READY TO COME OUT OF THE DIRT

Every piece of lumber gets touched three times between the beach and the site.  Once off-loading it from the rack, a second time loading it into Dan's dump truck, and a third time off-loading it at the site.  Never mind the challenges of scheduling a barge and landing it on Lovango in the first place- even something as basic as getting materials 150' from the beach to the site is made incredibly tiresome and labor-intense by the remote island setting.  

Which is why it's so exhilarating to have the foundation stripped and back-filled and all the lumber up at the site.  Heidi just got final prints to Dan and the structure should start coming off the page in a hurry.  The fun part.

Dan's dump truck with a load from the beach.

Sill plates stacked and ready to be placed.

The originally cut drive to the right and newly cut drive down to cottage on left.  Great access.  For the record- while the cottage is 150' from beach, the drive is about probably .2 miles down the beach and then  switchback and another .2 miles up the hill.

Back doorway out of upstairs bedroom to (future) outdoor shower.

West wall and site of master bedroom outdoor shower.

Trying to create some terracing between drive and east lawn area.

East lawn area of kitchen/living room.

Trac hoe packed up and leaving.  For last time?

LUMBER ARRIVING

The forms have been stripped over the past couple of weeks and on Saturday all the lumber to frame and sheath the cottage arrived (first from FL, more recently from STT) on two 20' racks.  At the same time the barge (re)delivered the track hoe to do the final grading for the driveway and around the foundation.  As of today, June 15, all the lumber has been off-loaded from the racks and Dan's dump truck (which also came over on the barge) is ready to start hauling it all from the beach up to the site.  Framing is about to begin.

The recession ended about 5 minutes before we started to build this place and shipping and barge companies were the first to leverage the fact.  Both the barge rental and the rack shipping were a form of legalized (as far as we can tell) sodomy.  But still much more convenient than our swimming it over ourselves.

The foundation stripped and coated... ready for backfilling.

Another view of the stripped foundation.

Barge arrived with 2 20' racks of lumber, the track hoe, and Dan's dump truck.  Landing on west side of dock to avoid coral (and expensive fines for damaging coral).

Off loading the track hoe on the beach.

The track hoe sneaking bewteen the dock and Love Shack... Barely.

First rack, off loaded on the beach.

Second rack... still waiting.

Track hoe cutting drive and terracing.

ONE YEAR & ONE DAY LATER- THE BIG POUR

366 days ago the first shovelfuls of earth were moved on the Lovango lot.  Today, the final yard of concrete was poured for the cottage.  It's been a long and winding road that has nonetheless been productive and always forward moving.  As good as we could have hoped for given the challenges.

The logistics of this pour were staggering, beginning with the forms themselves and the enormous 12' back wall.  That it all came together as beautifully as it did is a real testament to Dan and his crew.  Exceptional work.

Things should be simpler (not easy) as we come out of the dirt.  In the next couple of weeks the forms will be stripped and earth will be back-filled and finish graded.  All the structural lumber has been ordered and should be shipping from Florida in the next few weeks and arriving to a site that will be ready to emerge from its new, solid foundation.

The morning dawned clear and calm, a perfect day for landing on Lovango.  The barge made two runs with 3 full trucks on each.  The pumper truck was delivered the day before and returned on the second run.

Filling the footers first.  Note stainless steel anchor bolts positioned pre-pour.

Waiting for the second barge run.  This is where things stood after the first three truckloads of concrete.

All poured, barge and trucks back in St. Thomas.  Beginning the spin cycle as evening arrived.

'nuf said.

BIG DAY TOMORROW

Dan has been working on his captain's license the last couple of weeks but has everything set up for the final pour tomorrow morning.  Should get the footers, floor, cistern cap, and 12' back wall in one felled swoop.  The pumper truck is on the beach and ready to go.  Dan is looking to pour 54 yds (6 truckloads) in two barge runs.  Last time he went with two trucks per run... this time three in hopes of speeding things up.  Big day tomorrow.  Fingers crossed.

Pumper truck delivered to the beach today all ready for pumping 54 yds of concrete up to the site.  

STILL STILL PREPPING FOR SLAB

... but getting really close!  Alot of work forming the 12' back wall and laying in both the reinforcing steel and plumbing that will run through floor and back wall.  And building the scaffolding that will facilitate the pour.

Pano shot from the cistern looking to the 12' back wall.  Mechanical room (batteries and pump) back left, laundry room center, and storage back right.  Lots of rebar!  The shed in the background is on Dan's property and the cottage to the right is Capt Phil's.

The back wall is being laid back 1.5" over the 12' height to try to balance pressures from the bank.

Looking down on the floor.  The dug out spot is a footing to support a carrying post.

Impressive array of scaffolding to provide access for folks to handle the concrete.

Shot from the top of the driveway.  St Thomas in the back ground.

ON SITE VISIT

Sailing vacation down in the US/BVI gave us the chance to stop by the site and review things with both Dan (contractor/neighbor) and Heidi (architect).  A few tweaks were made in a plan that seems to (finally) be settling.  Progress on forms for slab and back wall are slow but steady.  Dan is hoping to have the complete structure framed and closed up by the time he goes on vacation for  month or more beginning July 21.  I write this down to have a reference.

Welcoming Committee chair and co-chair Olive Oyl (Great Dane) and Eeyore (Bassette Hound) hold fort in the beach shack.

Forms for 12' concrete wall with rebar and plumbing almost all installed.  Front forms are next and then ready to pour.  Block out on back wall is for door outside from upstairs bathroom to outdoor shower.  Washer hook-up is below that.

Family reviews prints with Dan and Heidi.

Plan has kitchen/living/dining/bath/master bedroom downstairs and three small bedrooms and a bath upstairs.  Both showers are connected to bathrooms but outside to save space and take advantage of the climate.

STILL PREPPING FOR SLAB

Debating the height of the back wall (to be poured).  Growing the footprint 6 feet in the back has put us deeper into the bank (and closer to it) and what was going to work as an 8' back wall before is likely going to wind up at 12'.  Also looking at "battering" the wall- leaning it into the bank about 1.5" to try to balance the pressure of the bank.  Fortunately the earth is relatively stable there, sort of a shale-like ledge that can be broken but not prone to shifting.

While soils are stable, plans are not.  The change in size and shape of the footprint have caused much last minute adjustments and it appears we are almost completely abandoning the original plans for something that better fits the added space.  First floor is now the main living area and plumbing drains have been laid in... written in stone, as they say.  Second floor is still tbd.

2 tons of rebar coming over from St Thomas.

2 tons of rebar getting humped up the hill to site on Dan's Toyota truck.

Laying in the drains.

No more changes to drains.