Alex had alot of fun at the opening of the California Academy of Sciences. Here is is in front of one of the huge aquariums. We saw crocodiles, T-rex and whale skeletons, and jellyfish. We looked for Nemo, but didn't find him. We did find Dory, however.

Progress At Last

The copper gutters are up. They do look good.

Notice the new sliders we have in the MBR. A separate job for a separate blog.



The front yard has been cleaned up of all the trash.

The back gate has been put in, and with a little work, can be made to blend in.

The last segment of the fence was put in. The original 6 foot length post was removed and a new 8 foot length post put in. Finding stock 6 foot length fencing slabs was too difficult.

Copper Gutters

The copper gutters are up?!? Two pieces were put up, and a third sits on our table, er, the "workbench" to be soldered.

You can see *my* ladder being used by the workers. I wonder if they have any of their own tools...

For completeness, here is a picture of the "pergola, unfinished".
Apparently, this seems to be a difficult job to finish off putting
up 4 or 5 more slats.

Below you can see that they manage
to find some extra cobblestone for
the side, but are still short product.

Amazing these contractors can stay in business.

Birch Dump

Welcome to our dump. There's actually a box of clothes here, I guess from the "professionals". Too bad my shovel and pick axe that were taken by the workers isn't somewhere here.
Still no news on when they will grout the driveway. Note the architectural landmark of the mashed up 1x4 crates blend with the Oleander bush.

Cobblestone Down

Starting to look good. Unfortunately, the contractor was unable to execute simple geometric math, and thus was short on measuring the square footage for the entire space. The missing space is along the side. They also said they were going to finish the pergola. It's missing slats, and apparently the local Home Depot doesn't have the nice wood to finish it. Waiting for grouting.

Unfortunately, the contractors leave our yard looking like a dump. Also note that an additional expense of replacing our lawn must be incurred, as they have thrashed it.

Our front yard looks like a dump.

Slow boat from China

Two weeks later we are still waiting for the cobblestone from the slow boat from China.

New Cobblestone

Just enough cobblestone was delivered to demonstrate that the color doesn't go with the look we are going for. We ask for a charcoal grey replacement.

Finished Walkway

The slate is all put down on the front walkway. Waiting for the cobblestone. Apparently, it's on a slow boat from China.

3 Month Mark

The side fence has been put up...almost, as there is a 6 foot piece missing behind the near italian fir.
Most of the front walk, stairs and porch are covered in the slate. The driveway part that wasn't flush with the sidewalk and the new concrete pour has been chipped away.

front porch

The front porch has had it's railing removed, and the slate put down.

Autumn slate

The house has been painted, and the slate on the stairs has begun.

Painted House

While the concrete was drying, the painters threw up some paint on the trim.

2 months into project

It took about a week, but finally the concrete was poured and the forms removed. It looks really good. Two crates of slate for the walkway are ready to go.

After pour

Finally, the concrete is poured and 2 crates of slate are delivered.

Still waiting for the concrete pour

Still waiting...any day now

Ready for the concrete pour

The rebar has been put down, and we are almost ready to pour the concrete.

French Drain Fill

The rocks and dirt are to fill in the French drain. And what a great improvement to the basement leakage after the drain was put into place. The basement is now dry as a bone.

A little drainage please

The rains of February and March revealed some drainage issues into the basement. An additional work order for a french drain along the side of the house was in order.
The concrete forms are almost all in place

More stair forms

Lots more progress on the forms. The pathway is forming nicely.

The concrete forms are going up for the stairs and the front wall.

Bye bye concrete

A little over a week later, the concrete driveway was no more. The brick stairway was removed and placed in a pile. The walkway was also dugup, put into a dumpster, and taken away.

The Before picture

The house in March of 2005 just as we bought it...before "curb appeal" ...

The contract is signed today with an approximate completion date of April 1, 2006.

We contracted with a group that caught our eye from this "Curb Appeal" show.

Little did we know, the April fool's joke was on us...