Thursday, March 22, 2012 Masons Are Here!

Yea, the Masons are on the job early and hard at work.  The concrete mixer was set up near the sand pile and water was brought to the area by a new water pump and about 100 ft of hose.  I had to continually watch the pump, hoses and connections since the crew did not seem to care if the water was running on the ground or the hose was run over by trucks.  They went through 200 gallons of water real quick.  I had about 700 gallons of water in two tanks but if they just waste it on the ground, it won't be enough.

One thing we noticed right away -- the rocks had to be brought from the pile to the house via wheelbarrow which was about 200 feet.  The mortar also had to be moved to the masons area.  This was the crewman who moved the cement from the garage, mixed the mortar, moved the rocks and brought the mortar to the two masons.

This was two wheelbarrows of stone.  It was going to be a hard day for him.

This is Chava and his brother, Antonio.

The faucet showing orange has been marked to indicate the vacuum relief valve was removed so I could do the water test.  I never could get it to work...kept squirting the water back out.

Notice the ties to the wall from the rock in the space left so air could move up behind the wall to the soffit and water down to weep holes yet to be placed at the bottom.

It is also visible where I put ZIP tape on the holes created by Electricians for the fuse box to be placed on this wall.  This keeps the wall water tight.  Notice also that the rock is placed on top of the black moisture block material which is under the ZIP wall and has been sealed with caulk to the studs to further seal out water from getting into the wall.

Moving up to the window.  The bottom and top will have standing blocks for trim.  The sides will be plain since they will have shutters for trim to match the fascia.

The do-everything guy even has to put the mortar up on the scaffolding so the masons can keep working.  He also watches the moisture of the mix and remixes on the boards when necessary.  The three of them were able to get a lot of rock layed.  Notice Chava has moved around the corner to the bedroom window.

I had been meaning to get to putting spray foam around the windows so I attempted to fill the cracks last night.  What I didn't know is that this stuff will continue to grow even after you think it has stopped just slower.  When I came back the next day, this is what greeted me.  Now I have to figure out how to get this stuff off the windows without damaging the finish.  The instructions say to remove with a serrated knife and remove the residue with acetone.  What a bother.  I am glad I only did the garage windows before I found out this stuff has a life of its own.