July 13, 2007—Terra-forming and drainage

I got to the site right after lunch to find that the graders were there doing the site-work and installing the pipes for the roof drainage.

They had already filled in between the two buildings. This area, which I call the breezeway, will be “tracked in”—which means they will run over the dirt with the machinery until it is compacted—then covered with DG (decomposed granite) so it can be used as a patio area.

I am making canvas awning strips which can be attached between the buildings to shade it. There is often a breeze through it from the westerly winds we get every day, so the separate strips won’t form a sail and the wind can blow through them.

Here you can see the drain-pipe for the roof drains on the guest cottage. This will be covered up with dirt, driveway gravel and DG as well. DG is a fine gravel made from granite. It comes in a gold color which is often used for garden paths and is quite attractive.

It’s a little hard to tell what you are seeing in this picture, but it is the sewer hook-up for the guest cottage. I wasn’t sure whether it had been put in.

The grading contractor who did all the ditch work did not finish everything and there was some concern as to whether the pipe from the septic tank to the barn and guest cottage had been installed. However, a former employee of the company who acted as project manager is willing to answer questions for us and said that the pipes had been put in. After a little search, this one was located, much to my relief!

Inside the guest cottage, I went into the bathroom to photograph the blocking for the towel racks. These pieces of board are nailed into the studs to give us something to screw towel bars and hooks into. There will be some more blocking put in to the left of this for a medicine cabinet.

We started building immediately after the permit was issued and before the working drawings were complete. The framing was done from the permit plans which show a mirror above the sink, but do not call it out as a medicine cabinet so was no recess built into the framing for one. If we put one in now, it would stick out from the wall—which could be done and look fine—however then the light fixture above it would not shine down in front of the mirror. We decided to put a little medicine cabinet to the side of the sink instead and a mirror on the wall over it.

This picture doesn’t look like much either, but the pipe hanging down from the ceiling is for the range hood. We got a very cool looking range hood from Ikea—and much cheaper than anything I have seen elsewhere—although it is made by Whirlpool.

I may paint the wall behind the stove terra cotta. There will be a stainless steel back splash all along the wall and with that and the stainless steel range hood and shelves and blond cabinets, it should look very dramatic and handsome. I have seen the cabinets, but we can’t bring them up until the work inside the cottage is almost finished for fear of them getting damaged. I am getting impatient to see this all put together!

Back outside by the barn, Kai and his helper were working on the deck and staircase. In this picture, you can see the stair hangers have been installed.

In the foreground, Kai and his assistant are installing the outside plank of the deck with the posts now firmly bolted to it.

Behind them, you can see a tiny excavator working on the finished grade behind the barn and guest cottage.

Here is a better picture of the terra-forming. The breezeway will come to the back of the two buildings and then there will be pathway behind the barn and around to the stair side, covered with DG.

Later on in the afternoon, I took this picture of the little excavator when they were digging in front of the barn. Behind it, to the right, you can see a little of the tiny bulldozer they were working with. Both pieces of equipment fit between the two buildings, which are 10 feet apart.

(On the left, you can see Jim’s elbow. I just didn’t have a better picture of the equipment.)

Down by the pond, my assistant had completely weed-whacked the area which will be the rose garden. The new weed-eater rocks!

The ground looks so different without the weeds and there are two little mounds of dirt at the south end. I think those are left from when the rock was sifted there for surfacing the road, but they seem very mysterious. We also found most of the flags I had set out early this spring to mark the arbor I want to build for my roses. I was going to have it built with the fence, but realized that I should break up the soil before I put in the arbor. I am still working on that detail—the disappointment with the roto-tiller last week was the first attempt—but I will figure out something.

Back up the hill and the stairs on the barn were done, except for the 3 metal treads. Hopefully by Wednesday, Kai will have those installed and I will be able to walk into the barn instead of climbing a ladder!
Click here for more pictures from July 13  
back to top