A miserable day, but the crew kept working.

The 17th day of construction — the beginning of week 5 — was a cold and nasty day, with rain coming and going throughout the afternoon and into the evening. I stayed inside, working on party invitations and other assorted paperwork. I feel as if I’m continuously trying to dig myself out from under a pile of paper.

This is my busy time of year for flying work — although that doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll fly. We had rain (and I flew) on Thursday and Friday, but the weekend was quite pleasant with only a vague threat of rain. I needed to do my laundry and I don’t like going to the laundromat on weekends, so I figured Monday would be the day. Unfortunately, with the weather so iffy, a trip down into town looked like a bad idea. It takes about 20 minutes to get home (where my helicopter now lives), and with actual conditions not matching what I was seeing on radar, I really had no reliable warning system. At least from home I could see the weather moving in and react quickly if I needed to.

So I stayed home for most of the day.

Outside, the guys kept working. They were all bundled up in sweatshirts and some of them even had hoods up under their hardhats. They climbed up onto the RV garage roof and worked on the metal sheeting around the south-facing windows up top.

The exterior walls of my RV garage, shop, and garages would get the same rolled insulation as the roof in that area. That meant the workers needed to follow the same basic procedure as they had for the roof. The big difference was that they’d also have to cut around the windows. And I had a lot of windows to cut around. Because they also had to put some sort of flashing beneath the roof and around the windows, they didn’t seem to make much progress before lunch. But they made up for that after lunch by finishing up those top windows and getting about 2/3 of the south-facing wall done.

Meanwhile, one of the two framing contractors I’d contacted came by for a second look at the building. The pair consists of a builder and her framing partner. She was having trouble understanding how the roof over my living space would comply with code. I didn’t have answers to her questions about that but referred her to the plans inspector who had signed off on the plans. She told me that she’d spoken to him and that the plans weren’t approved. This was news to me that got me busy with email after they left. (She was wrong; they had been approved.) We also discussed the “storage loft” area I’d requested over my hallway, pantry, utility room, and bedroom closet. I saw no reason for these areas to have 18-foot vaulted ceilings; why not use this space for something else?

By 3:30, it looked to me as if it wouldn’t rain enough to get a call to fly. I bundled up my laundry and Penny and headed down into town. I had a bunch of errands to run, including getting my hands on a pair of frost-free yard valves. My friend Bob had recommended installing one on the front and back of my building. We figured that when the plumber came for the stub outs, he could extend the trench enough for me to install the two valves. Angel had told me the plumber would arrive the next day.

I also needed to pick up the printed party invitations. And drop a few off with friends in town.

Did you ever have a day when you’re trying to run errands and get things done and nothing seems to work out? (My wasband used to complain about this happening to him all the time.) That’s the kind of afternoon I had.

First, the clueless copy desk person in Staples told me they hadn’t run my print job because I’d set up the file wrong. She invited me behind the counter to see for myself, but when she brought up the file, she immediately admitted that it was fine. So I had to wait for her to run it then. That took a good 20 minutes.

Next, at Lowes, I wasted time looking for someone to help me, only to discover that they didn’t have what I wanted. I also took a call from a co-worker who needed an extraordinary amount of hand-holding for a grown man. (Jeez, what is it with some men these days?) While we talked, I couldn’t continue shopping for the other few items I needed, thus wasting more time. 13 minutes, to be exact.

In Home Depot, a long search for what I needed wasted more time and came up empty.

I hurried back to the laundromat and threw my clothes in two dryers, pumped them each with 40 minutes worth of quarters and headed back out. I had enough time to buy more potting soil (for my third pallet planter) at Costco. At least that went smoothly. It was drizzling when I got out and, according to radar, a storm cell was moving in from the north. I had run out of time.

Half my clothes were still wet when I got home. I hung them on hangars all over the RV so they’d air dry. I texted back and forth with various pilot friends who, like me, were waiting for calls. I worried that if I flew and something happened to me, people cleaning up the detritus of my life would look at the clothes all over my RV and think I was a slob.

Nick, whose helicopter is based right down the hill from my place, started up and took off around 8 PM. My call came at 9 PM, which was too late to launch. It was a request to dry 3 orchards first thing in the morning.

What does this have to do with construction on my new home? Very little. But it does explain why I don’t have any good in-progress photos. Just this, which I shot on my way home.

They started work on the metal sides of my building on Monday.

The time-lapse is also a bit disappointing, since they did all their work on the side of the building that doesn’t face the camera. Sorry!

Another minor problem fixed along the way.

The crew spent most of Thursday installing the windows. But there was a small problem.

I discovered it on Wednesday evening when I was showing a framing contractor the space. That’s when I realized that the windows on the garage side of the second floor were roughly the same height as the bedroom window on the hill side.

And that was wrong.

You see, I wanted the windows as low as possible. I did not want to look through a screen or a window part. I wanted to look through plain glass, no matter whether I was standing or sitting. That’s why I asked for windows with one big pane and a small slider for ventilation at the bottom. I got exactly what I wanted.

Code allowed the windows to be as low as 18 inches from the floor if on the ground floor or if there was a deck outside. That meant all the windows on the second floor except one could be 18 inches from the floor. The one on the hill side, which didn’t have a deck outside it, had to be at least 24 inches from the floor. Because that was the only window on that wall, the difference in height shouldn’t be noticeable.

But because the idea was to align the tops of the windows with the two doors to the deck and those doors would be 6’8″ tall, we decided on 20 inches for all the windows except the one on the hill side.

But that’s not what the crew did. They framed the one window properly at 24 inches but framed the others at about 23 inches. That’s 3 inches too high.

