Reboot would have been 16 today. We miss our puppy.
Monthly Archives: November 2015
The first step
Emerald Hill is now turned over to Luis, stairbuilder.
He is turning hickory planks, carefully, deliberately, into risers, treads and nosings, cutting wood with what has to be the smallest, most-underpowered, beaten-up, portable Black & Decker table saw, set up outside on the front walk, on a dreary, overcast and sometimes wet day, matching his skills and tape measure against a 7-inch thin-kerf blade. He bought the machine used, he tells Steven, at a flea market 10 years ago, he thinks. He’s burned through many larger, heavier, more powerful table saws, but this is the machine he comes back to with trust. It’s the story he will scribe as he builds the stairs over the next four days.







Garage permit, version 2
One long holiday weekend later, the City of Austin today issued a new and separate permit for the construction of the garage, resolving questions about how to call for inspections of the garage under the existing permit for the house when the inspections of the foundation, steelwork, concrete, framing and roofing of the house are already complete.
Week ending 27 Nov. 2015
Ron Dahlke from Ranserve files this week’s summary.
This week:
- Installed hard wood floor
- Set rebar for slab
- Misc cabinet repairs
Next week:
- Start hardwood install on stairwell
- Schedule form survey
- Structural engineer visit
- Resolve permit issue
Notes, 27 Nov. 2015
Above — Steven carried one of the kitchen stools to Emerald Hill for a test fitting under the island. It works. But he may need to trim an inch or two off the height of each leg to create more clearance.

For Black Friday, FedEx and the USPS delivered:
- 14 passage locksets, Schlage F10 V LAT 619 CEN, ordered online via Amazon at $28.63 per set vs $34.98 from Home Depot or $39.97 from Lowe’s.
- 3 deadbolts, Schlage B60 N 619 CEN at $31.80 from Amazon, vs $35.80 at Home Depot or $35.97 at Lowe’s.
- 1 entry set, Schlage F60 V CEN 619 LAT, $126.65 from Amazon vs $157 at Lowe’s and apparently not sold by Home Depot.
- 1 Ring wi-fi enabled doorbell.
- 1 Rainmachine HD-12 “smart” sprinkler controller that connects to NOAA weather forecasts, promising to cut water use when watering the lawn.
Still on order — privacy and dummy door handles, and the “smart” lock for the front door.
Steven observes: Ordering from Amazon is saving multiple hundreds of dollars on lock sets, door handles, deadbolts, smart devices.


Shall we dance?
Jacquela danced ballet as a girl. Somewhere, boxed for the move, are her toe shoes. Today, at Emerald Hill, she gets her dance floor.
Landers is almost done installing the prefinished hickory planks.
Let’s dance:





















Garage permit question
Ron and Kathleen from Ranserve report they have contacted the City of Austin to resolve a question about the garage construction permit.
As explained to Steven, the City approved construction of the garage as an amendment to the construction plans for the house — which is what the City advised was the correct procedure. But … when Ron spoke with the inspector two days ago about how to get the foundation for the garage inspected and approved, the inspector checked with the office — and he advised that the City needs to revise the permit, separating the garage as its own permit and construction process — which in turn will allow Ron to call for the foundation, steelwork, concrete, framing, roofing and other inspections — which he cannot do at this point because all those inspections are already done and approved for the house.
Kathleen advises she will have an update next week.
In the interim, complying in full with the plans already approved by the City, Gilsa continues to install steelwork for the foundation.
Above, long runs of rebar are prepped from front to back of garage.

It’s a big driveway. Somebody has to park in it.
By Steven’s count … three vans, two trailers, a small mountain of dirt — and there’s still room for at least two more trucks.
The Army of Landers
For a history lesson, click here.
Emerald Hill is invaded today by the Army of Landers — Ivan and his team of eight tasked with installing the new hickory wood floors — Victor, Diego, Carlos, Leonardo, Aldo, Miguel, Manny and Gerardo.
Steven anthropomorphizes. She’s cute in that flirty miniskirt. But then she shows up in that little black dress …















The men of steel
The riff is just so obvious …
Ernesto, Jose Luis and Ely from Gilsa Construction today began laying steel rebar for the garage foundation.
Above, Ernesto bends steel with his bare hands — plus a pipe sleeve into which the rebar is inserted, with the rebar also clamped into a bending jig.




