fresh home build coming soon

skyking · Jan 8, 2025

They brought out a replacement 944 yesterday, with lots of rebuild paint on it. They do like painting on these old rigs.
First thing I did was just about knock myself out on a light mounted INSIDE the ROPS. For fucks sake, do not mount hazards under a low lid like that.
We got the beam up and most of the north rafters yesterday and will finish rafters today.

Big plus is the wide carriage on this one. The other one had that narrow carriage that is only good for brickies shooting stuff up between scaffold sets.
I got a quote on a swing Carriage machine from Pape, but it was twice the money per month and does not just pencil out. I can rent (3) 8x10 road plates and buy the picking gear for 900 and make a place to drive anywhere I want.

iRONic · Jan 8, 2025

That'll teach you to leave your hard hat in the truck. 🤣

skyking · Jan 9, 2025

A cupola emerges from the west roofline.

Special delivery. Having a telehandler on site is totally worth it.

all the rafters are up.

We will build the larger east cupola on the ground and shoot it up there with the lift.

BoomerD · Jan 9, 2025

It's gotta feel hella good now that it's finally coming together...starting to look like a house.

skyking · Jan 9, 2025

BoomerD said:
It's gotta feel hella good now that it's finally coming together...starting to look like a house.

Yep, pretty stoked about it!
We had a short crew day and I took the time to go get a random drug test done. Lol random, pool of one.

iRONic · Jan 9, 2025

Did the drugs pass the test?

BoomerD · Jan 9, 2025

skyking said:
Yep, pretty stoked about it!
We had a short crew day and I took the time to go get a random drug test done. Lol random, pool of one.

Ah, damn...a test? I didn't even have time to study!

What's the test for? The plumbing job?

skyking · Jan 9, 2025

DOT for the CDL.
I am still employed, just no work which is great.

BoomerD · Jan 10, 2025

skyking said:
DOT for the CDL.
I am still employed, just no work which is great.

I remember having to do that stuff. Pre-employment piss test, post accident piss test, (even if I wasn't actually involved, but it happened on my barge or in my crew) DOT Class A random pool piss tests, Coast Guard random piss tests, (CG cutter would pull up, drop a launch in the water, 3-4 guys would come on board the barge...EVERYONE PISSES.

Just one of the many things I DO NOT miss about working. I mean...if you've got the money, I've got the time...but it was always an inconvenience.

skyking · Jan 11, 2025

Fun times today. The master framer extraordinaire was building these outrigger ladders and we busied ourselves with fixing nailing boo-boos and patching in zip sheathing here and there while we waited on him.
Sketchup of outrigger ladder assemblies.

We got all the way around fixing shizzle and had this one really bad side left to do. I knew I'd be stuck as soon as I stepped off the good pit run fill of the carport, but we managed to get it pointed to where we could finish the work.

easy step up entry

The 120 standing by for recovery.

Interesting factoid:
at more than 22,000 pounds, the telehandler is only 5000 pounds lighter than the excavator. It was a bit of a pig to pull up there.

skyking · Jan 11, 2025

It went, not always smoothly but moving forward. This one we put up there to find that the adjacent joist was put on out of schedule, so I parked it there against the wall while they fixed that.

The long two are done and we have one built for first thing. I'll bring up 3 boxes of the pit run to build a launching pad for the NW corner unit.

skyking · Jan 12, 2025

Great candid photo of my nephew taking the tagline off the last ladder set. He was happy to be up with the guys.

skyking · Jan 13, 2025

Roof is about done, two rows of sheeting left for the morning and the top of the cupola there.

skyking · Jan 14, 2025

Dried in!!
Metal roof is two weeks out, windows are 3 weeks out. We are doing punch list and interior walls the next two weeks and take a break. I already lifted the foot off the throttle.
Thanks for the lift, nephew.

delivery right to your door.

Standing in the first floor main ensuite bathroom.
Looking up through an imaginary interior window to the cupola above. That may be stained glass, it keeps changing.

BoomerD · Jan 15, 2025

Jeezus...Pettibone? I didn't know that stuff was even still in existence. I ran a Pettibone neckbreaker over 40 years ago...maybe 12 or 15 tons.

skyking · Jan 15, 2025

All hydromechanical, no fancy electronics. pretty simple and reliable. Cummins 4 banger.

skyking · Jan 16, 2025

West wing ( our bedroom ) getting framed out. That is a pocket door header, think door on right and wall on left.
There are 3 pockets in that area that will likely not get closed in real life.
3 more upstairs.
Today was the best so far. I'm standing in spaces and moving walls and generally messing with my framing crew. When you design a space on paper, you really don't have the feel for it like you do when you are in it.
I took a little more from the powder room for the built in cabinet for the fridge.
Then I looked at counter depth fridges and between those two things I made 6" more space off the end of the island, or a bigger island. Whatever we want to do at that point.
I am building the cabinets.
Upstairs, one of the framers snapped out all the walls as drawn and for the most part I left it alone, except for one glaring tight spot. I looked at that for about a minute and now that is a custom angle that they get to figure out tomorrow. It opened things up nicely. We ditched that awkward notch on the left that the CAD guy made to get a 3' door.
went straight off that bearing wall, angled over and had plenty of wall for a 3' door and eliminated that choke point.

Micrornd · Jan 17, 2025

skyking said:
That is a pocket door header, think door on right and wall on left.

Don't know if you are aware of it or not but, Johnson Hardware makes soft open, soft close, and hidden floor guides for both single and double pocket doors.
They eliminate any "banging" of the doors, like the "old days". They just glide open and shut
They fit in the std. opening and can retrofit also.
I put them in here when we remodeled years ago and they still work great and still amaze visitors that they even exist.

Greenman · Jan 17, 2025

Micrornd said:
Don't know if you are aware of it or not but, Johnson Hardware makes soft open, soft close, and hidden floor guides for both single and double pocket doors.
They eliminate any "banging" of the doors, like the "old days". They just glide open and shut
They fit in the std. opening and can retrofit also.
I put them in here when we remodeled years ago and they still work great and still amaze visitors that they even exist.

I've was a builder for 45 years and had on idea such a thing existed. I'm going to guess the architects I worked with had no idea either or they would have absolutely spec'd it.

skyking · Jan 18, 2025

I have the regular old run of the mill Johnson hardware, but as I said they will not get operated much. There is one door that would make sense to upgrade upstairs. It is a pocket to make a semi-private bathroom. Thanks I will look into that.

skyking · Jan 19, 2025

BoomerD · Jan 19, 2025

skyking said:

Not veery clear. Coyote…or cougar…or something else?

skyking · Jan 19, 2025

pair of foxes. Turns out I set the camera right on a wildlife through way.

BoomerD · Jan 19, 2025

Sweet. Between them and the prairie wolves, you'll have to fence an area for your dogos.

skyking · Jan 19, 2025

BoomerD said:
Sweet. Between them and the prairie wolves, you'll have to fence an area for your dogos.

yes, not a big area and with outward facing hot wires down at nose height and at the top. They will get the hint.

fresh home build coming soon

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