Time to finish the oven; add fireplace

[james]

Robert,

Exactly. This was the first time we hosed the whole thing down, and it feels good just to see it clean and shiny. I planted grass seed up to the steps yesterday, which will keep dirt down, and we are sealing on Monday.

It shows what you've been up to when "clean" feels so good.
James

[james]

Next step -- we've started the block wall. We are putting it down exactly where the wood fence was, so we were able to get an over-the-counter permit. The trench is done, we are bending and tying rebar, and the concrete pump is here.

You can see that we propped up the old fence between the house and the road, just to keep some privacy (and help keep the dogs in), while we build the wall.

I'm excited. Hopefully, this will look pretty good.
James

[Xabia Jim]

James, I noticed you'd put your kitchen/oven picture up at FB...very good looking indeed!

Have fun!

[james]

Jim,

It's also on the cover of our new FB Residential Oven brochure. :-)

I will post photos of the wall going up today. We poured the footer yesterday.
James

[james]

Here is the start of the block wall. The foot with the embedded rebar, the large square block for the column and the first course of standard blocks.

The Home Depot delivery truck showed up on time this morning and we're off and running.
James

[james]

We're up seven courses on the block wall. I guess that's about 56". Now we get to decide if we want a curve, and if we are going up one more course.

It's the trade off between privacy, and feeling as though the space is larger and airier.

What do you think?
James

[gjbingham]

I like larger and airier. Close it off too much, and it will feel like a prison.

[Frances]

You're really flying through this one!

I'd agree with George on wall hight. You could always put a couple of strategically placed potted plants on top of the wall if you need more privacy.

[james]

Originally Posted by Frances

...

You could always put a couple of strategically placed potted plants on top of the wall if you need more privacy.

Nice idea. Maybe we can add a little alcove in the wall if it starts feeling too massive.

XJ, we can hang Valenciano plates -- like your house.
James

[james]

We took the advice of going lower, and added a couple of curves to the wall to keep some interested.

Here are two good photos. First you can see the guy with the pump standing and pumping concrete into the cores. Second, you can see the scratch coat of stucco on the wall. These could be helpful to anyone doing stucco directly on concrete block, or building a wall.

Next stop, the decorative caps and the smooth coat. Slowly, slowly.
James