Guest House Floor (almost) Done

For the past week, I've been working on the guest house floor, and I finished the last room today (except for the final row, which has to be cut to size on a table saw, which I don't have).

Roofing Work Continues

The roof on the master suite is almost done, and progress is being made on the main building.

Looking towards the back of the house and master suite (with the shed in the background)

The shed roof framing is done, and the siding is up

Breezeway roof framing

More Roofing

Work on the main building roof has started.

View from the office

 The framing of the breezeway between the main building and the master suite is done.

The trenching is done, the water lines are in, and the trench was filled with sand.

While we had the excavator, we also dug a trench for a future downspout discharge on the back of the master suite. The water will be released in the forest about 15 feet behind the house.

While working in the forest, I discovered a small tree fern.

It could be a Hawaiian tree fern, known as a Hapu'u, which is endemic to Hawaii, or an Australian tree fern, which is an invasive.  The tree ferns can grow as tall as 25 feet.

Shed Framing and Trenching

The framing of the shed is done.

When completed, the water heater/tank, water pump, and filters will go in the shed, so we need to run a supply pipe from the water tank to the shed, and another pipe from the shed to the guest house.  The ground is mostly solid lava or a much of lava chunks and gravel, and it's difficult to dig even with an excavator.

Digging the trench for the water lines.

 

These are the pieces from the leftover concrete, broken up by the excavator.  We can use them as pavers.

Gravel for Driveway

We got a truckload of gravel (something like 20 cubic yards) for the driveway.

Mitch spreading out and packing down the gravel

Main Building Siding

The first siding on the main building is up.

The siding on the front of the master suite and the front door were also installed.

Site of future master suite side wall and side door

First Siding Up

The first of the siding panels are up. We've been painting the grooves first, because it is much easier to paint before they are put up (it has to be done by brush, since a roller can't gt into the grooves), and the tops and bottoms (for the sake of neatness).

Far side of the master suite

Back of the master suite

Other side of the master suite

 The forms were taken off the concrete slabs.

Shed

Landing for kitchen door

Landing for back lanai (the shed pad is in the background)

Concrete landings poured

We poured the concrete for the exterior stair landings today.

Form for the main house front landing

Kitchen door landing form

In front of the main building

In front of the master suite

Next to the kitchen

Landing for the staircase from (what will become) the back lanai

Shed for the water heater, water pump filtration system, etc.  The thicker part will be the enclosed shed, and the thinner part will be a "covered porch" space.

Smoothing extra concrete to make pavers. The concrete has to be purchased in increments of cubic yards, and rather than just dumping the excess, we poured it between a couple of boards and smoothed it. After letting it set for a while, it can be broken up to make pavers.

More windows

More of the windows are in.

Next to the front door and laundry room

Front door

Master suite closet (left) and bathroom (right)

The roofing work is also progressing.

First banana harvest

The bananas have been growing for a while (http://big-island-living.blogspot.com/2013/08/post-pour-concrete-work-first-bananas.html), and the finally stated to ripen, so we cut them off the trees. We got two pretty big bunches.  These are apple bananas, which are a bit smaller than supermarket (Cavendish) bananas, but they're sweeter and have a nice texture.

Breezeway framing done & roof started

The framing of the breezeway connecting the main building to the master suite is done. For the breezeway, trusses were not used, and each rafter is put in individually.

The roofing on the master suite has also been started.

Mitch and Lucky working on the roof

The purlins on the office are done, and it's ready for roofing too.

Temporary treads were put on the stairs, making it a lot easier to get up and down.

Landing at the top