7 August 2015

Sonny and Ian made short work of the what remained to be done on the sun room south wall, then transitioned to the north wall, getting three complete courses of shingles onto that 46 foot span.  Ben Rochon, a Goose Creek carpenter who worked for 8 years as a metal fabricator for Dock Doctors in Ferrisburg, arrived about 8 with his “suitcase welder”.  Literally the size of a carry-on bag, that machine allows Ben to weld just about anything, anywhere he can reach with an extension cord.  Ben welded the two steel beam support posts’ top plates to the beam, ensuring that they will stay in place even if a wild party in the living room gets out of hand.  (Actually, though rare, Vermont does experience earthquakes and relying on four ¼″ bolts to keep each post in place when things are a shakin’ is just asking for trouble.)  After Ben left, I spent the day sorting by size the 12 boxes of “reject” shingles that had accumulated during the east side and sun room south wall shingling extravaganza.  On those, most visible, walls, I insisted that only perfect shingles be applied.  Sonny and Ian were ruthless in rejecting any with even a slight imperfection.  However, except for the propane delivery person, nobody is ever likely to see the house north wall, which is where all the “rejects” are going (except for a box or so of really bad shingles, which we used for the starter course, completely buried under the bottom course.)  Just before noon, Dennis Senesac stopped by to view the plumbing work that Steve Poplawski did week before last and to eyeball the potential main power cable / half bath toilet drain conflict.  I had questioned the position of a supply line valve Steve put in and Dennis verified that that valve would have to be removed.  On a positive note, Dennis said the power line was not in the way of where the toilet drain will go.  So the duel at dawn has been called off.  Just at beer-thirty, James pulled in with the Ploof’s Yanmar mini-excavator, getting ready for tomorrow’s earthmoving endeavors.