Framing Starts June 4

Framing on the house will most likely start June 4. Framing will include the roof and interior walls. The windows are also set to be installed in the next couple of weeks. We'll keep updating pictures.

The house across the street from us is the 2008 Children's Miracle Mansion. Tickets for a chance to win the house along with a number of other fabulous prizes are available now and the drawing is Saturday, June 1. To purchase a ticket for a chance to win the Mansion, go to www.childrensmiraclemansion.org. Proceeds from the fundraiser go to the Our Lady of the Lake Children's Hospital to improve the technology and level of care to all children in the Baton Rouge area. It's a great cause and a great opportunity to win a free house. Visit the site today to buy your tickets online.

Exterior Bracing Comes Down

The exterior bracing for the concrete pour was taken down on Friday. The exterior walls are now completely visible and awaiting for framing to start.

Feel free to come by and "push" on the walls to feel how strong they are. Once the exterior stucco and limestone are added, there will be no way to tell on the exterior that the walls are made of styrofoam and concrete.

Caught in the Act: Rick Vinyard on the Jobsite

Rick Vinyard takes a moment to lean on his shovel from cleaning up the concrete falling from the top of the frame. This guy is a master project manager, he had his whole team working flawlessly to get the concrete poured, respond to the necessary trouble spots and keep our interior floors from getting stained or mucked up. Rick knew exactly where his resources were today and when/where they needed to be deployed, which is exactly what makes a great project manager.

I can't say enough good things about our builder. Not only is he a great builder/contractor, he's fun to work with because he knows he has everything in order when he shows up at the site.

Concrete Pour!

Here's some video of how the pour went today on the job site. The pour went off really well and Rick was out to supervise the crew along with Brian who directed the pour team. The bracing will remain up for a few more days as the concrete cures, but the exterior walls are essentially done!

There were a lot of visitors today to see the site, especially with the pump truck visible from Nicholson. The weather was really great, not too hot, sunny with a light breeze. We've had some excellent karma leading Kerry to tell me this morning he thought our house was "blessed."

I couldn't agree more!

(What you see in this footage is the pump truck hose pumping the concrete in while Brian taps on the wall forms to ensure the concrete has settled into the right location. The guy walking around with the joysticks looking up at the pump is Roger, he's controlling how the pump hose moves. And the guy in the gray shirt just standing around looking smart, that's Rick our builder.)

Pictures from Thursday, May 1, 2008

On Thursday they were almost finished with the wall forms and doing the final preparations for Tuesday's pour. Here are some pictures from Thursday.