Brick Progress

Here are some pictures I took today:

They've completed the bricks on the alley side of the house and around the front door. I like the soldier course they've done above the door. The one over the garage should be the same, but the one over the bay windows should use the end of the brick instead of the tall side like this one does.

My AC guy was there today to vent the bathroom fans to the soffit. He's done now, and he's calling for his inspection. My electrician will come hopefully next week to finish the outlets and then he can get his inspection done. That will leave the framing inspection before I can insulate. By the way, I chose my insulator today. I decided to go with Energy and Comfort Solutions. They're only $100 dollars more expensive than my other favorite bid, and they're going to do a caulk package when they're done. That's sealing around all the window and door headers and other cracks and crevices. They use Demilec spray foam, which is supposed to be very similar to Icynene.

I thought I had my first instance of some of my tools going "missing" yesterday. We couldn't find a hammer and a pair of wire cutters. Well, the wire cutters turned out to be right where we left them (someone just didn't know where that was!) and the brick layers had used the hammer. But they didn't take it. They left it at the site when the left for the day. My dad didn't like that one bit and wanted to remove every one of our tools, brooms, etc. But I like having them there in case I want to go over there and work by myself. That way I don't need to dig them out of his piles of stuff. So we put the tools in more of a secluded place. The brick layers like to make themselves at home in the kitchen and breakfast area, which is where we've usually kept our tools.

So far, the brick layers are doing a very nice job. The owner of the company has mostly been there himself, and his son has also been there. They are Mexican, and the only one out of the group who speaks English well is the son. When he's not there, I can't communicate very well with them. For example, yesterday they were attaching their hose to one of my hose faucets outside. By the time they left, the valve mechanism was broken and leaking. When I stopped by today to drop off a check for the boss, he wasn't there but one of his guys got him on the phone. I tried asking him what happened to the hose. What I got back was something I couldn't understand. Oh well, the plumber came out and fixed it today anyway. I just hope they don't break that one (or any of the others) again.