Post date: Jul 28, 2015 12:32:00 AM
Today I filled and carved the space adjacent to the mechanical room scupper so that it blends nicely with the parapet. The rounded places (corners and transitions) are filled with styrofoam, glued in, then carved to look nice. They are then covered with ‘Ice and Water Shield’, a thick, sticky asphalt-based waterproofing material.
Lalo and Ulisses then cover this waterproofing with white house wrap, then with heavy chicken wire (it is stucco lath), and finally with expanded metal lath. The purpose of the house wrap is to allow water to drain behind the stucco. The purpose of the wire and lath is to reinforce and hold the cement plaster stucco to the house structure. On the inside of the parapets they install a metal plaster stop to form a neat edge to the plaster. (The stucco wraps over the top of the parapet to the inside.)
The painter came with several samples of stain color for the lintels and other exterior wood. I picked the only one that really looked like sun-bleached DouglasFir. He says he can easily stain all the exterior wood this week, prior to the plastering. That means he won’t have to mask off the plaster from the stain. This is a Cabot oil-based stain, which he will thin so that it doesn’t mask the texture of the rough-sawn wood.
I will have to find a way to seal the large cracks that often form when a large piece of wood dries. There are already some in the porch post. I’m thinking that a dark-colored caulk will still look like ‘crack in wood’ yet keep out water, insects, and rot. Several large lintels in the old Taos city hall have big rot areas because water got in.
The plumbing inspector signed off today, but we will need to block the roof drain (which runs through the garage so I can store water) from fire damage by building a wallboard box around it. He doesn't want to burn through the pipe and allow the fire from the garage to enter the main part of the house. Seems reasonable, but I have no idea how I will do that and still watch the water clarifier.
The insulation contractor came today to inspect and give Eli a good cost estimate, as well as ensure that the site is ready for him. (It is not. We have to install the air ducts in the ceiling space before we can blow insulation.) Also we clarified ‘roof’ vents for the ceiling space.
And the security vendor came. I don’t want a security system, but I do need to know that a window is open before I start blowing hot air out of the house (to cool it at night). This was, of course, confusing for the vendor, but he phoned his technician, I explained, and, yes, I can get a signal to the furnace that it is OK to blow air out of the house.
I received three boxes of plumbing fixtures this evening: the lavatory faucet, the wall-hung toilet bowl, and the utility sink.