Higher and Higher

Folks, we're gettin' high! But not just because we live in Colorado. The Mann Sr. house has its third story, (well, attic space) and if the weather stays sunny and warms a little, RJ and Jess will finish the main part of the roof today and finish up enclosing the structure.

Winter is a difficult season here in Creede. Especially in December and January, when night temps drop to the negative double digits. Nose hairs freeze on reluctant morning walks with the dog. And if you work in construction, it's colder than a...well, you get the idea.

I'll make this short and sweet and just share a couple of shots I took this morning. This continues to be a stunning piece of Victorian-style architecture.

It is a cold, cold mornin'.

View form the angled front. 

Here is a boosted up detail of the beautiful windows to the right of the main door. 

What's Happened This Summer (and why I'm only telling you about it now...)

Apologies for the lack of upkeep on this blog. The summers often have a way of trumping everything else I'm trying to do in my life. That's what living in a town with mostly summer tourism will do to a person.

When I last left you, we had just moved the original structure to the back of the lot and onto a garage foundation. The old house is to become a first floor garage, second floor woodworking shop and top floor art studio, navel contemplation area.

Since then, that part has stayed relatively the same. RJ wants to get everything enclosed by the time snow arrives up here (which could be next week). Because summer is a busy time for everyone, there was a lot of time spent waiting for digging machines and concrete pours. But, the building of the new structure is underway and they are already moving up to the second floor. Also, RJ's co-worker, Jess Biernet, found an incredible tree in the middle of the forest while scouting for elk a few weeks ago. It is covered in burls, and can be worth quite a bit of money because they are so rare. Jess generously let the Mann family have it and it now lives as the centerpiece of the downstairs.

And may I just say that the views from this house continue to astound me. They are breathtaking. If Roger and Sheri aren't careful we might just move them into the Mannsion and steal this house. :D

But let's get to it! Here is the continuing story in pictures:

RJ goes over plans with Roger and Sheri. Things are reworked a bit as to not overwhelm the small lots. 

Entrance to the garage.

Steps leading down down down

Fast forward to: dug down and poured the concrete for the house's basement. The deck appears on top.

More deck. 

Sheeting on the completed deck. 

A shot from a window I took a few days ago (mid-Sept). You can see the color starting way back there. 

And we have walls!

The burl-filled tree in its natural habitat (dead for some time and even, it looks like, hit by lightening)

Roger drags the top half of the tree down a mountain.

And voila! It's in the house. 

Curved staircase, burled tree support, Jess Biernet, and one of the official job dogs--Ms. Cass. 

Sheeting started for the second floor. Plus some cool beams.

Jess working hard. 

View from the top of the stairs. I can't stop staring!

After this weekend they will complete the sheeting on the second floor and start building the walls for the second floor. Until next time...

And one last view from the downstairs windows facing south:

How about them apples

Yes, We Really Did Move a House

Though it wasn't very far and only took about 6 minutes, the prep took over an hour. Though I hear that's pretty good. A house down the road took 6 hours to prepare and 6 minutes to move. The ground was wet and the house kept sinking making it difficult to get the straps underneath it.

We waited for the crane to arrive from the valley. The company charges about $250 per hour for the "small crane" and will usually charge for at least the time it takes to get to your residence if not the way back as well.

After the crane arrived, the operators secure it so it doesn't tip over, though it weighs several tons. Everyone (Crane guys, RJ, Jess, John Stynchula, Frank Freer, Papa Freer, and Bradley Fullen) helps feed two, large, thick straps under the house. The straps are then attached to wires that are connected to the crane. We ran into one problem when we couldn't get one of the thick straps to move underneath the house through to the other side. There was some solid dirt the house was sitting on that we couldn't get through by pulling, and had to cut a hole in the floor to help move it along.

But once that was taken care of and the crane was connected, the whole moving process took just under 6 minutes. And again, it's just easier to show you in the world of pictures and videos. Video of the moving is near the end of this post.

The Before. The old house (on the right) sits next to Capitol Ave. We need to move it to the back of the lot where you can see the garage walls (left side). 

Crane arrives. RJ helps the operator secure the crane. 

Guiding the first strap under the house.

Strap.

Trying to pull the stubborn one through. Not working...

It really is a Wide Load. 

Crane.

Connecting together. 

The crane moves over to the house. 

Centered over the house.

More crane.

Connecting the crane to the straps.

Tightening it all. 

So close.

And it begins. Watch the video to see the entire moving. I almost missed the beginning because I was busy putting the dogs in the car for their own safety. :D

Settin' her down. 

After. On its new foundation.

View from the garage level. 2nd floor will be the workshop. Small 3rd floor an art studio.

After
Fini!

Something Concrete

Building projects like this make it clear why little kids are obsessed with Legos. Preparing to pour 9ft concrete walls is just like building with giant styrofoam toys! RJ and Jess spent a few days building these walls of glory. As you can see, they're like a styrofoam/metal sandwich. They're stacked up on top of the concrete pads (poured about a week earlier), braced and the liquid concrete is poured inside and creates a solid wall. Moving forward, much of it will be already insulated (because of the styrofoam layers).

Almost done stacking. Jess celebrates.

Window. Almost to the top.

Makin' it sturdy.

Bracing it up.  

Walls up. Adding walkways.

The dilemma on pour day was where the structure is located on the property. It sits on a hill at the side of the road. So, maneuvering the concrete trucks (there were three) around the property to access all the walls was quite difficult. Luckily, we had Mr. Chev Yund to facilitate the pouring. 

This is Chev.

This particular skill is called "form setting and pouring of stem walls" and is among Chev's many talents. This means he guides the chute that delivers the concrete to the structure, knows the process of how much to put in per section and communicates with the concrete truck operator. 

And now...it's just better to show it in pictures:

Getting ready for The Pour. Last minute securing of corners, by Chev and John Stynchula, so they don't split with the weight and force of the liquid concrete. Bonus: It's a lovely, but hazy, morning in the mountains.

The truck arrives. 

The chute is lined up with the farthest point. The liquid concrete travels down the arm into that long bag that is directed at the structure. It's like a giant pastry bag.

Chev waits for the concrete to come out.

Chev directs the flow of liquid concrete while John gets ready to help spread it out properly.

Here they are in action:

The truck is moved to another spot so they can fill the very end. This will continue throughout the process.

Chev and his magic bag.

After about an hour into it, I left. They proceeded to go around the entire structure doing this--starting and stopping and moving the truck. The entire process took several hours and a girl can only take so much of it. But it was exciting to see happen. I leave you with a panoramic shot of the entire lot with truck and structure.

Coming soon: The Big Move!