The Brandt Blog

When we’re in Napa…we love how time just seems to stand still.  We didn’t expect progress on the house to follow suit. Sure, there were pockets of activity but nothing major to speak of during the two days we were in wine country. The gutters were finished, the first row of the driveway retaining wall […]

Finally….the stone masons finished placing the 800 pound limestone pieces and formed our arched entry.  The cinder blocks were also added to complete the porch structure and now await their stucco coating from Erich and his crew.  The masons also placed the caps on the knee-walls. Speaking of Erich, he and Javier finished the first coat […]

Just when Anne thought forward progress had ground to a near-halt…Ted, Mike, Brian and Craig (the carpenters) appeared Saturday again on the scene.  Using their ladders and catwalks, they installed the beginnings of the beams in the Great Room. On the outside, the landscapers finished burying the downspout drain-pipes of the south side of the […]

It was a little bit slow this week…but happily, there is still progress to share.  The excavator came out and spread some black dirt around the lot to get it close to the final grading.  With the grading just about done, we can start working with the landscaper on the walkway and burying the downspouts. […]

Here’s Anne (tired of the slow pace of the construction) pitching in with a drywall sander. The painting crew arrives on Friday and the flooring installation should commence on this Monday.

It was a pretty productive week for the stonemasons and mudders. The masons finished bricking in the exterior doorways and building the loggia chimney while the mudders applied their third coat of mud.  As it currently stands…the mud should be sanded this week and their work completed Wed/Thu. The masons’ remaining exterior workload consists of […]

Imagine the disappointment of driving by at 9am only to see NO CARS lining the street or occupying the driveway…this after months of busy, busy work on the house. The drywallers were waiting for the latest coat of mud to dry; the masons were waiting for…well, they’re the masons. Anne and I went by after […]

Well – the drywall installers have just about hung all of the sheetrock.  With that, it looks like a house…except without furniture.  Or A/C.  Or paint.  Or flooring.  Okay – it looks like an grayish, empty house…but we really are getting an idea of what the rooms truly ‘feel’ like and that’s an(other) exciting step forward. […]

The main activity currently going on is drywalling…four of the guys worked on Saturday hanging drywall on the main floor while their tape/mud colleagues applied the second coat in the basement. On the outside – Erich and Javier further prepared for stucco by installing the mesh on the two dormer windows and under the soffit/fascia […]

The stone masons are making good progress on the exterior…as the last remaining blankets of Tyvek are being slowly covered.  Progress on the porch has been good and we’re awaiting delivery of the limestone arch pieces to finish it off.  Anne and I selected the texture of the stucco so … we’re definitely nearing the […]