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The Project: A 2,163 square foot house utilizing dry stack concrete block construction with a central courtyard and based on the Spanish colonial-era missions in San Antonio. The Challenge: Can a forty-something married couple design and build an attractive, efficient and mostly paid-for house while remaining sane, solvent and married? With no actual prior construction experience? Hmmmmm - let's check in on our Contestants and see how they're doing... |
| In the wake, so to speak, of our recent storm-induced flooding in the house, I took a can of spray paint up to the roof and circled all the low spots with standing water and/or cracks needing to be sealed. This provides a road map for where we need to do finish work on our ferrocement roof. A couple of strained hamstrings and 6 tubes of caulk later, we've sealed all the cracks. After a day to rest our sore legs, we go after those pesky low spots. |  |
| We make liberal use of pieces of metal lath, cut to fit. The lath is laid down and cement is troweled into it. It is useful for building up larger expanses of cement or protecting foam board crickets under the concrete. |  |
| This sill foam comes in handy rolls and is ideal for building up low spots. The flat side down, the ridges hold a troweled-on layer of cement very nicely. You can see in the background how the recent rains have filled the water feature nicely. |  |
| I am ready to wax rhapsodic over our dry floor. We had better than an inch of rain last night and we still have a dry floor. This is the best proof I could have that slowly, steadily and improbably, we are making progress. Considering we had no idea how we were going to do the roof when we started the walls, this crowning DIY achievement has been a triumph of the will (apologies to Leni Riefenstahl). |  |
| A goodly part of this week has been spent getting ready to start work on my mother's house. Here, she's talking with the bulldozer jockey as we clear her house site for construction. We will be making visits to her house construction (your humble correspondent has volunteered to be the General Contractor) in these pages. Follow along as we attempt to go 2 for 2 (assuming we ever finish the first house). |  |
| Want to see a rough floor plan?Want to be notified when we post new pictures? Just e-mail us! Want to see the rest of the story? Click on Gimme Shelter Home Page. |
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| Next installment: Flat Where I'm AtClick HERE |
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