The Brandt Blog

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. […]

I am in charge of documenting our house progress for the next few days.  I’m not as witty as Jeff but I’m a great picture taker.  The guys were busy drywalling the first floor.  There was stuff everywhere and I didn’t want to get in their way so I only took a picture of my […]

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 […]

It was a very productive week…the plumbing, electrical and HVAC inspections all passed with flying colors.  The masonry went up five days in a row thanks to the cooperation of the weather patterns and the insulation guys are about 75% done with blowing, caulking and rolling the different types of insulation into place.  On Monday, […]

I found out yesterday first hand that the water is flowing within the house.  While in the laundry room talking things over with Rick, I reached out and turned the hot water valve for what will supply the washing machine.  Imagine my surprise when in my gut I felt the blast of water hit me… So […]

About six or seven masons showed up on Saturday to keep company with Ted and Mike…who were adjusting the art niches in the stairwell and finishing the soffits in the basement. The masons made great progress, finishing the south wall of the MBR and half of the west MBR wall while laying a few rows […]

It’s been a little while since our last update because progress before the holiday seemed a little to drag….but… The masons returned to work this week and have been making good progress on both the north ‘tower’ stone and the rear of the house brick. The carpenters have been getting deep into the detail work […]