Update #2

Here is part II of the work blog. I have not had time to set up the web page, but hope to pick up the wireless router and ethernet cable Joe said we could use when I drive from Glens Falls NY to Lexington on Friday afternoon. (Is that possible Joe and Jess?)

Peter returned to Oak Bluffs on Wednesday, the 16th, and everything was nice and dry. The tarps worked very well. He cleared out the dirt from the foundation hole and swept off the concrete so it could dry overnight. On Thursday, he mixed mortar and laid two courses of cement blocks. It took three 80 lb bags of mortar to do the job and the result was a fairly level wall. On Friday, he mixed cement and attached 9 foundation bolts, using excess cement to fill in some areas at the ends of the wall. All the bags of cement are now gone, including the two from the back room. He also framed in half of the back wall by lying it on the ground and nailing in the pieces. On Saturday morning he tightened down the pressure treated board which lay on the cement blocks and had holes for the foundation bolts and started laying out the other half of the back wall waiting for Bob and Bill and his truck which arrived about 7am.

What a dynamo Bill Bond turned out to be. By 10:00 we had the back wall up and framed. By lunch we had the ledger board up along the back bedroom walls and the template for the 2x12 rafters cut out. Peter made a run to the lumber yard for more roofing and plywood and came back with a leak in the brake line. Bill cut out a piece of the line and sent Peter off on his bike to get a replacement part over near the Vineyard Haven Kronigs Market. When he got to the parts store he discovered he had dropped the piece, and had to bike back to get another piece. This time he took a taxi back to a friendlier store (the Napa store was going to close precisely at 3:30 so the workers could catch the 3:45 ferry). Vineyard Auto Supply recommended Bill remove both ends of the brake line so they could be sure of the fittings and told him by phone they would be open on Sunday morning. By the time Peter got back all the rafters were up. Bob and Peter passed up sheets of plywood and Bill tacked them down with his nail gun. By 7pm, when we broke for dinner and the night, the main roof was covered with plywood. Peg arrived after dark and we sat around a fire in the evening until Bob and Bill were nodding off, since they had been up since 4am.

On Sunday, Bill covered the roof with water and ice covering while Bob and Peter carried shingles in the wheelbarrow around the Iroquois house to the back of the new wall. (Actually, Bob did most of the carrying as Peter opted to set up for roofing over the pantry and new porch outside the window near the red stuffed chair in the kitchen and also continue framing in the windows - his length measurements were off by 6" the first time he framed them). Peg was amazed by how much room there will be in the new kitchen as she saw the new roof and back wall in the daylight. Bill alternated between shingling (carrying 90lb bundles up to the roof on a ladder we scrounged from Norman) and working on his truck. This time Bob took the taxi to the parts store and actually came back with some parts.

By mid-afternoon the shingling of the main roof was done and a template rafter for the roof addition over the pantry was cut. Peter decided to leave for Glens Falls and Katherine's birthday celebration and Bill decided to stand by for the 3:45 ferry after loading the red chair on his truck, leaving Peg and Bob to clean up and put plywood over the upstairs back window and pantry roof. We covered this roof with scraps of water and ice.

Peter, Ellyn, and Bob are due back on Saturday, the 26th. It is not supposed to have rained much this week. We will see how it goes.

Take care
Peter