The Home Machinist!

All--

It is now--finally--fairly easy to list what has not been accomplished on the house . . .

Granite on the island, countertops, and vanities.
Plumbing consisting of setting one more stool, shower heads and sinks.
Finishing up some wall tile.
Finishing up one of the master shower floor tile areas.
Tiling the other master bath shower floor area.
Finishing up interior trim; a few bathrooms, one of the master closets and the crown moulding.
Installation of the horizontal cable stairwell banister.
Installation of the composite decking.
Installation of the horizontal cable railing on the deck.
Completion of the exterior stone facia.
Installation of exterior stucco on the south and east sides.

Here are some pictures of the exterior stone work . . .
--Bill

Looks real nice, Bill. By fall, you'll be in and loving life, pursuing the things you love. Sure happened a lot faster than the project Susan and I tackled. A good portion of my life was spent building our place.

H

Closer and closer Bill!
Once you get all that other trivial stuff done, you can set up shop!


Other Bill

All--

I was confronted with a problem building retaining walls in two different locations. The first problem was that I simply could not get close enough to the 2400lb block I had just set to scooch it up to the one next to it on the east side of the house. I found a 2"x12"x20' board to solve the problem by extending the bucket on the skid steer. Worked fine.


On the west side of the house I'm building another wall. This time the problem was the cliff behind me; I was was way too close to get the skid steer in position to pick up the south end of the block so I could level it a tad more. I found a six foot 4"x4", shoved it under the south end of the block and pushed down on the board with the skid steer. That lifted the south end of the block up so I could shovel gravel under it.

--Bill

It pays to be creative.
Well done, Bill.
Keep the reports coming.

H

Nice work!

Looking fantastic Bill!

Nothing like improvising!
We could make a iner out of you Bill!

Oter Bill

All--

Almost everything is done. We still have tile work to do in four of the five baths. (The 5th one is in the garage. I'll finish it later.) The decking is all laying on the deck and we will work on it this weekend. I should get a lot of it done once the first 72' long row is down . . . straight. Crown molding is going up this week. The granite countertops have been selected and paid for, but there is an issue with the vendor. The concrete pad in front of the garage has not been poured and neither has the one beneath the deck. The granite stair treads should be going in today.

Although I will help with the decking, almost all of my work has been outside. (Well, the decking is outside, too, but you know what I mean.) I have done quite a bit of clearing between trees to create the look we want as one drives up to the house down that long driveway. Here is the view from the west on the north side of the road. The view from the south side is similar, but the grass is a lot taller.


This is the view from straight west of the house . . .
(Rock on that corner is up by now.)
--Bill

Let the yard work begin!


Other Bill

Bill--

Ha! "Yard work" is how I turned that almost impenetrable jungle into a mowable area with trees!

I had planned to use my brush hog to mow it after it grows out. I have two areas like the one above; one on the north side of the road and one on the south. Each one is several acres. My neighbor wants to split the cost of a zero-turn mower with me. I'm thinking that would produce a LOT better cut than my brush hog, plus my neighbor could also operate it. If we just depended on the hog, I would have to cut both our "yards."

--Bill

I meant with the installation of 'real' grass....and things like flowers and all!
You know, the things that you help the commander & chief put in, and you end up doing most of the maintaining?

How do zero-turns do with rough, or at least semi-rough terrain? One wouldn't do well here, at least on the unfinished area of our property. It's not smooth, and sandy, and the more you drive on it, the more the sand fluffs up. I have 23" tires on my ancient MTD, and there are places I have to be careful of to avoid pushing.....

Other Bill