Now you might say, “Three inches? You’re going to make a big deal about that?”

The way I saw it, it wasn’t 3 inches higher than I wanted. It was 5 inches higher — I wanted them at 18 inches. Standing on the second floor, looking though the empty window frame, I realized that the top of the window looked out at the deck roof overhang. That was wasted window space. There would be less wasted window space if the windows came down.

That’s the back story. I figured I’d talk to the builders when then arrived on Thursday morning.

Of course, I forgot. They got to work and immediately installed the four highest windows that faced south. They did them so quickly that I didn’t even know they were done.

The top windows look out to the south and are primarily for light and air circulation — if I can get them open!

I came outside to do something in the yard — I can’t even remember what — and saw them installing the window on the hill side. My brain kicked into gear and I dropped what I was doing to talk to Angel, the crew boss.

I don’t think he liked what I had to say. He was very confident that the door was taller than I’d been told and that he’d done it right to align the door and window tops. But I knew that if I let them move forward with the window installation in a place I didn’t want them, I’d regret it forever. So I told them I’d call the office and check with Tanya. He said they’d get to work on the garage door framing, which had to be adjusted to account for the planned slight slope (for drainage) in the garage floor.

I called Tanya’s office. It was 7:10 AM; the guys had started early again. Tanya wasn’t there. I left a message.

By 8:15 AM, I still hadn’t heard from her. I talked to Angel. I was conflicted on how I felt about it, wondering if I was being dumb. You know that feeling of self-doubt you get once in a while? I don’t get it often — which may actually not be such a good thing! — but when I do get it, I listen to it. It’s times like these when a real partner — someone with the same goals — can be helpful. (At least I assume so; I haven’t had that in a very long time and can’t quite remember what it was like.)

Angel suggested we call Corey, the boss. He gave me Corey’s cell number and I called. No answer. I left a message.

A while later, Corey called back to say he was on his way. I didn’t mean for him to come all the way to the job site, but apparently he felt he needed to.

He worked with the guys on the garage door issues and got them set to do what was needed. Then he and I climbed up to the second floor — on a ladder, since the man-lift was being used — and did a lot of measuring and talking about the windows. He was interested in two things: code and making me happy. In the end, I told him I definitely wanted the windows lower. I told him I preferred 18 inches but if 20 inches aligned the window tops with the door tops, I’d take 20. But if the door was so much taller that alignment required the windows to stay in their current position, I’d prefer 18 inches.

He said that it was a good thing that I’d brought this up now, before the windows went in. He said that once the windows and metal went in, it would be very difficult to fix. I knew that, of course, which is why I’d stopped Angel’s crew when I did. It wouldn’t be costing me money to fix it since I hadn’t made the mistake and this wasn’t technically a “change.” (Remember, the windows were supposed to be 20 inches off the floor.) But who cares about that? It made no sense to let them move forward when a fix was so obviously needed.

Corey talked to Tanya for clarification on code and told me they’d set the windows 18 inches above the floor. I told him I didn’t really care if the window and door tops didn’t align — as long as all the window tops aligned. “Curb appeal” is very low on my list of priorities.

Corey issued the orders and left. The crew finished up their work on the garage doors, moved all the window frames down about 5 inches, and put the windows in.

Here’s the building early the next morning with the windows in. I went up there to check them out from the inside and am very happy I had them shifted down.

In the meantime, I went flying, doing my first cherry drying flight of the season. (Hell, despite appearances, I do work for a living.)

I should mention that while Corey was onsite, he gave me the progression on how the project would be finished up. The guys would continue working on the metal and then frame out the deck. In the meantime, a plumber would come to stub out the water and sewer lines. Once that was done, they could install the drain in the RV garage floor and pour the concrete floor and the concrete for the front deck post holes. The guys could frame the front deck. Then they could put the stairs in. Then I guess they’d be done.

Two weeks? Looks like that to me. Should be done right before the party.

Here’s the time-lapse for Thursday. You can see them lowering the window frames right before lunch.

The roof is done.

The crew arrived early on Wednesday — only minutes after I popped a fresh SD card into my time-lapse camera and started it up. Now that the days are very long — we get almost 16 hours of sunlight, and even more light if you include twilight hours — and starting to get very warm, the builders want to work early. They asked if they could come as early as 5 AM and I told them they could — heck, I’m awake at that time. They rolled into my driveway at about 5:40 AM. The earlier they start, the earlier they can leave.

The day was perfect for construction on a rooftop — very little wind and relatively cool. As usual, the crew got right to work. I was home all day, doing odd jobs around the yard and working on a writing project on my computer. I came out a few times for a peek at where they were, amazed, as usual, at how quickly this “well-oiled machine” worked.

At one point, I climbed up onto the roof of the RV for a better look at what they’d done — and a photo, of course.

They finished the metal on top of the roof before lunch. Afterwards, they went back outside and worked on the trim, which I’m sure has a special construction name I’m not aware of.

And then they left.

Afterwards, I repositioned the man-lift and used it to go up to the second floor. I was meeting with a builder to start getting bids on the framing job and wanted another look around before he arrived. With the roof on, the building was beginning to really feel like the big shelter it would soon be.

Another look from the second floor, this time with the roof on. There’s no insulation under this roof yet; it’ll be done with the framing and drywall. The framers will put a wall between the second floor and the shop. I’ve decided to leave the roof beams (but not the purlins, of course) exposed.

Once again, the time-lapse camera isn’t in the best position to see exactly what they did. But you can watch them progress from left to right across the rooftop and then see them put up the trim.