At this point we want to use mortar to plug up the gaps created by the uneven dimensions of the blocks. We mix up a batch and apply it by hand. The excess mortar is easily removed by rubbing another concrete block over it.
Want to see the floor plan? Want to e-mail us?
Next: Sandy comes to help lay blocks. Click here.

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