Sheetrock, brickwork, and painting

Friday was another busy day at the house site. Just ten weeks from the start of framing on 4 May, the sheetrock finishers were completing their work, and the painters were beginning theirs. Meanwhile, on the outside, the masons continued to lay brick. Here two of them are installing brick under a windowsill on

the west end of the house. You can see bits of sunshine on the brick in the area where the electric meter will go and also in the picture above of the southwest corner. Terry, the chief mason, likes our choice of a brown brick and its matching morter a lot; they will go well with the roof, as well as with the stone he will put on later. "I'm so tired of laying red brick," he has said more than once. Above right, he works on the pointing above the window the others were working on earlier.

Above is another view of the southwest corner and its brickwork. Also in this picture is an insulation worker installing foam under the part of the living room bay window that extends over the deck.

Inside the house, the sheetrock mud is getting its final sanding and smoothing, while the painters are already putting on the first coat of paint in the garage. The man on the right is spraying on the paint, while the one on the left smooths it out with a large roller and makes sure that it bonds well with the wallboard.

Next week, the masons and painters will both be back at work. The painters will probably finish the first coat early in the week, and the masons expect to have the brickwork done by week's end.  --oc