All Hands on Deck

I stopped by the house briefly yesterday afternoon and found Rob and John working on the back porch. They had finished the steps and were just starting on the deck, so there was still just a narrow plank of wood connecting the back door to the stairs. Rob joked that John wouldn't show up in this photo because he's dressed in camo from head to toe -- including his hat.
Rob later told me I could not publish this photo on my blog because he had the collar of his shirt turned up to protect his neck from the sun -- a fashion choice he is vehemently opposed to -- so he did not want anyone to see him dressed like that. I didn't want to ruin his reputation -- whatever that may be -- so I just cropped him out of the photo.

See, you can hardly even see John -- he blends in so well...
Inside the house, John had framed in the arches over the windows in the living room.
And Jim had just finished taping a bunch of scraps of duct insulation together to insulate the hot water pipes in the kitchen wall. I asked him if he'd be happy to never see a roll of duct insulation again, but he diplomatically replied that that was pretty unlikely in his line of work.
While I was talking to Jim, I heard a loud noise from the back porch. Apparently, Rob had started walking across the plank into the house when it fell through the framing, taking him with it. Ouch! Fortunately, he was not seriously injured, and once he was able to extract himself from the awkward position in which he landed, he went right back to work. Justin (in jeans and baseball cap) later helpfully suggested they lay the unused Trex across the deck so they'd have something a little more substantial to walk on. This photo was approved by Rob, as he has his shirt collar appropriately folded down.
I'm not sure if they were able to finish the porch deck before it was time to clean up and go home for the weekend, but I'll find out tomorrow. We're meeting Josh's parents at the house for a tour in the evening.

Rob also told me the stucco guys were planning to work over the weekend, since they were set back by all the rain earlier in the week. Sure enough, there were probably a dozen guys working on the outside of the house when we drove by this afternoon. I'm sure it will look significantly different by tomorrow evening.