I like the stone. Imma guess it's from a Lueders quarry? I don't know of anywhere else that has that blue/gray color.

Espinoza stone.

Joe told me they cut it right there in front of him.

No show joe did not show.

Apparently the rainy season has arrived.

Joe delivered another load of stone, but there's no way they can work in the monsoon.

ugh this weather.

I have to fix that faucet. It's driving me crazy. However, the relatively small sane part of my brain tells me to do do it since it will involve turning off the water, getting under the house, attempting to remove the old faucet in a really tight space, getting new parts, and putting it all together so it doesn't leak - in rainy cold weather.

I was ready to give it a go this morning but it appears another wave of rain is on its way.

Speaking of which

I really really really want this to seal properly the first go around. Should I just use tape? how much? Is there some sort of pipe glue? I'm working with metal. Like threaded steel or whatever they make water pipes out of. Not copper.

It's probably brass. If it's a compression fitting (has a gasket and/or very obvious flared ends), don't use tape. Otherwise, yeah use tape and tighten it up good. If you want to use thread sealant instead, make sure it's a high pressure one.

zikzak -

The house always has this cold feeling in the winter. I think I've done a pretty decent job of sealing things but I suspect the fact that it is pier and beam sort of makes the floor cold. I can definitely tell the difference without skirting.

Anyways - it made me wonder if there's a way to do something about this. Is there some sort of system like they do with concrete floors where they run heat coils through the floor? Maybe not exactly that but you get the idea. I guess you could put fiberglass insulation under there but that doesn't seem like a good idea.

You could do radiant heating to keep the floor warm, but it's $$$$$ to install and you'll still be losing heat. You should probably insulate it. That will pay for itself in just a few seasons. Only down side to doing it in fiberglass is you might get critters living in it if you don't cover it up. Other than that, it's fine as long as it stays dry and stays in place.

i would recommend comfort-therm if youre going to insulate the crawlspace.

http://www.specjm.com/products/polye...thermbatts.asp

It's right around $2 /sqft installed and wrapped in plastic but also breathable so you don't have moisture issues down the line which you can with spray foam.

Well, someone was here. I assume Joe. No actual work was done but some rocks that were laying in the yard have been moved around.

I asked my buddy who works at the gas company about the concrete that was poured around the gas meter line. Here was his reply.

Joe showed up with, not 1, not 2, not 3, but FOUR helpers!

And two tons of stone:

OK, so my original idea was to have rock half way up this wall. Actually, my vision was to go lower than what they did in this picture. Joe and I were both sort of thinking that maybe we just go to the top with it.

Opinions?

I think you can make a good case for either way, but I lean slightly towards going all the way to the top.

Design nerd elaboration:

The front facade is a mix of symmetrical and asymmetrical. If you take it all the way up, you're accentuating the symmetrical aspect which reads as more formal and more static. If you stop it half way you're accentuating the asymmetry, making it more informal and dynamic.

That's probably more than you wanted to know.

Actually, that is interesting.

Design is something I really fail at. I can never really envision the finished product very well.

I took a stab at designing my bathroom and it came out atrocious.

But, yeah, I'm going to the top with it.

On another note, Joe poured a footing along the side of the house for the stone skirting. Only he just laid the stone on top. The problem is, it is on a slant. There's probably about a foot drop from front to back. So, the stone is not level. Somehow he thinks he's going to fix it (he has a plan). My plan is to make him remove that and do it right.



Fortunately, he has competent help. When he does stuff himself it just isn't right.

Well, it's almost 4:30 on Thanksgiving and Joe and his crew are still here.

Here is the "finished" side. Joe insists the rock will match when it dries out. Hope so.



They fixed the skirting. Looks pretty good.

need some flashing advice

I'm pretty sure I need some sort of flashing over the stone skirting, but I'm not sure how to deal with it.

Option 1 (first pic) is to use some flashing that extends over the edge of the rock and bend the flashing edge down. Pretty much a guarantee no leak solution but it will look a bit funky.

Option 2 (second pic - right side) is to use some flashing that extends about to the end of the rock. Only I don't think it will reach the edge always. Not sure I like that idea.

Option 3 (second pic - left side). Use much smaller flashing and silicon underneath. I think this looks a lot better but I'm not convinced about the ability of silicon to stop all water here.

I think option 1 is probably the way to go, but ugh- having a big piece of metal on top of that nice rock. Maybe it won't look bad if I don't focus on it. I dunno.

Any other suggestions?

Wow- stone looks great. Very distinctive.

Re: flashing: I'm a fan of overkilling situations like this while trying to keep things aesthetically pleasing. The smaller flashing would be my preference.

How about this, with sufficient drying time between each step of course:

Apply polyurethane to seal the OSB at the stone/siding joint. If there's a gap between the stone and OSB, get some poly on that too. The OSB seems to be the weak link where any rot would start.

Apply polyurethane caulk at the OSB/stone joint.

Apply silicone caulk behind and under the flashing.

I'm a little confused. Is the bold the same as "apply polyurethane caulk"? Or is it like a plastic sheet and then you seal it to everything with polyurethane caulk?

I'm not really familiar with polyurethane anything. Does it come it containers like silicon caulk?

The way I'm interpreting this is to spread a decent layer of polyurethane something or other, then seal the metal to the polyurethane with silicon caulk?

Thanks.

I meant liquid polyurethane, the stuff you finish floors with, painted on the OSB. Sure, the housewrap helps, but as mentioned I like to overkill it when 1) everything's open and it's easy to do and 2) it's not that expensive to seal the OSB from the bottom course of siding on down. The stone and siding aren't going to rot. 20 years down the road it's the OSB which would fail.

So I'd "paint" the OSB, then put polyurethane caulk between the stone/OSB joint, then put silicone caulk (which is more flexible than poly) behind and under the flashing.

And of course check the silicone caulk on the underside of the flashing every year and add more when needed.

ahh - ok

Didn't do much today. Had to extend the faucet out so they could finish rocking the left side. Put the trim pieces for the electric outlets in and wired everything. I pretty much hate trying to cut hardi trim with a jigsaw. Cut the trim pieces that will go next to the rock. Still need to get 1 more.

They are almost finished. They need to cut the vents in the skirting and take care of a couple odds and ends. Joe is going to do something to the stone (wash it maybe?).

I'm glad we went up to the top on the right side. I'm pretty happy with how things turned out.

I'd get tan aluminum flashing custom broke for option A it if it were me. I don't entirely trust caulk in a situation like that, and it'd be too much shiny metal showing in all versions for my tastes. Plus you'll never get a clean seam trying to bend it over by hand.

I can shoot you a couple names for sheet metal shops in the area who'll fab it for you if you want. If I had to guess, I'd say you'd be looking at about $3/LF, but don't hold me to that. The last time I had sheet metal stuff done in your neck of the woods was 2008.

Stopping early today. The first thing this morning I tripped and fell sorta funny and wrenched my back a little. Then I smashed my thumb with a hammer. And I cut myself trying to cut some flashing.

My plan today was to start nailing up the siding but after a bit of trying to figure how to start I've decided that it's pretty much a two person job. My concern is making things level and making as few siding cuts as possible.

I did nail up the trim (7.25") next to the stone so they can caulk it up. And, I put some flashing along the deck on the back. Cleaned things up a bit. Not much else.