Roof Progress

They added the cement ball at the peak of the roof.
Tiles are pretty much all in place now.

Work now begins on retiling the garage. The end is near! Yes, I need to paint.

Crack House

After four days of living in plaster dust we are about half way through. Here's my plasterer Eddie. He's 83 years old.















His son has discovered what happens when you keep picking at what was a small crack...







The entry is looking much better.

Plastered

Monday the plasterer arrived to fix the water damage caused by the tarp and repair every last crack in the house. I'm also permanently sealing the floor level registers. Here's how it's going...

The kitchen.

The dining room.

The media room.

The entry.

This Olde House III

With the roof watertight I can now address the termite issue with fumigation. Remember that blue tarp covering the old HVAC ducts? Well, after the roofers had completed their work, it rained. Hard. Over 4" fell over the weekend. On Monday morning as I walked into my kitchen, I noticed that my feet were wet. I looked up and saw this...




Wind-whipped water had gotten in between the tarp and the roof curb and leaked onto the kitchen ceiling. Fun!

In preparation for fumigation I removed all food and drink from the house and stayed at a neighbor's home for a few days.

The gas company arrived to shut off the gas and replaced this 40 year old valve with a more modern one.

The fumigators could work for Christo...









With the fumigation done, the HVAC unit can be installed and the tile can be put back. But what about that leak...

This Olde House II

With the old HVAC unit removed, the roofers show up.

Off comes the old roof.



The roof is in pretty good shape for a 75 year old. The blue tarp is covering the old HVAC ducts. That tarp will come back to haunt me shortly.


Several days later, the flat portion of the roof is made watertight and the roofers begin work on the tiled section.
The house is historic so the tiles must be preserved.

This Olde House I

The enthusiam produced with the installation of new wood windows last March quickly died in the heat of the summer. Unfortunately, so did my rooftop HVAC unit. That, coupled with an old, slightly leak roof and visible termite mounds has convinced me to get going.

First off, the 30 year old HVAC unit needed to be removed. How hard could that be?



The 100ft crane arrives to remove the old beast.


Up it goes. The palms are about 50ft tall.



And then between them...



Extended to 96ft, it retrieves the old unit.



And back through the palms.




Way over the palms. I think the operator is showing off.

Safely on terra firma and off to its final resting place.

Next up, the new roof.

Windows 2.0

All my new wood windows are now installed, replacing dilapidated (ok, termite infested) old ones. I'm happy with the privacy glass I selected for the bathroom casement windows; private but not too private. Glazing the remaining windows starts next week. Now I need to seriously come up with house colors...