On Monday, 11/28, we filled the second lift on the east gable.
Jeremy and Matt Jolley working on the wall (I mixed concrete)
On Tuesday, Matt and Jeremy moved the forms up and finished the east wall (woo hoo!).
Completed east wall
At this point, we knew we were under the gun. The forecast was getting colder and our window for getting concrete to set up properly was getting really narrow. We had 3 lifts to finish on the west wall before it got really, really cold. Because of that, Jeremy worked after dark to get the rocks cut to fit under the roof line Tuesday night.
Jeremy working by headlamp to cut rocks
On Wednesday, Jeremy, Matt and Tucker Saunders set up the forms for the first lift on the West wall and got the first 2 sections filled. It was a very long day in the wind and cold. These guys are my heroes!
Matt covering the new stonework for the night
On Thursday we didn't work on the house because of the cold weather. Friday, Matt, Tucker and Jeremy were back at it first thing in the morning. They finished the lift and got the forms set for the second gable lift.
Wrapping up for the day Friday
Saturday morning we were all working by 9AM to finish the second gable lift. We hoped to get the forms set for the last lift before the day was done, but we didn't quite make it. Fortunately, the weather was mild and not windy. Matt brought his son, Sebastian, out too and he, Tucker and Catherine had a good day working with us. We finished the day with the second lift done and the forms staged for the last lift.
Catherine and Sebastian making wire ties
Sunday was the day. The forecast was calling for single digit lows on Wednesday and we needed the concrete to have as much time as possible to set up before that. We had to finish the last lift before the day was out. We started on the wall about 10:00 and finished about 4:30. It was grey and cold the whole day but we had to get it done.
The peak is particularly challenging because all the rocks have to be custom cut to fit under the roof pitch and the sill plates have to be set precisely. It took an inordinate amount of time to get that little triangle done, but we wrapped it up about 4:30. The very last thing we did was build and pour the pedestal that the center post sits on in the center of the house.
Jeremy on the wall with me at the start of the day
The view of the kids making concrete from the top of the scaffolding
The pier in the center of the house
And so, almost 4 months to the day from when we took the forms off to look at the very first lift, we put the last stones in the wall. We began this journey in July with Jeremy and I casting the very first corner. It has been a tremendous joy to work with my family on this house and it was very appropriate and poetic that it was just us there to set the last stones.
Family picture with the completed wall
Throughout this building project, Catherine has been stuck with an almost invisible but incredibly important job - making wire ties. These little bits of twisted wire sit under every rock in the wall to give it that much more grip in with the rest of wall. Over the house project, she made literally thousands of ties. Here she is with one of the last batches.
I can't write a post about finishing the stone walls without saying thank you to a lot of people though. Matt Jolley has been a life saver giving of his time and experience to get us through these last lifts. Tucker Saunders has been clutch and invaluable with his constant positive attitude and willing to do whatever needs done. Chris Kesslering gave up his days off to come out throughout the project throughout. To all the folks who came out for a day or two - Susan Pauls, Nancy Ward and family, Scott Dunn, Doug Dubois, Sara Lehrman, Tim O'Brien - thank you for helping us through some tough days. Scott Dunn gets a call out for welding our door lintels late into the night so that we could keep building on schedule. A special thank you goes to Tim O'Brien and Otto Lehrman for loaning us scaffolding. I have no idea how we would have done this without it! Thanks to Erin Schmidt for taking the kids to school and bringing them home so that Jeremy could get a few extra hours in each day. This was really a community effort and we appreciate everyone who pitched in. I'm sorry if I missed anyone, but know that we are deeply grateful for all of you!
