Building Larry's "Desert House" -- 5

With the outer wall finished to four feet, it was time to build scaffolding.

Larry had amassed an enormous number of 22' long  3x16 planks from the old Santa Monica pier.  These were "old growth" Douglas Fir from early in the 20th century.  Heavy creosote had preserved them from the ocean environment.
 

We used these planks first to build  a super-secure platform.

We needed a wide, solid workspace for storing stones, for moving wheelbarrow loads of concrete from the mixers to the forms, and for the heavy work of building the finished walls.

Later these super heavy-duty 22' foot long planks became beams, rafters, and roof planking.

Above, the master bedroom wall is formed to its six-foot height.  Larry would mix the concrete and I would wheelbarrow it to the forms, shovel it in, then place the stones as artistically as I could.
 
Bundled up for a chilly day on the jobsite.

This photo shows the wall with its formwork complete to 12'.  I can't tell if it's been poured or not.

At this additional height I had the added work of shoveling concrete from the wheelbarrow into the three-sided "box" on the upper scaffolding, and then shoveling the heavy "mud" into the forms.

Stones also had to be lifted to this extra height.

No wonder I got to be so strong.
 
Larry walks past his finished first wall.

His work station for most of the job was at these mixers, endlessly filling them with sand, aggregate, and cement.

We used low-silt local sand, and aggregate was available for the shoveling at Larry's mining claim nearby.

Larry did first-rate work as a mixer.  He didn't foul up a single batch.  When I've worked as a "mixer" on other jobs I screwed up at least one batch.
 
Next:   Building Larry's "Desert House" -- 6

Back to:  Building Larry's "Desert House" -- 4

Back to:   Building Larry's "Desert House" -- Homepage