Rainy weekend 2.0

This last week has been all about building the stairs and prepping the sheet rocked walls for painting. And, of course, watching our Giants win their third World Series in five years. BTW, minutes after the final game we were provided a surprisingly large show of fireworks exploding over the Salinas Valley. Pretty cool.

We're widening the stairs to four feet but the Tombleson guys had some ideas about changing its length. They gave us three options: 1) keep them the same length and pitch; 2) extend the length out to the gate, keeping the same pitch and adding an additional step; or 3) reducing the length, adding 3/5" to the step height (still within code), and eliminating one step. The second option meant losing the access to the little fenced-in garden area between the steps and the garage, forcing us to get there only by going under the stairs. The third option increased that access area to slightly over two feet in width.

Dave, in typical Dave fashion, built plywood mock-ups for the second and third choices and attached them to the existing stairs so that we could visualize our options. He also added a board at the top of the stairs so that we could experience the difference in step height that came with option three. While all of this was happening, both Mike and Chip's mom stopped by and weighed in on their preferences. We asked Dave what he would do. We asked Corey what he would do. We asked Dave and Corey what Justo (who wasn't on site this week) would do. We went with option three.

Besides the wall prepping and stair building, the only other thing that happened this week was a call from John Laughton saying he needed more Plyboo sheets to finish the pantry and construct the transom doors. He stopped by on Thursday so he could accurately measure how much he needed. Thursday morning we placed the order and, another four thousand dollars later, the fourteen sheets of plywood were delivered to his shop on Friday.

Dave's mock-up of the stair options.

The old stairs did not have risers. We have enough bamboo decking leftover to include risers in the new design so Corey and Dave, once again, gave us some options. We chose the option in the second image below. They're also adding a third stringer to beef up the support.

We also decided to paint the substructure black to give it a more unified look.

For most of the week, Jack's pooping area was reduced significantly. What to do? More likely, where to do?

Throughout the renovation and up until Thursday, the day would end with the Tombleson crew putting up a plywood barrier between the stairs and the deck to keep Jack safely in the back yard. Now that they're mostly done, the new barrier just blocks the stairs giving Jack access to the new deck for the first time. In spite of our encouragement, he refuses to go onto the deck.

Robert went ahead and stained the ceiling in the BBQ room's half bath to match the beams. We probably would have specced it to be white but it looks so good we're going to keep it dark.

Another beautiful sunrise on Friday, about three hours before the sky opened up and started pouring rain. In the last 24 hours we've gotten over 2.5" of very much needed rain and more is forecast throughout the weekend.

Below shows the temporary planks the Tombleson crew have added to the new stairs to protect them from the heavy foot traffic expected over the next few weeks.

For the first time during the renovation we have workers here on a Saturday. They're finishing their work so that the painters can finish the walls on Monday.

Speaking of workers, we had some assistance from Zoya this morning. She spent a good fifteen minutes following the cursor on the monitor as we prepped the images for today's post. She wasn't really helping, but she was too cute to move out of the way.

At the very end of the week we finally heard back from BofA about the appraisal. That news, and what it means for the financing of the rest of the renovation, will require a post of its own….