Stucco & Turtle Tracks

The exterior stucco is progressing and we should see some color on the outside in a week or so.  Check out all the turtle tracks and nests on the beach.

Turtle Nests Everywhere!

Under the guise of the night, turtles shuffle onto the shore, lay their eggs in a nest by the dunes, and scoot back into the ocean.  The baby turtles face many dangers from the time they are laid as eggs to the moment that the first salty wave breaks over their head.  Mostly, we can't ensure their safety, but we can help:  Firstly, by keeping a close eye on pets.  Secondly, by installing turtle-safe lights.  These lights are required along beaches because won't confuse the turtles as they make their way towards the ocean. 

Installing turtle-safe lights is just one of the precautions we have to take for this house.  My dad just finished setting up a lightning protection system.  Additionally, with the stucco still in progress, the windows and doors were layered with plastic as protection.

The aluminum roofing is up.  When I saw it from far away, it reminded me of Vector's house in Despicable Me, because the blue roof almost camouflaged with the noontime sky.

I didn't get a photo of the roof, but I thought
this was a cool angle.

In other news: some errors with the windows were fixed up; and the ocean is still a little chilly, despite the thermometer hitting around 95 Fahrenheit every day.  (We still swim, even if it's a little cold!)

 Stick around for frequent updates on the construction of 65 Degrees, the lair of a surfing mad scientist.

Hello.

Allow me to introduce myself.  Hello, I'm Heather.  I'm a fifteen-year-old kid and writer of The Blergh. But enough about me.


Let's talk about my dad- the mastermind behind 65 Degrees.  He's a hardworking structural engineer with a penchant for old radio shows.

And this is Earthquake.

Last summer, when construction got started, my father asked me to set up a blog to follow the progress.  I did so with great enthusiasm at first, but when school shouldered its way into August, Dad was left to run the blog himself.  He did a pretty darn good job, especially for a math-minded engineer who moans at creative writing.  But he works hard and has a lot on his plate, so this post is sort of my announcement that I am taking the blog duty off of his shoulders.  I'll make it good, Daddo.


I don't understand the architecture and construction stuff as well as Dad does, but he's pretty good at explaining it.  Here's what I've picked up so far:

1.  Building a house, like everything, is a lot more fun on the beach.  Dad leaves a surfboard in the house so the construction workers can surf in their lunch break.

2. Building a house, like everything, is just a sequence of problems and solutions.  Most of the time, you just have stand up and solve the problems yourself.

3.  There is an art to stucco.

4.  One must duck when one walks under the scaffolding, so one does not hit their head.

Earthquake, enjoying the shade and watching over the house.

As is the way of summer in Florida, the days have been decorated by scattered afternoon thunderstorms and powerful, day-long deluges.  Even with the rain, 65 Degrees is making progress.

1.  We've picked white with a gray-blue accent for the outside colors.

2.  The insulation is in.

3.  The stucco has begun.

The view from the house.

Happy Father's Day.
Stay tuned for frequent posts on the development of 65 Degrees, the house of ultramodern Annette Funicello's dreams.

Update, roof, framing, A/C, deck

I haven't posted an update in a while.  It isn't that nothing has happened.  I've been so busy that this blog has been neglected.

All of the interior framing is in.  The underside of the roof deck was insulated with closed-cell spray foam.

The aluminum standing seam roof was installed on the upper sloped roof.  It is an Englert Slate Blue. The flat roof deck and the oceanfront balcony are finished with a PVC membrane decking material called DecTec CoolStep.  The air conditioning ductwork was installed.  I installed the piping for the central vacuum system.

Last Friday, the electricians started the interior rough wiring.  It should take them a couple of weeks.  The plumber has been so busy, he keeps pushing his schedule back.  He probably won't start for another week or two (If I'm lucky).

The stucco contractor has started prepping the house, but they can't start until the trades are finished.  They may be able to do part of the work before the plumbers are done.

Windows

Windows are in.  The roof underlayment is on the sloped roof.  Here is a photo facing west.

Roof Deck

Another beautiful day!  The building is continually progressing.

Roof trusses and roof deck

The roof deck and roof trusses are on.  There will be some bodacious parties on that deck!  There will be a couple of rooms carved out of the roof trusses.  Possibly a man cave?

Photo was shot with a DJI Phantom 3 standard drone that Santa brought.