McHugh/Gant Hangar House

Day 467 - Plant Beds Start

Thursday, September 21 -- Things were busy around here today. I lost track of all the little things that Dave and John did today. Here is what I remember...

We started the day by changing our solution for the gap between the spiral stairs and CableRail (see yesterday's report for problem details.) Plan B is to have the spiral staircase landing railing amended with a filler to close the gap. Kelli spent a good amount of time packaging, documenting, and shipping the railings back to Pennsylvania. UPS picked up the package during their late day run into town.

Ken came over before lunch with the mini excavator (Butter Finger) and the "Bob Kitty". Ken moved Butter Finger into place along the south side of the house and Dave manned the Kitty to feed boulders to Ken. Ken picked through the rocks that we have and started building the first planter box between the abutments. Kelli helped with rock selection and placement. Picking up a boulder in just the right position and gently placing where you want it is MUCH harder than it looks...

Over time we may replace or add more rocks above the bottom row. It is hard to find just the right rock - even out of the dozens from which we have to pick.

John was going to install the vinyl composite tile on the laundry room landing. But the underlayment that was applied last week is not adhering and will have to be redone. (Of course, there is no self leveling underlayment available in Trinity County.) So, he moved upstairs to grout the last of the spa tub backsplash...

Then he started laying out the last of the tile in the entry. But the stair landing and railing posts are not cut high enough for the tile and mortar. So... this project will have to wait until the stair guys return to raise the cut at the bottom of the post...

Dave worked on several electric projects, including installing our 1500W commercial light switch in the master bathroom -- and this was not easy. This wall is a shear wall with plywood behind the sheetrock and there are pipes everywhere...

Dave also worked on getting the exercise room window controller to work. First problem -- no power to the window. That fixed, the controller still doesn't work. He also installed a new controller for the exercise ceiling fan and light.

The quote of the day from Dave... "This house will never disappoint you by denying you a challenge or mental puzzle."

After everyone left for the day, Kelli was able to finally get to the tasks that she had scheduled for the day -- applying the second coat of non-skid coating to the garage treads and removing the tape from the hangar stair treads. It was very important to get the final coat on the garage stairs so that they will be dry tomorrow morning. Having the garage stairs closed down makes for some long detours. Also, we need to start building the railing on the garage steps and hangar landing and adding a handrail down into the hangar for final inspection.