After three weeks back home in NY, the progress on the house here in HI has been amazing! The roof on the master suite is complete (except for the corrugated metal top). I am so glad I was at the property this week to witness firsthand all the hard work that went into building the roof on the smaller of the two structures. By midweek, as you will see in the pictures, you could no longer see sky from inside. Also, after some second-guessing our decision to pickle all the exposed wood inside the two structures, I am very pleased with the way it looks. The pickling gives a nice sense of "clean and bright"to the beautiful wood slats that are already covering the inside of the ceiling, and will soon cover the walls, too.
On Wednesday this week, a huge crane arrived to lift the large, heavy ridge beam that is 34 feet in the air. Well, 34' above ground, firmly planted on the two support beams that the crew erected to hold it in place. There's a great video of the crew putting the beam and the first of many cross-beams in place. I left after the first two cross-beams went in, then visited again at the end of the day along with my niece Samantha who's visiting this week. We were impressed to see that all the cross-beams were in place, ready to start the next phase of building this larger structure's roof. It will take longer than the separate master suite since the crew first has to build scaffolding all around the building. Working 34 feet in the air may have a great view, but it requires great care when moving around!
I apologize in advance for the larger than usual number of pictures. But there's a lot to show, and I hope you enjoy this edition of the blog! (Even though Samantha and I have visited Kehena Beach, McKenzie Park, the warm ponds, Lava Tree State Park, and today hiked Volcano Park and were in two craters (Hale Maumau and then Kilauea Iki), I am not including a travelogue this time.
Ty and helper Chris working on the master BR roof
My niece Samantha who's visiting from PA
Note the extra thick slabs used for the steps, a nice touch
You can see what the whitewashed boards look like very clearly in this picture
Samantha about to try some awapuhi juice from the ginger awapuhi plant. Paul Mitchell introduced America to using it as a hair conditioner, and it works!
Kaye Howe doing a nice job on the staining of the exterior trim
The crane arriving!
Putting the cross pieces in place for the master BR window
Ty is 34 feet in the air here!
Putting the ridge beam in place
Ty fastening the ridge beam
Ty grappling with the ridge beam
Master BR with the roof complete, ready for the metal top
Raising a bundle of boards to the deck
Weeding crew
Happy homeowner!
Roof with all the cross beams in place
Pano shot of crane, main house, and master BR hale
Selfie with the last bit of sunlight before they complete this roof.
I haven't seen this one blooming before, any idea what it is?
Work continues on our building project while I am back in New York with my husband for three weeks. Bob Kirk and his crew (Dave, Ty and Tim) were very busy with painting, completing the lanai that surrounds the main house on all four sides, and they even started with the first part of a roof. It's the little one over the entrance portico, but hey, it's a roof in the making!
Bob is the painter for the crew. As you can see in the short video below, he was busy spraying the prime and then the final color all over the trim and wood parts of the main house and the master suite. Dave is the master carpenter who does what I call the "jigsaw puzzle" work. He completed the numerous vents that are required by code in Hawaii, then Bob painted them. He also built the frames for the pocket doors that are between the two downstairs guest bedrooms.
The pictures this week are of the decking and painting, but rainbows are featured! After Bob Kirk and his crew and I had hung out at the end of the day and had some beers to celebrate the progress on the construction, they left. I stuck around to take the last set of pictures before heading back to the mainland the next day. It rained for a few minutes, then a bright double rainbow appeared over the ocean with the two ends over the main house and the master suite. A friend of mine in Hawaii calls me "rainbow catcher" since I have been seeing, and posting pictures, of so many recently. These, however, were my favorite. They're a great sign appearing over our future home!
Check out the first roof going up above, covering the entrance portico!
This blog's travelogue is from a hike that I took last month to Shipman's Beach aka Kea'au Beach. It's close to my home, and a relatively easy 5 mile round trip from parking to the beach and back. Once we arrived at the beach, a stunning vista greeted us-the pictures capture the beautiful blue of the sky as reflected in the freshwater inlet that leads into the Pacific. The Shipmans still own 17,000 of the original 70,000 acres around their homes. Click on this link for Shipmans Beach photos that I took on my hike with our friend David G.
Here's a little history of Shipman's,
"According to the estate’s historical records, part of the ahupua‘a of Kea‘au was sold to Shipman by King Lunalilo’s Estate. In 1882 Shipman bought out the other stakeholders, ultimately owning 70,000 acres. Today, the estate owns about 17,000. Two large homes, along with a pond to attract nene (which we saw in great number!) and a large expanse of rolling grassy hills, are located on the plot facing the beach."
Last week the building project moved more quickly than I had expected. A daunting part of the building process is making hundreds and hundreds of decisions. My husband Robert Welsch and I make 90% of the choices and material selections that would normally be done over the yearlong course of building our house. But since he was in Hawaii for only 6 weeks earlier this year, we made many trips to Home Depot, HPM Building Supplies, Floor Decor, Zen Cabinets and Big Island Granite. We have also spent a good deal of time online finding and buying other materials needed like cabinet pulls. Last week I had to hurry to Hilo to pick and buy tile for the shower floors, and check out kitchen appliances while I was there.
Meanwhile, construction is going smoothly. Ty and Tim, carpenters extraordinaire, are in pics below hammering in the huge bolts that you will see Ty finishing off with the electric drill in this short video.
Part of my job being onsite is making some of the remaining 10% of decisions and approving changes. This week we had to decide on how the concrete stain would be done and would look. Bob Kirk, our contractor, did a test area. We both agreed it looked like rust, and not in a good way. Off we went to my neighbor's home to show Bob the beautiful job they did on their concrete stain. Bob then went to Hilo to buy three different colors of stain which he will personally apply. The photos below show what we want to achieve on our own floors.
Bob getting up close and personal with the concrete stain at our neighbors
Tim
Ty
Tim and Ty pounding in a large fastener-
Now for Kilauea Iki pics from two recent hikes with my friends Charlie and Greg, and another one with Sharon and Brian.
Charlie striking a pose out of a hiking gear catalogue (as best as I can tell)
Greg, Charlie and me
Kilauea plume in the distance
Dancing David
Brian and Sharon in a great pano shot from the bottom of Kilauea Iki
My Doctor Sharon and husband Brian on our Kilauea Iki hike
After hiking down 400 vertical feet, we then trekked across the (now dormant) crater
