La Mansión Maybe Mañana

This waiting really is tedious. But we had to wait for the concrete to cure & for the post-tension cables to be stretched.

Sometimes delays happen for good reasons, like better financial planning. The lumber was originally going to be delivered on Monday, October 29th, but we learned that if it was, the payment for it would be due November 10th. We decided to wait to have it delivered until Thursday, November 1st so that payment for it wouldn't be due until December 10th. That should allow for the framing to be completed & inspected & for the draw from the bank to be managed correctly.

In the midst of all this, we had to sign paperwork recognizing that a lien would be placed on the house if the contractor didn't pay or the bank didn't pay or we didn't pay for the lumber. I guess the company has had problems with non-payment in the past. So by delaying the delivery a bit, we could avoid any potential hassles in that arena because of timing.

The lumber was delivered on November 1st & framing began November 2nd. We didn't get to see the initial work because we were on a Dia de los Muertos tour that day, but we did catch up on the weekend. I was amused & pleased to see that at least some of the lumber was from Weyerhaeuser since I retired from there. The framing forman, Vince, said that's who they use for special orders.

Because of the stucco, it's not usual to put what they call "shear" walls all around the house down here. They usually do it only at stress points. But because Trout's shop is so tall, the whole house had to get an engineering stamp from Pima County. And if it was going to have to get that, we decided to make bigger windows closer to the corners which required that the entire house be sheathed in OSB, or shear panels as they call them here.