G.W. Builds

Today (tuesday) I finished up the underground plumbing and received successful inspection around lunchtime. I then spent the afternoon covering the piping and bringing the grade up to 6inches below the finished slab height. This is logistically easy when using the lazer. I set the lazer up on the lot next door and then set the proper height. I can walk around the plot with a reciever on a calibrated pole and tell if the ground level is high/low or just right.

If the rain which we've had intermittently doesnt get too heavy, I'll put down plastic on tuesday and then put 2 inches of sand on top of that. This will leave 4 inches of space for the slab. It looks like my slab will get poured on friday (while I'm back home). It's great working as a team. We all take care of each other's building needs when they come up.

I've been working from sun-up to sun-down and I'm so beat in the evenings that I don't feel like adding more work to my day, so I haven't updated the site lately. I'll try to get some photos up soon.

I've been working on Dale's house and getting his forms set and underground plumbing done with him, then we hung the cabinets on Mark's house. Thursday evening, Mark, Dale and I got out the lazer and the "super batter boards" that JB has designed and built and we layed out my house in about 2 hours. Using the lazer and coordinates that are pulled from 2 precisely set reference points, we're able to pinpoint any location on the lot with the cad program. JB then (from the road with Major League Baseball) sent me the coordinates for all of my plumbing points ( the spots where the drain and water pipes come up from the floor. Using the coordinates, we take 2 100 foot tape and where the precise point on each one intersects with the other one is the plumbing point. It's incredibly precise. Since we're building the same house over and over - we just mark the spot on the tape and it will convey to each house as long as the reference points are located in the same place on each lot.

On Friday, I rented a small excavator and Mark dug my footings and waste water ditches. Then I used the excavator and dug my fresh water trench. I spent Saturday beginning the layout of the underground plumbing and then Dale and I finished it up today and started the rebar bending and setting for HIS house just before dark.

I'll be getting 'underground' inspection on monday morning and then will be putting a vapor barrier on the ground and covering it with 2 inches of sand. That will take until Tuesday. I fly home (after3 weeks away) around midnight on tuesday night and I'll be taking about a week and a half off. Possibly my slab will be poured while I'm gone - if Dale can get to it before he takes a trip home (to washington state) as well.

So, the job in Houston during Saturday nights game was basically to create the "green screen" out of 3/4 inch cabinet grade plywood, paint it hideous green, the install it behind the batter. Then we had to register "camera 4" - the camera that's out in left/centerfield. JB does all the computer work back at the van while I operate the camera to make everything line up. So basically during the game the viewer at home sees these ads that we change every 1/2 inning. Simple really - but it produces about $300,000 of revenue during a regular season game. It produces much more of course during the post season games.

Off to houston
JB's main gig is making 'virtual ads' for Major Leage Baseball games. He had to work the Houston/Braves game on Saturday night and it turns out they were short a crew member, so I was hired to help do it. Should be pretty exciting. Virtual ads are ads that you see at home on the television that aren't really there. They're only put up with 1 of the many cameras used in the game. It's the camera that looks over the pitcher's shoulders as he's pitching and you see the batter and a banner ad behind the batter.

That ad behind the batter isn't really there in this case. It's a green screen just like the TV weatherman uses. JB's job is to set the whole thing up at certain games and to change the ads by computer during the game.

In the photos: JB paints the board that will go behind the batter. The Astros practice on the day before the game. This photo is taken from the position of the camera that show's our ads.

I arrived in California City on Friday night. We've been working on Mark's house (which is in the process of having the sheetrock textured soon). My lot closed escrow on friday as well, so I now own it. It has been surveyed as well and the guy will come to clear it in early/mid week. Update: the grading guy is so busy he can't get to the grading until mid next week, so we decided to grade it ourself.

Here's a few photos of my lot just after we graded it. Mark is experienced in grading, so we rented the machinery and he did it in only about 2 hours.